Australians on the Western Front: Soldiers mastered the art of stealth warfare

By Michael Grealy
July 27 2018 - 12:00pm
VITAL: Lieutenant Rupert Downes, an orchardist from Camden, addresses his platoon before the advance onto Harbonnieres during the Battle of Amiens. Picture: AWM E02790.
VITAL: Lieutenant Rupert Downes, an orchardist from Camden, addresses his platoon before the advance onto Harbonnieres during the Battle of Amiens. Picture: AWM E02790.

In the months before the major Allied offensive known as the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918, Australian soldiers had considerable success with small-scale stealth raids on German outposts on the Somme.