0:01:30 > 0:01:33The March attack had failed,
0:01:33 > 0:01:35the April attack had failed.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37By May 1st 1918,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Germany's situation was already becoming dangerous.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Hindenburg and Ludendorff had thrown the whole German army against the British.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Everything had been flung in.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54The British had lost 240,000 men in 40 days.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59The French had lost over 100,000.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03But the Germans themselves had lost nearly 350,000 men.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Germany's failure went deeper than the great loss of men -
0:02:10 > 0:02:13tragic as this was for her war-weary people.
0:02:15 > 0:02:21She had also lost the 40 days. Time was more precious than ever before.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Field Marshall Hindenburg expressed the German problem.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30"We had a new enemy, economically the most powerful in the world.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35"An enemy possessing everything required for the hostile operations,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39"reviving the hopes of all our foes and saving them from collapse,
0:02:39 > 0:02:41"while preparing mighty forces.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48"It was the United States of America and her advent was perilously near.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53"Would she appear in time to snatch the victors' laurels from our brows?
0:02:53 > 0:02:56"That and that only was the decisive question."
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Nearly 13 months had passed since America had entered the war.
0:03:04 > 0:03:10During those months, her Allies had each endured their severest ordeals.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11Russia had fallen.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16France had sunk to her lowest depths of weariness.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Italy had trembled on the edge of catastrophe.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Britain faced defeat by starvation at the hands of the U-boats.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Yet, the Allies had drawn hope from one thought -
0:03:29 > 0:03:31the Americans would be coming,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34some day, sooner or later.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42As the weeks turned into months, and the months completed a year,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45the sour truth emerged that it would be later.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Despite her vast resources,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56America's unpreparedness for war exceeded that of any other country.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Britain's Prime Minister Lloyd George commented:
0:04:00 > 0:04:06"The record of Britain's first ten months of blundering over equipment,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10"robs of us of the right to point the finger of scorn at America.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16"But when America entered into the struggle,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20"her industry was already largely organised for war
0:04:20 > 0:04:25"by the immense Allied orders for war materials."
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Delay followed delay - delay in production, delay in organisation,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39delay even in clothing America's new army,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42all adding up to the worst delay of all...
0:04:42 > 0:04:46the delay in arriving on the field of battle.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49As the British awaited the first German onslaught in March,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52the historian, FS Oliver remarked:
0:04:53 > 0:04:57It's a question of holding out until the Americans come in.
0:04:57 > 0:05:04"Goddamn them, are they ever coming in with all their boastful, glorious talk?"
0:05:04 > 0:05:08The March battles were fought without American support.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11So were the battles of April.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Now it was May.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15On the 2nd, Oliver was asking:
0:05:15 > 0:05:21"When is it reasonable to think that the Americans will be able to put in that immense army,
0:05:21 > 0:05:26"each man with a hot water bottle, a gramophone and a medicine chest,
0:05:26 > 0:05:46"which they tell us will get to Berlin and cook the goose of the Kaiser? When?
0:05:49 > 0:05:51American energy was enormous.
0:05:51 > 0:05:58American enthusiasm for the war was undoubted.
0:06:27 > 0:06:33MUSIC: "Dixie Land" by Daniel D Emmett
0:07:06 > 0:07:11On May 1st 1918, there were only 400,000 Americans in France.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16There was only one American division on an active front,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19only four divisions altogether.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Sickening for the Allies,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26the frustration of the wait were sickening for Americans too.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31American soldiers were disgusted that they depended on their allies
0:07:31 > 0:07:33for the simplest munitions of war.
0:07:33 > 0:07:39The British supplied clothing, transport, heavy artillery, tanks.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46The French supplied the vast numbers of field guns needed,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48aircraft and even machine guns.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52The shipment of machine guns finally arrived.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56When we opened them...
0:07:56 > 0:08:00we found we had received Hotchkiss machine guns.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02They were the guns the French used.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Well, there was a big commotion.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10The officers got in touch with headquarters,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13headquarters with supreme headquarters,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15back and forth, back and forth,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17but nothing happened.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23The officer came in and said, "Men, I'm sorry, those are your weapons.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27"That's what you'll have to use up front.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30"You'd better learn how to operate them, tout suite."
0:08:39 > 0:08:44Training, drilling, marching, practising, more training,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46still more training.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49French instructors, British instructors.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Whatever else they were, the Americans were not idle.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04And so...we would train and we would train right down to the bone.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06We awaited the call.
0:09:06 > 0:09:12We were no jingoes or we were no screamers around for this or that.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17We were trained for war, it was our profession, the regular Marines.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22We didn't like the waiting behind the line.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26We practically broke open the champagne when the word came
0:09:26 > 0:09:30that we were to move in the next 48 hours.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32We didn't care where.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36We'd had enough of this business of play acting.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38We wanted to get somewhere
0:09:38 > 0:09:42where we could do some damage and get done and get home.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47The first weeks of May passed quietly on the Western Front,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50but it was a spurious calm.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53While the Americans completed their training and organisation
0:09:53 > 0:09:58and absorbed over 200,000 newcomers in France,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00the Allies licked their wounds.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Every British division was below strength.
0:10:03 > 0:10:10Ten out of 40 were so weakened, they were scheduled to be broken up.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Reinforcements consisted mostly of boys of 18-and-a-half
0:10:14 > 0:10:17or wounded men returning to the ranks.
0:10:17 > 0:10:23Old soldiers found it an ugly task to prepare boys fresh from school
0:10:23 > 0:10:26for the hardest battlefields ever.
0:10:26 > 0:10:32When they came to us, they were weedy, sallow, skinny,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34frightened children.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38Refuse of our industrial system as it was in those days.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42They were in poor condition because of wartime shortages of food.
0:10:42 > 0:10:49But after six months of good food, fresh air and physical exercise,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53they changed so their mothers wouldn't have recognised them.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59They'd put on an average of one stone in weight and one inch in height.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04Frenchmen found it difficult to sympathise with manpower problems.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08France herself had sacrificed, throughout the war,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10the best of her manhood.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15By April 1918, she was already calling on the conscripts of 1919,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18to avoid breaking up divisions.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23The Allied Commander in Chief, General Foch, protested to Haig.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27"Foch is very anxious that no division should be reduced.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33"He's sure that out of the 1,400,000 men wearing khaki in England,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37"100,000 can be obtained to fill out our divisions sufficiently
0:11:37 > 0:11:40"to hold a quiet part of the Front
0:11:40 > 0:11:43"and release French divisions for the general reserve."
0:11:43 > 0:11:48The French Prime Minister took the matter up officially with the British Government.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53Reluctantly, Lloyd George released more men to fill the wasted ranks.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57SHIP HORN SOUNDS
0:12:03 > 0:12:08Haig, falling in with Foch's plan, dispatched five weak divisions
0:12:08 > 0:12:11to recuperate on a quiet French sector -
0:12:11 > 0:12:15the Chemin des Dames along the River Aisne.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19"To battered troops, whose only knowledge of France
0:12:19 > 0:12:22"was based on experiences on the Northern Front,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26"the Champagne country in the full glory of spring was a revelation.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28"Here, all was peace.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32"The countryside basked in the sunshine,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36"trim villages nestled by lazy streams,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39"and tired eyes were refreshed by the sight of rolling hills
0:12:39 > 0:12:43"and woods golden with laburnum."
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Here, among the vineyards,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49within two miles of the front line,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51the British soldiers rested.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54But their brief holiday was soon over,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59for it was precisely here, by one of the war's bitter ironies,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03that the next German blow was being prepared.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Ludendorff meant to continue as he had begun
0:13:06 > 0:13:09by smashing the main British armies.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13First it would be necessary to draw away the French reserves
0:13:13 > 0:13:15which had gone to the British Front.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18To do this he would have to attack the French.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23The Germans transported their divisions and artillery
0:13:23 > 0:13:26opposite the Chemin des Dames in deep secrecy.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30Short weeks of calm passed by.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34General Foch asked himself:
0:13:34 > 0:13:37"What was hidden behind this silence?
0:13:37 > 0:13:40"We knew the enemy had large numbers of troops at their disposal.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42"Where would they suddenly appear?
0:13:44 > 0:13:48"We searched the horizon, the mystery remained unsolved."
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Not until a few hours before the German attack
0:13:56 > 0:13:58were the Allied soldiers warned.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03"The first news reached us about 3.45pm on May 26th.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08""The enemy will attack on a wide front at 01.00 tomorrow, 27/5."
0:14:08 > 0:14:10"Then followed orders for taking up battle stations."
0:14:12 > 0:14:15"For a second, we looked at each other in silence.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20"In a flash the world had changed. The landscape smiled no longer.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24"The sun blazed down, but it had lost its heat.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28"For the first time, I had the feeling there was no-one behind us.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31"No help that could be relied upon in case of need."
0:14:39 > 0:14:43The blow fell at 1am on May 27th.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47The weak British divisions were right in its path.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52The Germans swept across the Chemin des Dames ridge and over the Aisne.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57By evening, they had advanced ten miles.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Nothing like it had ever been seen on the Western Front.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13On the second day, May 28th, they pressed forward another five miles.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24But on this day, further to the west,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26a different kind of omen appeared.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29the American First Division went into action
0:15:29 > 0:15:31at the little town of Cantigny.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49We watched through binoculars and they had a creeping barrage
0:15:49 > 0:15:52towards the town of Cantigny on high ground.
0:15:52 > 0:15:58I could see some of the waves of American soldiers as they went forward.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03I saw many fall. I saw some get up and follow the barrage again.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37The Americans took Cantigny - their first victory of the war.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43But more than this was needed to stop the great German advance on the Aisne.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46And something more was forthcoming.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50As the Germans swept towards the River Marne,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54reviving the fears of 1914,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57a wonderful spectacle was seen by the French.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01"Swarms of Americans began to appear on the roads.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04"They passed in interminable columns.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08"The spectacle of these magnificent youths from overseas,
0:17:08 > 0:17:13"these beardless children of 20 radiating strength and health,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16"produced a great effect.
0:17:16 > 0:17:24"They contrasted strikingly with our regiments in their faded uniforms, wasted by years of war,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27"whose members thin,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31"their sunken eyes shining with a dull fire,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33"were no more than bundles of nerves
0:17:33 > 0:17:37"held together by a will to heroism and sacrifice.
0:17:38 > 0:17:44"We all had the impression that we were about to see a wonderful operation of transfusion of blood."
0:17:48 > 0:17:51It was June 1st when the Americans entered this fight
0:17:51 > 0:17:53near Chateau-Thierry,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57another landmark of 1914.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13By June 3rd, the Germans were halted, 56 miles from Paris.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18At every level, a dangerous mood displayed itself.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23French peasants spat on the remnants of British units retreating from the Aisne.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25The British retorted bitterly.
0:18:25 > 0:18:32"Conviction was growing that we were fighting on the wrong side.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35"Conviction I'd heard many times since 1917,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37"but never before with such feeling."
0:18:39 > 0:18:45Sharp words were exchanged when the Allied leaders met at Versailles.
0:18:45 > 0:18:52Now it was the turn of the French generals to find themselves under the cloud of defeat.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Even the prestige of General Foch was shaken.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Foch rounded upon Lloyd George with new demands
0:19:01 > 0:19:04that the British Army should be brought up to strength.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06The argument raged for two hours.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13The French insisted on sending an expert to investigate British manpower. Lloyd George had to agree.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Yet the British and French were united on one subject -
0:19:18 > 0:19:22America must send more men and send them fast.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26All eyes turned upon General John J Pershing,
0:19:26 > 0:19:27the American Commander in Chief.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Pershing had his own views of the part America must play in the war
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and had made them clear.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40"I was against us becoming a recruiting agency for anyone else.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44"While realising the difficulties,
0:19:44 > 0:19:49"it was understood that we should organise our own units
0:19:49 > 0:19:53"and build a distinctive army of our own as rapidly as possible."
0:19:55 > 0:19:58In America, the camps and depots filled.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01There was a great gathering of men.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04But the difficulties of making a new United States army
0:20:04 > 0:20:07had proved to be beyond anyone's imagining.
0:20:07 > 0:20:14It was unthinkable that America should send her soldiers to fight under other flags.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18As the crises of 1918 developed,
0:20:18 > 0:20:23the Allies put every pressure on Pershing to change his plan.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26But Pershing was made of stubborn stuff.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29At a meeting in May, General Foch had said:
0:20:29 > 0:20:33"Are you willing to risk our being driven back to the Loire?"
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Pershing retorted: "Yes, I'm willing to take the risk."
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Ludendorff's arguments on the field of battle
0:20:41 > 0:20:45proved more powerful than the pleas of the Allied leaders.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51With the Germans across the Marne, Pershing was forced to compromise.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55He cabled to Washington: "Consider military situation very grave.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01"The time has come for us to take up the brunt of the war.
0:21:01 > 0:21:07"England and France won't be able to keep at present strength for long."
0:21:07 > 0:21:10CHEERING AND BAND MUSIC
0:21:12 > 0:21:17Pershing agreed that 250,000 Americans should be brought to France in June
0:21:17 > 0:21:19and another 250,000 in July.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23He agreed the priority should be given to infantry,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27trained or untrained -
0:21:27 > 0:21:28just men.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Britain would find the shipping.
0:21:32 > 0:21:3656% of these men were carried in British ships.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41A blood transfusion on a scale never dreamt of now began.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45MUSIC: "Over There" by George M Cohan
0:21:53 > 0:21:57# Over there, over there
0:21:57 > 0:22:02# Send the word Send the word over there
0:22:02 > 0:22:04# That the Yanks are coming
0:22:04 > 0:22:06# The Yanks are coming
0:22:06 > 0:22:10# The drums rum-tumming everywhere
0:22:10 > 0:22:14# So prepare, say a prayer
0:22:14 > 0:22:19# Send the word Send the word to beware
0:22:19 > 0:22:23# We'll be over We're coming over
0:22:23 > 0:22:28# And we won't come back till it's over, over there... #
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Pershing gained one point.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22The Americans were fighting under their own command.
0:23:22 > 0:23:28But American soldiers entered their grimmest experience so far.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33On June 6th, the American 2nd Division, half of it Marines,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35attacked at Belleau Wood.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41We got into the edge of the woods and we dug in and took position.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46The difficulty with Belleau Wood was you never knew where the front was.
0:23:46 > 0:23:52Little groups of men got together to fight each other.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56While you were fighting in one direction,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59you'd find there were Germans to the rear of you.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02They had to be mopped up.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Clean up, mop up and move ahead.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43In open order and in mass
0:24:43 > 0:24:47the Americans lost heavily at Belleau Wood,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49but they were not to be denied.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54As their first wounded came back,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57khaki figures among the blue of the French,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01a French nurse said to one of them, "Surely you're an American?"
0:25:01 > 0:25:04He replied, "No, Ma'am, I'm a Marine."
0:25:05 > 0:25:11There were three American divisions in battle now, with great promise.
0:25:11 > 0:25:17But German plans would decide where and how the next battle would be fought.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19It was not an easy decision.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23A German commander wrote: "Our casualties were increasing greatly.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28"Ammunition was running short, and the problem of supply was difficult.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31"It was clear that action so stubbornly contested
0:25:31 > 0:25:34"would never let us capture Paris.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38"The brilliant offensive had petered out."
0:25:38 > 0:25:41What should the Germans do?
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Ludendorff, organiser of their great offensives,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47was in a cruel dilemma.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51He intended to attack the British front,
0:25:51 > 0:25:56but was tempted to make a crushing blow against the French army.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Ludendorff became entangled in his own web.
0:26:01 > 0:26:02He temporised.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04The temptation was too strong.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07He decided to attack the French again.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15The first day's advance, on June 9th, was six miles deep.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18The Germans took 8,000 prisoners.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21The next day, they advanced another two miles...
0:26:26 > 0:26:28..and then stopped.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31On June 11th, the French struck back.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Two American divisions formed a spearhead,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59supported by nearly 150 tanks,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01and by low-flying aircraft.
0:27:24 > 0:27:30No flags, no bright swords, no lines of battle, charging with a yell.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Combat groups of weary men, in drab and dirty uniform,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38dressed approximately on a line,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43spaced so that one shrapnel burst cannot include more than one group.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48Laden like mules with gas masks, bandoliers, grenades,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51trudging forward without haste or excitement.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55They moved on an untidy wood where shells were raining,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58a wood that did not answer back or show an enemy.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11The French attack did not go far, but worked. The Germans were halted,
0:28:11 > 0:28:16and Ludendorff surveyed the results of another month that had gone by
0:28:16 > 0:28:18without producing victory.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23"There may be 20 American divisions in France,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25"more than I had believed possible.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29"Our March superiority in numbers of divisions had been cancelled,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34"and numbers were now to our disadvantage.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38"For this reason America became the deciding factor in the war."
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Now, once again, there was a brief period of calm on the Western Front.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50Fighting died down into local actions.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Commanders drew breath and took stock of their position.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Like a ripple across the calm,
0:28:58 > 0:29:00or a breath of fresh wind,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03an idea stirred among the Allied leaders.
0:29:05 > 0:29:06General Foch recorded:
0:29:06 > 0:29:11"I did not forget the offensive task for which the Allies must get ready,
0:29:11 > 0:29:14"and which had to be undertaken soon,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19"since only offensive action could bring the war to a victorious end."
0:29:19 > 0:29:22On June 28th, Foch met Haig, who wrote in his diary:
0:29:22 > 0:29:28"I told Foch of two small projects which I contemplated carrying out,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30"if the military situation allowed.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34"He was pleased at my offensive intentions at the present time."
0:29:38 > 0:29:41The British Army profited by its period of rest.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Spirits had revived.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45The ranks were filling.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48"Our troops are really wonderful", Haig commented.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54One part of his army had never accepted defeat,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57or submitted to enemy initiative.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01On April 25th, the third anniversary of Anzac Day,
0:30:01 > 0:30:06the Australians had counterattacked at Villers-Bretonneux,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09marking the high-water line of the German advance towards Amiens.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27All through May, and June,
0:30:27 > 0:30:29the Australian front was fluid and active.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37It was the Australians that Haig designated for an offensive project
0:30:37 > 0:30:42at Le Hamel, an example of what they called "peaceful penetration".
0:30:51 > 0:30:55With the Australians, there were men of the American 33rd division.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58Haig had a high opinion of the Americans,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01who had paraded for him earlier.
0:31:01 > 0:31:02"I was impressed.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06"They were a fine body of men. Keen, active and athletic-looking."
0:31:08 > 0:31:12The date selected for the Le Hamel project was appropriate.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14July 4th, Independence Day.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19But there was an unexpected snag.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22General Pershing was appalled to find that his soldiers,
0:31:22 > 0:31:24whom he considered to be untrained,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27had been given tasks in the Australian battle plan.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Pershing said the Americans must be withdrawn.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36Haig had to agree, and told his commander Rawlinson,
0:31:36 > 0:31:40who passed the news to Australian commander, General Monash.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Monash demanded to see Rawlinson.
0:31:44 > 0:31:50"It was a tense meeting. I knew that the withdrawal of those Americans
0:31:50 > 0:31:52"would result in confusion,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55"and in dangerous gaps in our line of battle.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58"So I resolved to take a firm stand,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00"and pressed my views as strongly as I dared."
0:32:02 > 0:32:06In effect, Monash told Rawlinson: "No Americans, no battle."
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Rawlinson spoke again to Haig,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12who authorised the use of American troops.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17Monash remarked: "It appeared that great issues hung for an hour or so
0:32:17 > 0:32:21"upon the chances of my being able to carry my point."
0:32:21 > 0:32:24Great issues had hung indeed.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29The following battle was a model for the whole war.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31It was all over in an hour and a half.
0:33:07 > 0:33:13By the end, at a cost of 750 Australians and 130 Americans,
0:33:13 > 0:33:151,500 Germans were captured,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18and all the ground attacked had been won.
0:33:20 > 0:33:21Monash commented:
0:33:21 > 0:33:26"Le Hamel was the first offensive operation on any substantial scale
0:33:26 > 0:33:30"fought by any Allies since the previous autumn.
0:33:30 > 0:33:35"Its effect was electric, and it stimulated many to the realisation
0:33:35 > 0:33:38"that the enemy was, after all, not invulnerable."
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Now the war turned into a race.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47Both Foch and Ludendorff pushed forward preparations for attack.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57For the Germans, it was a matter, in Ludendorff's words,
0:33:57 > 0:34:03"of striking one more blow to make the enemy ready for peace."
0:34:03 > 0:34:05There was no other way.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11"Headquarters decided to attack the enemy at his weak point.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16"An attack on both sides of Reims was planned for the middle of July."
0:34:16 > 0:34:22Foch perceived that this was the decisive moment of the year, and of the war.
0:34:22 > 0:34:29"By mid-July, the time was fast approaching when the opposing forces would be practically equal.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33"If the enemy did not attack, we would have to take the offensive.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38"If he did attack, we'd accompany our parry with a counter stroke."
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Once again, it was the Germans who completed their preparations first.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47The German blow fell on July 15th,
0:34:47 > 0:34:52a massive attack by 52 divisions, east and west of Reims.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11Against them, Foch deployed a truly allied army,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14French, British, Italians and Americans.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22The western attack fell upon the Italians and had success.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32British divisions were rushed up to hold the line.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37The Americans were called to defend.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58The eastern attack failed totally.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02The French had deliberately withdrawn from their forward zone,
0:36:02 > 0:36:05saving their strength for the counteroffensive.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08A German officer wrote:
0:36:08 > 0:36:11"I have lived through the most disheartening day of the whole war.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15"This wilderness is not very big,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19"but seems endless when one is held up in it,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21"and we ARE held up.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24"Our guns bombarded empty trenches.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28"Our gas shells gassed empty artillery positions.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32"Only in little hidden folds of the ground, sparsely distributed,
0:36:32 > 0:36:38"lay machine-gun posts, like lice in the seams and folds of a garment,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40"to give the attacking force a warm reception.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43"After uninterrupted fighting
0:36:43 > 0:36:46"from five in the morning until night,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49"we only advanced about three kilometres."
0:37:07 > 0:37:11The next day, the Germans only made slight progress.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13The day after, none at all.
0:37:14 > 0:37:15The same man wrote:
0:37:15 > 0:37:17"I know that we are finished.
0:37:18 > 0:37:19"My thoughts oppress me.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22"Everything seems to be at a standstill.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28"I do not believe we shall ever get our hands free again.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31"The American army is there, a million strong.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35"That is too much."
0:37:50 > 0:37:53The Second Battle of the Marne, like the first,
0:37:53 > 0:37:55marked a moment of equilibrium.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00Now Foch, like Joffre before him, knew that his hour had come.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03He greeted it with satisfaction.
0:38:03 > 0:38:09"On July 17th, the Germans had been reduced to impotence.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15"On the 18th, the guns of the Allies would make their thunder heard
0:38:15 > 0:38:19"at the time and place which had been fixed upon."
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Once again, as in 1914,
0:38:22 > 0:38:25all the war, all its potential,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28all its hopes, fears and deceitful promises,
0:38:28 > 0:38:30were centred on the river Marne.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33The wheel had come full circle.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Out there...
0:39:31 > 0:39:33is the killer.
0:39:33 > 0:39:34The liar.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37And you know you must find them,
0:39:37 > 0:39:40through the dark places of the world,