page_title: 4th Division (Australia)
section_title: German Spring Offensive, 1918
hierarchical_section_title: 4th Division (Australia) / World War I / German Spring Offensive, 1918
caption_attribution_description: English: Australian 4th Division troops at Bresle Wood during the German Spring Offensive
context_page_description: The Australian 4th Division was formed in the First World War during the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force infantry brigades in February 1916. In addition to the experienced 4th Brigade were added the new 12th and 13th Brigades. From Egypt the division was sent to France, where it took part in the fighting on the Western Front during 1916–1918. After the war ended, the AIF was demobilised and the division was dissolved.
  In 1921, the 4th Division was reactivated as a Citizen Military Forces formation. The division performed home defence duties for most of World War II. The division's composition during World War II changed frequently, as brigades were rotated between different divisions and moved to different locations as the need arose. The division spent the majority of the war in Western Australia, before moving to Queensland prior to its deactivation in late 1944.
context_section_description: Throughout the winter of 1917–1918, the Australians rotated between the front and rest areas around Flanders and northern France, during which time it was largely quiet, apart from occasional shelling and aerial attacks. In early 1917, the Australians moved back to the front around Messines, after a rest in the rear areas. The 4th Division spent a short period in the line around Hollebeke in the northern part of the Australian sector during this time. In late March, the division was rushed to the Somme region to stem the German Spring Offensive, which had been launched on 21 March and was threatening Amiens. The Australian 3rd and 4th Divisions had been ordered to proceed to Amiens to strengthen the retreating British 5th Army. There it repulsed the advancing Germans in several hard-fought battles at Hebuterne and Dernancourt.
  The 4th Brigade was detached from the division during this time, and fought a sharp action alongside the New Zealanders at Hebuterne, holding off several German attacks in late March and early April.  Meanwhile, the 12th and 13th Brigades established themselves south of Albert, around the railway embankment and cuttings of the Albert–Amiens railway at Dernancourt, where they joined troops of the British VII Corps. The 12th Brigade was positioned forward, taking over from the British 9th (Scottish) Division, while the 13th held a support position around Bresle and Ribemont-sur-Ancre.  On 28 March, during the First Battle of Dernancourt,  the 12th brigade helped fight off an attack by the 50th Reserve Division, with 137 Australian casualties. A week later, on 5 April, the Second Battle of Dernancourt was fought.  In the lead up, the 13th Brigade moved forward beside the 12th, taking over from the 35th Division. Together, the two brigades faced an attack by two and a half German divisions in what was described by historian Chris Coulthard-Clark as "the strongest attack mounted against the Australians in the war". The Australian 48th Battalion soon found itself outflanked by Germans to its rear. The 48th was ordered to hold at all costs but by midday was facing annihilation and the senior officer ordered a withdrawal, which was completed in good order. The two brigades then committed their reserves, which restored the situation for the Allies. In the action, the division lost 1,230 casualties, and afterwards it was relieved by the 2nd Division.
  In April, the 13th Brigade was involved in the counterattack at Villers-Bretonneux. On 21 April, in the lead up to the battle, the German fighter pilot, Manfred von Richthofen (the "Red Baron") was shot down over Australian lines, north of Villers-Bretonneux at Corbie. There are many theories as to who shot him down, one of which is that an Australian Vickers machine gunner, Sergeant Cedric Popkin of the 24th Machine-Gun Company, 4th Division, fired the actual bullet that killed von Richthofen. At dawn on 24 April, the Germans launched their attack, supported by armoured vehicles and a heavy artillery bombardment, that  included mustard gas. With the situation urgent, the British III Corps  ordered a counter-attack  from the Australian 13th and 15th Brigades to retake the town. The attack was launched around 10 pm that night, with the two brigades isolated the town, enveloping it from the north and south, before entering it on Anzac Day to begin mopping up operations, with the Australians penetrating from the east, while British troops came from the opposite direction. The 14th Brigade, from the 5th Division, also filled a supporting role,  securing flanking positions to the north of the town. In early May, the 12th Brigade carried out a follow up attack around Monument Wood, to the east of Villers-Bretonneux, which made little headway against the defending Jager troops; nevertheless, the recapture of Villers-Bretonneux had restored the Allied line in the sector.
caption: Troops from the 4th Division sleep in trenches around Bresle Wood, 28 March 1918
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)"}