The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918

Volume four of this momentous Official History opens with the plans for the next twelve months, after the terrible losses at Fromelles and on the Somme in 1916. But these plans were set back after the extensive German evacuation that saw them entrench themselves behind well-prepared defences, which for the rest of 1917 the allies attacked, with very little real success.

Plans of the Allies for 1917. The Winter Ends. Stormy Trench. The German Plan 1917 and its Immediate Result. The Germans Retire. The Occupation of Bapaume. Discord in the High Command. The Advanced Guards. The Taking of the Outpost Villages. Arras and the Genesis of the Bullecourt Plan. The First Battle of Bullecourt. Lagnicourt - The German Counter-Stroke. Nivelle’s Offensive and the Second Bullecourt Plan. The Second Battle of Bullecourt. The Second Battle of Bullecourt (II). The Flanders Plan. The 3rd Division. The Battle of Messines - June 7th.  Holding the Gains at Messines. The Third Battle of Ypres. Step by Step. (1) The Menin Road. Second Step - Polygon Wood. Third Step - Broodseinde Ridge. The Plan Breaks Down. Passchendaele I - October 9th. Passchendaele II - October 12th.

The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australian involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by C.E.W. Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes, and was published between 1920 and 1942. The first seven volumes deal with the Australian Imperial Force while other volumes cover the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force at Rabaul, the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Flying Corps and the home front; the final volume is a photographic record. Unlike other official histories that have been aimed at military staff, Bean intended the Australian history to be accessible to a non-military audience. The relatively small size of the Australian forces enabled the history to be presented in great detail, giving accounts of individual actions that would not have been possible when covering a larger force.