![]() ![]() Troops and guns were moved at night aircraft droned up and down the front to mask the noise of the tanks (430 of which would be used for the main attack) roads were lined with straw and ropes were wrapped around the wheels of the guns (to dampen the sound). At the same time, thousands of Canadian troops began a long and sometimes winding route march to the Amiens sector. Canadian Corps headquarters was sent off to the north, around Mount Kemmel, where they produced extensive wireless traffic, which they knew would be picked up by the enemy. So it was essential to mount a sophisticated deception plan. The British knew that, if Currie or Monash’s troops were brought up to the front, the German High Command would immediately suspect that an attack was imminent. The preparations for the attack were highly impressive. They had come a long way from the Somme in 1916 when British infantry had been slaughtered trying to cross no man’s land. This allowed them to suppress enemy fire and continue the advance. Infantry platoons were also much more capable than before, with each section being a self-contained firebase, specialising in sniping or mortar fire, and machine guns or bombing. Not only could they deploy hundreds of aircraft (to observe the battlefield, interdict enemy units and drop supplies), they also relied upon a formidable range of artillery, almost unlimited shells and hundreds of tanks (both Mark V heavy tanks and lighter, quicker models such as the Medium Mark A and the brilliant Renault FT). By the summer of 1918 the Allied armies on the western front had absorbed the lessons of four years of war and developed a highly effective method of fighting. The impressive arsenal that Monash and Currie had at their disposal was the result of a long process of technological development and trial and error. ![]()
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