The Hundred Days

Research Centre, Reading Room

General Sir John Monash is considered one of the outstanding commanders of the First World War. An avid collector, the vast array of items he donated to the Memorial provide a comprehensive view of his wartime military career and give insight into his meticulous planning and success as a commander.

On 8 August 1918 a combined British, Canadian, and Australian attack succeeded in breaking through the German positions around Amiens. Advancing some 13 kilometres, it was the largest single-day gain by the British Army in the entire war. 12,000 prisoners were captured along with 400 guns, the first time a large scale British advance had made it as far as the German artillery. With a large sector of the German front destroyed and losses as high as 30,000, it was a severe defeat and caused a collapse in morale. The beginning of the end of the First World War, this period became known as the last 100 days.

These maps, documents and objects illustrate some of the planning that went into the battles from Amiens on 8 August to Montbrehain on 5 October 1918, the last Australian infantry battle on the Western Front.