1
00:01:28,350 --> 00:01:31,350
The March attack had failed,

2
00:01:31,350 --> 00:01:33,350
the April attack had failed.

3
00:01:33,350 --> 00:01:35,350
By May 1st 1918,

4
00:01:35,350 --> 00:01:38,350
Germany's situation
was already becoming dangerous.

5
00:01:39,350 --> 00:01:44,350
Hindenburg and Ludendorff
had thrown the whole German army
against the British.

6
00:01:44,350 --> 00:01:47,350
Everything had been flung in.

7
00:01:48,350 --> 00:01:52,350
The British had lost 240,000 men
in 40 days.

8
00:01:53,350 --> 00:01:57,350
The French had lost over 100,000.

9
00:01:57,350 --> 00:02:01,350
But the Germans themselves
had lost nearly 350,000 men.

10
00:02:05,350 --> 00:02:08,350
Germany's failure went deeper
than the great loss of men -

11
00:02:08,350 --> 00:02:11,350
tragic as this was
for her war-weary people.

12
00:02:13,350 --> 00:02:19,350
She had also lost the 40 days. Time
was more precious than ever before.

13
00:02:21,350 --> 00:02:23,350
Field Marshall Hindenburg
expressed the German problem.

14
00:02:23,350 --> 00:02:28,350
"We had a new enemy, economically
the most powerful in the world.

15
00:02:28,350 --> 00:02:33,350
"An enemy possessing everything
required for the hostile operations,

16
00:02:33,350 --> 00:02:37,350
"reviving the hopes of all our foes
and saving them from collapse,

17
00:02:37,350 --> 00:02:39,350
"while preparing mighty forces.

18
00:02:41,350 --> 00:02:46,350
"It was the United States of America
and her advent was perilously near.

19
00:02:46,350 --> 00:02:51,350
"Would she appear in time to snatch
the victors' laurels from our brows?

20
00:02:51,350 --> 00:02:54,350
"That and that only
was the decisive question."

21
00:02:58,350 --> 00:03:02,350
Nearly 13 months had passed
since America had entered the war.

22
00:03:02,350 --> 00:03:08,350
During those months, her Allies had
each endured their severest ordeals.

23
00:03:08,350 --> 00:03:09,350
Russia had fallen.

24
00:03:10,350 --> 00:03:14,350
France had sunk
to her lowest depths of weariness.

25
00:03:14,350 --> 00:03:18,350
Italy had trembled on the edge
of catastrophe.

26
00:03:18,350 --> 00:03:21,350
Britain faced defeat by starvation
at the hands of the U-boats.

27
00:03:23,350 --> 00:03:27,350
Yet, the Allies had drawn hope
from one thought -

28
00:03:27,350 --> 00:03:29,350
the Americans would be coming,

29
00:03:29,350 --> 00:03:32,350
some day, sooner or later.

30
00:03:35,350 --> 00:03:40,350
As the weeks turned into months,
and the months completed a year,

31
00:03:40,350 --> 00:03:43,350
the sour truth emerged
that it would be later.

32
00:03:49,350 --> 00:03:51,350
Despite her vast resources,

33
00:03:51,350 --> 00:03:54,350
America's unpreparedness for war
exceeded that of any other country.

34
00:03:56,350 --> 00:03:58,350
Britain's Prime Minister
Lloyd George commented:

35
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"The record of Britain's first ten
months of blundering over equipment,

36
00:04:04,350 --> 00:04:08,350
"robs of us of the right to point
the finger of scorn at America.

37
00:04:09,350 --> 00:04:14,350
"But when America entered
into the struggle,

38
00:04:14,350 --> 00:04:18,350
"her industry was already
largely organised for war

39
00:04:18,350 --> 00:04:23,350
"by the immense Allied orders
for war materials."

40
00:04:29,350 --> 00:04:34,350
Delay followed delay - delay in
production, delay in organisation,

41
00:04:34,350 --> 00:04:37,350
delay even in clothing
America's new army,

42
00:04:37,350 --> 00:04:40,350
all adding up to the worst delay
of all...

43
00:04:40,350 --> 00:04:44,350
the delay in arriving
on the field of battle.

44
00:04:44,350 --> 00:04:47,350
As the British awaited the
first German onslaught in March,

45
00:04:47,350 --> 00:04:50,350
the historian, FS Oliver remarked:

46
00:04:51,350 --> 00:04:55,350
It's a question of holding out
until the Americans come in.

47
00:04:55,350 --> 00:05:02,350
"Goddamn them, are they ever
coming in with all their boastful,
glorious talk?"

48
00:05:02,350 --> 00:05:06,350
The March battles were fought
without American support.

49
00:05:06,350 --> 00:05:09,350
So were the battles of April.

50
00:05:09,350 --> 00:05:11,350
Now it was May.

51
00:05:11,350 --> 00:05:13,350
On the 2nd, Oliver was asking:

52
00:05:13,350 --> 00:05:19,350
"When is it reasonable to think
that the Americans will be able to
put in that immense army,

53
00:05:19,350 --> 00:05:24,350
"each man with a hot water bottle,
a gramophone and a medicine chest,

54
00:05:24,350 --> 00:05:44,350
"which they tell us
will get to Berlin and cook
the goose of the Kaiser? When?

55
00:05:47,350 --> 00:05:49,350
American energy was enormous.

56
00:05:49,350 --> 00:05:56,350
American enthusiasm
for the war was undoubted.

57
00:06:25,350 --> 00:06:31,350
MUSIC: "Dixie Land"
by Daniel D Emmett

58
00:07:04,350 --> 00:07:09,350
On May 1st 1918, there were only
400,000 Americans in France.

59
00:07:11,350 --> 00:07:14,350
There was only one American
division on an active front,

60
00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:17,350
only four divisions altogether.

61
00:07:17,350 --> 00:07:20,350
Sickening for the Allies,

62
00:07:20,350 --> 00:07:24,350
the frustration of the wait
were sickening for Americans too.

63
00:07:24,350 --> 00:07:29,350
American soldiers were disgusted
that they depended on their allies

64
00:07:29,350 --> 00:07:31,350
for the simplest munitions of war.

65
00:07:31,350 --> 00:07:37,350
The British supplied clothing,
transport, heavy artillery, tanks.

66
00:07:40,350 --> 00:07:44,350
The French supplied the
vast numbers of field guns needed,

67
00:07:44,350 --> 00:07:46,350
aircraft and even machine guns.

68
00:07:46,350 --> 00:07:50,350
The shipment of machine guns
finally arrived.

69
00:07:50,350 --> 00:07:54,350
When we opened them...

70
00:07:54,350 --> 00:07:58,350
we found we had received
Hotchkiss machine guns.

71
00:07:58,350 --> 00:08:00,350
They were the guns the French used.

72
00:08:01,350 --> 00:08:05,350
Well, there was a big commotion.

73
00:08:05,350 --> 00:08:08,350
The officers got in touch
with headquarters,

74
00:08:08,350 --> 00:08:11,350
headquarters with
supreme headquarters,

75
00:08:11,350 --> 00:08:13,350
back and forth, back and forth,

76
00:08:13,350 --> 00:08:15,350
but nothing happened.

77
00:08:15,350 --> 00:08:21,350
The officer came in and said, "Men,
I'm sorry, those are your weapons.

78
00:08:21,350 --> 00:08:25,350
"That's what you'll have to use
up front.

79
00:08:25,350 --> 00:08:28,350
"You'd better learn
how to operate them, tout suite."

80
00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:42,350
Training, drilling, marching,
practising, more training,

81
00:08:42,350 --> 00:08:44,350
still more training.

82
00:08:44,350 --> 00:08:47,350
French instructors,
British instructors.

83
00:08:47,350 --> 00:08:50,350
Whatever else they were,
the Americans were not idle.

84
00:08:57,350 --> 00:09:02,350
And so...we would train and we would
train right down to the bone.

85
00:09:02,350 --> 00:09:04,350
We awaited the call.

86
00:09:04,350 --> 00:09:10,350
We were no jingoes or we were no
screamers around for this or that.

87
00:09:10,350 --> 00:09:15,350
We were trained for war, it was
our profession, the regular Marines.

88
00:09:15,350 --> 00:09:20,350
We didn't like the waiting
behind the line.

89
00:09:20,350 --> 00:09:24,350
We practically broke open
the champagne when the word came

90
00:09:24,350 --> 00:09:28,350
that we were to move in the next
48 hours.

91
00:09:28,350 --> 00:09:30,350
We didn't care where.

92
00:09:30,350 --> 00:09:34,350
We'd had enough of this business
of play acting.

93
00:09:34,350 --> 00:09:36,350
We wanted to get somewhere

94
00:09:36,350 --> 00:09:40,350
where we could do some damage
and get done and get home.

95
00:09:42,350 --> 00:09:45,350
The first weeks of May passed
quietly on the Western Front,

96
00:09:45,350 --> 00:09:48,350
but it was a spurious calm.

97
00:09:48,350 --> 00:09:51,350
While the Americans completed
their training and organisation

98
00:09:51,350 --> 00:09:56,350
and absorbed
over 200,000 newcomers in France,

99
00:09:56,350 --> 00:09:58,350
the Allies licked their wounds.

100
00:09:58,350 --> 00:10:01,350
Every British division
was below strength.

101
00:10:01,350 --> 00:10:08,350
Ten out of 40 were so weakened,
they were scheduled to be broken up.

102
00:10:08,350 --> 00:10:12,350
Reinforcements consisted mostly
of boys of 18-and-a-half

103
00:10:12,350 --> 00:10:15,350
or wounded men returning
to the ranks.

104
00:10:15,350 --> 00:10:21,350
Old soldiers found it an ugly task
to prepare boys fresh from school

105
00:10:21,350 --> 00:10:24,350
for the hardest battlefields ever.

106
00:10:24,350 --> 00:10:30,350
When they came to us,
they were weedy, sallow, skinny,

107
00:10:30,350 --> 00:10:32,350
frightened children.

108
00:10:32,350 --> 00:10:36,350
Refuse of our industrial system
as it was in those days.

109
00:10:36,350 --> 00:10:40,350
They were in poor condition because
of wartime shortages of food.

110
00:10:40,350 --> 00:10:47,350
But after six months of good food,
fresh air and physical exercise,

111
00:10:47,350 --> 00:10:51,350
they changed so their mothers
wouldn't have recognised them.

112
00:10:51,350 --> 00:10:57,350
They'd put on an average of
one stone in weight
and one inch in height.

113
00:10:57,350 --> 00:11:02,350
Frenchmen found it difficult to
sympathise with manpower problems.

114
00:11:02,350 --> 00:11:06,350
France herself had sacrificed,
throughout the war,

115
00:11:06,350 --> 00:11:08,350
the best of her manhood.

116
00:11:08,350 --> 00:11:13,350
By April 1918, she was already
calling on the conscripts of 1919,

117
00:11:13,350 --> 00:11:16,350
to avoid breaking up divisions.

118
00:11:16,350 --> 00:11:21,350
The Allied Commander in Chief,
General Foch, protested to Haig.

119
00:11:21,350 --> 00:11:25,350
"Foch is very anxious that
no division should be reduced.

120
00:11:25,350 --> 00:11:31,350
"He's sure that out of the 1,400,000
men wearing khaki in England,

121
00:11:31,350 --> 00:11:35,350
"100,000 can be obtained to fill out
our divisions sufficiently

122
00:11:35,350 --> 00:11:38,350
"to hold a quiet part of the Front

123
00:11:38,350 --> 00:11:41,350
"and release French divisions
for the general reserve."

124
00:11:41,350 --> 00:11:46,350
The French Prime Minister
took the matter up officially with
the British Government.

125
00:11:46,350 --> 00:11:51,350
Reluctantly, Lloyd George released
more men to fill the wasted ranks.

126
00:11:52,350 --> 00:11:55,350
SHIP HORN SOUNDS

127
00:12:01,350 --> 00:12:06,350
Haig, falling in with Foch's plan,
dispatched five weak divisions

128
00:12:06,350 --> 00:12:09,350
to recuperate
on a quiet French sector -

129
00:12:09,350 --> 00:12:13,350
the Chemin des Dames
along the River Aisne.

130
00:12:13,350 --> 00:12:17,350
"To battered troops, whose only
knowledge of France

131
00:12:17,350 --> 00:12:20,350
"was based on experiences
on the Northern Front,

132
00:12:20,350 --> 00:12:24,350
"the Champagne country in the full
glory of spring was a revelation.

133
00:12:24,350 --> 00:12:26,350
"Here, all was peace.

134
00:12:26,350 --> 00:12:30,350
"The countryside
basked in the sunshine,

135
00:12:30,350 --> 00:12:34,350
"trim villages
nestled by lazy streams,

136
00:12:34,350 --> 00:12:37,350
"and tired eyes were refreshed
by the sight of rolling hills

137
00:12:37,350 --> 00:12:41,350
"and woods golden with laburnum."

138
00:12:41,350 --> 00:12:43,350
Here, among the vineyards,

139
00:12:43,350 --> 00:12:47,350
within two miles of the front line,

140
00:12:47,350 --> 00:12:49,350
the British soldiers rested.

141
00:12:50,350 --> 00:12:52,350
But their brief holiday
was soon over,

142
00:12:52,350 --> 00:12:57,350
for it was precisely here,
by one of the war's bitter ironies,

143
00:12:57,350 --> 00:13:01,350
that the next German blow
was being prepared.

144
00:13:01,350 --> 00:13:04,350
Ludendorff meant to continue
as he had begun

145
00:13:04,350 --> 00:13:07,350
by smashing the main
British armies.

146
00:13:08,350 --> 00:13:11,350
First it would be necessary
to draw away the French reserves

147
00:13:11,350 --> 00:13:13,350
which had gone to the British Front.

148
00:13:14,350 --> 00:13:16,350
To do this he would have to attack
the French.

149
00:13:17,350 --> 00:13:21,350
The Germans transported
their divisions and artillery

150
00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:24,350
opposite the Chemin des Dames
in deep secrecy.

151
00:13:26,350 --> 00:13:28,350
Short weeks of calm passed by.

152
00:13:30,350 --> 00:13:32,350
General Foch asked himself:

153
00:13:32,350 --> 00:13:35,350
"What was hidden
behind this silence?

154
00:13:35,350 --> 00:13:38,350
"We knew the enemy had large numbers
of troops at their disposal.

155
00:13:38,350 --> 00:13:40,350
"Where would they suddenly appear?

156
00:13:42,350 --> 00:13:46,350
"We searched the horizon,
the mystery remained unsolved."

157
00:13:50,350 --> 00:13:54,350
Not until a few hours
before the German attack

158
00:13:54,350 --> 00:13:56,350
were the Allied soldiers warned.

159
00:13:56,350 --> 00:14:01,350
"The first news reached us about
3.45pm on May 26th.

160
00:14:01,350 --> 00:14:06,350
""The enemy will attack on a wide
front at 01.00 tomorrow, 27/5."

161
00:14:06,350 --> 00:14:08,350
"Then followed orders for taking up
battle stations."

162
00:14:10,350 --> 00:14:13,350
"For a second,
we looked at each other in silence.

163
00:14:13,350 --> 00:14:18,350
"In a flash the world had changed.
The landscape smiled no longer.

164
00:14:18,350 --> 00:14:22,350
"The sun blazed down,
but it had lost its heat.

165
00:14:22,350 --> 00:14:26,350
"For the first time, I had the
feeling there was no-one behind us.

166
00:14:26,350 --> 00:14:29,350
"No help that could be relied upon
in case of need."

167
00:14:37,350 --> 00:14:41,350
The blow fell at 1am on May 27th.

168
00:14:41,350 --> 00:14:45,350
The weak British divisions
were right in its path.

169
00:14:45,350 --> 00:14:50,350
The Germans swept across the Chemin
des Dames ridge and over the Aisne.

170
00:14:52,350 --> 00:14:55,350
By evening,
they had advanced ten miles.

171
00:14:55,350 --> 00:14:59,350
Nothing like it had ever been seen
on the Western Front.

172
00:15:06,350 --> 00:15:11,350
On the second day, May 28th, they
pressed forward another five miles.

173
00:15:20,350 --> 00:15:22,350
But on this day,
further to the west,

174
00:15:22,350 --> 00:15:24,350
a different kind of omen appeared.

175
00:15:25,350 --> 00:15:27,350
the American First Division
went into action

176
00:15:27,350 --> 00:15:29,350
at the little town of Cantigny.

177
00:15:42,350 --> 00:15:47,350
We watched through binoculars
and they had a creeping barrage

178
00:15:47,350 --> 00:15:50,350
towards the town of Cantigny
on high ground.

179
00:15:50,350 --> 00:15:56,350
I could see some of
the waves of American soldiers
as they went forward.

180
00:15:56,350 --> 00:16:01,350
I saw many fall. I saw some get up
and follow the barrage again.

181
00:16:31,350 --> 00:16:35,350
The Americans took Cantigny -
their first victory of the war.

182
00:16:37,350 --> 00:16:41,350
But more than this was needed
to stop the great German advance
on the Aisne.

183
00:16:42,350 --> 00:16:44,350
And something more was forthcoming.

184
00:16:45,350 --> 00:16:48,350
As the Germans swept towards
the River Marne,

185
00:16:48,350 --> 00:16:52,350
reviving the fears of 1914,

186
00:16:52,350 --> 00:16:55,350
a wonderful spectacle
was seen by the French.

187
00:16:55,350 --> 00:16:59,350
"Swarms of Americans
began to appear on the roads.

188
00:16:59,350 --> 00:17:02,350
"They passed
in interminable columns.

189
00:17:02,350 --> 00:17:06,350
"The spectacle of these magnificent
youths from overseas,

190
00:17:06,350 --> 00:17:11,350
"these beardless children of 20
radiating strength and health,

191
00:17:11,350 --> 00:17:14,350
"produced a great effect.

192
00:17:14,350 --> 00:17:22,350
"They contrasted strikingly with our
regiments in their faded uniforms,
wasted by years of war,

193
00:17:22,350 --> 00:17:25,350
"whose members thin,

194
00:17:25,350 --> 00:17:29,350
"their sunken eyes shining
with a dull fire,

195
00:17:29,350 --> 00:17:31,350
"were no more than bundles of nerves

196
00:17:31,350 --> 00:17:35,350
"held together by a will
to heroism and sacrifice.

197
00:17:36,350 --> 00:17:42,350
"We all had the impression that
we were about to see a wonderful
operation of transfusion of blood."

198
00:17:46,350 --> 00:17:49,350
It was June 1st when the Americans
entered this fight

199
00:17:49,350 --> 00:17:51,350
near Chateau-Thierry,

200
00:17:51,350 --> 00:17:55,350
another landmark of 1914.

201
00:18:06,350 --> 00:18:11,350
By June 3rd, the Germans
were halted, 56 miles from Paris.

202
00:18:12,350 --> 00:18:16,350
At every level, a dangerous mood
displayed itself.

203
00:18:16,350 --> 00:18:21,350
French peasants spat
on the remnants of British units
retreating from the Aisne.

204
00:18:21,350 --> 00:18:23,350
The British retorted bitterly.

205
00:18:23,350 --> 00:18:30,350
"Conviction was growing that
we were fighting on the wrong side.

206
00:18:30,350 --> 00:18:33,350
"Conviction I'd heard many times
since 1917,

207
00:18:33,350 --> 00:18:35,350
"but never before
with such feeling."

208
00:18:37,350 --> 00:18:43,350
Sharp words were exchanged when the
Allied leaders met at Versailles.

209
00:18:43,350 --> 00:18:50,350
Now it was the turn of the
French generals to find themselves
under the cloud of defeat.

210
00:18:50,350 --> 00:18:54,350
Even the prestige of General Foch
was shaken.

211
00:18:54,350 --> 00:18:59,350
Foch rounded upon Lloyd George
with new demands

212
00:18:59,350 --> 00:19:02,350
that the British Army should be
brought up to strength.

213
00:19:02,350 --> 00:19:04,350
The argument raged for two hours.

214
00:19:05,350 --> 00:19:11,350
The French insisted on sending
an expert to investigate British
manpower. Lloyd George had to agree.

215
00:19:13,350 --> 00:19:16,350
Yet the British and French
were united on one subject -

216
00:19:16,350 --> 00:19:20,350
America must send more men
and send them fast.

217
00:19:21,350 --> 00:19:24,350
All eyes turned upon
General John J Pershing,

218
00:19:24,350 --> 00:19:25,350
the American Commander in Chief.

219
00:19:27,350 --> 00:19:31,350
Pershing had his own views of the
part America must play in the war

220
00:19:31,350 --> 00:19:34,350
and had made them clear.

221
00:19:34,350 --> 00:19:38,350
"I was against us becoming a
recruiting agency for anyone else.

222
00:19:40,350 --> 00:19:42,350
"While realising the difficulties,

223
00:19:42,350 --> 00:19:47,350
"it was understood that
we should organise our own units

224
00:19:47,350 --> 00:19:51,350
"and build a distinctive army
of our own as rapidly as possible."

225
00:19:53,350 --> 00:19:56,350
In America,
the camps and depots filled.

226
00:19:56,350 --> 00:19:59,350
There was a great gathering of men.

227
00:19:59,350 --> 00:20:02,350
But the difficulties of making
a new United States army

228
00:20:02,350 --> 00:20:05,350
had proved
to be beyond anyone's imagining.

229
00:20:05,350 --> 00:20:12,350
It was unthinkable that America
should send her soldiers to fight
under other flags.

230
00:20:13,350 --> 00:20:16,350
As the crises of 1918 developed,

231
00:20:16,350 --> 00:20:21,350
the Allies put every pressure
on Pershing to change his plan.

232
00:20:21,350 --> 00:20:24,350
But Pershing was made of
stubborn stuff.

233
00:20:24,350 --> 00:20:27,350
At a meeting in May,
General Foch had said:

234
00:20:27,350 --> 00:20:31,350
"Are you willing to risk
our being driven back to the Loire?"

235
00:20:31,350 --> 00:20:35,350
Pershing retorted: "Yes,
I'm willing to take the risk."

236
00:20:36,350 --> 00:20:39,350
Ludendorff's arguments
on the field of battle

237
00:20:39,350 --> 00:20:43,350
proved more powerful than
the pleas of the Allied leaders.

238
00:20:44,350 --> 00:20:49,350
With the Germans across the Marne,
Pershing was forced to compromise.

239
00:20:49,350 --> 00:20:53,350
He cabled to Washington: "Consider
military situation very grave.

240
00:20:54,350 --> 00:20:59,350
"The time has come for us to take up
the brunt of the war.

241
00:20:59,350 --> 00:21:05,350
"England and France won't be able to
keep at present strength for long."

242
00:21:05,350 --> 00:21:08,350
CHEERING AND BAND MUSIC

243
00:21:10,350 --> 00:21:15,350
Pershing agreed that 250,000
Americans should be
brought to France in June

244
00:21:15,350 --> 00:21:17,350
and another 250,000 in July.

245
00:21:18,350 --> 00:21:21,350
He agreed the priority
should be given to infantry,

246
00:21:21,350 --> 00:21:25,350
trained or untrained -

247
00:21:25,350 --> 00:21:26,350
just men.

248
00:21:28,350 --> 00:21:30,350
Britain would find the shipping.

249
00:21:30,350 --> 00:21:34,350
56% of these men were carried
in British ships.

250
00:21:34,350 --> 00:21:39,350
A blood transfusion on a scale
never dreamt of now began.

251
00:21:39,350 --> 00:21:43,350
MUSIC: "Over There"
by George M Cohan

252
00:21:51,350 --> 00:21:55,350
# Over there, over there

253
00:21:55,350 --> 00:22:00,350
# Send the word
Send the word over there

254
00:22:00,350 --> 00:22:02,350
# That the Yanks are coming

255
00:22:02,350 --> 00:22:04,350
# The Yanks are coming

256
00:22:04,350 --> 00:22:08,350
# The drums rum-tumming everywhere

257
00:22:08,350 --> 00:22:12,350
# So prepare, say a prayer

258
00:22:12,350 --> 00:22:17,350
# Send the word
Send the word to beware

259
00:22:17,350 --> 00:22:21,350
# We'll be over
We're coming over

260
00:22:21,350 --> 00:22:26,350
# And we won't come back
till it's over, over there... #

261
00:23:13,350 --> 00:23:15,350
Pershing gained one point.

262
00:23:15,350 --> 00:23:20,350
The Americans were fighting
under their own command.

263
00:23:20,350 --> 00:23:26,350
But American soldiers entered
their grimmest experience so far.

264
00:23:27,350 --> 00:23:31,350
On June 6th, the American 2nd
Division, half of it Marines,

265
00:23:31,350 --> 00:23:33,350
attacked at Belleau Wood.

266
00:23:33,350 --> 00:23:39,350
We got into the edge of the woods
and we dug in and took position.

267
00:23:39,350 --> 00:23:44,350
The difficulty with Belleau Wood was
you never knew where the front was.

268
00:23:44,350 --> 00:23:50,350
Little groups of men got together
to fight each other.

269
00:23:50,350 --> 00:23:54,350
While you were fighting
in one direction,

270
00:23:54,350 --> 00:23:57,350
you'd find there were Germans
to the rear of you.

271
00:23:57,350 --> 00:24:00,350
They had to be mopped up.

272
00:24:00,350 --> 00:24:02,350
Clean up, mop up and move ahead.

273
00:24:39,350 --> 00:24:41,350
In open order and in mass

274
00:24:41,350 --> 00:24:45,350
the Americans lost heavily
at Belleau Wood,

275
00:24:45,350 --> 00:24:47,350
but they were not to be denied.

276
00:24:49,350 --> 00:24:52,350
As their first wounded came back,

277
00:24:52,350 --> 00:24:55,350
khaki figures among
the blue of the French,

278
00:24:55,350 --> 00:24:59,350
a French nurse said to one of them,
"Surely you're an American?"

279
00:24:59,350 --> 00:25:02,350
He replied,
"No, Ma'am, I'm a Marine."

280
00:25:03,350 --> 00:25:09,350
There were three American divisions
in battle now, with great promise.

281
00:25:09,350 --> 00:25:15,350
But German plans would decide where
and how the next battle
would be fought.

282
00:25:15,350 --> 00:25:17,350
It was not an easy decision.

283
00:25:17,350 --> 00:25:21,350
A German commander wrote: "Our
casualties were increasing greatly.

284
00:25:21,350 --> 00:25:26,350
"Ammunition was running short, and
the problem of supply was difficult.

285
00:25:26,350 --> 00:25:29,350
"It was clear that action
so stubbornly contested

286
00:25:29,350 --> 00:25:32,350
"would never let us capture Paris.

287
00:25:32,350 --> 00:25:36,350
"The brilliant offensive
had petered out."

288
00:25:36,350 --> 00:25:39,350
What should the Germans do?

289
00:25:39,350 --> 00:25:43,350
Ludendorff,
organiser of their great offensives,

290
00:25:43,350 --> 00:25:45,350
was in a cruel dilemma.

291
00:25:45,350 --> 00:25:49,350
He intended
to attack the British front,

292
00:25:49,350 --> 00:25:54,350
but was tempted to make a crushing
blow against the French army.

293
00:25:55,350 --> 00:25:59,350
Ludendorff became entangled
in his own web.

294
00:25:59,350 --> 00:26:00,350
He temporised.

295
00:26:00,350 --> 00:26:02,350
The temptation was too strong.

296
00:26:02,350 --> 00:26:05,350
He decided
to attack the French again.

297
00:26:08,350 --> 00:26:13,350
The first day's advance,
on June 9th, was six miles deep.

298
00:26:13,350 --> 00:26:16,350
The Germans took 8,000 prisoners.

299
00:26:16,350 --> 00:26:19,350
The next day,
they advanced another two miles...

300
00:26:24,350 --> 00:26:26,350
...and then stopped.

301
00:26:26,350 --> 00:26:29,350
On June 11th,
the French struck back.

302
00:26:51,350 --> 00:26:55,350
Two American divisions formed
a spearhead,

303
00:26:55,350 --> 00:26:57,350
supported by nearly 150 tanks,

304
00:26:57,350 --> 00:26:59,350
and by low-flying aircraft.

305
00:27:22,350 --> 00:27:28,350
No flags, no bright swords, no lines
of battle, charging with a yell.

306
00:27:29,350 --> 00:27:33,350
Combat groups of weary men,
in drab and dirty uniform,

307
00:27:33,350 --> 00:27:36,350
dressed approximately on a line,

308
00:27:36,350 --> 00:27:41,350
spaced so that one shrapnel burst
cannot include more than one group.

309
00:27:41,350 --> 00:27:46,350
Laden like mules with gas masks,
bandoliers, grenades,

310
00:27:46,350 --> 00:27:49,350
trudging forward
without haste or excitement.

311
00:27:49,350 --> 00:27:53,350
They moved on an untidy wood
where shells were raining,

312
00:27:53,350 --> 00:27:56,350
a wood that did not answer back
or show an enemy.

313
00:28:04,350 --> 00:28:09,350
The French attack did not go far,
but worked. The Germans were halted,

314
00:28:09,350 --> 00:28:14,350
and Ludendorff surveyed the results
of another month that had gone by

315
00:28:14,350 --> 00:28:16,350
without producing victory.

316
00:28:16,350 --> 00:28:21,350
"There may be 20 American divisions
in France,

317
00:28:21,350 --> 00:28:23,350
"more than I had believed possible.

318
00:28:23,350 --> 00:28:27,350
"Our March superiority in numbers
of divisions had been cancelled,

319
00:28:27,350 --> 00:28:32,350
"and numbers were now
to our disadvantage.

320
00:28:32,350 --> 00:28:36,350
"For this reason America became
the deciding factor in the war."

321
00:28:41,350 --> 00:28:44,350
Now, once again, there was a brief
period of calm on the Western Front.

322
00:28:45,350 --> 00:28:48,350
Fighting died down
into local actions.

323
00:28:49,350 --> 00:28:53,350
Commanders drew breath
and took stock of their position.

324
00:28:54,350 --> 00:28:56,350
Like a ripple across the calm,

325
00:28:56,350 --> 00:28:58,350
or a breath of fresh wind,

326
00:28:58,350 --> 00:29:01,350
an idea stirred
among the Allied leaders.

327
00:29:03,350 --> 00:29:04,350
General Foch recorded:

328
00:29:04,350 --> 00:29:09,350
"I did not forget the offensive task
for which the Allies must get ready,

329
00:29:09,350 --> 00:29:12,350
"and which had to be
undertaken soon,

330
00:29:12,350 --> 00:29:17,350
"since only offensive action could
bring the war to a victorious end."

331
00:29:17,350 --> 00:29:20,350
On June 28th, Foch met Haig,
who wrote in his diary:

332
00:29:20,350 --> 00:29:26,350
"I told Foch of two small projects
which I contemplated carrying out,

333
00:29:26,350 --> 00:29:28,350
"if the military situation allowed.

334
00:29:28,350 --> 00:29:32,350
"He was pleased at my offensive
intentions at the present time."

335
00:29:36,350 --> 00:29:39,350
The British Army profited by its
period of rest.

336
00:29:39,350 --> 00:29:41,350
Spirits had revived.

337
00:29:41,350 --> 00:29:43,350
The ranks were filling.

338
00:29:43,350 --> 00:29:46,350
"Our troops are really wonderful",
Haig commented.

339
00:29:48,350 --> 00:29:52,350
One part of his army
had never accepted defeat,

340
00:29:52,350 --> 00:29:55,350
or submitted to enemy initiative.

341
00:29:55,350 --> 00:29:59,350
On April 25th,
the third anniversary of Anzac Day,

342
00:29:59,350 --> 00:30:04,350
the Australians had counterattacked
at Villers-Bretonneux,

343
00:30:04,350 --> 00:30:07,350
marking the high-water line of
the German advance towards Amiens.

344
00:30:22,350 --> 00:30:25,350
All through May, and June,

345
00:30:25,350 --> 00:30:27,350
the Australian front was fluid
and active.

346
00:30:30,350 --> 00:30:35,350
It was the Australians that Haig
designated for an offensive project

347
00:30:35,350 --> 00:30:40,350
at Le Hamel, an example of what
they called "peaceful penetration".

348
00:30:49,350 --> 00:30:53,350
With the Australians, there were
men of the American 33rd division.

349
00:30:53,350 --> 00:30:56,350
Haig had a high opinion
of the Americans,

350
00:30:56,350 --> 00:30:59,350
who had paraded for him earlier.

351
00:30:59,350 --> 00:31:00,350
"I was impressed.

352
00:31:00,350 --> 00:31:04,350
"They were a fine body of men.
Keen, active and athletic-looking."

353
00:31:06,350 --> 00:31:10,350
The date selected for the Le Hamel
project was appropriate.

354
00:31:10,350 --> 00:31:12,350
July 4th, Independence Day.

355
00:31:14,350 --> 00:31:17,350
But there was an unexpected snag.

356
00:31:17,350 --> 00:31:20,350
General Pershing was appalled
to find that his soldiers,

357
00:31:20,350 --> 00:31:22,350
whom he considered to be untrained,

358
00:31:22,350 --> 00:31:25,350
had been given tasks
in the Australian battle plan.

359
00:31:27,350 --> 00:31:30,350
Pershing said the Americans must
be withdrawn.

360
00:31:30,350 --> 00:31:34,350
Haig had to agree,
and told his commander Rawlinson,

361
00:31:34,350 --> 00:31:38,350
who passed the news to Australian
commander, General Monash.

362
00:31:39,350 --> 00:31:42,350
Monash demanded to see Rawlinson.

363
00:31:42,350 --> 00:31:48,350
"It was a tense meeting. I knew that
the withdrawal of those Americans

364
00:31:48,350 --> 00:31:50,350
"would result in confusion,

365
00:31:50,350 --> 00:31:53,350
"and in dangerous gaps
in our line of battle.

366
00:31:53,350 --> 00:31:56,350
"So I resolved to take a firm stand,

367
00:31:56,350 --> 00:31:58,350
"and pressed my views as strongly
as I dared."

368
00:32:00,350 --> 00:32:04,350
In effect, Monash told Rawlinson:
"No Americans, no battle."

369
00:32:05,350 --> 00:32:07,350
Rawlinson spoke again to Haig,

370
00:32:07,350 --> 00:32:10,350
who authorised the use
of American troops.

371
00:32:11,350 --> 00:32:15,350
Monash remarked: "It appeared that
great issues hung for an hour or so

372
00:32:15,350 --> 00:32:19,350
"upon the chances of my being able
to carry my point."

373
00:32:19,350 --> 00:32:22,350
Great issues had hung indeed.

374
00:32:23,350 --> 00:32:27,350
The following battle
was a model for the whole war.

375
00:32:27,350 --> 00:32:29,350
It was all over
in an hour and a half.

376
00:33:05,350 --> 00:33:11,350
By the end, at a cost of
750 Australians and 130 Americans,

377
00:33:11,350 --> 00:33:13,350
1,500 Germans were captured,

378
00:33:13,350 --> 00:33:16,350
and all the ground attacked
had been won.

379
00:33:18,350 --> 00:33:19,350
Monash commented:

380
00:33:19,350 --> 00:33:24,350
"Le Hamel was the first offensive
operation on any substantial scale

381
00:33:24,350 --> 00:33:28,350
"fought by any Allies
since the previous autumn.

382
00:33:28,350 --> 00:33:33,350
"Its effect was electric, and it
stimulated many to the realisation

383
00:33:33,350 --> 00:33:36,350
"that the enemy was, after all,
not invulnerable."

384
00:33:38,350 --> 00:33:41,350
Now the war turned into a race.

385
00:33:41,350 --> 00:33:45,350
Both Foch and Ludendorff pushed
forward preparations for attack.

386
00:33:52,350 --> 00:33:55,350
For the Germans, it was a matter,
in Ludendorff's words,

387
00:33:55,350 --> 00:34:01,350
"of striking one more blow
to make the enemy ready for peace."

388
00:34:01,350 --> 00:34:03,350
There was no other way.

389
00:34:04,350 --> 00:34:09,350
"Headquarters decided to attack
the enemy at his weak point.

390
00:34:09,350 --> 00:34:14,350
"An attack on both sides of Reims
was planned for the middle of July."

391
00:34:14,350 --> 00:34:20,350
Foch perceived
that this was the decisive moment
of the year, and of the war.

392
00:34:20,350 --> 00:34:27,350
"By mid-July, the time was fast
approaching when the opposing forces
would be practically equal.

393
00:34:27,350 --> 00:34:31,350
"If the enemy did not attack,
we would have to take the offensive.

394
00:34:31,350 --> 00:34:36,350
"If he did attack, we'd accompany
our parry with a counter stroke."

395
00:34:37,350 --> 00:34:40,350
Once again, it was the Germans who
completed their preparations first.

396
00:34:42,350 --> 00:34:45,350
The German blow fell on July 15th,

397
00:34:45,350 --> 00:34:50,350
a massive attack by 52 divisions,
east and west of Reims.

398
00:35:06,350 --> 00:35:09,350
Against them,
Foch deployed a truly allied army,

399
00:35:09,350 --> 00:35:12,350
French, British, Italians
and Americans.

400
00:35:16,350 --> 00:35:20,350
The western attack fell upon
the Italians and had success.

401
00:35:28,350 --> 00:35:30,350
British divisions were rushed up
to hold the line.

402
00:35:31,350 --> 00:35:35,350
The Americans were called to defend.

403
00:35:53,350 --> 00:35:56,350
The eastern attack failed totally.

404
00:35:56,350 --> 00:36:00,350
The French had deliberately
withdrawn from their forward zone,

405
00:36:00,350 --> 00:36:03,350
saving their strength
for the counteroffensive.

406
00:36:04,350 --> 00:36:06,350
A German officer wrote:

407
00:36:06,350 --> 00:36:09,350
"I have lived through the most
disheartening day of the whole war.

408
00:36:10,350 --> 00:36:13,350
"This wilderness is not very big,

409
00:36:13,350 --> 00:36:17,350
"but seems endless when one
is held up in it,

410
00:36:17,350 --> 00:36:19,350
"and we ARE held up.

411
00:36:19,350 --> 00:36:22,350
"Our guns bombarded empty trenches.

412
00:36:22,350 --> 00:36:26,350
"Our gas shells gassed
empty artillery positions.

413
00:36:26,350 --> 00:36:30,350
"Only in little hidden folds
of the ground, sparsely distributed,

414
00:36:30,350 --> 00:36:36,350
"lay machine-gun posts, like lice
in the seams and folds of a garment,

415
00:36:36,350 --> 00:36:38,350
"to give the attacking force
a warm reception.

416
00:36:39,350 --> 00:36:41,350
"After uninterrupted fighting

417
00:36:41,350 --> 00:36:44,350
"from five in the morning
until night,

418
00:36:44,350 --> 00:36:47,350
"we only advanced
about three kilometres."

419
00:37:05,350 --> 00:37:09,350
The next day, the Germans
only made slight progress.

420
00:37:09,350 --> 00:37:11,350
The day after, none at all.

421
00:37:12,350 --> 00:37:13,350
The same man wrote:

422
00:37:13,350 --> 00:37:15,350
"I know that we are finished.

423
00:37:16,350 --> 00:37:17,350
"My thoughts oppress me.

424
00:37:18,350 --> 00:37:20,350
"Everything seems to be
at a standstill.

425
00:37:22,350 --> 00:37:26,350
"I do not believe we shall ever
get our hands free again.

426
00:37:26,350 --> 00:37:29,350
"The American army is there,
a million strong.

427
00:37:31,350 --> 00:37:33,350
"That is too much."

428
00:37:48,350 --> 00:37:51,350
The Second Battle of the Marne,
like the first,

429
00:37:51,350 --> 00:37:53,350
marked a moment of equilibrium.

430
00:37:53,350 --> 00:37:58,350
Now Foch, like Joffre before him,
knew that his hour had come.

431
00:37:58,350 --> 00:38:01,350
He greeted it with satisfaction.

432
00:38:01,350 --> 00:38:07,350
"On July 17th, the Germans
had been reduced to impotence.

433
00:38:07,350 --> 00:38:13,350
"On the 18th, the guns of the Allies
would make their thunder heard

434
00:38:13,350 --> 00:38:17,350
"at the time and place
which had been fixed upon."

435
00:38:17,350 --> 00:38:20,350
Once again, as in 1914,

436
00:38:20,350 --> 00:38:23,350
all the war, all its potential,

437
00:38:23,350 --> 00:38:26,350
all its hopes, fears
and deceitful promises,

438
00:38:26,350 --> 00:38:28,350
were centred on the river Marne.

439
00:38:29,350 --> 00:38:31,350
The wheel had come full circle.

440
00:39:27,350 --> 00:39:29,350
Out there...

441
00:39:29,350 --> 00:39:31,350
is the killer.

442
00:39:31,350 --> 00:39:32,350
The liar.

443
00:39:32,350 --> 00:39:35,350
And you know you must find them,

444
00:39:35,350 --> 00:39:38,350
through the dark places of the world,