The battle has been raging for hours now. Significant Allied casualties have been inflicted across the multiple waves of infantry. The last light of the day has faded to night at 8pm.

With the passing of August 18th saw the most recent anniversary for the Battle of Long Tan, Australia’s costliest engagement during the war in Vietnam.

Australian and British troops have broken into the German’s frontline. Behind them, are the successive waves of Allied infantry advancing in tow.

“The first thing that struck you, was that the shells were bursting everywhere, mostly high-explosive. You would see machine guns knocking bits off the trees in front of the reserve line and sparking against the wire... When men looked over the top, they saw no man’s land leaping up everywhere in showers of dust and sand... rather confirming our fears that the Germans knew something.”

Having occupied the surrounds of Fromelles for roughly two years, the German’s 6th Bavarian Reserve Division had everything in their favour to secure victory over the pending battle.

Battled harden from the Gallipoli campaign, roughly 300,000 Australians served on the Western Front. Where within a single battle that lasted only 24-hours, 5,533 casualties were claimed from the Australian 5th Division.