Britain at War – August 2019

http://www.britainatwar.com^31

LEFTA French doctor and an American orderly

tend to the wounds of a man of 8th Division,

Villers-Bretonneux, April 27, 1918.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

BELOWThe battered ruins of Villers-Bretonneux

church in 1918. This is a 1920 colourised print

of the original photograph.

STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

DECISIVE ACTION, NO. 4 VILLERS−BRETONNEUX

disabled, machine guns being of little use

in the armoured duel, while the male Mark

IV disabled the lead A7V and forced the

remainder to withdraw.

Despite dogged resistance from pockets

of the 23rd Brigade in Villers-Bretonneux,

fighting half-blind in their bulky box

respirators, retreat was inevitable and

the advance was stopped only by British

artillery. Heneker was immediately put

under pressure to counter-attack, BBB