strength of some and in the course of the day captured and . They took all their objectives and advanced to a distance of about on a front. The Australian casualties were and men The attack closed as an Allied victory, with and captured. However, during the battle, all but one member of "D" Company of the 1st Australian Battalion refused to take part in an attack to help a neighbouring British unit. The protest was against the battalion being sent back into combat when it had been about to be relieved. On 21 September 119 members of the company were subsequently imprisoned for desertion; this was the AIF's largest incidence of "combat refusal" during the war and formed part of a general weakening in the force's discipline due to the stresses of prolonged combat. The charges of desertion in the face of the enemy (a crime that could mean execution by firing squad in World War I) were reduced to the lesser crime of being AWOL. All bar one soldier had their charges dropped after the armistice in November. Aftermath Although Épehy was not a massive success, it signalled an unmistakable message that the Germans were weakening and it encouraged the Allies to take further action with the Battle of St. Quentin Canal, before the Germans could consolidate their positions. The failure of the III Corps to take their last objective – the outpost villages, would mean that the American forces would face a difficult task due to a hurried attack prior to the battle. The Deelish Valley Cemetery holds the grave sites of around from the 12th (Eastern) Division who died during this battle. The nearby cemetery of Épehy Wood Farm Cemetery also holds the graves of men who died in this battle and the previous battles around this area. Notes – The British and Australian official histories both state an Australian strength of Major-General Sir Archibald Montgomery's The Story of the Fourth Army, written apparently with access to British Army documents states different figures; infantry engaged, taken, captured and casualties of The former figure has been used in this article but the difference should be noted. C. E. W. Bean: Volume VI – The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Allied Offensive, 1918 lists engaged but uses the figure of (as the later figure includes the various battalion and brigade headquarters staff). References Published References A.