In the lead up to Anzac Day 2018, Great Lakes resident, Roger Lynch has shared excerpts from the biography of his father, Australian war hero, Thomas Lynch, featuring his time on the Western Front at Villers-Bretonneux in April, 1918.
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The Australian plan was for a surprise night attack, with no preliminary artillery bombardment. Two battalions (the 51st and 52nd Battalions, about 1500 men) of the 13th Brigade, 4th Division, would attack to the south of Villers-Bretonneux towards the east. Three battalions, the 57th, 59th and 60th Battalions, about 2,400 men of the 15th Brigade, 5th Division, would similarly attack from the north of the town and then swing south–east. Thus the Germans would be encircled and trapped.
The plan was brilliantly planned and executed. Villers-Bretonneux was quickly retaken from the Germans. A German officer was later quoted as saying about the Australians: “They were magnificent. Nothing seemed to stop them.” See the full story online.
