A story by Jonathan King last weekend entitled, "The little-known battle led by Australians which turned the tide of World War I" contained a number of factual errors.

The article, about the decisive events at the town of Villers-Bretonneux on Anzac Day in 1918, told of an Australian counter-attack to re-take a town which had been seized the previous day by German troops.

The story reported that then Major-General John Monash "delivered an impassioned pep talk" before the counter-attack in a "powerful use of Anzac Day" to motivate his men, and that his coaching had been successful.

In reality, General Monash played no part in the battle for Villers-Bretonneux, neither in the planning nor the execution. He gave no speech to troops before the attack.

The article also reported that two other Australian generals, Harold "Pompey" Elliott and William Glasgow, led their troops past the town to the north and south respectively. In fact, neither of those generals were with their troops; they remained at headquarters coordinating the assault.