Fromelles & Pozières. Days in conflict 2016. 100 years of Anzac. The spirit lives. 2014-2018
The Battles of Fromelles and Pozières
In July 1916, the battles of Fromelles and Pozières marked Australia's
entry onto the Western Front of the Great War.
These were two of many battles fought during the Somme Offensive, in
which for nearly half of 1916, British and its Dominion's soldiers fought
alongside their French Allies, in a bid to break through the German's entrenched
positions to the north and south of the Somme River.
The battles of the Somme were a turning point in the First World War.
They forced a German retreat and ensured that from the end of 1916, until
March 1918, Germany remained on the defensive along the Western Front.
But this turning point came at great cost, as the overall offensive
became characterised by battles of attrition involving loss of life on an
epic scale. Men in their hundreds of thousands fell on the Somme battlefields,
most the victims of duelling artillery and eviscerating machine gun fire.
Beginning on 1st July 1916, with battles fought on both sides of the
river Somme, the offensive continued through the summer months, into a wet
autumn and brutal winter, concluding on the 18th November. By its end, there
were more than a million casualties on both sides, marking the Somme as one
of the bloodiest conflicts in history.
For the Australian Imperial Force, two of these battles would become
devastating introductions to war on the Western Front.
Where Fromelles was a feint in an attempt to deceive the Germans, the
ambition at Pozières spoke directly to the principal strategy of the
Allied armies: to take high ground held by the German Army and force a breakthrough
in their front line.
Both battles are infamous for the terrible loss of life suffered by
the men of the all-volunteer Australian Imperial Force. Today their sacrifice
is remembered as the profound cost of one of the most momentous changes in
In this portrayal of the two battles, explore how events unfolded, firstly
in the fields north of Fromelles and days later, in and around the village
Days in Conflict 1916:Fromelles and Pozières is presented by
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Department of Veterans' Affairs.
The Battle of Fromelles
Narration by Hugo Weaving
It is dawn on Wednesday 19th July, 1916, northwest of the village of Fromelles
in northern France, nineteen days into the Somme Offensive on the Western
The village of Fromelles was captured nearly two years ago during the
Race to the Sea, when the German advance across northwest Europe was halted
by the British and French. The opposing armies had tried to outflank each
other, until their frontlines reached Belgium's North Sea coast.
Fromelles had remained in German hands ever since, nestled behind a
long and well-entrenched front line, held in this sector by the 6th Bavarian
Reserve Division, and further supported by strategically positioned units
along Aubers Ridge to the northwest of the village.
The Allied aim for the battle that is about to begin is to deceive German
high command into keeping their reserves in place, rather than sending them
south to reinforce their units on the Somme, where the mighty Allied offensive
is taking place.
Before today, British forces have launched two unsuccessful attacks
in the area in front of Aubers Ridge. The first, only two months after German
forces occupied the area, was intended to capture the Ridge itself.
Then, in May 1916, more than a year after this first attempt, the British
8th Division sought to seize the German positions before the Ridge.
Despite the artillery's failure to destroy the German defences, the
8th Division's infantry advanced and were shot down by German machine gunners.
Some 11,000 British soldiers were killed, wounded or listed as missing. After
the battle, German soldiers needed an entire week to bury the dead.
Now, weeks later, the Battle of Fromelles is beginning to unfold on
a hazy Wednesday morning, as the British 61st Division and the Australian
5th Division move into position to launch their attack.
Preparations for the battle had begun four days earlier, providing a series of
signals to the Germans that a larger offensive may be about to occur.
These included the largely unsuccessful use of gas by the 61st Division,
during the night of the 15th July, and which resulted in four deaths and
twenty-one casualties on the German side. But it also caused casualties among
the British, when the toxic clouds drifted back across the Allied trenches.
For the past two days, British artillery fire against German positions
has also intensified. General Richard Haking is the British commander
on this part of the front. He believes that the objective, the rear most
trench of the enemy's front line, lies about 140 metres beyond no man's land.
Haking is based at XI Corps HQ in Sailly, 187 km away, and is convinced
the objective is achievable by a smaller force than previously imagined.
He decides that one division from 11th Corps, under Major General Colin
McKenzie, fight alongside the 5th Australian Division, commanded by Gallipoli
veteran Lieutenant General Sir James McCay.
However, the British 61st Division is generally considered to be under-equipped
and it will be the 5th Australian Division's first experience of combat on
the Western Front.
Brigadier General Harold "Pompey" Elliott, commander of the Australian
15th Brigade, part of the 5th Division, has great misgivings about the coming
Many aspects of the planning, and his experience, suggest to him that
the whole operation is inadvisable.
Among other things, the Australian artillerymen, whose role will be
crucial to the operation's success are inexperienced and their guns are unreliable.
Adding to these concerns, the distance to be covered across no man's
land is highly variable across the line of attack, in some places is up to
400 metres wide.
Much of this ground is waterlogged and in clear view of the German positions,
including the Sugarloaf salient, a series of concrete bunkers fortified with
machine guns able to fire forward and to each side.
Elliott has taken a visiting staff officer from Field Marshal Haig's
headquarters, Major Howard, beyond the front line to a post in no man's land,
where there is a good view of the Sugarloaf.
After showing Howard the plan of attack, the draft orders, and the ground
over which the attack is to take place, Elliott asks for the Major's frank
assessment of the likely outcome. Howard predicts "a bloody holocaust".
Elliott urges him to go back to Field Marshal Haig and inform him that
Haking's strategy is flawed. Whether or not Howard was able to do so, remains
unclear, but by the morning of the 19th the only result has been a delay
in the operation.
German defences on the Aubers Ridge and at Fromelles are substantial and continue
to cause immense tactical difficulties for the British and Australians.
By July 1916, the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division holds more than 7 kilometres
of the German front line.
Each of the Division's regiments has been allocated a sector, each in
turn manned by individual infantry companies.
The trenches never run in a completely straight line, but are zig zagged
to limit the damage from artillery, machine gun fire and bombing attacks.
At their strongest, the German trenches are protected by sandbagged
breastworks over two metres high and six metres deep, which makes them resistant
to all but direct hits by artillery. This line is further protected by thick
bands of barbed wire entanglements.
There are two salients in the German line where the opposing forward
trenches are at their closest. One is called the Sugarloaf and the other,
Wick. Both are heavily fortified and from where machine gunners overlook
no man's land and the Allied lines beyond.
Along the German line, there are about 75 solid concrete shelters. From
their front line trenches, the Bavarians have dug tunnels under the wire
and out around thirty metres into no man's land, which they use as listening
posts. At night searchlights, flares and star shells illuminate the frontline.
A trench tramway network, known as a 'push line', has been constructed
along the entire length of, and parallel to, the trenches. Other tram lines
branch off towards the rear. These supply lines are in some locations connected
to tracks for horse-drawn or petrol-driven vehicles, and in turn meet up
with the standard-gauge French railway network. A buried telephone network
and electricity supply is also in place, powering lighting, water pumps,
concrete-mixing stations and other amenities. It is by far a more sophisticated
and solid defensive system than that occupied by the British and Australians.
Aubers Ridge itself provides a good screen for German artillery positions
but is not high enough for effective, direct observation of the enemy. As
a result, the Bavarians have constructed platforms in trees, observation
posts in church towers and chimneys, and concrete structures within taller
Having occupied this part of the line for about two years the Bavarians
also know the terrain intimately, in contrast to the newly arrived Allied
"Pompey" Elliott's misgivings about the battle to come are well founded.
The British and Australian Artillery bombardment of German lines commences at
11am, seven hours later than planned, due to poor visibility.
The artillery has two decisive objectives. Firstly, to put enemy machine
guns and their crews out of action or at least keep them from firing until
the infantry reach the German trenches. Secondly, to destroy the barbed
wire and collapse the German parapet, depriving the German infantry of their
defences and preserving the lives of the attacking troops.
The Allied artillery averages one gun for every eight metres of German
front line; a denser ratio than was available for the first day of the Somme
As the bombardment begins, the quiet landscape is transformed into a
deafening, shuddering tumult. Machine Gun Sergeant Les Martin, recalled later
in a letter to his brother: 'From about 11 a.m. till 6 p.m. there was not
a space of a second's duration when some of our guns were not firing, the
row was deafening. I put wadding in my ears while we were down in the supports
waiting to go forward.'
Half an hour into the bombardment 5 British aircraft fly over the Wick
Salient area to observe the effects of the shelling on the German positions,
including the front line, the wire entanglements and the rear areas, including
the hamlets of Aubers and Herties. They report many German shelters and dugouts
appear buried and wire defences cut.
At midday, the bombardment increases. German commanders send up two
aircraft to locate the British artillery positions.
By 1pm, two hours after the Allied bombardment began, German artillery
is responding. The German 32nd Battalion's commanding officer reports 'Hostile
trench mortars and 18-pounders [are] smashing our parapets and trenches to
pieces. [There are] Many casualties'.
At about 2.30PM, Allied artillery observers report their bombardment
on one of the prime targets, the Sugarloaf salient, has been ineffective
and the wire entanglements remain uncut. An order is sent to increase the
barrage in order to cut the wire but the message is not received until after
5pm by which time it's too late.
It is now 5pm and German artillery is pounding the Allied front line where Australian
and British troops prepare for the charge. This artillery is supported by
heavy machine guns unsilenced during six hours of bombardment.
Later a 14th Brigade non-commissioned officer recalled, "The first thing
that struck you was that the shells were bursting everywhere, mostly high
explosive; and you would see machine-guns knocking bits off the trees in
front of the reserve line and sparking against the wire...When men looked
over the top they saw no man's land leaping up everywhere in showers of dust
and sand...rather confirming our fears that the Germans knew something."
The next hour is a perfect demonstration of what is often called 'the
fog of war' as plans and orders are overtaken by the tide of battle.
At ten past 5, Brigadier-General 'Pompey' Elliott, receives a warning
that the barbed wire surrounding the Sugarloaf in front of his Brigade's
position was uncut by the bombardment.
Observers note three intact German machine-gun emplacements. Adding
to Elliott's problems, part of his force is not in position because of the
ferocity of the German artillery.
Five minutes later, to the right of the Australians, British soldiers
begin to leave doors called sally ports in the trenches and enter no man's
land. The effect is very different to a line of soldiers going over the parapet
- the small doorways naturally funnel the soldiers, causing congestion and
making them an ideal target for German machine gunners who shoot them down
as they try to fan out from these narrow exits. The effect is horrific as
bodies pile up around the doorways.
Elsewhere along the line, British and Australian soldiers begin a series
of movements from the rear trenches to the forward line. So congested are
the Australian trenches that many of these men need to go out over open ground
to reach their starting point. They come under intense artillery and machine
gun fire as they do so.
The first wave of Australians goes over the parapet into no-man's-land
just after 5.40pm.
Throughout this first hour of the infantry attack, sheer chaos reigns
as men charge, fall or inch forward across no man's land under the storm
of artillery and machine gun fire.
By 6pm, British and Australian troops have in some sectors reached the
German front line and are beginning to break into the trenches as Allied
artillery lifts its range to target areas behind the enemy's front.
It's 6pm and the fourth wave of infantry is advancing. Two and a half hours of
The Allied artillery barrage lifts its range to target the rear of the
German line as successive waves of British and Australian troops advance
against the enemy's front line trenches and the salients.
Major Geoff McCrae, a Gallipoli veteran, leads the fourth wave of the
15th Australian Brigade, including the 59th and 60th Battalions - about 2000
men including 60 officers.
His men include signallers with wire and telephones to keep headquarters
informed of the battle's progress.
75 metres into no man's land, McCrae is shot in the neck and killed.
All McCrae's signallers also fall dead or wounded. Messages now have to be
to be carried back across no man's land by runners.
Private Walter 'Jimmy' Downing of 57th Battalion is watching the attack
"The 60th climbed on to the parapet, heavily laden, dragging with them
scaling ladders, light bridges, picks, shovels and bags of bombs.
"Scores of stammering German machine-guns spluttered violently, drowning
the noise of the cannonade. The air was thick with bullets, swishing in a
flat lattice of death. There were gaps in the lines of men - wide ones, small
ones. The survivors spread across the front, keeping the line straight...
The bullets skimmed lo, from knee to groin, riddling the tumbling bodies
before they touched the ground. Still the line kept on.
"Hundreds were mown down in the flicker of an eyelid, like great rows
of teeth knocked from a comb, but still the line went on, thinning and stretching.
Wounded wriggled into shell holes or were hit again. Men were cut in two
by streams of bullets. And still the line went on... It was the charge of
the Light Brigade once more, but more terrible, more hopeless."
A mere ten minutes have passed since 6pm.
With parts of the German front line trenches being captured by both
British and Australian units, the soldiers press their attack and move on
towards the German second line.
53rd Battalion commander Lt. Col. Ignatius Norris arrives with battalion
headquarters in the fourth wave, calling 'Come on lads! Only another trench
As Norris moves forward he is cut down by an 'unsuppressed machine gun'.
Norris's last words are reported to be, 'Here, I'm done, will somebody take
my papers?' With him is Private Leslie Croft, a battalion signaller, who
attempts unsuccessfully, with others, to bring his wounded leader back to
Others with Norris are also killed and wounded by German machine guns,
including his young adjutant, 32-year-old Lieutenant Harry Moffitt.
According to Sergeant Patrick Lonergan, when he sees his colonel hit,
Moffitt instantly calls for four men to carry him back to the Australian
lines. As he does so, he too is hit and falls dead across Norris' body.
A little before half past six 53rd and 54th Battalion soldiers who are
now occupying the German front line from Rouges Banc to near Delangre Farm
press forward in an attempt to locate the key objective, the German second
Some of these men are further than 300 metres but only find occasional
enemy soldiers taking cover in shell craters, many of whom retreat on sight.
The Australian soldiers are under orders to resist the chase, instead some
Germans are taken prisoner and sent back to Australian lines.
Lieutenant Colonel Toll, commanding the 31st Battalion also looks for
and is unable to find the German second line. Toll later reported, "(We)
swept on with the intention of capturing the second and third trenches in
the first line system, but...no trace could be found... It now appeared evident
that the information supplied as to enemy defences...was incorrect and misleading.
The ground was flat, covered with fairly long grass, the trenches shown on
aerial photos were nothing but ditches full of water."
By 6:45, the Australian and British advance is stalled and turns into
a retreat under fire from their own artillery as the guns continue to hit
targets behind the enemy's front line, unaware of the progress of the infantry
German artillery also begins to open up on no man's land, preventing
other Allied units from advancing.
By around twenty past seven, Brigadier-General Elliott sends a report
to Headquarters that the attack is failing in part because of a lack of support.
In response, Major General McCay sends about 500 men, half of the reserve
55th Battalion, into the battle.
But as 8pm approaches, the Germans are reoccupying much of their front
line. The Allied attack is failing everywhere. The German record of
battle reports that "the forward trench was once again in our hands - 47
unwounded and 14 wounded Englishmen were captured, as well as seven machine
guns and sundry material.
A great number of wounded and dead English lay in front of our position.
Bandages were ordered forward, the platoons which had been pushed out moved
back into their positions...two captured machine guns were turned against
It is now 8pm. Daylight begins to fade over the battlefield.
At 11th Corps headquarters, General Haking orders a fresh assault to
take place in an hour's time.
Having received divisional reports on the progress of the battle so
far, his intention is to support the limited successes where they can be
Haking is under the misapprehension that the Sugarloaf salient has been
dealt more damage than in fact it has. Plans are drawn up to launch an assault
But within half an hour these plans are cancelled as aerial reconnaissance
reveals the position to still be intact. Haking also receives news of
the high number of casualties. He orders the three remaining British brigades
to wait until morning before resuming the attack.
Whilst the order to delay does eventually make its way to McCay, Elliott
who has been preparing his reserves to assault the Sugarloaf is never informed
of the change in plan and continues to prepare for the assault.
The headquarters of the Bavarian 6th Regiment are at the same time planning
for a determined counter-attack. Equipped with a more realistic assessment
of the situation their plans involve a combined artillery and infantry assault
with clear lines of command and communication.
At 9 pm Elliott orders the Australian 15th Brigade reinforcements to
advance and assault the eastern face of the Sugarloaf, with two companies
of the 58th Battalion and some survivors of the 59th. They are led by 21-year-old
Major Arthur Hutchinson.
Rising from cover, 200 metres from the Sugarloaf, they are immediately
met by machine gun fire from the emplacements ahead of them. The result is
At the same time fresh reserves of the Bavarian 6th Division gather
at Delangre Farm in large numbers, in preparation for the counter-attack.
8th Australian Brigade headquarters receives reports that the 32nd Battalion
is under great pressure: the "front line cannot be held unless reinforcements
are sent. Enemy machine gunners are creeping up... The artillery is not giving
support. Sandbags required in thousands. Men bringing sandbags are being
wounded in the back. Water urgently required."
By twenty past midnight Brigadier-General Elliott has learnt that the attack
on the Sugarloaf has failed disastrously and relays the information to McCay.
A third attempt is now deemed impossible. McCay's response is to order
the attack abandoned and for the survivors to withdraw to their old positions
and form a defensive line against an expected German counterattack.
Meanwhile General Haking's headquarters prepare plans for another attack
At the front, fighting continues as different units defend their positions
and others attempt to retreat.
Soldiers of the Australian 8th Brigade still occupy some German frontline
trenches but come under increasing pressure from the German infantry counter-attack
and artillery fire.
Over the next several hours British and Australian soldiers will be
pushed back to the Allied frontline through the confusion and darkness.
Just before 4am, orders to retreat reach elements of the 8th Brigade
still holding positions on the German frontline. Whilst some units refuse
to leave, remaining locked in hand to hand combat against the Germans, others
make a break for the Allied line across no man's land.
Many are cut down by German machine gun fire during as they try to reach
the Allied line.
Captain Charles Arblaster and the remnants of the 53rd Battalion positioned
behind the German frontline trenches come under heavy attack from German
units and contemplate retreat to their own frontline which is now dangerously
As Arblaster leads the retreat his men are struck by a hail of German
gunfire. Captain Arblaster is shot through both arms, and falls wounded.
He and other survivors make their way back to the German front line. They
seek cover in the trench and are taken prisoner.
At ten past five, the order for a general retreat is finally given by
General Charles Munro, Commander of the British First Army.
But retreat is at least as perilous as attack, and many soldiers fall
as they try to get back to the Allied line.
Word of the retreat does not reach all units at the same time, and soldiers
are still coming back as late as 8 o'clock in the morning, a good hour after
German forces have recaptured much of their original frontline positions.
Pockets of soldiers, such as those from the 53rd Battalion are trapped
in their forward positions, forced to surrender and become prisoners of war.
The Australian 14th Brigade is one of the last units to receive the
order to withdraw, as German forces press their counter-attack.
14th Brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Cass' report stated that
"these attacks caused the 53rd to break and crowd in on my right. Many of
the men were demoralized and a mixed party surrendered. It would appear that
at least six Germans in Australian uniforms went over to the Germans from
the vicinity of the right of the 53rd and others seeing this followed."
14th Brigade's retreat is assisted by the make-shift ditches and tunnels
known as saps that have been dug by fellow soldiers through the night to
assist in traversing no man's land. These have even been laid with duckboards
and Cass sends his machine gunners back one at a time, carefully establishing
a rear guard during this orderly withdrawal.
Just before 8am, German forces launch another attack. As Sergeant Archibald
Winter of the 55th Battalion recalled: 'God knows which way he came—we
don't. He appeared to come from every direction. We were unsupported, consequently
Fritz could come in on our own flanks. They had snipers everywhere and our
own men were falling fast. Then we got into close quarters with the bombs
but we were only a handful and Fritz was there in his thousands.'
14th Australian Brigade are the last men out and are ordered to hold
the Germans back.
Their retreat is haphazard. Some men hold their positions to the end,
whilst others are sent back by their commanding officers.
Captain Norman Gibbins leads several assaults with grenades brought
out through the 14th Brigade's communication trench across no man's land.
Gibbins deploys two Lewis guns to cover the withdrawal as his men hold
the head of this trench. On receiving orders to retire Captain Gibbins is
one of the very last to go.
Finding the trench blocked with the dead and wounded, he is forced to
climb over the parapet. As he looks back at the German line, he is shot in
Sergeant White, a 55th Battalion Lewis gunner recalled the order to
retire and described the last moments of the battle:
"At that time Captain Gibbins was but a few yards from me and most of
the infantry had retired. I was suddenly brought back to my senses by hearing
Captain Gibbins call out 'come on, all you gunners.' I immediately picked
up my spare parts and followed him...I saw him reach the top of our trenches
where he turned his head around sharply and was immediately struck in the
head by a bullet and killed instantly."
From the comparative safety of the British frontline trench Corporal
Williams observed: "We were powerless to assist them, and had to watch them
being shot down at point blank range... It seemed an eternity of time until
the lucky ones reached our parapets, to be pulled in by willing hands. No
sooner was our field of fire clear than we blazed into the Germans who had
lined their parapets to punish the retiring troops."
At 9.20am on the 20th July, the Bavarian 6th Division Command consider
the battle won. An Intelligence Officer notes that the last of the British
and Australians left defending themselves have been captured.
Captain Frederick Collier, the Regimental Medical Officer of the 60th Battalion,
wrote: "We worked all that afternoon, that night and all next day without
ceasing. We could not show a light and when we came to a wounded man we would
ask him where he was hit and feel for his wound with hands covered with dried
blood and mud. There was no time and no water to wash hands."
Brigadier-General Harold (Pompey) Elliott went on a post battle inspection
accompanied by Lieutenant J.D. Schroder, who reported: "Ordinary sandbagged
trenches were now heaps of debris, and it was impossible to walk far without
falling over dead men, [but] Pompey went from battalion to company headquarters
and so on right along the line. A word for a wounded man here, a pat of approbation
to a bleary-eyed digger there, he missed nobody. He never spoke a word all
the way back to advanced brigade [headquarters] but went straight inside,
put his head in his hands, and sobbed his heart out. Other survivors were
struck by the intensity of his anguish. At one stage Elliott called out to
Captain Bill Trainor, 'Good God Bill, what's happened to my brigade?'.
No Territory gained or lost; 5,500 Australians and 2,000 British troops
killed or wounded.
The Battle of Pozières
Narration by Hugo Weaving
On the morning of the 20th July, as the German Army surveyed the scene of their
victory at Fromelles, soldiers of the Australian 1st Division arrived to
replace the British on the front line south of the village of Pozières.
Positioned atop a ridge about 64 kilometres south of Fromelles, Pozières
was more or less in the middle of the British Sector of the Somme battlefield.
Less than a week earlier, the southern section of the German second
line near Pozières had been taken during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge.
British command now saw the opportunity to complete the capture of this line
in their sector by advancing northeast, through Pozières and beyond.
The British Fourth Army had attempted to take Pozières three
weeks earlier, on the first day of the Somme Offensive.
They tried again on the 13 and 17 July, still with no success and suffering
heavy casualties. The village was subjected to heavy bombardment during this
period, destroying many of the buildings and turning the surrounding country
into a wasteland, particularly around the German trench lines.
British troops had been unable to advance beyond "Pozières trench"
south of the village, twice being pushed back. Their efforts to advance to
the east of the village, up through what was known as the Old German Line
trenches, also failed.
The challenge now fell to the Australian 1st Division, which like the
5th Division at Fromelles, was facing its first major battle on the Western
Arriving at the British front line, a trench system that in places was
no more than a series of ditches, 1st Division soldiers spent 48 hours preparing
for their attack, under German artillery and gas bombardment.
The Battle of Fromelles had rendered the Australian 5th Division unfit
for fighting for many months to come. At Pozières the 1st Division
would initially succeed in occupying the village, only to become the subject
of a devastating artillery bombardment, often said to be the heaviest experienced
by Australians during the First World War. When the 1st Division was relieved
by the 2nd it had suffered more than 5200 casualties.
The Australian 1st Division began their attack half an hour past midnight on
the 23rd July, following a plan that required the 1st and 3rd Brigades to
attack Pozières from the south, and advancing in three stages.
They would be supported to the northwest of the Albert-Bapaume road
by the British 48th Division, which would attack the German trenches to the
west of the village.
During the evening and night of July 22nd, the eve of the attack, British
and German artillery engaged in a fierce duel, a display of fire power that
lit up the sky for miles around.
The Australian 2nd Division, newly arrived at Albert three miles away,
watched the bombardment from nearby high ground.
At 12.30am, the Allied artillery lifted its fire, striking targets behind
the German front line and the first two waves of the 1st and 3rd Brigades
began their assault, rapidly capturing the Pozières Trench system
south of the village.
45 minutes later, the Australians took their second objective, south
of the Albert-Bapaume road. However, to the east, the 3rd Brigade's advance
faltered as the 9th and 10th Battalions met stiff resistance near the Old
German Lines on their right.
By 4am, the Australian front line stretched diagonally across the south
of the village, with the 1st Battalion at the western end, edging toward
the Albert-Bapaume road, and 9th and 10th Battalions' experiencing intense
By 7am, shortly after sunrise, scouts had reported to 3rd Brigade commanders
that German infantry was massing for a counter attack in the north of the
village. Allied artillery bombarded the area, inflicting heavy casualties
on the Germans and dispersing the attack.
As the barrage lifted, German infantry were seen withdrawing and the
2nd Battalion, on the west flank, crossed the Albert-Bapaume road and pushed
north through the ruins of the village.
Meanwhile, toward the Old German Lines the Australian assault remained
stalled in the face of continuing heavy resistance.
Brigadier General Sinclair-Maclagan, ordered the Battalions on the far
right to renew the attack on the first line. But sustained German fire from
the vicinity of the heavily fortified Pozières Windmill continued
to hinder this effort.
The 10th Battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Price Weir,
described the fortification there as "a cement keep [which] has the appearance
of a cottage and will be very difficult to take without assistance from Heavy
Guns, which have not up to the present touched it."
Several problems faced the 9th and 10th Battalions in their assault
of the Old German Lines. The area had been so pummelled by artillery fire
that orientation was difficult and the two parallel German trench lines were
not easily visible.
Beneath the trenches were deep dugouts, impervious to the Allied bombardment,
and occupied by German troops ready to emerge and engage the Australians.
The Germans were also supported by concealed machine guns and by fire
from the fortifications around the Pozières windmill. This well defended
position also meant that German fire could continue targeting Australian
soldiers attempting to secure the eastern side of Pozières.
The drawn-out struggle for the Old German Lines continued for days.
By 10am, further west of the Old German Lines, Australian observers
watched German troops withdrawing toward the cemetery at the northern edge
of the village. The 1st Brigade pursued them, capturing more and more of
Pozières, engaging in vicious close quarters fighting and taking prisoners
as they advanced through the ruined buildings.
By mid-afternoon, the Allied artillery had lifted its fire still further
behind the German front lines as Australian troops secured the village.
By 9pm that evening, when 2nd Brigade's 8th Battalion arrived to reinforce
the them, 1st Brigade occupied a line about mid-way through the northern
part of Pozières.
As night fell on the 23rd of July, Australian soldiers digging in throughout
the village were aware of their significant success - despite the difficulty
in securing the Old German Lines to the east, they had succeeded in taking
their objectives and now occupied an important German position in this sector
of the Somme Valley.
Orders for the 24th of July were for the Australians to press their
advantage by advancing further north beyond the village, toward Mouquet Farm,
and east against the Old German Lines.
But this proved an impossible task. The Germans occupied a formidable
position at Mouquet Farm and the Australians had trouble repositioning their
troops for this new assault, in a ruined landscape now devoid of landmarks
and under heavy German artillery bombardment.
At one point, 5th Battalion soldiers seized a section of the Old German
Lines but were driven back by the newly arrived 18th German Reserve Division,
brought in to reinforce the main counter-attack against the Australians at
German high command ordered a strong response to the loss of Pozières,
the only significant gain by Allied forces on this part of the front.
As the Australians consolidated their gains the Germans opened a devastating
artillery bombardment on Pozières.
Australia's Official Correspondent to the Australian Imperial Force
and later Official Historian of the war, Charles Bean, later wrote, "The
German bombardment was, at first, methodical rather than intense. One battery...for
example, firing directly along a deep trench just dug by the Australians
on the southern side of the [Albert-Bapaume] road, pounded it systematically
with about four shells a minute, breaking its sides and burying men whose
comrades...constantly dug them out alive and dead. By evening parts of that
trench could not even be found by the relieving companies. The southwest
entrance to the village...was most heavily and continuously pounded, and
the main approach route there was so lined with dead that it came to be called
Dead Man's Road."
Over the next two days, German and Allied artillery bombarded what remained
of the shattered village of Pozières, until this part of the front
resembled a lunar landscape.
The ferocious barrage was visible for miles, throwing up dust, smoke
and debris. Some Australians were outside the line of German fire, others
sheltered in the deep dugouts vacated by the German soldiers while others
still had to endure the terrible shell fire in the shelter of shell holes
or broken trenches.
The severity of the bombardment indicated the likelihood of a strong
German counter-attack, which the Australians expected would come on the evening
of the 25th July. But the fighting in the Old German Lines that morning between
the Australian 5th Battalion and the German 18th Reserve Division, the exhausting
artillery duel, and the enormous strain of the past three days compelled
the Germans to abandon the attack.
Emerging from the rubble of Pozières on the morning of the 27th
to be relieved by the Australian 2nd Division, the survivors of the Australian
1st Division were described as being so dazed they appeared to be walking
in a dream. They had suffered more than 5200 casualties in their first tour