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 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 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 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 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)