Chapter 14: Arrival in France

March 1916: The Second Division was the first division to move to France; "nursery" section around Armentieres. From Service Record and 2nd DAC War Diary: 20 March 1916 Embarked on H.T. Magdalena Alexandria 27 March 1916 Disembarked at Marseilles Marseilles 1 April 1916 Arrived at Abbeville 7.30am Abbeville AWM photograph of 18th and 19th Battalions at Marseilles, 25 March 1916.(C04393) AWM photo of troop train at rest stop between Marseilles and Le Havre (P02321.053) Soldiers stretch their legs, or pick wildflowers to decorate the train carriages. From Diary of Gunner Kenneth Sydney Day : [AWM records PR01054] 21/3/16 At midday we boarded a train for Le Havre. We were put in cattle trucks, two men and 8 horses per truck. We are having a lot of snow, and it looks fine on all the stations and hills surrounding them. We arrived at Havre at 5p.m. on Wednesday, after sleeping two nights in trucks and freezing all the time. From Lyons it rained all the way through, and the ground was awfully muddy. Havre Railway Station…This is a very long railway station, and contains, I suppose thousands of pounds worth of war material, etc. We stayed at Havre for a week to get our equipment. While here, being new chums, we thought the war was over as one day a brigade of "Froggies" marched past all cheering and singing; but we soon found out our mistake, when speaking to someone, they told us they were going up to the line. Havre is a very nice city, and the lady in charge of the Y.M.C.A. is a West Australian girl. We left Havre on Wednesday night at 11.30 p.m. on cattle trucks as usual for a place called Eyre. Arrived there at 5 p.m. Thursday and drove eight miles to a small town called Lynde. This place is about 15 miles from the firing line, and we can hear the guns all day and night. Left Lynde at 7 a.m. Saturday and took the wagons to a big ammunition factory in Eyre and got them loaded up with Shrapnel and High explosive Shells, and then went back to Lynde. Monday left Lynde at 5 a.m. and set out for a place called Armentieres. This place is only one mile form our support trenches, and is a town between Lille and Ypres. It is well within the range of the german guns, and they are always sending shells into it." From Bill Gammage, The Broken Years Australian Soldiers In The Great War (1974) p 147: " The Australians landed at Marseilles, belied their reputation by almost faultless behaviour in the port, and in a few days entrained for billets in northern France. The journey was their most pleasant since leaving Australia. The green countryside and the cheers and kisses of the populace seemed paradise after Egypt, and second only to one other land and people on earth. But it was not the Western Front, and almost every Australian was eager to man that legendary line." From Laffin, The Battle of Hamel (1999): "On 19 March 1916 troopships carrying the 2nd division reached Marseilles, where the bands, which had not once been able to play at Gallipoli, struck up 'La Marseilles'. The men were wildly excited but the officers retained control, much to the relief of the British staff in the port who had feared riots. Day after day trains carried the Australians through the beautiful countryside of southern France, fresh with spring, into the cold, wet and snowy north. They finished up in billets in barns around St Omer, Aire and Hazebrouck. In the distance the crump of shells and flashes and flares told them that they were indeed approaching the 'real war'. They were in what the army called the 'Nursery', where reinforcements were trained. The Australians considered themselves veterans and they impatiently endured lectures on many subjects, including how to relieve a trench garrison. AWM photo of Armentieres railway station about Dec 1916 (H15699)

Chapter 15: Flanders March - July 1916

From Service Record: 11 March 1916 - 23 May 1916: 2nd Division Ammunition Column (2nd section) 23 May 1916 - 22 June 1916 : 4th Field Artillery Brigade 22 June 1916 - 19 July 1917 : 11th Battery, 4th FAB (England leave c. 22 Jan-2 Feb 1917) From 2nd Division Ammunition Column War Diary (AWM Microfilm) April 1 Abbeville. 7.30am Arrived from Marseilles April 2 Abbeville. Headquarters and No 2 Section taking over horses, mules, harness and wagons. Marched for Blaringhem via Canchy – Le Boisle – Hesdin – Aire April 5 Blaringhem.Arrived and proceeded to La Belle Hotesse April 8 La Belle Hoteese. 2nd DAC filled with ammunition from railhead Triezennes April 12 Marched to Le Petit Mortier. Arrived 1 pm. All gun ammunition handed over to 34th DAC RFA. April 13 Le Petit Mortier.Relieved 34th DAC RFA. Ammunition (gun) taken over in dumps from 34th DAC April 18 Route march and instruction in trench disciplines. April 19 - ditto April 21 At this period the 2nd DAC were supplying daily an average of 25 wagons to report to 20th Army Troops R.E. at 6 pm? and finishing work (in the fire zone) at daylight also about 20 wagons per day transporting Engineers Stores from ERQUINGHEM and 20 wagons transporting ? from LA MOTTE about every 4 days. April 23 Marching Order Inspection, Dismounted April 29 New Syllabus of Training issued April 30 Le Petit Mortier to Grand Sec Bois 2nd DAC less No 3 Section and 6 wagons of No 1 marched to GRAND SEC BOIS via LE VERRIER-NEUF BERQUIN starting 2 pm arrived GRAND SEC BOIS 5.30pm. May 2 Grand Sec Bois. Training at Sec Bois – Harness Fitting, Driving Drill, Battery Drill May 3 -6 Harnessing, Driving and Battery drill May 7 Le Petit Mortier. No 2 Section plus 6 wagons of No 1 relieved No 3 Section at Le Petit Mortier – keeping up supply of ammunition and transport for Engineers May 21 60 Other Ranks attached to FA Bdes. Note’ The majority of them were retained permanently and new (less efficient) were transferred to the DAC in their place. 24 April 1916 Postcard from Percy Smith to Mother

Dear Mother I sent you a letter the other day …there is to say I had a trip to the hot water baths to-day and I can tell you it was acceptable after weeks of "grey-backs". I see by to-day's paper some Russians have landed in France, so things are looking up. What do you think of this card? It is hand worked. Remember me to all. Wishing you many happy returns of your birthday. Yours Percy. Letter from Percy Smith to his sister, Maud Lade: Flanders May 17th 1916 Dear Maud It is quite a time since I have written to you now, but as I write to Mother pretty often it is not so bad. I have had a splendid time in France (Flanders) up to date, and, with the exception of about three weeks of last month when it rained incessantly. The climate is all that you could desire. These last few days have been absolutely perfect, and it is marvellous how quickly the mud drys. This is the middle of spring now, and I can tell you the country is beautiful. The trees are in leaf, and all the hedges just a mass of white, and the fields just a mass of buttercups. The farm-houses are quaint old affairs with their thatched roofs and white walls (The thatch is over a foot thick on most of them) The people are most homely and you just walk into their houses like your own. Of course we pay for everything we get. One can spend a most enjoyable evening in most places. Nearly everyone can speak a little English, and, between their English and our French (about on a par) conversation is most amusing. We have not been doing a great deal of work lately. Carting mettle for roads and transferring horses and mules from one place to another is all. I was up close to the trenches with mettle on several occasions last week, and although there are hundreds of guns round about, never saw a shot fired, except the anti-air-craft. Of course one never knows when a shell will come along, and the roads and villages are torn about some. The farmers go on with their plowing just behind the trenches quite undisturbed, and it is nothing to see the shells land quite close to them, but it never worries them. The Germans have sent gas over on several occasions, but although we had our helmets ready, it did not reach us. It is only a waste of energy sending gas now, as the helmets are so safe. They are funny looking affairs, and go right over the head with two glass places in them for the eyes. There is a rubber tube to exhale with, and although you can exhale through it no air can come in. It is like the valve of a bicycle tube. There is some sort of mixture inside like tar, that preserves the good air for some hours, and the gas seldom lasts more than fifteen minutes. You can see it coming just like smoke on a damp day - rolling very low along the ground. It is most interesting to watch the aeroplanes duelling in the air. Most of them are fitted with a machine-gun, and you can hear it cracking away, hundreds of feet up in the air. Some of the 'planes are very daring and fly quite low over the trenches. The German gunners are not nearly as good as ours, and although their machines never come so low, they lose more than we do. As you know there are all sorts of troops in France now - South Africans, Canadian, West Indies, Aust., New Zealand. Russian and others as well. I have not had a letter since I landed in France although it is now about eight weeks. The 4th L.H. are pretty slow at sending them along. We are taking a lot of sick horses to the Vetinary hospital today and it is nearly time to start must close, with love to all Yours Percy I saw Will Ross the other day. He is now a Lieutenant (first) in the cycling corps. My address is 972 2nd D.A.C. 2nd Australian Divivison British Expeditionary Force France Photograph of soldier wearing a gas mask of the kind mentioned in letter (EZ0051) "The wraparound cloth mask featured a carbon filter (in a unit in the bag attached to the soldier's uniform) that removed impurities from the air. Note the fob watch on the soldier's wrist. " 23 May – Transferred to 4th Artillery Brigade From Positions Occupied by the 4th A.F.A. Brigade in France The 4th FAB was In Action at Armentieres in the period April 8th – July 2nd 1916. 22 June 1916 – Taken on Strength, 11th Battery, 4th FAB From 11th Battery, Australian Field Artillery: Brief History 18 Nov 1915 – 20 Dec 1918 (AWM 224; MSS13) 21 May – 3 June 1916 11th Battery Wagon lines at Just-le-Erquingham, supporting gun positions at Armentieres 4 June – 9 July 1916 Joined 11th Battery 22 June Wagon lines moved to Menen Gate near Steeuwerch 9 July 1916 Left area for St Marie Cappel (and then on to the Somme in subsequent days) “From April 2nd until July 2nd we remained in the same gun positions at Armentieres (the detachments from Plogsteert rejoining the remainder of the battery early in April). Our gun position was naturally a good one, and being situated at the foot of a row of poplars, was practically safe from observation. Great care was exercised in (illegible) as much as possible any movement near the pits in daylight, and in using flash screens for night firing, and thus we were able to remain in position for three months without attracting enemy fire. For some time after arriving here, our ammunition supply was very restricted and practically no firing was done, other that for registration. Later frequent night raids were made by the infantry, and in support of these we fired very heavy barrages. It is interesting to note, when compared with all later barrages, that the rate of fire was usually section fire 6 seconds or even at times 4 secs. There was no heavy shelling in our immediate vicinity during the whole three months and only one man was wounded in the time. While the guns remained in the one position all the time the wagon lines shifted twice, Just-le-Erquingham on May 21st and later to L’Menengate, near Steeuwerch on June 4th. On the night of July 2nd we were relieved by a N.Z. battery and returned to the wagon lines at L’Menengate which we left on the fifth of the month and moved to a farm some little distance from Baillieul. A few gunners went up to gun pits which we were going to take over but receiving sudden orders to move these positions were left and on the ninth we went to St Marie Cappel . . . “ [Unit moves to the Somme] From Bill Gammage, The Broken Years (1974) p. 151-52: "The first months on the Western Front were not severe. The Australians were introduced into the line at Fleurbaix, near Armentieres, where the trenches were not dug, as it is impossible to dig more than one foot without striking water, sand bag breast works are erected about 5 to 6 ft high & 3 to 4 ft thick which gives very solid cover & protection from rifle shots, but would not last very long under artillery fire…Everything is remarkably quiet on this sector, which is at present being held by an English regiment, very seldom is a shot fired…A considerable amount of movement is taking place all day long to which the Germans apparently take no exception, the idea being 'Don't fire at me and I will not fire at you' these sentiments were expressed to me by a British tommy (de Vine, D 27/4/16) Photograph of Fleurbaix, covering an area from Bois Grenier to Fromelles.(H15912A) Their gentle reception relieved many veterans. They contrasted it favourably with the dark days on Gallipoli, and agreed with the new soldiers that war was pleasant in France, because there were no great battles, but short stays in the line, comparative immunity, and comfort in the back areas. In a relatively tranquil atmosphere, the soldiers manned their breastworks, watched aeroplane 'dogfights', patrolled No Man's Land, sat out the German artillery's daily 'strafe', waited for the victory most thought imminent, and willingly undertook the formal raids to which their leaders shortly introduced them." From Diary of Gunner Kenneth Sydney Day (10th Battery): 13/4/16 Thursday. 4th Brigade went into action so we are kept pretty busy now, taking up ammunition and rations. The Tommies have a great craze for polishing all the chain work on the harness, so our drivers have got to start polishing theirs. We are under British Army orders now, and therefore, we have to copy the Tommies. The camp we are at present is mud up to our knees and we have to sleep in tents, which are very damp and muddy. We have only seen the sun a few times since we have been in France so far. It has been raining or dull grey weather all the time. 2/5/16 There is not much to put down for the next week or so, only we see plenty of aircraft; but do not worry much about them as they have to fly very high to dodge our shells. The weather is improving, and the mud is getting hard, so it is not so bad. We go down and have a hot bath once every two weeks, and wash every day from the drains at the sides of the streets. This water is not very clean but is all we can get… While in Armentieres an English officer told me not to mix up with the Belgian civilians, that 75% of them are against us, which afterwards I found out to be correct. During the next week or so, we made a good many trips with ammunition. We do these trips at night, as it is very dangerous to go about in the day time. Left Le Menengate (this is where our wagon lines were) at 3 p.m. for a new camp four miles away, called Le Petit Mortier (umpteen miles from anywhere). Arrived there at 4 p.m. and were put in billets. Each sub has one of its own. Our sub was a very clean one. The barn next door to us was burned down that night. We were all pulled out to get it out, but nobody was hurt except an old woman. 8/5/16 All the B.A.C.s were turned into D.A.C.'s as the former were not much use to us. They have mules to drive now, and have plenty of kicking matches. Date unrecorded (July 1916) " Left Le Petit Mortier at 5 p.m. on 4th July 1916, and drove five miles to a camp called Neuve Eglise. Arrived there at 11 p.m. the same night. It is a very large camp with plenty of grass around it, by way of a change from mud. This is a pretty place near the front, and there are plenty of shells flying about. On the second day I had my first experience with death. There is a 12 " Howitzer Battery each side of us, they roar all night. The germans send back 5.9s trying to hit them. I was standing near the road watching them, when a shell landed 100 yards from me, and went in between some A.C.C. men they can thank their lucky stars that it hit a tree first. It cut the tree into matchwood (a very tree at that). Two men were killed and two were wounded. Two of us carried one of the dead men down to their camp, and I must say I never thought a dead man could be so heavy. All the time they were sending over shells pretty thick, and when you are in the middle of the road, carrying a man that you cannot drop too quickly, you feel just a bit shaky in the knees. Our Battery is in action at a place called Ploegsteert. There are some fine woods round here - one of them is called La Hutte Wood. The Battery had several casualties at this place, but nothing very serious. It got too hot for us at the camp, so next day we left at 5 p.m. We marched through the towns Bailleul, Cassel (where our Australian head quarters are) and finished up at a place called St Marie Cappel at 11.15 that night. It is beautiful country, and well cropped. Stopped there four days and then pushed on to St. Omer. This is a fine town about the same size as Bendigo, with a fine river running through it. While at this place they took our blankets from us, and left us with nothing but a water-proof sheet and overcoats. I do a perish every night. From 11th Battery, Australian Field Artillery: Brief History … on the ninth [July] we went to St Marie Cappel where we remained until the 11th then that day entrained at Arques, detrained at Oeuveus and billeted at Le Chaussee until the 20th and then went to Puchevillers remaining until 27th when we went by road to the “Brickfields” near Albert, camped there until the 30th and went into action in Sausage Valley the same day. . .

Chapter 18: Flanders 9 Sep-24 Oct 1916

From 11th Battery 4th F.A.B Brief History 6 September 1916 left Hem. Entrained at Doullens, arrived Hopoutre Station (Belgium near Poperinghe) the same day and proceeded by road to Berthen, reaching camp same evening. 8 September 1916 left Berthen by road and taking up Wagon Lines at Ouderdoom , guns going straight into action through Ypres (close to Zillebeke) 23 October 1916 Left Ypres area and arrived outside Cassel. Back to Somme Leaving Sausage Valley on Sept 4th we returned to Vadencourt – stayed there one night and next day went to Hem, near Doullens. The following day we entrained at Doullens and detrained at Hopoutre (Poperinghe) the same day, went to Berthen where we billeted until the 8th and that day went to Ouderdoom where wagon lines were established. The guns went into action the same day near Zillebeke Bund(?) and remained in this position until Oct 23rd. This position was very quiet, there being no enemy shelling near us at all and our shooting being confined to occasional retaliation to enemy trench mortars, harassing fire and supporting an occasional raid. Most of the time was spent in improving the position which was made very comfortable. September 10th 1916Postcard to Mother France Dear Mother We have had another move since last I wrote and at present are in very pleasant quarters. The weather has been grand this last few days. I saw Clive the day we arrived and last night I met him again and a long talk with him. Harvesting and hop-picking is in full swing here at present, and after tea some of us go out and help a bit. At least we are supposed to be helping. Hoping you are all well. Percy

Chapter 27: Flanders July to August 1917

From 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B. Brief History 9 July 1917 Left Aveluy, arrived Sarton 10 July Left Sarton, arrived Estrée-Wamin 11 July Left Estrée-Wamin, arrived Ramecourt (outside St Pol) 14 July Left Ramecourt, arrived Aire 15 July Left Aire, arrived Staple 16 July Left Staple, arrived SteenVoorde 18 July Left SteenVoorde, arrived Dickebusch (Swan Edge Corner). Wagon Lines established “On July 9th we left Aveluy and stopping at the following places, Dacton and EstreeWamin , one night each, Ramecourt two nights, and one night at Auvers, Wiltes, Staples, and Steenvoorde, reached Dickesbusch on July 17th. Here we established wagon lines. The other batteries of the division went into action at Spoil Bank, and some of our guns went forward to register positions near Hill 60, a few hundred yds behind the front line. These positions were to be registered so that our attack being successful the other batteries could come into gun positions, already registered. This being done, we became a relieving battery, and took over the various positions in turn, to give the other batteries a spell. “ Painting of horse lines at Dickebusch, 1917. [AWM ART02888] Photo of an ANZAC camp at Dickebusch (15 Nov 1917) [AWM E01380A] From AP Pearson service record: 19 July 1917 Transferred to 2nd D.A.C. from 4th F.A.B Taken on strength Dickebusch 19 July 1917 Crime 9 July 1917: Conduct the prejudice of good order. Military discipline in that he failed to attend an ordered parade. Award: 10 days F.P. No 2 by C.O., 4th F.A. B. on 19/7/17 Total Forfeiture: 10 days pay @ 6/- = 3 pounds. In the field From War Diary, 2nd Division Ammunition Column (DAC) 19 July 22 Other Ranks taken on strength from 11th Battery 4th AFA Brigade (and 22 transferred to 11th Bty) 20 July to 9 Sep At Dickebusch. Lots of mentions of carting ammunition. Engaged in ammunition support for various Flanders battles. Letter to sister Maud Lade August 19th 1917 France August 19th 1917 Dear Maud, I wrote you a short letter or a card just after I received your last letter which is some time ago now. Since then we have been having rather a busy time, mostly night or early morning work carting ammunition to the guns. We have been in this spot just a month now, and are not too far from where we were last Sept & Oct. The line has advanced some since then however, and, although there is still a small salient, it is nothing like so great as it used to be. Our infantry are not in the line yet + for convenience the artillery (three divisions 1st 2nd & 5th) is attached to the 24th England division. The 3rd & 4th divs. Are a little further round on the right of us. Our infantry have had a well deserved spell of about four months now, but am afraid it is nearly at an end now. I was at the gun-pits with ammunition last Thursday morning [16 August, my note] when a big bombardment opened previous to the good advance that came off some time later. [“Battle of Langemarck”, my note] We had just unloaded and were leaving when they started - a quarter to five I think it was. On some rising ground between the eighteen pounders (ie field -guns) and the heavies I saw what was I think the best sight I have seen in France. From the heavies in front came a continuous roar & the flashes lit up everything, while looking back at the field guns the flashes seemed to shoot out of the ground in a thousand places. Besides that there were the numbers of all-coloured lights the Germans send up as signals to their artillery for support. Our infantry send the same sort of signals for artillery support. S.O.S. signals they are called. S.O.S. means, save our souls in army code. The "stunt" considering the mud and previous bad weather was very successful and a few more will leave us in a good position for the winter if the war lasts that long which I am much afraid it will. There is no appearance at present of it being over before. I have not met any of the Strath boys who are here. Clive has been a couple of times to see me lately. He looks well and expects to get home on furlough shortly. I hope he is not disappointed, but it is rather a large order to send men to Australia from France on leave, especially now that all possible shipping space is required for other things. A lot of our mails from Australia lately have been lost consequently letters are few & far between. We are expecting a big Aust. mail in a few days time. It has arrived in England safely so we are sure to get it now. I think I told you previously I received the photos of the children you sent. They are very nice. Must close now with Love to all at Hazel Dell Yours Percy I had a nice parcel from Cornwell not long ago - "tres bon for soldier" as the French say. Tres bon means very good, tres being pronounced tray. From John Giles Flanders then and now The Ypres Salient and Passchendaele, Picardy Publishing, 1979 p. 142: The Third Battle of Ypres was a series of separate struggles which culminated in the fight for Passchendaele in late October and early November. The assaults were: Battle of Plickem Ridge 31 July Battle of Gheluvelt Plateau 10 August Battle of Langemarck 16 August Battle of the Menin Road 20 September Battle of Polygon Wood 26 September Battle of Broodseinde 4 October Battle of Poelcapelle 9 October First Battle of Passchendaele 12 October Second Battle of Passchendaele 26 October – 10 November From John Laffin Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western front 1916-18. Kangaroo Press and Australian War Memorial, 1992: Battle of Plickem Ridge, 31 July – 2 August 1917 This was the opening battle of the Third Battle of Ypres. The 1st and 2nd division were engaged as supports for British divisions. Among their objectives were Shrewsbury Forest and Inverness Copse. The Australian artillery were mainly involved and lost many men – 16 officers and 137 men hit. (p 35) From: John Laffin Western Front 1917-1918 The Cost of Victory. Time-Life books, North Sydney 1988. " In the middle of 1917 the overall situation … was critical for the Allies. The British had been victorious at Messines in June, mainly because of the dash and determination of the Australians and New Zealanders, but it was a relatively minor operation in the great movements of the war as a whole. " (p 8) " With the British and Australian hold on Messines ridge consolidated, the way was open for the more important offensive which Haig, now a Field marshal, planned to deliver from Ypres, or "Wipers" as the troops called it. The official British title for the operation was "The Battle of Ypres 1917". Haig had three consecutive objectives. The first was to capture Passchendaele to Gheluvelt ridge, though ridge was a misleading term for the arc of gently rising ground 10 kilometres east of Ypres. Possession of this higher ground would give security to Ypres, observation towards the east and a jumping off point for an advance to the Belgian submarine port of Zeebrugge. The push would have several phases. The second objective was the strategic railway which ran through Roulers and Thourot. The final objective, another 16 kilometres further on was a line from Courtrai to Zeebrugge. In the event, neither the second nor third objectives was achieved. " (p 12) July 1917 “Third Battle of Ypres” From: CEW Bean Vol IV The AIF in France 1917: “The great bombardment of Ypres began on July 15th.” (p 701) “Leaving the Somme on July 8th and 9th, the artilleries (now two brigades each) of the 1st, 2nd and 5th Australian Divisions after a week’s march reached the bleak village of Dickebusch, three miles south-west of Ypres. In the muddy fields around this cluster of poor cottages they placed their waggon-lines. But the batteries marched out almost immediately under the orders of several of the Fifth Army’s southern divisions, to which their brigades had been allotted, and to which their heavy and medium trench mortar batteries had already gone… The preliminary bombardment had begun before the Australian artillery from the Somme arrived, and the brigades went straight from rest into the feverish tension preceding the battle. …One of the main differences between the conditions of “Third Ypres” and those previously experienced on the Somme was that, whereas at the Somme the German artillery fire lay perhaps more heavily on the forward area, at Ypres it thrashed the roads, bivouacs, and battery positions for miles back. It was no longer blinded by the complete suppression of its airmen. The British airmen were usually able to drive most of their opponents from the vital sectors during certain vital hours, but on numerous occasions during this battle the German air force, though its tactics were less daring, held the upper hand. The result was that, if troops in the front areas suffered less from German bombardment than at the battle of the Somme, those in rear suffered more; even casualty clearing stations far in rear were shelled; and the battery nests at Zillebeke were one of the most important targets. “ (p 704) “The artilleries of the 2nd, 4th and 5th Australian divisions were doing similar work [to that of the 1st Division] but with less opposition, though all were shelled with the new “mustard” gas and suffered steady casualties.” (p 706) “On the 28th, after several postponements, the counter-battery bombardment began. From now on the enemy was to be given no rest, and no chance of getting up ammunition supplies, or reliefs without considerable loss. For three days and nights, the howitzers, heavy and light, pounded the known German batteries, while the eighteen-pounders sprinkled the enemy’s forward battery areas with shrapnel or, by night, drenched them with gas. The last night’s work was particularly severe. In the 2nd Division’s artillery, for example, all batteries opened with gas at midnight and continued steadily till 3.50, when all guns on the battlefield passed to the continuous twelve hours’ task of covering the attack, and to the many calls certain to be made on them later. It was recognised that this must greatly strain the endurance of both artillerymen and guns. “ (p 707) “Many who have described that opening barrage and the responding German flares – probably the most wonderful display of fireworks that was ever seen. Early in the day the infantry whom the 2nd, ist and 5th Divisions artillery were supporting were reported to have reached the second German line, and all these batteries had to go forward. Those of the 2nd division crossed the canal (except the 10th battery which was already beyond it) and, after moving at the trot – there were strict orders against spectacular galloping – their leading batteries opened fire again according to programme, from their new positions north of Hill 60, within 46 minutes, having suffered only slight loss.” (pp 707-08) “ The official British title of the offensive is “The Battle of Ypres, 1917” and of this phase of it (July 31-August 2) the “Battle of Plickem Ridge”. “ (p 707) From CEW Bean Vol IV The AIF in France 1917, p 704: July 22 The 2nd Division’s artillery went on the night of July 22 to the southernmost division, the 24th, and formed a field artillery group with headquarters at the Spoil Bank and most of the batteries just south of the canal. Photo by Frank Hurley of transport on the way to the front. August 1917. [AWM E02060] The role of the Australian artillery and drivers in August From: John Laffin Western Front 1917-1918 The Cost of Victory. Time-Life books, North Sydney 1988. " The great offensive began at 3.50 am on July 31. The only Australian division heavily engaged at that moment was the 3rd…The 4th Division…was in close support." (p 13) "When, at the end of July, the Diggers of the 1st, 2nd (my emphasis) and 5th Divisions were moved north into rear areas of Flanders, they were fit and rested and as highly trained as any units on the Western Front. At this period the Australian artillery, detached from its own divisions, was still heavily and dangerously engaged. Infantry units were frequently relieved but the gunners had to stay on, supporting one division after another. The gunners themselves said that the bravest men were the artillery drivers, who day and night took their horse-drawn wagons through enemy barrages to get ammunition to the guns. Major R.G. Manton, commanding the 15th Battery told a war correspondent, 'Wagon-driving was looked on almost as a cold-footed job before, one which did not take a man into action. But like all those Australians who were supposed to be in fairly safe jobs, the drivers take a pride in showing what they can do when they come into the thick of battle.' The 1st, 2nd and 5th Divisions were camped in the area around Hazebrouck. In this town was the HQ of General Sir William Birdwood, who still held overall command of the five Australian and the one new Zealand divisions…" (p 17) From CEW Bean Vol IV The AIF in France 1917: “From the August fighting the Australian infantry was so fortunate as to be spared, but the detached artillery bore its share. That of the 2nd Division, whose new battery positions were north of Hill 60, now began to suffer severely, but the impact of the suffering had somewhat changed; in this morass of a battlefield (on August 4 one of the 2nd Division’s guns was so bogged that only one wheel could be seen above the mud) the services of supply bore a heavy share of the strain. A war correspondent records on August 17th a statement of Major Manton, whose battery, the 15th, had so far lost 35 men. Manton said that in this phase of the battle the palm should go, not to those who, like himself, worked at the battery positions, but to the drivers from the waggon-lines at Dickebusch, who daily and nightly brought up ammunition across the mud. These Australians (he added) had won themselves a special name on this battlefield for the way in which they went straight through the nightmare barrages laid on the well known tracks which they and their horses had to follow. Where many might hesitate, these men realised that the loss would be less, and the job better done, if they pushed on without hesitation.” (p 729) “It was looked on almost as a cold-footed job before”, Manton said, “one which did not take a man into action. But. . . . like all those Australians who were supposed to be in fairly safe jobs, the drivers took a pride in showing what they could do when they came into the thick of it.” He added that even the animals came to know when a shell was coming close; and if, when halted, the horses heard the whine of an approaching salvo, they would tremble and sidle closer to their drivers, burying their muzzles in the men’s chests.” (p 729n) “It was undoubtedly through the conduct of the drivers, as well as through that of the gun-crews and observers, that the Australian divisional artilleries in this battle – as General Gough wrote when they left his army in September – “earned the admiration and praise of all.” “Artillery casualties were still high, and the provision of officers with sufficient experience for battery command became a recognised problem. Other losses were replaced by drawing constantly on the ammunition columns at Dickebusch, and also by attaching reinforcements to the batteries. Whereas infantry in this battle were quickly relieved, the artillery had to stay on, supporting division after division. Some regular relief was obtained by officers and men at the battery positions changing over with those at the waggon-lines, and some rest was also necessarily provided through destruction of guns in action. “ ( p 730) Photo of Australian artillery in the area near Hill 60, 22 August 1917. 105th Howitzer Battery.[AWM E01030] Australian artillery in the third Battle of Ypres. The 105th Battery (4.5 inch Howitzers) in action in the area near Hill 60, in which the artillery of the 1st and 2nd Division took position on 31 July 1917. The first day of the Third Battle of Ypres. Almost the whole of the artillery of the AIF (which suffered severely), but none of its infantry, was engaged in the main attack which opened the Battle. The guns advanced to this position on the heels of the British infantry two hours after the commencement of the attack. In the distance is Zillebeke Lake. Comment on August events from CEW Bean Vol IV The AIF in France 1917 Adapted from p. 720 ff: The Tragedy of August The early part of August saw huge rain downpours: “. . . the rain continued to pour beyond all reasonable expectation. Even in the drained country far behind the battlefield the farmers’ carts had in places to splash for half-a-mile through shallow lakes of water on their way to the market towns. Streams and drains, their courses damned by the tearing up of the ground, were no more than a string of waterfilled mud-holes, in many places impassable. “ After the 12th, there was a temporary improvement in the weather. “The battlefield was still largely waterlogged, and Haig in his despatch after the fight [on the 12th] admitted that it would have been preferable to wait before striking his second main blow. But if he had done so he would have had to relieve all the troops, and there was no certainty that the weather conditions might not become worse. . . he was deeply convinced that the Allies could not afford to give them any respite, and was not prepared to wait longer for the sake of making success certain. . . “ p. 727: “Of the continual local attacks that had been made in August, little is said in the official despatches, the reader of which might almost gather, that, apart from the second general attack of August 16th, the operations of August were regarded by Haig as being of minor importance. Yet in this maintenance of pressure by the old Somme methods, and in the least adapted for attrition, lay the tragedy of the August offensive. “ “The fighting in August overtaxed and discouraged British troops to an extent which their stubborn Commander-in-Chief did not realise, but which was obvious to everyone in touch with the true feeling on that battlefield. . . The German troops saw it clearly, as the British infantry staggered through the mud to attack them, and it was from the statements of German prisoners that some notion of the facts, which gave cause for anxiety, came to the ears of General Gough. The truth was that these strokes, aimed at the morale of the German army, were wearing down the morale of the British. Whether British commanders were aware of the facts or not, it was the August fighting that gave to the Third Battle of Ypres its baneful reputation. The fighting at Passchendaele two months later merely added to this. “ August 16th : “Crown Prince Rupprecht, who had often been impressed by the staunch bearing of British prisoners, was shocked on August 16th by one of them saying that they would gladly have shot down the officers who ordered them to attack. . . . German historians admit that their own troops were suffering to the limit of endurance; von Kuhl even believes that they suffered more than the attacking British, and in some respects their morale unquestionably suffered. But this effect was much alleviated by the fact that they won most of these fights, and the British lost them. The German official history claims the battle of August 16 as “undoubtedly a great success” for the Germans.” Photo of flooded road near Ypres, August 1917 [AWM E00626] "A 13th Brigade motor vehicle on the rain flooded road during the rains of August. This road, in a back area in Flanders, was photographed as evidence of the weeks of rain which followed the British attack on 31 July at Ypres. The rain, commencing on 1 August, gradually brought the British advance to a standstill. It was eventually determined to wait for drier weather. " From: John Laffin Western Front 1917-1918 The Cost of Victory. Time-Life books, North Sydney 1988. "Field Marshal Haig reviewed the 2nd and 5th Divisions on parade on August 29 and commented to Major General Brudenell White, the AIF's chief staff officer, that they could not have marched better had they endured years of peacetime training. White, who had been largely responsible for winning the Australians their long rest, already knew this. Photo of 2nd Division inspection by Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, 29 August 1917. [AWM E00681] "...due to inclement weather, the afternoon's planned aquatic sporting activities were postponed." The 3rd Division came out of line…but the much-used 4th Division, deleted and tired, was not withdrawn to rest until mid-August. C.E.W. Bean, the ever-present official war correspondent …noticed that, at least in the well rested and reinforced 1st, 2nd and 5th Divisions, a "marked eagerness" came over the men as action became imminent." "Each man had faced up to whatever private problems this battle had in store for him, " Bean said. "There flew around the messes grim jokes as to whom should inherit his friend's boots or binoculars, and, despite old dreads and horrid memories, men were obviously keen to put into use the drill they had been practising and confident that they could outplay the enemy. The excitement of the great game, which must be won, mingled with their other feelings." (p 17) "On the very day, August 29, 1917, that Haig inspected the AIF 2nd and 5th Divisions…General Plumer and the corps commanders knew that the task of capturing the key position on Passchendaele Ridge would be given to I Anzac Corps. It had also been decided that II Anzac Corps would enter the battle first to relieve and then support I Anzac." (p 26) From Patsy Adam-Smith The Anzacs. Nelson 1978 " In the eleventh century Ypres was the greatest town in Flanders and some of the beautiful buildings of the Middle Ages were still standing when World War 1 began. The beautiful Cloth Hall, a rich Gothic architectural jewel, had been battered to rubble by early 1915 by German gunners with high explosive shells. It became to Australian soldiers as famous a landmark as the diving Virgin of Albert. Ypres is only a few miles from the French frontier and for 800 years it had sustained many sieges, many occupations. (It had been attacked by the British in 1385 and again in 1680.) By 1905 it was described as a phantom town, a cemetery, deserted by commerce but carefully guarding the great buildings erected in its years of prosperity. The best known of these had been the Cloth Hall. By 1916 there was scarcely an Australian soldier who did not send home a postcard of the ruins of this building. In the closing months of 1917 the third battle of Ypres was a watershed of men affected and changed by the years of war and the ceaseless un-human life. The knew the name of the city but not its pronunciation and called it - sometimes wrote it - Wipers. 'No battle in the war could compare in dreadfulness,' the German official monograph stated. 'This battle in Flanders was the worst of the war, so bloody.' It comprised eleven full-scale attacks, five of which the Australians spearheaded. (The Canadians were the spearhead for another four.) The Australian casualties were 38 000 in eight weeks and this caused an insoluble problem of reinforcements. The battles, according to a German authority, 'wore down the German strength to a degree at which the damage could no longer be repaired.' Most Australians call the battle Passchendaele because it was in this area they fought. Others call it Menin Road because it was along this road (which led into the ancient city) that they tramped to their various areas. The road became the via dolorosa along which men limped, were wounded, died and despaired. Almost one million men were 'lost' in this Third Battle of Ypres, half of them British (including Commonwealth) and half german, and the eight offensives in the mud made 'Wipers' a name to make men shudder. 'After ipers I knew I'd get home,' Thorvald Kook said, 'To live through Passchendaele was to come out the other side of hell.' Neither side knew exactly what it was fighting for, nor even the confines or content of the contested territory. They just ranged backwards and forwards over the churned-up, sickened soil. The third battle of Ypres has been called 'the greatest battle of materiel in history'. The British had a gun to every six yards, the French one to every two-and-a-half yards. The Germans had built small concrete forts, known as 'pill-boxes', and with their four-foot thick walls could shelter numbers of men until the artillery barrage had passed, when they could rush out and attack the attacking infantry. To combat this, a 'creeping' artillery-barrage was introduced with the infantry following close behind the artillery as it moved across, so that they were able to surround a pill-box before the Germans could emerge. Some had only a door at the back, others were loop-holed to enable machine guns to fire from within, and all around the fighting became particularly fierce." (pp 280-281)

Chapter 28: Flanders September 1917

From Unit War Diary 2nd DAC 1 – 9 September Located at Dickebusch 10 September Moved to Busseboom. Located there throughout month Photo of loaded artillery limber passing Ypres Cloth Hall. 14 Sep 1917 [AWM E00717] Photo by Frank Hurley of Menin Road, 14 Sep 1917. Shows railway line and two dead horses. [AWM E00700] From John Laffin Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western front 1916-18. Kangaroo Press and Australian War Memorial, 1992: Battle of Menin Road 20-21 September 1917 This was the last of four battles in September and October in which the AIF was engaged. They were part of a general offensive to push the Germans off the Passchendaele-Messines Ridge. For the Australians it was a fight to control Menin Road ridge, the high ground which the road crossed on the way east. The 1st and 2nd Divisions were at the centre of a 13 km British front. They had a front of about 1800 metres. The advance beginning at 6am took the Australians to the north edge of Glencorse Wood, Hannebeek Swamp and the bogs of Nonne Boschen Wood. By noon on the 1st and 2nd Divisions had taken all their objectives and were at the western end of Polygon Wood. (p 32) From: John Laffin Western Front 1917-1918 The Cost of Victory. Time-Life books, North Sydney 1988. "White's attention to detail in planning was exemplary and senior AIF officers saw to it that all ranks understood the operation. Large models of the battlefield were laid out in fields and studied by thousands of troops. Standard military message forms were given another dimension: on the back of the forms White had printed maps of the ground to be fought over, together with useful notes about the condition of tracks. When an officer or NCO sent a message to his headquarters he could refer it to positions he marked on the map. It was an excellent idea and White was the first to use it." (p 28) "On September 16 the tense but determined attack troops began to enter the forward zone and were bivouacked in all available shelter, including a captured German tunnel under Menin Road. Others sheltered behind the battered but still stout ramparts of Ypres…it was the battle to control Menin Road ridge, the high ground which the road crossed on the way to Menin… Soon after dark on the eve of battle, signals, engineer and pioneer officers put up signposts for each unit and laid tapes for direction finding and for the start line. The front tapes were less than 150 metres distant from the nearest German positions. Everything that could be done to make the offensive a success had been done. British and Australian artillery had been pounding the German lines for five days… Shortly before the start time an officer of the 2nd Division's 7th Machine Gun Company was misdirected and ran into a German patrol. He desperately tried to tear to pieces an operations order he was carrying, but the Germans overpowered him. Thus warned, the German command bombarded the sector shown on the map at 5.35 am (5 mins before it was due to start at 5.40) Some casualties occurred but the start was not delayed and at 5.40 am on the the fine, dry morning of September 20 no fewer than 11 divisions of the Second and Fifth Armies struck the Germans on a 13-kilometre front. The AIF 1st and 2nd Divisions, with a combined front of 1,800 metres, and a Scottish division, were at the centre of the assault force along Westhoek Ridge and facing Glencorse Wood. This was the first occasion in the war on which two Australian divisions attacked side by side an the men were excited about it. AIF officers had difficulty explaining this elation to British and other Allied officers. It was a matter of extended mateship, of knowing that other battalions of Australians were in support and relying implicity on them. As General White had planned all waves of the Australian infantry advanced in a single line just behind the heavy protective barrage of bursting shells. With one gun to every four-and-a-half metres, the rolling barrage churned up curtains of dust, and to C.E.W. Bean, who was yet again present to record the AIF's operations, it looked for all the world like an Outback dust storm blowing up. Following the remorseless battering ram of shells, the Australians overcame enemy infantry opposition and advanced steadily for almost a kilometre to their first objective, known as the Red Line. It ran along a sunken road, the north edge of Glencorse Wood to Hannebeek Swamp and bogs in the Nonne Boschen Copse. After an hour's pause, while each unit was reorganised and resupplied by the carrying parties which followed them, they followed their artillery's barrage another 500 metres to the second objective, the Blue Line. This was fixed from Iron Cross redoubt in the north to Albert Redoubt, Verbeck Farm and part of Polygon Wood in the south which they also captured with spirited efficiency. It reflected their rehearsals. Now they had a two-hour wait until they attacked the Germans' Wilhelm Line, which was roughly parallel to and 200 metres beyond the Blue Line. .. Inevitably German counter-shelling caused casualties… Where the Australians were held up, decisive action at junior level kept the momentum going…(Second Lieutenant Fred Birks' actions earned him a posthumous VC) The fighting on September 20 was a victory for the entire British force involved and especially the 1st and 2nd Divisions…By noon that hot day they had taken all their objectives and were at the western end of Polygon Wood. White's orders stressed that no troops were to go further than this, but adventurous individuals and small groups of Diggers crept forward in search of more prisoners and souvenirs. Many officers had by now given up trying to prevent this practice of "prospecting", which the soldiers of the other Allied armies regarded as lunacy, because of the risks.' (pp 29-32) Photo by Frank Hurley of view from Stirling Castle, 23 Sep 1917 [AWM E01409] "23 September 1917 View from Stirling Castle which commanded an extensive sweep over the Australian lines, showing two derelict tanks and, in the distance, Sanctuary Wood. Churned by shells and flooded with heavy rains, the ground became a quagmire, a condition that was almost general through the Ypres Sector during the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917. " Photo of artillery limbers in silhouette on Ypres Road. 25 Sep 1917. [AWM E00829] From CEW Bean Vol IV The AIF in France 1917 Field Artillery supporting 1st Division for this battle: “A” Group (Lieut-Col H.E. Cohen) – 3rd, 6th and 12th Aust Army F.A. Brigades “B” Group (Lieut-Col W,G. Allsopp) – 7th and 8th A.F.A Brigades (3rd Aust Div Artillery) Supporting 2nd Division “C” Group (Lieut Col T.I.C. Williams) – 10th and 11th A.F.A Brigades (4th Australian Div Artillery) “D” Group (Lieut Col J.L. Shellshear) – 4th and 5th A.F.A. Brigades (2nd Aust Div artillery) (p 744) “The battle of September 20th (Menin Road), like those that succeeded it, is easily described inasmuch as it went almost precisely in accordance with plan. The advancing barrage won the ground; the infantry merely occupied it, pouncing on any points at which resistance survived. Whereas the artillery was generally spoken of as supporting the infantry, in this battle the infantry were little more than a necessary adjunct to the artillery’s efforts. The barrage was the densest that had ever yet covered Australian troops. ‘Excellent – the best ever put up’, ‘as near to perfect as possible’, ‘magnificent in accuracy and volume’ were descriptions applied to it afterwards by Australian officers. Nevertheless it may fairly be claimed that infantry such as the Australian gave the artillery the best prospect of success. Provided the going was good , the difficulty was, never, to keep Australians up to the barrage, but, almost always, to keep them out of it.” (p 761) From John Laffin Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western front 1916-18. Kangaroo Press and Australian War Memorial, 1992: Battle of Polygon Wood 26-28 September 1917 Began at 5.30am on 26 September when the British and Dominion guns opened on a 10 km front. The intention was to build on the gains made during the battle of Menin Road. 4th and 5th Divisions. The 4th Division’s battalions captured all their objectives – woods, blockhouses, trenches and suffered 1717 casualties. The more heavily engaged 5th div. Suffered 5471 dead and wounded. (p 36) Today the wood is smaller than in 1917 but still large. The remains of three German pillboxes captured by the Australians lie deep among the trees but few trenchlines remain. (p 38) Photo of 2nd Australian Divisional Artillery Column moving along Poperinghe Road 30 Sep 1917. [AWM E00871]

Chapter 29: Flanders October 1917 to 8 April 1918

From Unit War Diary 2nd DAC Located at Busseboom. 3 October 2nd Australian Division YMCA established for convenience of troops at 1. Menin Gate. 2. A.D.S 3. Lille Gate 7 October Congratulatory message was received from the Commander-In-Chief respecting the notable achievements of the 2nd Australian Division in the operations of 4 /10/17. Similar messages were also received from the Army Commander and 5th Australian Division Commander. 9 0ctober General Birdwood despatched the following message:- “Well done again 2ND AUSTRALIAN DIVISION! Please convey my heartiest congratulations to Brigade and Battalion Commanders, and to all officers and men alike on magnificent work done after the hardship they have suffered.” Other messages of a similar nature were received from the Prime Minister of Australia. An appreciative reply, with further highly complementary references to the achievement of Australian Troops sent by General BIRDWOOD. 19 October 100 Other Ranks transferred to 4th and 5th Bdes respectively – 50 to each Bde. From Service Record 19 October 1917 Transferred to 4th F.A.B from 2nd D.A.C 20 October 1917 T.O.S. posted to 11th Battery 4th FAB ex 2nd D.A.C. 9 November 1917 Letter to 3rd echelon re-conf of rank. 8 January 1918 To England on leave [Sally - did he visit the family in Cornwall again?] 27 January 1918 Rejoined ex leave 8 February 1918 Crime: England 23 Jan 1918 W.O.A.S. Absent without leave (overstaying leave) From 7.30am 23.1.18 till reported to AIF Hdqrs on 24.1.18 Award: Forfeits 2 days pay by C.O. 4th Aust F.A. Bde, on 8.2.18 Total forfeiture: 4 days pay. From 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B. Brief History 11 September Left Dickebusch and arrived Ouderdoorn. Wagon Lines made at Howe Dump (Belgian Battery Corner), taking 5 days to establish. Rest of September, October to 20 November Wagon Lines at Howe Dump 4 October Took part in Broodseinde attack 8 October – 21 November Hannebeke Wood. Positions at Zonnebeke 21/22 November Guns Left Howe Dump, arrived Le Petit Mortier (outside Sailly). WL remained at Howe Dump 22 November Left Le Petit Mortier, arrived Le Romarin 22 November – 21 December Le Romarin. 4th FAB Camped Sailly 21 December – 31 January 1918 Wagon Lines at Le Romarin. Guns In Action “Stinking Farm” near Messines Photo of 4th Field Artillery Brigade' camouflaged 18 pounders near Ploegsteert, 26 Dec 1917 [AWM E01454] 31 January 1918 Left Le Romarin, arrived Vieux Berquin 3 February Left Vieux Berquin , arrived Le Croix 4 February Left Le Croix, arrived Wauraus (?) 5 February Left Wauraus, arrived Jourry 5 February – 7 March Jourry – billeted 8 March Left Jourry, arrived Wauraus 9 March Left Wauraus, arrived Malt House Farm 10 March Left Malt House Farm, arrived outside Ballieul 12 March Left Ballieul, arrived Le Romarin 12 March – 3 April Le Romarin. 4th F.A.B. in action Messines Messines road sign [AWM RELAWM10718] 4 April Left Le Romarin, arrived Vieux Berquin. Movement back to The Somme 8 April 2am. Left Vieux Berquin, entrained at Strazeel railway station, arrived St Roch station (outside Amiens), disentrained, by road to Villers Bocage, arrived same day “The attack on Sept 20th being successful we moved forward to a position in rear of Westhoeke Ridge and remained there until Oct 8th, taking part in the Broodseinde attack on Oct 4th. We then moved forward to Hannebecke Wood where we remained until Nov 21st. During this time positions were taken up near Zonnebeke, but it was impossible to use them owing to the intense evening fire and we returned to the Hannebeke Wood position. Returning to the Wagon Lines , which had been moved up to Howe Dump, on Nov 21st, we moved from there to Sailly the next day and remained there until Dec 22nd, when the WL was established at Le Rom… [Sally: Messines in margin note] the guns going into action at “Stinking Farm” near Messines where they remained until Jan 31st on which day we moved to Vieux Berquin and from there moved, on Feb 3 to Le Croise, near Staples, stayed there one night, and for the next night at Wouvraus, arriving at Jourry on Feb 5th, were billeted there until March 8th. Leaving jourry on march 8th and staying that night at Wovraus and the next night at Malt House farm and two days near Balieul, arrived back at Ros… (Messines) on the 12th, the guns again going into action at Stinking Farm where they remained until April 4th, when we moved back to L-Vieux Buquin and entrained at Strazeel on April 8th, detrained the same day at Amiens and went by road to Villers Bocage …” From John Laffin Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western front 1916-18. Kangaroo Press and Australian War Memorial, 1992: Battle of Broodseinde Ridge, Ypres 4 –5 Oct 1917 This was the most important of the Australians’ actions of late 1917 and potentially the most decisive. After the Battle of Polygon Wood the 1st and 2nd Divisions replaced the 4th and 5th in the front line and were joined by the 3rd. The 4 Aust and NZ Divisions were in the centre of a line of 12 divisions. Broodseinde Ridge was the Germans’ main defensive line and from its greater height the German staff viewed most of the Allied salient. The Australians reached their start positions on the night of October 3 and lay in shell holes under a steady drizzle. Unknown to the British command, the Germans had planned an attack for 4 October at precisely the same time as the British attack. At 5.20am the German guns opened, to be followed by a trench mortar bombardment. About one Australian in seven was hot. The Australian barrage began at 6 am and the surviving Diggers scrambled up and moved forward. At that moment 30 metres in front of them, infantry of the German 212th Regiment rose in front of them to begin their advance. The Australian Lewis gunners fired first, the enemy broke and few survived the Australian bayonet charge. The action continued, and the taking of the ridge was one of The AIF’s great successes, despite losses. (p 25-26) Battle of Passchendaele (Passendale) 9-12 October 1917 NB The entire Third Battle of Ypres is sometimes called the Battle of Passchendaele. For the AIF the battle began on 9 October when the 2nd Division formed the flank for an attack by the British 66th Division. It was a desperate fight and there were many casualties. The Australians were forced to withdraw that night. The second phase began on 12 October with the 3rd Division and the NZ Division attacking side by side. One unit carried an Australian flag to be planted in Passchendale when they captured it. After a night of rain and gas-shelling the attack went in after inadequate British shellfire. After much confusion, great loss and great gallantry, the attack came to a halt. About 20 Australians, mostly of the 38th Battalion, actually reached Passchendaele Church. Completely isolated and unsupported they were forced to withdraw to their own lines. The 4th Division, itself under great pressure and having suffered terribly, pulled back. The attack had failed. The 3rd Division suffered 3199 casualties in 24 hours. (p 35) Photo of Australians resting on Menin Road with a cup of cocoa at an Australian Comforts Fund canteen 21 oct 1917. [AWM E01083] Photo by Frank Hurley of Australians on the way to the front line with the ruins of Ypres in the background 25 Oct 1917 [AWM E04612] Photo by Frank Hurley of 10th Field Artillery Brigade soldiers on duckboards in Chateau Wood near Passchendaele 29 oct 1917 [AWM E01220] Photo by Frank Hurley of soldier rescuing a comrade on duckboards, Chateau Wood, 29 Oct 1917. [AWM E04599] Photo by Frank Hurley of debris lined road through Chateau Wood 5 Nov 1917 [AWM E01233] From CEW Bean The Australian Imperial Force in France during the main German offensive, 1918. C.E.W. Bean. University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1937: 16 Dec - 29 Jan and 8 Mar - 3 Apr 2nd Division : Ploegsteert “Throughout the winter of 1917-18, the back areas at Messines were extremely quiet. The British were expected to have a renewed offensive in spring, and the artillery were ordered to harass the enemy by all means. Also meant to push on with a system of defences. But the attitude of the British command suddenly changed. Instead of themselves training for an offensive, all corps were to prepare for a German offensive in the spring. Order from Haig Dec 14th - construction of a formidable defensive system, and conservation of the troops and training of them for a defensive battle.” (p 36) “On March 9th and 10th the activity of the German artillery on the Messines front began noticeably to increase, and the impression spread that this activity was connected with the approach of the date for the main German offensive.” (p 48) Photo of two soldiers in Ploegsteert Wood, in front of a sign reading "Picadilly". 1917 [AWM H02093]