Advance to victory 1918 map

You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (8 mbs).

This map shows the route taken by the British Third Army (between the red dotted lines) as it advanced across northern France during the Hundred Days Offensive - the rapid series of Allied victories in the final stages of the First World War. The advance of the New Zealand Division – part of the Third Army’s IV Corps – is shown by the red arrow. The purple lines mark the front on specific dates in September and October 1918.

After the Battle of Bapaume the German Second and Seventeenth armies (in green) retreated to defensive positions along the Hindenburg Line (the castellated black line), the Canal du Nord and Havrincourt Wood. By now the German Army was buckling under the pressure of being attacked along more than half the Western Front by the Allied armies of Britain, France, Belgium and the United States. While some German soldiers fought on until the bitter end, many demoralised units offered only token resistance before surrendering.

The Division methodically fought its way through Havrincourt and Gouzeaucourt Woods between 7 and 10 September before encountering stiff resistance at Trescault Spur. Here the Third Army stalled until 29 September, when a powerful attack on the Hindenburg Line was launched. On 1 October the 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade captured the town of Crèvecoeur-sur-l’Escaut, establishing a foothold across the Scheldt Canal. By late October the New Zealand Division had halted outside the fortress town of Le Quesnoy, 25 km to the north-east. On 4 November the New Zealanders captured Le Quesnoy after scaling the town’s historic ramparts with a ladder. This was to be their last significant action of the war; most of the Division was relieved the following day and was still in reserve when an armistice was signed with Germany on 11 November.