Military History Tours Australia On Tour - Our Other Anzac Day 30 April 2008
  |
 |
After breakfast, our guests moved out with their trusty historians to visit the Ieper Salient Battlefields including Hill 60, Polygon Wood, (the 5 Division Memorial), Passchendale and Tyne Cot cemetery.
In the evening most took the opportunity to again visit Menin Gate ceremony.
|
The Our Other Anzac Day tour has moved north and is visiting the battlefields of the Ieper Salient. It is quite moving visiting Passchendale, Messines, Broodseinde Ridge, Polygon Wood and Hill 60. It was even more moving as we had the grandsons and granddaughters of men who had served in these major 1917 battles with us. We also had many with us who were visiting the graves of their family or to see a name on the Menin gate where the relative’s resting place is unknown.
It was personally most gratifying for me to find the location on the ground where Cheryl Deasey’s grandfather had served in July 1917.at Merris. With the help of his diary and some maps from the time we found the exact location of the battalion and were able to site the four companies and the battalion headquarters exactly on the ground. Cheryl was quite overcome with the situation, being able to walk the ground where her grandfather had walked 90 years ago. Cheryl’s grandfather was wounded but survived.
Colonel Warwick Wilkinson was also with us; his father was wounded while serving in the same area in April 1918. He was one of those thrust into the line to stem the German offensive. On patrol with a small group he was wounded in an exchange of rifle fire with the enemy. A comrade from his battalion crawled for 60 minutes through no-man’s-land to drag him to safety. His life was saved.
We have had many stories such as this as we have progressed throughout the Western Front. Many tears have been followed by the support necessary to continue. I can report that every site that we have been asked to find has indeed been found.
In the evening our contingent paraded at the Menin Gate with our Australian Flags and 10 year old Philip Ruston, a member of our tour party gave an excellent rendition of the ode as part of the ceremony.
Tomorrow we head for Calais and take the ferry to Dover. There will be a further report from the UK, so keep visiting the site for updates.
Colonel Graham Fleeton
|
Hill 60, located around five kilometres south-east of Ypres, is not a natural feature, but was made from the spoil removed during the construction of the railway line nearby. Because it was a small area of elevated land in a flat landscape, it obviously had strategic importance in the battles in the Ypres Salient.
Hill 60 was constantly involved in various Battles in the general area. Its importance was due to it being the ‘high ground’ in the area and thus key to the entire Messines Ridge as it gave an unhindered view of Ypres. It was first held by the French in then taken by the Germans on 10th December 1914. It was continually subject to tunnelling by the British up until the 10 April 1915.
This Battle was unlike most of the other Great War Battles. It was different because the fighting took place underground and the combatants were a group of ‘Special Soldiers’ who became known as ‘The Phantom Soldiers’ as they were very rarely seen because they spent a large amount of their time underground. On many occasions they were within hearing distance (a few feet) of the enemy who were also digging tunnels just above or below the Australians. On occasions they broke into each other’s tunnels and ‘Hand to Hand’ fighting took place.
When the Australians took over the control of Hill 60 they dug a vertical shaft 150 metres deep and from this they then ran three other tunnels (galleries) named ‘Sydney - Brisbane – Perth’ off this shaft. One was used to undermine the German tunnel known as “The Snout" which was some 460 metres from Hill 60.
The main Shaft was named ‘Sydney’. The Australians dug 8 kilometres of galleries (tunnels) and these were fitted with electric lights. It was during this action that Australians convinced the British that ‘Military Mining’ was a ‘Science’, they also introduced new methods of boring tunnels by the use of a drill they called ‘The Wombat Drill’ they also introduced acoustical instruments which located enemy mining positions.
On the 7th June at 03:00 the Australians were involved in creating the “Big Bang” when 19 mines located in Hill 60 and various tunnels off Hill 60 were detonated. The explosions created craters up to 20 metres deep and 90 metres. wide, you can see the remains of some of these craters. At the same time a mine created a crater at the “Caterpillar” 30 metres. deep and 120 metres wide killing 700 Germans of the 20th Division.
Hill 60 was part of the "Messines Offensive" and was captured by the Allies during this Offensive, it was again taken by the Germans in April 1918 (during Operation Michael) and was finally retaken by the British on 28th September 1918.
Acts of Courage: There is no record of an individual act of courage, members of the 1st Tunnelling Company during their time on Hill 60 were awarded 6 Military Crosses, 3 Distinguished Service Orders and 2 Military Medals all well deserved when one considers that these men risked their lives day after day deep underground from Methane Gas, being blown to pieces by explosives or being buried alive by tunnel collapses.
|
On the morning of the 20th September 1917, I Anzac Corps in the centre of General Plumer’s Second Army attacked on an 1,800 metre front eastward from the line of Westhoek Ridge, approx 5 km east of Ieper. In I Anzac Corps, the 2nd Australian Division was on the left for the attack and the 1st Australian Division was on the right.
This was the first time two Australian divisions had attacked together during the war and by mid-afternoon of the 20th September they had successfully advanced 1,600 metres to a line which on the Australians’ right flank included the western part of Polygon Wood. While the Menin Road attack was considered a success, the Australians suffered 5,261 casualties in what was the first of three successful attacks, respectively called Menin Road, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde Ridge.
Conduct of the Battle:
As in the Menin Road Battle, the Australian attack was part of a general British assault. Seven divisions took part with two Australian divisions being responsible for the remainder of Polygon Wood to a line 300 metres beyond which extended 2,500 metres north to what was called Tokio Spur, near Zonnebeke.
The attack was in two stages, the first requiring an advance of 700-800 metres. After a pause of one hour a further advance of 300 metres was planned. Four brigades led the attack, each with one battalion up (using two companies) in the first stage and two battalions up (using one company each) in the second stage.
Preparation for the attack was disrupted on the 25th September 1917 by a German dawn counter-strike by two regiments of the 50th German Reserve Division, (see diagram at left) affecting the Australian’s right flank and British left but by 11.00 am this had been shattered by artillery fire and enfilading small arms fire.
However, the German penetration also affected progress during the attack. For the Australians, there was also a “last minute” re-allocation of assaulting battalions.
The attack commenced At 05:53 on the 26th September behind very effective artillery covering fire. In I Anzac Corps 4 Division was on the left and 5 Division was on the right. (See diagram left.)
The Polygon Wood itself was the responsibility of 5 Division employing the 14th and 15th Brigades in the initial attack.
On the left of the attack north of Polygon Wood, 4 Division advanced smoothly until, in its eagerness, it ran into shells from the British barrage. However, they were steadied by Captain Albert Jacka, VC, and MC as he led them to the objective.
On the right, in 5 Division, 14 Brigade reached its objective of the Butte area but 15th Brigade bogged down because the British division on its right flank could not move during the first stage of the attack. However, with assistance from 15 Brigade using one of its units (60th Battalion) attacking to the right outside its boundary, the British were able to advance and all objectives were taken by the afternoon of the 27th September.
During the battle the Australians suffered 5,748 casualties, (1718 in 4 Division, 3723 in 5 Division and 307 in supporting troops) almost 500 more than in the Menin Road Battle.
Acts of Courage:
Private Paddy Bugden of 31 Battalion performed acts of bravery during the second stage of the attack near the southern boundary of Polygon Wood.
Sergeant John James Dwyer of 4 Machine Gun Company on 26 September 1917 at Zonnebeke, Belgium.
Memorial or Cemetery Inspection:
The 5 Division Memorial on the Butte is the only Australian divisional memorial in Belgium and records battle honours won in both Belgium and France.
There are 569 Australians buried here of whom 410 are unidentified. All are from the three battles fought in the area in September and October 1918.
In the south-western part of the cemetery is the New Zealand memorial which records the names of members of the Otago and Canterbury Regiments who have no known grave and who died in this area between September 1917 and May 1918.
On 4th October last year, the Governor-General of Australia was present at a ceremony for the re-interment of the bodies of five Australian soldiers who were killed during the Polygon Wood battle. Their remains were found in 2006 at Westhoek hamlet (near Zonnebeke about 2 km north of here). Zonnebeke was included in the area captured by the 4th Division during the attack. Two of the soldiers were identified by DNA – Pte John Hunter of 49 Battalion who died on the day the attack commenced and Sgt George Calder of 51 Battalion who died on 30th September 1917 (Graves I.E.19 and 20). The other three soldiers are laid to rest nearby.
Nearby in the cemetery are the graves of two officers reported to have been killed on 1st October 1917 by the one bullet which ricocheted. They were Lt Col Alan Scott, DSO who was the CO of the 56th Battalion, AIF whose unit captured part of the final objective during the Polygon Wood attack and Lt Col Dudley Turnbull who was the CO of the relieving battalion of the Gordon Highlanders. They were both standing on the Butte at the time. (Graves II.A.2 and I.C.9).
|
The attacks on Passchendaele were the culmination of the 3rd Battles of Ypres; the principal British offensive on the Western Front in 1917.
The offensive had opened on 31 July with the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, delivered on a broad frontage by General Gough’s 5th Army. In the north it captured the Pilckem Ridge, however in the south it did not in take its objectives on the Gheluvelt Plateau.
5th Army delivered further attacks in the Capture of Westhoek on 10 August, the Battle of Langemarck on 16 August, and local operations around St Julian later in August. These attacks achieved limited success with high casualties in conditions made very difficult by heavy rain. This made the ground extremely boggy, and rendered movement very difficult and exhausting.
In subsequent fine weather and following thorough preparation, General Plumer’s 2nd Army delivered successful ‘step by step’ ‘bite and hold’ attacks on narrower frontages in the Battle of Menin Road on 20 September, the Battle of Polygon Wood on 26 September and the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October. I Anzac Corps (1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Australian Divisions) and II Anzac Corps (3rd Australian Division and NZ Division) performed key roles in these successes.
On 9 October, 49th and 66th British Divisions of Lieutenant General Godley’s II Anzac Corps, supported on the right by 2nd Australian Division of Lieutenant General Birdwood’s I Anzac Corps, attacked Passchendaele in what became known as the Battle of Poelcappelle. It was not palatable to the British to call it the Battle of Passchendaele, due to the complete failure of the attack on Passchendaele itself; the main objective. Due to the greater success of 5th Army’s flanking attack at Poelcappelle, the battle was named after this supporting effort.
Due to the continual rain since Broodseinde, the impassability of the ground meant that only part of the artillery had been brought forward in the four days between the battles. There was insufficient time to prepare gun positions, and many guns sank in the mud and were therefore unusable. Likewise, adequate ammunition could not be brought forward to the gun line. Transport from the duckboards to the gun positions was by pack animals, many of which sank into the quagmire, and often neither they nor their loads could be recovered. Ammunition which did make it to the gun line had to be cleaned of mire before it could be used.
In these conditions neither the preparatory bombardment nor the protective barrage could be fired effectively. The enemy front line and artillery positions were therefore not effectively suppressed either before or during the attack. Charles Bean wrote: “I suspect that they are making a great, bloody experiment – a huge gamble.”
The Infantry were exhausted by their tortuous approach marches through the mud, and then had to drag themselves forward through the quagmire to assault the unsuppressed German machine-guns. 66th Division in the centre and 2nd Division on the right took their first objectives in the face of feeble front line enemy resistance and pressed on to their second objectives, but then had insufficient strength to hold them in the face of determined German counter-strokes.
49th Division on the left failed in its attack, due to wire which was not cut and pillboxes which were not suppressed by the ineffective preparatory bombardment. 66th Division, being enfiladed by machine gun fire from Bellevue Spur, had to withdraw to its start line, and likewise 2nd Division had to abandon the Keiberg Spur.
The attack had gained hardly any ground, and had cost the three assaulting divisions nearly 7,000 casualties, including 1,253 in 2nd Australian Division.
Conduct of the Battle:
The attack of 12 October became known as the 1st Battle of Passchendaele. Although this second attack on Passchendaele was also a complete failure, it was no longer deniable that Passchendaele was the main objective.
This attack was also conducted by II Anzac Corps. The left assault division this time was NZ Division attacking Bellevue Spur. The right assault division was 3rd Australian Division attacking Passchendaele Ridge. The right flank division was 4th Australian Division of I Anzac Corps attacking Keiberg Spur. Left flank protection was provided by 5th Army.
The plan for, conduct of, and results of this attack were almost identical to those of 9 October. One observer said that anybody who had participated in the 9 October attack, on hearing the 12 October attack described, would have thought that it was his own battle being recounted. The barrage, based on incorrect estimation of 66th Division’s front line, was completely ineffective. The 40th Battalion history said: “We made no attempt to conform to it. There was really nothing to conform to.” Bean wrote that: “No blame can attach to the artillery”. The NZ artillery commander reported that he might be unable to support the Infantry properly, but nobody took any notice and the attack went ahead.
3rd Division in the centre and 4th Division on the right took their first objectives and pressed on to their second objectives, but had insufficient strength to hold them in the face of the customary German counter-strokes. Men of the 38th Battalion even penetrated Passchendaele village as far as the church.
3rd Division’s 9th Brigade was on the second objective on Passchendaele Ridge, however both flanks were in the air. NZ Division on the left failed in its attack, again due to uncut wire and unsuppressed pillboxes. The Division’s 2nd Brigade was stuck in the Ravebeek quagmire. 3rd Division’s 10th Brigade was also in the Ravebeek. Bean wrote that: “No infantry in the world could have crossed the Ravebeek mud”.
3rd Division, being enfiladed by machine gun fire from Bellevue Spur, tried to withdraw to its first objective, which had been secured earlier. The troops securing this objective however had moved forward to support the attack on the second objective, and once this effort stalled, there was nobody securing the first objective as an intermediate fall-back position. 3rd Division had to withdraw to its start line, and likewise 4th Division had to abandon the Keiberg Spur; the second time it had to be abandoned after being captured.
The attack had gained hardly any ground, and had cost the three assaulting divisions nearly 7,000 casualties, including 3,199 in 3rd Australian Division and 1,018 in 4th Australian Division.
By this time I and II Anzac Corps were no longer effective fighting formations at Passchendaele, due to the heavy casualties and sheer exhaustion they had suffered during the campaign. II Anzac Corps was relieved by the Canadian Corps, and after supporting the first Canadian attack on Passchendaele, I Anzac Corps was also relieved.
Subsequent Attacks
The series of four attacks against Passchendaele from 26 October to 10 November became known collectively as the 2nd Battle of Passchendaele. These attacks were conducted by Lieutenant General Currie’s Canadian Corps. For the first attack on 26 October, the right flank division was 1st Australian Division of I Anzac Corps attacking Keiberg Spur, in what would be the AIF’s final engagement at 3rd Ypres.
At the time General Currie was reputedly the best British or Commonwealth corps commander. He demanded, and was granted, adequate time to prepare his attacks. After the failure of Field Marshal Haig’s “huge gamble”, General Plumer reverted to the meticulous planning and preparation which had been so successful at Menin Road, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde. Roads, light railways, duckboard tracks, phone lines and gun positions were improved, and ample artillery and ammunition were brought forward.
This enabled an effective preliminary bombardment to be fired, which was much more successful in cutting the wire on Bellevue Spur. The Infantry were brought into the front line early, so that they were not exhausted from their approach marches. The three objectives of the earlier attacks would now be assaulted in three distinct attacks, separated by a few days for consolidation and further preparation.
Les Carlyon described General Currie’s preparation for these attacks.
“All through, Currie went back and forth to the front in the rain, looking for himself, finding out for himself, talking to gunners, infantrymen, engineers and medical staff, insisting that this be changed and that be fixed. This is what gave him a style all of his own among the Great War generals. He was not only careful in his planning; he had to see the ground.”
The attack on the left was successful this time. The wire on Bellevue Spur had been cut more effectively, although much hard and gallant Infantry work was necessary to silence the German machine-guns there in order to protect the flank of the attack on the main ridge. This was also successful, but eventually had to be withdrawn to a consolidated intermediate position. Likewise, 1st Australian Division had to abandon the Keiberg Spur, the third time it had to be abandoned after being captured. This time the attack had gained 500 metres of ground, but had cost the assaulting Canadian divisions 3,300 casualties and the supporting 1st Australian Division 154.
On 30 October the Canadians continued their attacks, gained another 500 metres of ground, and took the second objectives just short of Passchendaele Village. On 6 November they renewed the attacks with fresh divisions, gained another 500 metres of ground, and took the third objectives, including Passchendaele Village itself. On 10 November they extended their northern flank along the ridge from the village a further 500 metres. The Battles of 3rd Ypres were finally over.
Acts of Valour:
Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries of the 34th Battalion was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour at Passchendaele. His citation reads:
“For most conspicuous bravery in attack, when his company was held up by enemy machine-gun fire from concrete emplacements. Organising a party, he rushed one emplacement, capturing four machine-guns and thirty-five prisoners. He then led his company forward under extremely heavy enemy artillery barrage and enfilade machine-gun fire to the objective. Later, he again organised a successful attack on a machine-gun emplacement, capturing two machine-guns and thirty more prisoners. This gallant officer was killed during the attack, but it was entirely due to his bravery and initiative that the centre of the attack was not held up for a lengthy period. His example had a most inspiring influence.”
Captain Jeffries is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery.
Sergeant Lewis McGee of the 40th Battalion, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour on 4 October at Broodseinde, was also killed on 12 October at Passchendaele, and is also buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery.
|
Broadly speaking, the Ieper Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the northern edge of Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and shape throughout the war.
The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when the small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge.
The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres.
This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence.
There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather.
The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele. The German offensive of March 1918 met with some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined effort by the Allies in September.
The cemetery was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station.
The original battlefield cemetery of 343 graves was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when remains were brought in from the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck, and from a few small burial grounds. It is now the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world in terms of burials.
At the suggestion of King George V, who visited the cemetery in 1922, the Cross of Sacrifice was placed on the original large pill-box. There are three other pill-boxes in the cemetery.
There are now 11,952 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in Tyne Cot Cemetery.
8,365 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to more than 80 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials commemorate 20 casualties whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient.
The battles of the Ypres Salient claimed many lives on both sides and it quickly became clear that the commemoration of members of the Commonwealth forces with no known grave would have to be divided between several different sites. The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. The Menin Gate commemorates those of all Commonwealth nations except New Zealand who died in the Salient before 16 August 1917.
Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial here at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. Other New Zealand casualties are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery.
The Tyne Cot Memorial now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F V Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett in July 1927.
|
Unless otherwise noted battle and battlefield descriptions are prepared jointly by the Military History Tours Historians, as are the photographs.
|
|
