But nothing daunted these fresh and gallant men.

Their sacrifices, as Marshal Haig has recently said, addressing General O'Ryan, who commanded the 27th Division in this fight, were "made with a courage and devotion unsurpassed in all the dread story of this war.

The memory of our great attack on the Hindenburg line on September 29th, 1918, in which the 27th American division, with troops from all parts of the British Empire, took so gallant and glorious a part, will never die, and the service then rendered by American troops will be remembered with gratitude and admiration throughout the British Empire." That misty September day marks indeed a culminating moment in the history of the Empire and the war.

It took six more days of sharp fighting to capture the last remnants of the Hindenburg line, and six more weeks before Germany, beaten and demoralised by sea and land, accepted the Armistice terms imposed by the Allies.

But on September 29th, the war was for all practical purposes won.