Roll of jumping-off tape, Battle of Hamel : 13th Battalion, AIF

Roll of 65mm (2 1/2 inch) wide cotton tape woven in a repeating chevron pattern.

Guide tape was used by all the major combatants in the First World War to mark jumping off points for assaults and attacks. A roll would be unravelled along the ground to define the width of an attack, generally aligning with the intended compass direction of the attack. They were also used as paths to guide the troops forward to their forming-up line. These tapes were especially useful when multiple waves were required to be concentrated in specific areas, to prevent confusion, and at times of poor light (evening or morning attacks) - hence the colour.

At the Battle of Hamel (4 July 1918), which was planned by Lieutenant General Monash and his staff according to a strict timetable (90 minutes, start to finish; it actually took 93 minutes), troops and their supporting tanks were required to advance from very specific jumping off points and attack very specific objectives. This tape was used by the 13th Battalion and the Americans accompanying them (5 officers and 222 men of A Company, 132nd Regiment) on the morning of 4 July. Their attack had a frontage of a mere 400 yards (365 metres) and was designed to envelope Vaire Wood around its southern end, to the south of Hamel.

For their preparation, the unit's war diary states "it was decided to lay tape lines bewteen P.20.a.3.2 and P.20.a.2.9, which necessitated the removal of 250 yards of double apron wire and 400 yards of double trip wire. Tapes were to be laid down from the rear to Company frontages, boards indicating flanks of companies...".