What the Infantry Did: Individuals and Initiative at Poziѐres and Mouquet Farm

What the Infantry Did: Individuals and Initiative at Poziѐres and Mouquet Farm
Watch Australian War Memorial historian Meleah Hampton. Her seminar explores the actions of the Australian infantry at Poziѐres and Mouquet Farm in 1916 and the ways in which a single infantryman could, or could not make a difference to the outcome of war. She draws on her extensive research and analysis of the wide range of messages written in the field and handwritten notes of orders and reports that exist in the Memorial's archives.
The infantry in the Great War constituted a particular part of an arsenal of weapons available to the Army. Their methods of combat and success were heavily dependent on the technology and firepower accessible to them. This did not however, make them completely helpless on the battlefield. Small groups of infantry and even individuals could, and did, demonstrate initiative that could influence the success or failure of an entire battle.