Thousands of Australians are expected to perform acts of kindness on Thursday to commemorate the victims of last month's Bondi terror attack, as the Jewish tradition of mitzvah spreads across faiths and backgrounds. A mitzvah, which is a core value in Judaism, has come to mean any charitable act and is being requested of Australians to mark the national day of mourning.
The aim of the Allied commander in this part of the Western Front, Field Marshal Haig, was to break out of the Ypres salient and recapture key Belgian ports and a railway junction vital to the German Army. After unusually heavy and persistent rains, the battlefield turned into a horrific sea of mud and water-filled shell holes, which reduced the advance to just a few miles.
It was still early in the morning when a rain of fire fell on the forts and trenches of Verdun. With 300 trainloads of ammunition, the Germans had been firing their artillery for hours on end. The thundering of cannons could be heard 150 kilometers (93 miles) away. The chief of the German General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, had given the order to attack the French.