Battle of Amiens (1918)

During the First World War, the Amiens offensive in France was launched on 8 August 1918 – the “black day of the German army” – as part of a major counter-attack conducted by Allied forces, spearheaded by Canadian and Australian troops. They crashed through the German lines, nearly breaking the deadlock on this front, but the enemy recovered and the offensive was halted. While the Canadians had killed thousands and captured more than 9,000 prisoners, they had suffered almost 12,000 casualties before withdrawing on 20 August.