Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux

Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
Part of the Western Front of World War I
1918 map showing vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux
Date 24–27 April 1918 Location Villers-Bretonneux, Northern France Result Allied victory
Belligerents
British Empire Australia  United Kingdom France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ferdinand Foch Douglas Haig Henry Rawlinson Harold Edward Elliott Thomas William Glasgow Talbot Hobbs	Erich Ludendorff Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria Georg von der Marwitz
Strength
Australian 13th, 14th and 15th Brigades 173rd Brigade of British 58th Division Remnants of British 8th Division Moroccan Division 3 Mark IV tanks (one male, two female) 7 Medium Mark A Whippet tanks	228th Infantry Division 4th Guards Infantry Division 13 A7V tanks
Casualties and losses
2,473 9,529 3,470	c. 10,400

British Empire

The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux took place during the Battle of the Lys, 24–27 April 1918, when an assault was launched against the Allied lines to the east of Amiens. It is notable for the first major use of tanks by the Germans, who deployed fourteen of their twenty A7Vs, and for the first tank-versus-tank battle in history.

The tank battle occurred when a group of three advancing A7Vs met and engaged three British Mark IV tanks, two of which were female tanks armed only with machine-guns. The two Mark IV females were damaged and forced to withdraw but the male tank, armed with 6-pounder guns, hit and disabled the lead A7V, which was then abandoned by its crew. The Mark IV continued to fire on the two remaining German A7Vs, which withdrew. The "male" then advanced with the support of Whippet light tanks which had arrived, until disabled by artillery fire and abandoned by the crew. The German and British crews recovered their vehicles later in the day. A counter-attack by two Australian and one British brigade during the night of 24 April partly surrounded Villers-Bretonneux and on 25 April the town was recaptured. Australian, British and French troops restored the original front line by 27 April.

In late 1917 and early 1918, the end of the fighting on the Eastern Front allowed the Germans to transfer large numbers of men and equipment to the west. Buoyed by this but concerned that the entry of the United States into the war would negate their numerical advantage if they did not attack quickly and that massed tank attacks like that at Cambrai in November 1917 made far more areas on the Western Front vulnerable to attack, the German commander, Erich Ludendorff, chose to use the temporary numerical advantage to punch through the front line and then advance north towards the sea. In March, the Germans launched the Spring Offensive, against the Third Army and the Fifth Army on the Somme, which were understrength due to the small numbers of replacements being sent from Britain.

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