Monash's division spent the winter of 1917–1918 around Ploegsteert. Early the following year, after the Germans launched their Spring Offensive, the 3rd Division was deployed to undertake defensive operations around Amiens. Throughout April and May, the division undertook several peaceful penetration operations. Monash later described the recapture of the town of Villers-Bretonneux on 25 April 1918 after the Germans had overrun the 8th British Division under General William Heneker as the turning-point of the war. Sir Thomas William Glasgow's 13th Brigade, and Harold Elliott's 15th Brigade, were both heavily involved in the operation.