Chapter 16: The Somme 9 July - 6 September 1916

From 11th Battery, Australian Field Artillery: Brief History 18 Nov 1915 – 20 Dec 1918 (AWM 224; MSS13)

9 July 1916 Left L’Menengate, arrive St Marie Cappel

11 July 1916 Left St Marie Cappel, road to Arques, entrained.

12 July Arrived Longue (?) Siding (outside Amiens), road to La Chaussee

13 July – 19 July Camped La Chaussee

20 July Left La Chaussee, arrived Puchevillers

20 – 26 July Camped Puchvillers

27 July Left Puchvillers by road, arrived Albert “Brickfields”

27 – 29 July Camped Albert Brickfields

From Battleground Europe: Courcelette by Paul Reed, the Brickfields are described:

On the outskirts of Albert was the Brickfields, a large billeting area among an old brick factory. "... an inhospitable area of chalky ground, scantily covered with grass, on a low ridge west of town. Bare and uninviting at the best of times.
On the Brickfields the men quickly discovered that boxes of Small Arms ammunition could be built into substantial walls; and when a tarpaulin was thown over them an adequate hutment was the result. Diligently they applied themselves to the task of creating comfort,their industry accelerated by the downpour which began to drench the place. Huddling within their improvised shelters, they paid little heed to the long-range shelling which was scattered indiscriminately over the area."

30 July Left Brickfields and established Wagon Lines at Bécourt Wood

30 July – 15 August Battery in action in Sausage Valley. Wagon Lines at Bécourt Wood. Infantry attacked Pozieres 4 Aug.

Photo of funeral at Bécourt during August 1916. [AWM EZ0064] "A chaplain reads the burial service beside the grave of a fallen Australian in a cemetery in a wood, near a chateau that housed a casualty clearing station. The burial party standing around the grave includes English and Australian soldiers. The man on the far right has a 2nd Division colour patch on his sleeve. Note the stretcher in the foreground."

Photo of artillery drivers at Bécourt Wood, July 1916. One is identified as Lieutenant Frederick George Fitzpatrick of Heyfield, Vic (far right); all others are unidentified. The gunner on the left has two postcards or photographs propped in front of his boots, and a trench biscuit balanced on his knee. Cooking utensils and stores are lined up along the edge of the 'roof', which is covered with vegetation for camouflage purposes. (AWM C00474)

16 August Left Bécourt Wood

17 August Arrived Vadencourt Wood, between Warloy and Contay

17 – 22 August Camped Vadencourt Wood

23 August Left Vadencourt Wood, arrived back at Bécourt Wood Wagon Lines

23 August- 3 Sept Battery in action Sausage Valley

4 Sept Left Bécourt Wood, arrived Vadencourt Wood that night

5 Sep Left Vadencourt Wood, arrived Hem

6 Sep Left Hem. Entrained at Doullens, arrived Hopoutre Station, near Poperinge. Road to Berthen

“A few gunners went up to gun pits which we were going to take over [ near L’Menengate] but receiving sudden orders to move these positions were left and 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 La 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, wagon lines being established at Bécourt Wood. Remained in Sausage Valley until Aug 16, covering our infantry in the attack on Pozieres on Aug 4th. Very little enemy shelling near our position – one man killed by a 60 pounder premature(?). Relieved on 16th and went to Vadencourt, returning again to the same position in Sausage Valley again on 23rd and stayed there until Sept 4th. This time the Valley was rather heavily shelled and we had two or three men wounded.

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 … “ [back to Flanders]

From Diary of Gunner Kenneth Sydney Day:

16/6/16 We entrained at 11.30, and passed through Aire, Lillers, St. Pol, Doullens, Domart and arrived at Amiens at 8.30 a.m. the following day. This town has one of the best cathedrals. We stayed there for one day and went on to a place called Argoe, a small village just outside the town.

19/7/16 At 9 o'clock I was called out to be transferred to the 11th Battery, so packed up and walked to Picquigny, five miles away. …

28/7/16 Moved on to-day to a place called Contalmaison and the Infantry went into Pozieres. Our guns are in a place called Sausage Gully (where the name came from I do not know). There are hundreds of guns in this place; there is also a big chalk pit or crater. There are Canadian and English batteries as well as our own, so we have a great variety of swear words.

12/8/16 Met some Tommies to-day and they were saying that they did not like the way we advanced so much, they like trench warfare the best. I do not think much of them; they are a dirty lot - taking them on average; the Scottish are far the best, they take far keener interest in their work.

16/8/16 At 2.30 we came out of action after a stay of 19 days, we are getting very sick of living in the mud and the noise of the guns; went to the other side of Albert for the night, and then to a rest camp just outside Contay, called Vadencourt Woods. Stopped there for six days and then went back into action again to the Somme and mud.

We took over the same gun pits as before and stayed there for 12 days, came out and then marched to a place called Hem, stayed there for the night, and then to Dollens, where we entrained , left there at 9 a.m. and passed through St. Polaire, Hazebruck and disentrained at Poperinghe, drove to our wagon lines at Renninghelst, 5 miles from Ypres; our guns went into action the same night; it is seven miles between our wagon lines and Gun Pits, an average two trips per night, and drill all day, so there is not much rest for the wicked.
Ypres has been a very fine city, but there is not much left of it now, they have very wide streets and also a beautiful Cathedral. It is at this Cathedral that the Kaiser said he would be crowned King of Belgium, but I am afraid it will not be there when the war is over. (On the Somme where we were last in action the villages of Fricourt, La Boissille (sic), Contalmaison and Pazieres (sic) are all blown level with the ground or thereabouts, I know I would not like to pay for the rebuilding of them).

Photo of Vadencourt 30 July 1916. Lord Northcliffe and Australian war correspondent CEW Bean inspect the cooking facilitites at 2nd brigade camp (AWM E00794)

Cemetery and woods at Bécourt (May 2005):


Looking from Bécourt Wood across Sausage Valley towards La Boisselle and Lochnagar Crater:

Looking across Sausage Valley to La Boisselle from road between Bécourt and La Boisselle:
Approaching La Boisselle:

Chapter 17: Pozieres

Pozieres evokes two turning points in the Battle of the Somme: the Australian troops’ first major engagement and the first use of tanks in a battlefield.

The failure to capture Thiepval by the west in the offensive of 1 July 1916 led the British to move around the second German line, by the south, through Pozieres. This mission fell essentially to the Australians. From 23 July they captured the second line of the German positions and a large blockhouse known as ‘Gibraltar’ on the Albert-Bapaume road. On 4 August the Australians reached the hill-top and took the remains of the blockhouse known as ‘The Windmill’. There was a windmill on the site from as early as 1610, but during WW1 a blockhouse was built there. Australia lost more men here than on any other battlefield in the war.

The battlefields from Gibraltar Blockhouse, May 2003.

Photo of the main street (Bapaume Rd), Pozieres 25 Aug 1914 (AWM G01534I)

Photo of the main street of Pozieres after the battle (AWM A05776)
Photo of Pozieres April 1917 (AWM E00532 )

Main street of Pozieres, near Le Tommy Cafe, looking in Bapaume direction. May 2003.

From Major and Mrs Holt’s Battlefield Guide to the Somme, rev,ed 2003:

The valley was named ‘Sausage’ after a German spotter balloon which was flown in the area. The valley on the opposite side was dubbed ‘Mash’

Photo of busy scene through Sausage Valley 1916 (AWM EZ0113)

The following photos are of ‘Sausage Valley’, May 2003

Photo of field gun of an Australian battery , July 1916 (AWM EZ0141)

From Bill Gammage The Broken Years (1974) p 164:

" The Second Division relieved the First on 26 July, and gave way to the Fourth Division on 5 August. The incoming battalions were quietened by the ruin they saw: by the dead,'dozens and dozens…all distorted and frozen looks of horror on their faces', and by the storm of shells, which 'became too awful for words, burying men alive and blowing up trenches, and making the whole place a shambles like a huge ploughed field'. "

From Martin Marix Evans The Battles of the Somme, 1996 p.42:

"The beautiful summer weather continued, sunny and warm. The flies prospered. They were everywhere, tormenting troops on the move, settling on troops in the trenches. The maggots waxed fat on the profusion of flesh scattered over the fields of Picardy. The rats thrived. The battle went on remorselessly.

Photo of King George V (with telescope) watching the battle, 10 Aug 1916 (AWM H15924). The Prince of Wales is behind, talking to two officers.

Photo of Australian second division memorial (AWM E04578). Erected to the members of the Division who fell in the operations of July and August 1916. The site of the Pozieres Windmill (behind) is marked by a small tripod shaped flag pole.

CEW Bean’s private accounts of the Pozieres period.

From: Making the legend The war writings of C.E.W. Bean. (Selected by Denis Winter, University of Queensland Press, 1992)

Pozieres has been a terrible sight, suffused with pink and chestnut. One knew that the brigades which went in last night were there today in that insatiable factory of ghastly wounds. The men are simply turned in there as into some ghastly great mincing machine. They have to stay there while shell after shell descends with a shriek close beside them, each one an acute mental torture, each shrieking, tearing crash bringing a promise to each man instantaneous – I will tear you into ghastly wounds, I will rend your flesh and pulp and arm or a leg; fling you half a gaping, quivering man like these that you see smashed round you to lie there rotting and blackening like all the things you saw by the awful roadside. Ten or twenty times a minute, every man in the trench has that instant fear thrust upon his shoulders -–I don’t care how brave he is – with a crash that is physical pain and strain to withstand. (pp100-101)
- Bean, Diary, 4 August 1916

Walking across parts of the ground near Pozieres Windmill is like trying to walk across honeycomb. There is barely room between the huge shell-holes for a man to tread. There are three bits of building left in the village – three solitary fragments of wall. The rest is eaten into the ground as if someone has poured acid all over the surface of it.

- Letter, Bean to his parents, 2 October 1916

The dead lay sometimes in batches of ten or twelve together, especially of the 28th. There was not a soul in sight; only the powdered grey earth. No sign of any trenches of ours. All as still and dead and deserted as an ash heap . . . I turned back and followed a goat-track path. There were only blackened dead and occasionally bits of men and torn bits of limbs unrecogrnsably along it. I wandered on for five minutes without seeing a sign of anybody till I came to a gradually improving trench, quite deserted, peopled only by dead men, half buried, some sitting upright with bandaged heads apparently little hurt except for the bandaged wound; others lying half covered in little holes they had scatched in the trench side . . . I didn’t want to go through Pozieres again. I have seen it once now.
- Bean, Diary, 31 July 1916

Photo of German communications trench, Pozieres, April 1916 (AWM J00218)

Pozieres windmill site (May 2003)
Pozieres windmill site

Tank Memorial, Pozieres

On 15 September 1916, three tanks of the canadian Division set out from Pozieres with a sugar refinery as their objective. Only one tank reached it, the others becoming bogged down.

Photo by Frank Hurley of derelict hulk of a British tank (AWM P03631.210) "The derelict hulk of a British tank on the Pozieres battlefield. This Mark I Male tank, C1, (Champagne), belonged to C Company, Heavy Machine Gun Corps, later to become the Tank Corps. It was one of seven tanks assigned to the Canadian 2nd and 3rd Divisions for their attack on Courcelette, and German positions to the south and east of the village on 15 September 1916. The 2nd Division attacked from prepared positions across the Albert to Bapaume road toward Bapaume and to the north of the road with the village of Courcelette as their first objective. Of the seven tanks assigned to the attack on Courcelette, one broke down before the attack, three became bogged in German trenches, two reached Courcelette, although only one was still in action beyond Courcelette. C1 was commanded by Lieutenant (Lt) A. G. C. Wheeler, Machine Gun Corps (MGC), and the crew from the MGC included, 2527 Sergeant F. J. Saker, 2801 Gunner (Gnr) E. H. Bax, 2720 Gnr W. N. Smith, 2736 Gnr F. C. Stone, 2602 Gnr G. G. Lloyd, 2752 Gnr H. Rothera and the driver M2/105514 Private (Pte) H. Brotherwood, Army Service Corps. Lt Wheeler and his crew reached their start position at 0400 on the extreme left of the divisional area after moving through the ruins of Pozieres. C1's steering had been damaged by German shellfire during the night and although this had been repaired the driver Pte Brotherwood must have had a very difficult time keeping the tank on track, avoiding old trenches, the many shell craters and the growing number of Canadian casualities falling in the tanks path. The terain was so difficult that the tank could not keep up with the infantry and the speed was reduced to around 10 yards per minute until at about 0700 when the tank bellied out and although the tracks were still turning the tank had stopped. Lt Wheeler later placed the tank at map reference R35a 3.9. The crew tried to dig the tank out, but after labouring "

Chapter 20: The Somme 27 Oct to 31 Dec 1916

From 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B Brief History 24 October 1916 Left Cassel, arrived Polincove 27 October Left by road for Audruicq, entrained 28 October Arrived Lounque (?) Siding (Amiens), road to La Napelle, arrived 6am, left for Albert 10am, arrived Albert 29 October Left Albert 30 October Arrived Longueval where Wagon Lines set up. 30 October-24 November Longueval. Guns in action north of Flers. 25 November Left Longueval by road, arrived Vielle-sur-Corbie 26 November Left Vielle-sur-Corbie, arrived Bonnay 27 November Left Bonnay, arrived Naours. 27 Nov – 21 Dec Billeted Naours Photo of soldiers in Naours, 12 July 1916, on their way to the Somme (AWM EZ0163) 21 December Left Naours, arrived Buire-sur-Corbie [also Ancre] 22 December Left Buire-sur-Corbie, arrived Montauban. Wagon Lines established there. Gunners to Ginchy Leaving here on Oct 23rd we went to Cassel and stopped on the outskirts of the town for one night; next day going on to Polincove where we remained until the 27th when we entrained at Audruicq and arrived at Amiens the same day and moved to Berne sur Ancre where we camped for the night. The next day we took up wagon lines at Longueval and gun positions north of Flers. This position was practically under direct observation and consequently was heavily shelled. We had several casualties here, three men killed and others wounded. The transport conditions were very severe, the roads being muddy and full of deep shell holes, everything had to be packed and this combined with the weather and shelling made things very uncomfortable for the drivers. While in this position Major Derhani (???) was called to England to the 3rd Div. Major (then Capt) Milford took command of the battery. Leaving Flers on Nov 25th we stayed one night at Ville-sur-Corbie, one night at Bonnay and then arrived at Noaurs where we remained until Dec 12th [perhaps 21st – as per document Positions Occupied by the 4th A.F.A. Brigade in France and 11th Battery Brief History, first part] Left Noaurs Dec 12th [21st] and stopping at Buire-sur-Ancre, one night, arrived at Montauban where our wagon lines remained while the gunners went to Ginchy. The right section being attached to the 12th battery and the left to the 10th to form six gun batteries. Very little shooting other than harassing fire was done while in this area. Letter to sister Maud Lade December 1st 1916 Somewhere in France Dec 1st 1916 Dear Maud I am writing this in comfort thanks to a young French lady who very kindly invited me into write by the fire. Our billet [Sally: Naours] is very good to sleep in but there is not much convenience for writing. We have been out of action since last Saturday and although we had a rotten time for three days travelling about I am not sorry to be away, but am afraid it won't be very long before we are back again. We went into action on the 29th Oct and spent over three weeks in the mud and rain to say nothing about the frost and snow. We only had one day's snow, and I must say it was better than the rain and rather nice once ones feet got a bit warm, although it is hard to see much beauty in anything at four in the morning when your feet are several degrees below zero. Then one or two mornings when the wind was favourable Fritz decided to make things a bit more unpleasant by sending over a large number of gas shells in addition to his usual supply of 5'9" + 4:2'. However the bad weather didn't affect me very much, as I didn't even get a cold. Some of the chaps suffered a good deal though with swollen feet and bad colds. After coming out of action we travelled by road for three days and are now billeted in a village well behind the line. I am beginning to think lately that we are descending into something like the savages - go into the line and fight for a time, then out again and off some-where else to fight again. Yesterday I spent a most enjoyable day in a large town close by (eleven miles). ? they ? ? got the enjoyment was three good meals and a bath. Also I went through a fine old church which is quite as good if not better than the one I saw in Malta. I have been getting my mail very regularly lately and the day before coming out of action had one from you, mother, Laura, Bill + Cila. ? ? were all written about the 26th of Sept. This is the first time I have done any writing for some time so you mustn't blame the postal people if you don't get any letters for a week or two. During the time we were in action it was quite impossible to do much writing. Must close now Love to all Percy. Photo of wagon transport at Montauban on the road to Longueval. 21 December 1916. [AWM E00627] Photo of cleaning off winter mud at Montauban Dec 1916 [AWM E00016] Photo of Australian Comforts Fund canteen, Longueval, December 1916. [AWM E00034] Photo of sandbagged Australian cook house. Longueval, December 1916. [AWM E00032] Photo of driver giving his horse a drink at Australian Comforts Fund canteen, Longueval, Dec 1916. [AWM E00076] Photo of mule transport in winter mud, Montauban, Dec 1916 [AWM E00036] From: Gunner Day's diary: 10/11/16 Went back into action again; on our way we passed through Contalmaison, Freicourt, Mametz, Montauban, Bazentin and finished up at a place called Flers. It is a very hot corner and we had to leave our guns several times as the Germans got to know where our battery was located. We also had a good few killed and wounded - horses included. 24/11/16 moved out at 7 a.m. and drove back to the Brickfields again, six miles away, as we only had half our horses left and they were in poor condition. 25/11/16 Moved on the next day…..(Day went to hospital with a cold then had to find and rejoin his Battery) 28/11/16 I met one of our boys and he told me our Batteries were at Naours…. 22/12/16 After a stay of a few weeks we went back into action, to a place called Ginchy, or just alongside. We are on the main road between Flers and Ginchy. There are a good few 9.2 and 8 inch Howitzers, and a bit further on there are a few 15 inch Naval Guns, so there is plenty of row (noise) going on. 25/12/16 Christmas day, raining up till 9 a.m., and then by way of a change we had Sun for the first time in two weeks (we usually have grey days). We worked all day on Bully stew and strong tea, and got a Xmas box of an extra dose of rum. [insert awm pic support line in front of flers dec 1916] From John Laffin Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western Front 1916-18. Kangaroo Press and Australian War memorial, 1992, p 83-84 The Australian divisions, except the 3rd, were ordered back to the Somme from the Ypres sector in October 1916 and took over the Flers front. There were dreadful conditions. There was cold, rain and mud. Flers was not shelled as often as neighbouring Gueudecourt and some other places but several units reported it too dangerous for occupation. Nevertheless the AIF used Flers as a HQ and sometimes reserve troops were sheltered in the ruins. On October 30 a brigade commander in the front trenches reported that his men remained cheerful but were worn out with exposure and that their rifles were covered with mud, despite all efforts to keep them clean. German and British troops, he said, were equally exhausted, hungry and cold and were walking about on the parapets looking at each other. Conditions steadily deteriorated and men waiting to make an attack were lying in mud and rain. On the night of 4th November three waves of Australian attackers were using a trench at the same time. The first wave of men arched their bodies over the trench to make room for their mates beneath them and lay there strained and uncomfortable in the rain. On the morning of 5 November, short-shooting heavy British or Australian batteries killed ten men of the 3rd battalion and wounded seventeen others. They had been ordered to fire during a gale and the wind affected the flight of the shells. In the confused and sometimes desperate fighting the 7th Brigade, which was the most heavily involved formation lost 819 officers and men. Four attempts to advance in this sector had failed but Fourth Army HQ ordered another assault. The earliest it could be made was 14 November and as winter wore on life became harder. Heavily, burdened, the soldiers reached the trenches exhausted. The mud was so sticky that men had to be dragged out by mules or horses. A rescue party broke the back of an officer whom they were trying to haul from the mud. It was not unusual for wounded men to be left lying in the mud for twelve hours because not enough bearers were available to carry them out. The trenches were nothing more than muddy drains where the men stood and shivered and waited for their two days in the firing line to pass. After that they spent two days in the support line where life was a little safer but no less uncomfortable. The attack of 14-15 November was only partly successful and led to the usual German counter-attack. Apart from the casualties, men were being steadily evacuated with illness, trench feet and sheer exhaustion. One soldier of the 24th battalion shot himself dead rather than face another spell in front trench. Some men suffering from trench feet crawled back to the dressing station to allow the stretcher-bearers to carry men with greater need than themselves. The First battle of the Somme ended on 18 November. Photo of support line in front of Flers, December 1916. [AWM E00576]

Chapter 21: The Somme January 1917

From 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B Brief History

21 Dec 1916 Moved from Billets in Naours to establish wagon lines at Montauban and gunners in action at Ginchy

Photo of Australian wagon transport at Montauban 21 Dec 1916. [
AWM E00627]
Photo of Australian artillery column moving up the line on Mametz-Montauban road , towing 18-pounder field guns and attached ammunition limbers. Dec 1916. [AWM E00054]
Photo of soldiers and artillery pack horses loaded with ammunition for field guns, on Mametz-Montauban Rd. Dec 1916. [AWM E00090]

21 Dec 1916- 19 Jan 1917 Wagon lines at Montauban, guns at Ginchy

19 January To Buire-sur-Ancre

26 January To Rainneville. Joined by part of 19th Battery to form a six gun bty.

From Diary of Gunner Day, 11th Battery

1/1/17 New Years Day. Like last New Years Day, nothing to eat and very cold and muddy. We got a good bit of snow now is not so bad after you get used to it.

18/1/17 I do not write every day as there is nothing to put down. We have a few killed or wounded now and then, but that is nothing to write home about, after you have been in the trenches for a few months you don't take any notice of it. Had a very heavy fall of snow today, it is past your knees, off the beaten track, but not very cold. We came out of action and went to our wagon lines for a couple of days.

[Note: The contrast between the mention of “a few killed and wounded now and then, but that is nothing to write home about…” with the rather more graphic description from July 1916: “On the second day (probably July 5th) 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.”]

20/1/17 Left wagon lines at 11 a.m. and went to Burie for five days, from there we went to Rainville, where we stopped for one week; all these French villages are the same, most of the houses have thatched roofs and they all have sort of dams for watering the horses and cattle. The fields are very nice in the Spring, as amongst the corn and wheat there are a lot of red poppies, which is a fine sight to see.

Photo of Buire-sur-l'Ancre, April 1917. [AWM E02215]

All women work in the fields and can plough very straight, up and around Ypres; they go in for a lot of vineyards, and make some fine wines.

From CEW Bean Vol IV, The AIF in France 1917, Preface.

“…four of the five Australian infantry divisions expect(ed) relief after their most depressing experience, the winter of 1916-17 on the Somme. Before that relief came, the Germans carried out, under the eyes of the two British armies, an evacuation more extensive, if much less dangerous, than that executed by the Australian and other forces in Gallipoli. The Australians were responsible for nearly a month for about half the front affected…There follow(ed) the “pursuit” of the enemy by two small columns and three weeks’ village-fighting under conditions of semi-open warfare; then on arrival at the Hindenburg Line, the two terrible attempts to force that line at Bullecourt, one of these being the first experiment with massed tanks, and each involving a “soldiers’ battle” of extraordinary interest, fought under highly adverse conditions. After this these there comes at last, for most of the Australian infantry, its promised rest, generous beyond all hopes, while the hardest grained of the divisions, the 4th, together with the youngest and least tried, the 3rd, engag(ed) in an offensive very differently conducted from any within previous experience of the Australian infantry in France, the Battle of Messines…ends with the participation of the two Anzac corps as the central striking force in the second battle of the three phases of what is popularly known as the “Battle of Passchendaele”. the story of this phase was for the most part one of unimpeded success…the reason, which is not, it is contended, to be found merely in the fine weather or the effectiveness of the two Anzac corps, although they now formed a highly expert and formidable force.

In all this severe fighting the Australian divisions lost heavily. As only small reinforcements were now arriving from Australia, a serious problem of maintenance lay ahead; …(1917) ends with the necessary withdrawal of the divisions to a quiet front.”


Somme poppies, May 2003

From John Laffin Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western front 1916-18. Kangaroo Press and Australian War memorial, 1992, p 84:

Gueudecourt

The AIF 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Divisions were all in the front line south of Gueudecourt in January and February 1917. The weather was often bitterly cold but sometimes not cold enough to freeze the mud, which made operations difficult. The Germans fired a single 5.9 inch shell punctually at the rate of one a minute, night and day, into the ruins of Gueudecourt. This continued throughout the winter of 1916-17. The object was to prevent the British and Dominion troops from using cellars and dugouts in the village, and the tactic succeeded.

Photo of horse transport amongst ice and snow, Somme, January 1917. [AWM E00130]
Photo of horse losing a foothold on icy road, Somme January 1917 [AWM E00132]

Chapter 23: La Boisselle 2 Feb - 18 March 1917

Gargoo named his house in Dandenong La Boisselle. Mum lived there as a baby and young child.

The 11th Battery of the 4th Australian Field Artillery made its Wagon Lines at La Boisselle between 3 February and 18 March 1917. The guns went into action in rear of Martinpuich. On 18 March they left La Boisselle and established Wagon Lines between Le Sars and Le Barque, at a place called “La Coupe Goule”, outside Bapaume.

Click for photo of wooden cross where la Boisselle once stood. 1917. [AWM H08771]

Percy's granddaughter, Sally, and great grandson, Ben at la Boisselle, May 2003

From October 1914 the front line stabilised in the sector of La Boisselle. The German and French lines faced each other here until the arrival of the British in July 1915. The British took the village on 2 July 1916 and occupied it until March 1918. They were then pushed out by the German offensive. The British recaptured it in August 1918.

Sally and Ben at the sign commemorating the British front line, La Boisselle. May 2003

La Boisselle was the scene of mine warfare undertaken by both the French and Germans from the beginning of 1915 and then by the British to open breaches in the enemy lines, for the offensive of 1 July 1916.
The Lochnagar Crater is the largest and best preserved of the mine craters in the British sector. It was created by the detonation of 27 tonnes of ammonal explosive. It is 100 metres in diameter and 30 metres deep. The detonation took place at 7.28am on 1 July 1916.

Lochnagar crater. May 2005
Aerial view of Lochnagar Crater

Chapter 24: The Somme Feb - March 1917

From 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B. Brief History 26 – 31 Jan Billeted at Rainneville 1 February Left Rainneville, arrived Bavelincourt – billeted 3 & 6 February Left Bavelincourt, arrived La Boisselle 3 February – 18 March Wagon lines at La Boisselle. Guns in action in rear of Martinpuich Photo of Australian artillery in action near Martinpuich. Feb 1917. [AWM E00238] Photo of Captain C E W Bean, the Australian Official Correspondent, watching the Australian advance through a telescope 27 Feb 1917.[AWM E00246] ”Left the position on Jany 19th 1917 and remained for six days at Buire-sur-Ancre and then moved to Rainneville where we were joined by part of the 19th battery to form a six gun battery. Leaving Rainneville on Feb 1st we went to Bavelincourt. The right section left there on the 3rd,and making wagon lines at La Boiselle, the guns went into action in rear of Martinpuich. The remainder of the battery followed on Feb 6th. While in this position a subgun moved into a forward gun pit on the Sars road and remained there until the other guns moved up to Eaucourt l’Abbaye on Feb 26th. Here we took part in the attack on Loupart (?) Wood and the neighbouring trench system, which being successful, moved forward to La Coupe Goule on March 14th. “ Martinpuich and Le Sars From Diary of Gunner Kenneth Sydney Day: 2/2/17 Went back into action once more at a place called Martinpuich, not very far to the right of Mouquet Farm, where the Aussies got pretty cut up a little while back. We are firing on a place called Le Sars, at a range of 5,000 yards. Our Battery has what is known as a Tank Gun; it is one of our 18 pounders, but it is put just behind the lines, in case of Tanks (German) attacking us. We sleep all day and work all night. Why this is so, is because we are on top of a rise to get a clear sweep at anything, and you can see the German trenches, so if we started firing in the day time, we would be getting nipped in the bud. The German line extends through Le Sars, Butte de Wattencourt and Beaulencourt on our sector only. 28/2/17 Germans retired back 2,000 yards to straighten out their line, to a place called Grevillers. 29/2/17 Moved our guns between Le Sars and Walencourt. There is one thing we notice, the Germans are very well equipped, every town that they are in, they build deep dug-outs; some go down as far as 40 to 50 feet, but it is very depressing to stay there long; in each of these they have special stoves supplied to them with coal, and a special top to the stove for fitting their mess tins, which I must say, is more then we get. We stayed in this position for a few weeks, having a few wounded every now and then. Photo of Butte de Walencourt, near Le Sars. 3 March 1917 [AWM E00339] Photo of A German dugout on the Butte de Warlencourt, near Le Sars [AWM E00340] "...throughout January and February 1917, overlooked the Australian lines. The Butte was daily made a target for our artillery fire, but without any apparent effect. On the German retirement at the end of February our troops advanced to this position across the valley in which lay Le Sars Station, where the earth, churned by shell fire and soaked with rain, had become a quagmire." Photo of Australian soldiers gathering coal left by German forces on the Bapaume road near the Butte de Warlencourt. 3 March 1917. [AWM E00364] [insert awm pic 3 march 1917 bapaume road from le sars Photo of "Australian transport returning along the Bapaume Road for supplies for the troops fighting beyond Bapaume. In the background are Le Sars Railway Station, the Quarry, and the Butte de Warlencourt (centre). " March 1917. [AWM E00432]

Chapter 25: The Somme March to April 1917. First Battle of Bullecourt.

From 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B Brief History In action throughout this time 18 March Left La Boisselle. Wagon lines between Le Sars and Le Barque at “La Coupe Goule” outside Bapaume 18 – 20 March La Coupe Goule 20 March Left La Coupe Goule 21 March Arrived Beugnatre (through Bapaume). Wagon Lines here. 2 April – 11 May Noreuil Valley Photo of Noreuil Valley. May 1917. [AWM E00506] “. . .moved forward to La Coupe Goule on March 14th. Here we supported the attack on the Grevillers Line and on the enemy being driven from this position and retreating through Bapaume on March 17th we moved forward to the intersection of the railway and Bapaume road at Avesnes-les-Bapaume. Although this position was swept with machine gun fire on the first night, it was evident that this was only the work of a small enemy rearguard, for by the next morning, we were out of range, our infantry outposts being about 10 000 yds ahead, and then only in touch with scattered enemy machine gunners and snipers. Photo of wagons passing through Bapaume. March 1917. [AWM E00594] Photo of troops passing through Bapaume, showing burning ruins. 17 march 1917. [AWM E00371] Photo of ruins of Bapaume. 19 March 1917. [AWM E00395] Photo of Albert to Bapaume Rd, 1917. With railway live alongside. [AWM H02138] On March 20th we went forward to Beugnatre and next day took over from the 12th battery in a position in rear of Vaulx Vraucourt. In this position we remained until April 2nd and then moved forward to Noreuil Valley, staying there until May 11th. While in this position we were subjected to very heavy shell fire. Moving from Noreuil to a position in rear of Lagnicourt and to the left of the main road we were again subjected to heavy fire, having many casualties and all the guns hit and out of action in one morning. Photo of Vaulx - Noreuil Road May 1917. [AWM P02321.064] From this position we moved about 500 yds to the right and remained there until April 28th. On April 29th we left the WL at Beugnatre and moved back to Ovillers stayed there one night and next day moved to Aveluy where we camped until July 9th.” Letter to sister, Maud Lade. April 18th 1917 Somewhere in France April 18th 1917 Dear Maud, Was pleased to get your letter dated 18th Feb. It is the latest mail we have had, and I was lucky in that there were only a few for the battery of that date, and I got a couple, one from Mrs Roberts of Cowwarr besides yours. You mentioned having heard from Mother of my being in England so imagine she must have had the cable I sent from there, as there has not yet been time for me to have answers to letters I wrote. We have had most awful weather this past month, and some good as well. It is a most peculiar climate this - one day is a perfect spring day (beautiful sunshine) and the next is driving snow blizzard followed by frost + rain. I can tell you it hampers the troops too and gives the Germans a breathing space. They want it too, and will want a lot more which they won’t get a little later on in the summer. I expect you know all about the latest big fighting and our fine successes in France this past week or two. I have written several long letters to Will lately telling about our doings since the beginning of last month so I won’t repeat to you as I expect you will have the letters sent along in due course. If you don’t get them write and ask. A chap by the name of Wood from Newcastle N.S.W. and now in the 15th Battery called to see me the other night. He had received one of Eva's parcels sent through some league or other, and she had written a letter in which she gave my address, and asking him to look me up should he happen to be near our battery. She also gave her brothers' address but I don’t expect he will run across them as they are in the infantry. I have not seen Perce Lade yet although I know he is not far away from us, but then we have very little time to go looking for people. As a matter of fact even when not actually on duty you don't want to be far away in case of a call out which will come at any hour of the day or night. We are faring fairly well still in regard to rations and besides we have our canteen in good working order again so generally we do very well. Lately we have been buying flour custard-powder + jellies, and you should see the dishes we turn out. There are five of us mess together in a hut we built from old German iron out of a ruined village. We have also a German stove, and can generally get coal from along the old railway lines about. Last Sunday for dinner we had rather a decent pudding made by another chap and myself. (We take joint credit for its success). Instead of the usual currants and raisins which we couldn't get we put dryed figs cut up very fine with the suet and although I say it myself it was beyond reproach. Then we make pan-cakes, and instead of eggs we use the custard powder. For supper every night we manage to have custard and jelly + café au lait (coffee + milk). So all things considered we do very well. I had a fine parcel from Cornwell the other week and expect another shortly. This evening I had a small parcel from Mrs Roberts - just a pair of socks and some cigarettes. The cigs. I gave away but the socks needless to say are very handy. Despite the severe winter (the worst in Europe for many years they say) there is comparatively very little sickness among the troops especially Australian. A doctor was telling me the other day that there has been less sickness among the Aust. Regiments than any other single regiment in the British army with the sole exception of the Guards who have hardly been in the line. When you take into consideration that we have been in absolutely the worst part of the line on the whole front it says a lot for an Aus. Power of endurance. It was only when the worst of the winter was over that we had any decent accommodation in the shape of huts built for us. As I have told you before we just had to scratch for ourselves in the way of sleeping accommodation. Must close now with love to all Yours Percy Tell Stephen I was glad to have his letter and will send him a card as soon as I can get somewhere to buy one. Photo of soldiers gathering coal left by Germans on the Bapaume road. March 1917. [AWM E00364] From Diary of Gunner Day: 13/3/17 Germans retired to within 1/2 a mile of Bapaume, so we moved our guns up to La Coupe Goul so that we would be in range of the Germans. 18/3/17 I am not too sure if this is the exact date because I am in a bit of a haze as regards to actual dates, during the next three weeks. Germans left Baupaume and we went in at 4 a.m. The 23rd battalion were the first I think, to enter; it is all in flames and nearly every house is mined or painted with tar and set fire to. Baupaume is a fair sized town (about the size of Ballarat or Bendigo) and is very old. All the fine trees along the main road have been destroyed by the germans and left there to rot. Trees that have taken years and years to grow. There is also a fair sized sugar factory and a very large railway workshop. There was only one place left standing intact and that was the Town hall which our smart Red tape Staff (thinking they were smart and not smelling a rat) took for their H.Q. Every other building had been destroyed, also an Australian Comforts Fund Canteen had the window in the same building. After they had been there for about two weeks, UP went the whole building, and everyone inside. I had just left the Canteen a few minutes before. It was a fine sight to see and a thorough job. The whole place was swept clean. From Baupaume we moved our guns to Beugnatre for four days, and then to Vaulx. All these places are small villages and are in ruins. 30/4/17 Went on to our Battery which is now at Noreuil, just on the left of Lagnicourt, where the germans broke through our lines, but we drove them back in four hours from the time they came through. I had to go on duty for nearly a month and we are very shorthanded. Reinforcements seem very scarce nowadays, so all the work drops on a few. Went up on Battalion work and came back from the trenches on the 2nd at 5 p.m. issued with new clothing as mine were in rags…. (Gunner Day was then hit by a bullet in early May at trenches near Bullecourt. He survived and returned to Australia from England on 11/9/17) From John Laffin Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western front 1916-18. Kangaroo Press and Australian War memorial, 1992, p. 77: During the Battle of the Somme July – November 1916, Bapaume was the main British objective. However it was not reached and tremendous casualties, the onset of winter and stubborn German pressure brought the Somme campaign to an end. Following a strategic German withdrawal, the AIF 2nd Division occupied Bapaume from the west and southwest on 17 March 1917. Lieutenant A.C. White of the 30th battalion was the first to enter the town. He was followed by other soldiers, staff officers, war correspondents and official photographers. They found that the Germans had systematically destroyed the town and then set fire to much of it. The buildings around the main square including the town hall were the only ones in reasonably sound condition. The cellars were searched and a mine was found in the town hall and removed. On the night of 25 March a second mine, better hidden and operated by a chemical fuse, exploded. Sleeping in the town hall were about thirty diggers, including those who ran the Australian Comforts Fund’s battlefield coffee stall, and two French parliamentary deputies. The rescuers, who dug through the rubble all that night and the next day, could save only six of the thirty. Bapaume remained an AIF HQ for three months after its capture. Photo of houses ruined in German withdrawal from Vaulx, March 1917 [AWM E00418] Photo of field artillery preparing an 18 pounder site behind Vaulx, March 1917. [AWM E00430] Noreuil (the first Battle of Bullecourt) CEW Bean, Vol IV The AIF In France 1917. p207ff : The taking of the outpost villages 29 March 1917 “…a third attempt to seize Croisilles and Ecoust, made by the 7th British Division after bombardment by heavy howitzers, had failed… “The I Anzac heavy artillery and the field artillery of the 2nd Australian division had assisted by firing upon Noreuil.” (p 207) Photo of 18 pounder gun pit at Noreuil, May 1917. [AWM E00602] 2 April 1917 There was to be an offensive upon Arras, but it was separated from the Hindenburg Line by a chain of villages which had been broken at only one point, Lagnicourt. The date for the British offensive was set at April 1st (delayed April 2nd). The I Anzac Corps was to take Noreuil. “After the capture of Lagnicourt, the 2nd Australian Division was relieved by the 4th…The two artillery brigades of the 2nd, however, and the 12th (Army) Brigade of the Australian Field Artillery, remained in the line, the artillery of the 4th Division not yet being brought up.” (p 208) “The field artillery would first muffle the German posts around the village [Noreuil], and then advance its barrage so as to keep ahead of the troops. On the barrage reaching the Bullecourt road, forty minutes from the start, it would remain there for twenty minutes while the troops lay in front of the road preparing for the final assault. The barrage would then again advance and the road would be seized.” The battle was complicated and there were lots of losses, but eventually succeeded (the full battle is described in Bean Vol IV pp211-222) April 2nd – 6th “On April 2nd and 3rd, two brigades of the 2nd Australian Division and the 12th (Army) Brigade, A.F.A. – began to move into the depression leading to Noreuil , and on the 5th and 6th, advanced into positions hurriedly constructed by the engineers still farther down the side of the valley.” CEW Bean, Vol IV The AIF in France 1917, p 261 Photo of Australians playing 'pitch and toss' in the support line of the sunken road near Noreuil, 20 April 1917. [AWM E00453] From CEW Bean Official History Of Australia in the War of 1914-18. Vol IV The A.I.F. in France 1917 p 414 “Q” Group (and Div. Artillery under Lieut.-Col. R.L.R. Rabett – after May 10, Lieut.-Col. H.W. Lloyd) 4th Brigade. 10th Bty 11th Bty 12th Bty 104th How. Bty 5th Brigade 13th Bty 14th Bty 15th Bty 105th How Bty 12th (Army) Brigade 45th Bty (relieved on April 28 by 47th) 46th Bty Located behind Noreuil in the Noreuil Valley

Chapter 26: The Somme including Bullecourt April - July 1917

The battlefield, Bullecourt , 2005

Photo of trenches and battlefield looking towards Bullecourt, 1917. [AWM H12360]

Looking towards Bullecourt, May 2005

From 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B Brief History

“On March 20th we went forward to Beugnatre and next day took over from the 12th battery in a position in rear of Vaulx Vraucourt. In this position we remained until April 2nd and then moved forward to Noreuil Valley, staying there until May 11th. While in this position we were subjected to very heavy shell fire. Moving from Noreuil to a position in rear of Lagnicourt and to the left of the main road we were again subjected to heavy fire, having many casualties and all the guns hit and out of action in one morning.

From this position we moved about 500 yds to the right and remained there until May 28th. *

On May 29th* we left the WL at Beugnatre and moved back to Ovillers stayed there one night and next day moved to Aveluy where we camped until July 9th.”

* Original transcribed as April – should be May (as per document Positions occupied by the 4th A.F.A Brigade in France”

Photo of artillery on the Bapaume road near Le Sars, on the way to Bullecourt. 20 May 1917. [AWM E00464]
Photo of artillery using an 18 pounder at Noreuil during the Battle of Bllecourt. May 1917. [AWM E00600]
Photo of Australian soldiers bathing in a shell hole after Bullecourt, 12 may 1917. [AWM E03925]

“Second Bullecourt” (5 – 17 May 1917)

The attack (unlike the first attempt) would be made with the preliminary assistance of artillery. (p. 413)

Field Artillery supporting the “Second Bullecourt” plan :

From CEW Bean Vol IV The AIF in France 1917 p 414

Behind Ecoust-Longatte "P" Group
4th Division Artillery, under Lieut-Col GHM King
10th Brigade: 37th, 38th and 39th Batteries
110th How. Battery
11th Brigade: 41st, 42nd and 43rd Battteries
111th Howitzer Battery

Noreuil Valley "Q" Group
2nd Division Artillery under Lieut-Col R.L.R. Rabett. After May 10, Lieut-Col H.W. Lloyd
4th Brigade: 10th, 11th, 12th Batteries
104th Howitzer Battery
5th Brigade: 13th, 14th and 15th Batteries
105th Howitzer Battery
12th (Army) Brigade
45th Battery (relieved on April 28 by 47th)
46th Battery

Lagnicourt Valley "M" Group
1st division Artillery under Lieut-Col G.I. Stevenson
1st Brigade: 1st, 2nd and 3rd batteries
101st Howitzer Battery*
2nd Brigade: 4th, 5th and 6th Batteries
102nd Howitzer Battery
* behind Noreuil

Morchies Valley "R" Group
Part of 5th Division Artillery under Lieut-Col O.F. Phillips
14th Brigade: 53rd, 54th and 55th batteries
114th How. Battery

May 1st (p. 415-6)

Much labour and reorganisation had taken place in the month after the Germans had fallen back on the Hindenburg Line. Destroyed roads and railways had been reconstructed. By 30th April the 5th Division 5th pioneers had relaid light railway rails as far as Vaulx-Vrancourt. On May 1st the rations for the 2nd division were brought there by the 1 Anzac Light Railways, and the 2nd Division’s horse-transport was thus set free for carrying engineer stores, material for roads and other supplies.

The whole country beyond Bapaume was being rehabilitated for occupation by troops and for operations, eg dugouts (including 17 for the supports in the 2nd Division’s area, chiefly near Lagnicourt), hutments and camps to replace the destroyed village accommodation and water supply.

[insert pic
awm german shell bursting on bapaume road 4 may 1917]

May 11th - the 4th F.A.B. moved from Noreuil to Lagnicourt
May 27th – moved from Lagnicourt to Aveluy
May 30 – July 8 – camped at Aveluy.

Ben at the Slouch Hat Memorial at Bullecourt, May 2003
Slouch Hat memorial, Anzac Day commemorations, 2005
The 'Australian Digger' memorial, Bullecourt, Anzac Day commemorations, 2005
The Bullecourt Digger memorial plaque, 2005


Anzac Day commemoration, Bullecourt, 2005

Bullecourt Town Hall, 2005

Chapter 31: German Offensive on The Somme March 1918

The 11th Battery, 4th F.A.B. were at this time in Flanders (Messines). However, it is useful to understand what happened in the Somme at this time, as it sets the conditions for what happened next. From: John Laffin Western Front 1917-1918 The Cost of Victory. Time-Life books, North Sydney 1988. " At dawn on March 21, 1918, Ludendorff unleashed Operation Michael, and British troops between Arras and St. Quentin were smothered by a storm of gas shells and hammered by high explosive and shrapnel. Trenches and dugouts were obliterated, whole fields of barbed wire were uprooted and jumbled and few telephone lines remained intact…Within the space of only four days all the British and Empire blood and struggle of the past year went for nought. On the part of the front attacked, the troops were back where they had been at the end of 1916 and the German drive was threatening to spread behind the Allied lines, in the way that floodwater does after breaching a dam. One hundred kilometres to the north the AIF men at first heard the news without real concern, but when the seriousness of the breakthrough became clear they were eager for action." (p 57) [The 3rd and 4th Divisions were heavily involved - the 3rd had not previously fought in the Somme, only Flanders. All 5 Divisions were brought in. The 1st was the last brought south from Flanders but only 3 days later it was being rushed north again as Ludendorff struck again with Operation george I - at the line across the Lys river valley south of Armentieres held only by two understrength Portuguese Divisions] "The strategically vital city of Amiens was firmly in the sights of General Ludendorff, but first he had to break through the high ground and woods around Villers-Bretonneux which the Allies considered the key to Amiens' defence. German tanks and infantry easily broke the British lines on April 24, but the AIF's 15th and 13th Brigades entered the battle and forced back the enemy in a series of wild charges. A German war correspondent wrote after this fight, "The Australians and Canadians are the best troops that the English have." Months later, a similar tribute was found to have been paid by German soldiers, who buried a soldier of the 48th at Dernancourt. On a wooden cross they had written with an indelible pencil, Hier liegt ein tapferer Englischer Krieger ("Here lies a brave English warrior) " (p 63)

Chapter 32: The Somme April to October 1918

April to October 1918 After leaving Flanders on 8 April, 1918, the 4th Australian Field Artillery Brigade returned once more to the Somme. Gargoo was transferred to the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery (RBAA) on May 1, 1918. He arrived at the Heytesbury (near Warminster, Wiltshire) camp on 6 May 1918 and remained there until embarking for Australia on 2 February 1919. However, the Second Division 4th Artillery Brigade remained very active, taking part in the major battles from May to October as the allies advanced on the Hindenburg Line. These battles are covered in following chapters - Le Hamel, Villers-Bretonneux, Mont St Quentin and Peronne. 8 April 1918 2am left Vieux Berquin, entrained at Strazeele Railway station, arrived St Roch Rway Stn (outside Amiens), disentrained then by road to Villiers Bocage, arrived same day. 9/10 April Left Villers Bocage, arrived in Querrieu (?) (outside Frechencourt) 10 April – 14 July Quarry. Guns in action near Bresle (May 14) Photo of Field Artillery Brigade soldiers camouflaging blast marks scorched on the grass by an 18 pounder gun. Bresle, 21 April 1918 )church spire in background) [AWM E04783] 1 May GARGOO TO RBAA 7 May Wagon Lines shifted back to Frechencourt 14 July Left Bresle, Wagon Line to Glisy, guns to near White Castle (Villers Bretonneux) Watercolour sketch by Louis McCubbin of horse lines at Glisy. 1918 [AWM ART03074] "Watercolour sketch depicting a view of horse lines and tents for stores and men near Glisy with observation balloons visible in the skyline. AIF Headquarters were located at Glisy during 1918. Louis McCubbin enlisted with the 14th Battalion AIF in 1916, serving in France from November 1917 with the 10th Field Ambulance. He undertook a camoflage course and was appointed as an Official War Artist working as Officer in Charge of Camouflage for 3rd Division AIF in 1918. His appointment was terminated in 1920, in which year he returned to Australia and joined the staff of the Australian War Memorial to paint backgrounds for dioramas and to perform a variety of other duties. McCubbin remained in the position until 1930." Photo of dugouts for horses, Glisy [AWM P00098.004]

4 August Guns taken out of action 5 August Guns recalibrated 6 August Guns in position Villers Bretonneux [See Chapter 33] 8 August Advance commenced. Limbers and wagons went forward to old gun positions, the limbers going from there taking guns forward and the wagons following later. In the afternoon the guns took up position on the NE side of Bayonvillers with the wagon lines about 400 yds in the rear, on the outskirts of the village 10 August Moved forward the gun pits being between Harbonniers and Rosiers and the wagon lines in a sunken road south of Harbonnieres 20 August The guns moved across to Vauvillers 28 August Advance to Maricourt 29 August Guns into action near Clery. Supported attack on Mont St Quentin [See Chapter 35] 04 September Moved back to Cappy. Rested til 12 September. Artillery positions held. 12 September Wagon Lines established at Buire. 18 September Attack on Hindenburg Line defences. Successful. Battery moved forward to valley in front of Templeux. Wagon Lines to Roisel. 27 September Again moved forward to Harpicourt 28-30 September Took part in attack on Hindenburg Line covering 30th Division American troops 1 October Guns moved forward to Bellicourt and kept advancing 11 November Moving through Peronne and received news of the Armistice being signed.

Chapter 33: Villers-Bretonneux

Above: The mairie (town hall) at Villers-Bretonneux, featuring kangaroos over the door. May 2003.

From April-May 1916 this village was involved in the preparations for the Somme offensive.

The Germans reached here in early April 1918. The Australian army stopped the German army on 25 April 1918. The Australians had been in Ypres and were moved here.

From Australian War memorial website http://www.awm.gov.au/1918/battles/dernancourt.htm:

By 18 April (1918), it was clear that the Germans would attempt to push on to Amiens again. On 24 April, the Germans captured Villers-Bretonneux- which just a few weeks earlier the Australians had fought so hard to defend. The town's defence had been given over to British troops while the Australian divisions regrouped. The enemy attack was spearheaded by tanks which pushed through the British defences. This battle was unique in that it was the first involving tank-against-tank fighting, demonstrating the significance that tanks had increasingly come to assume in 1918.

Orders for the immediate recapture of Villers-Bretonneux were met with a plan to launch an attack by two brigades, the 13th and the 15th. The unconventional night attack began on the 24th. One brigade approached from the north and one from the south, meeting at the village's eastern edge, thereby surrounding the Germans and driving them from Villers-Bretonneux and the adjacent woods.

Although it is clear that Australian troops played a very important role in halting the German offensive at Villers-Bretonneux, some claim it has been exaggerated. By the time the Australians arrived, British troops had borne the brunt of the German offensive attack, and the Germans were exhausted. Regardless, it is at Villers-Bretonneux that France and Australia hold the main annual commemoration of Anzac Day.

“Never Forget Australia”

The victorious Australian troops formed close links with the people of Villers Bretonneux.

Today there is a Franco-Australian Museum on the first floor of the Victoria school, which was built with funds raised by the school children of Victoria.

[insert own pics of V-B school, mairie, and Anzac Day celebrations]

Australian National Memorial and Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery

Nearby is the Australian National Memorial, honouring the Australian soldiers who died and who have no known grave.

On 25 April 1918, the two Australian brigades which encircled Villers Bretonneux met. The memorial here commemorates the 10 797 Australians who died on the Western Front and who have no known grave. The wall of the main memorial consists of a wall carrying the names of all the missing and a 100 foot high central tower. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who also designed the British/South African memorial to the missing at Thiepval.

The Australian memorial - Anzac day commemorations, April 2005:

Not sure if this headstone above belongs to a distant relative of mine.




The school at Villers-Bretonneux was re-built through donations of Victorian school children. It looks just like a typical Victorian school - includign the shelter shed; here champagne and cake are served after the Anzac Day commemorations at the Australian Memorial :

The school hall, which features beautiful wooden carvings of Australian animals and birds:

The British monument at Thiepval (May 2003):