Shaking General Monash’s Pedestal: the Battle of Hamel 4 July 1918 | Dr Derek Clayton

Over the years, we have filmed quite a lot of speakers at the branch. These have been available to view on the WFA's YouTube channel, and can also be found as 'articles' on the WFA website. However these videos have not been separately grouped for those visiting the Yorkshire branch 'landing page' on the website.

By starting a process of loading these onto the branch page, this makes a number of talks that stretch back to about 2019 'visible'.

In this presentation, Dr Derek Clayton talks about 'Shaking General Monash’s Pedestal: the Battle of Hamel 4 July 1918' - which was given to the branch in June 2024.

The Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918 is often heralded as the 'perfect battle', with all objectives taken, as planned, by the Australians in 93 minutes. It was indeed an undoubted success in the end, but both the planning and the execution were far from perfect.

General Monash's claim that the battle was 'free from any kind of hitch' needs closer examination, which is done in a detailed manner in this superb presentation.