They Attack Villers-Bretonneux and block the road to Amiens’. A French perspective on Second Villers-Bretonneux

Based on French primary material, this chapter tells the history of the Moroccan Division at Second Villers-Bretonneux, where to the south of the town the division regained ground that the troops of the 13th (Australian) Brigade and 7th (British) Bedfordshire had failed to capture or hold during their costly attack the previous night. It demonstrates that, as opposed to what Australian accounts have recorded since Bean’s rendition of the engagement, the role of the Moroccan Division in Second Villers- Bretonneux was crucial to the overall success of the operation. First, the MD secured the ground immediately south of Villers-Bretonneux which had only partially been taken by the 13th (Australian) Brigade and the 7th (British) Bedfordshire. Second, the attack of the MD on 26 April resulted in the gaining of even more ground past the alleged Australian-British line of 25 April. Third, the MD established a solid frontline before German positions, which the above mentioned troops had either struggled (Australians) or failed (British) to establish. To introduce the MD into Australian history of Second Villers-Bretonneux this chapter first provides an operational context to Second Villers-Bretonneux, presenting the Australian involvement in and around the town in the spring and summer of 1918 and recounting the German attack and subsequent Australian-British counter-attack on the town on 24-25 April 1918. Then, it analyses the role of the MD in the counter-attack, providing details of the operation based on French material. Finally, the chapter looks at the influence of Bean’s writing in the dismissal of the MD’s role in the operation and how this has impacted upon Australian war memorialisation at Villers-Bretonneux to this day.