The guns of August 1918: the Allied counter-offensive in the Somme Sector.

After absorbing and eventually halting the German spring offensive by July 1918, the Allies launched a major counter-offensive. On 8 August, 31 divisions -- 6 British, 5 Australian, 4 Canadian and 16 French -- and an American regiment, each supported by tanks, artillery and aircraft, began what would become series of attacks over several weeks in the Somme sector. Applying tactics that had been learned over years of war, they tore a great hole in the German lines and, by the end of August, had driven the German Army back to the Hindenburg Line -- regaining most of the ground that had been lost to the Germans in their spring offensive. More significantly, the counter-offensive caused the German Army's morale to collapse -- an end to the war seemed near. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]