2nd Battalion (Australia) - History - First World War - Western Front

Western Front

After being landed in Marseilles, they proceeded north by railway to staging areas near Hazebrouck. Shortly afterwards, on 7 April, the units of I Anzac Corps were assigned to a "quiet" sector of the line near Armentieres to gain experience of trench warfare. Due to concerns about a German attack, almost immediately the Australians set to work to improve the defences around their position. It had been hoped by the high command to initially keep the Australian presence a secret in order to gain some advantage from it, however, on 23 April it became apparent that the Germans had become aware of their arrival when a signal lamp flashed a message in Morse code from the trench opposite the 2nd Battalion's position stating, "Australians go home". To this, the Australians, despite orders against responding, replied matter-of-factly, "Why?"

In June, during a brief period away from the line in billets, the battalion, along with the rest of the 1st Brigade, was reviewed by the Australian prime minister, Billy Hughes near Fleurbaix. Following this, although several units from I Anzac Corps took part in a number of raids against the German line during late June and early July, the 2nd Battalion was not involved and as such, apart from experiencing some enemy shelling, the 2nd Battalion's first significant action came at Pozières in July 1916. The battalion entered the line on the night of 19/20 July as the 1st was sent forward to relieve the British 68th Brigade along with the 3rd Brigade; just after midnight the 2nd Battalion, after an approach march over which they had endured gas attack, arrived at its position opposite the south-western side of the village.

On 23 July, following an intense artillery barrage, the attack began. Leaving their form-up point near the "Chalk Pit", the 2nd Battalion, which had been allocated the position of the left forward battalion in the assault with the 1st Battalion on their right and the 4th Battalion following them up, moved out into no man's land just after midnight. A short time afterwards a flare was fired from the German lines followed by sporadic rifle and machine-gun fire, which was directed somewhere away from the battalion's axis-of-advance. As they advanced over the broken ground, suddenly a sentry called out a challenge and the entire battalion froze, but when firing broke out it became clear that it was directed away to their right towards the 3rd Brigade who were advancing over open ground. Advancing beneath the supporting barrage, under the direction of their officers whose job it was to ensure that they did not get ahead of the creeping artillery, the battalion probed forward trying to locate the enemy defences, finally finding an abandoned trench located amongst a group of tree stumps. After striking the railway, they began to dig-in just beyond it to secure the left flank, as the 3rd and 4th Battalions passed between them and advanced to secure the brigade's front along the line of the main Bapaume road. Following this, the 2nd Battalion maintained the left-most position on the brigade line, with its pits curling around the left flank and folding in behind the 4th Battalion's position.

The Germans put in a determined counter-attack at dawn with a whole battalion, which was turned back after a stiff fight. That night, reinforcements were brought up from the 2nd Brigade, and early in the morning on 24 July the Germans opened up with a devastating artillery barrage. On 25 July, the men of the 2nd Battalion, having suffered terribly in the open trenches, were relieved by the 7th Battalion. During the operations around Pozières, the battalion lost 10 officers and 500 men killed or wounded.

After this, they were sent to Pernois for rest and re-organisation, and after being brought back up to about two-thirds strength, the 2nd Battalion's next involvement in the fighting came around Mouquet Farm when they were briefly put into the line on 18/19 August to provide reinforcement, before being quickly relieved a few days later. In early September, I Anzac Corps was transferred from the Somme region to Ypres, in Belgium, swapping with the Canadians for a rest. Taking up a position north of the Ypres–Commines canal, the battalions of the 1st Division were placed in the centre of the line between those of the 4th, on the right to the south, and the 2nd on the left, to the north. The sector was a relatively quiet one, although not without its dangers due to constant mortar attacks, sniping, and the need to maintain patrols in no man's land. Nevertheless, duties in this time were focused mainly upon maintaining a defensive presence in the line and rebuilding the defences. In addition, a number of small-scale raids were also undertaken in an effort to draw some attention away from the fighting that was occurring on the Somme.

On 6 October, in concert with three parties from the 1st Battalion, the 2nd carried out a minor raid on a German position to the north-east of a position known as "The Bluff" in order to gain intelligence. After encountering a German patrol, they were forced to abandon their attempt, however, a short time later, one of their own patrols captured a German soldier from the 414th Infantry Regiment in no man's land. The next week, on 12 October, just after 6:00 pm a small party moved out into no man's land to raid another German position near The Bluff. After being spotted, they were subjected to several grenade attacks, forcing them to retire. Their covering force was already in position, however, and so a number of the attacking force joined them and together, at 6:30 pm, after a box barrage by the artillery had cut the wire in front of the German position, they entered it. Killing seven Germans, they overcame the enemy resistance and brought back two defenders as prisoners. On the way back, several of their own wounded became lost, although all except one of these men were later recovered. The other man, one of the officers, was later found to have died of his wounds. In total the raid had cost the battalion two killed and seven wounded.

After this, the units of I Anzac Corps returned to the Somme, to relieve units of the Fourth Army, which had managed to push their lines to a position just below the Bapaume heights throughout September. The 2nd Battalion was not involved in any major actions during this time, although elements from the 1st Brigade—specifically the 1st Battalion with support from the 3rd—put in an attack on a salient that had developed in the front line north of Gueudecourt, which failed amid exceptionally muddy conditions.

Winter began to set in at this point, and even though combat operations all but ceased during this time, the battalion endured considerable hardships amid snow and rain, in a sector that has been described as "the worst ... of the sodden front". For a brief period during December, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Blamey commanded the battalion before taking over as acting commander of the 1st Brigade.

As 1917 began with the Allies making fresh plans, the Germans, finding themselves outnumbered and needing to shorten their lines, began a skilful staged withdrawal beginning in February and ending in April. Falling back up to 31 miles (50 km) in some places, they took up positions along a series of heavily fortified, purpose-built strong-points which the Allies subsequently named the "Hindenburg Line", which, due to the reduced frontage, enabled them to free up some 13 divisions of reserves. Following up the Germans, the Allies advanced towards this line, finding that the Germans had adopted a scorched earth policy as they had moved back; the result of this was that in order to establish their own lines, the Allies had to undertake significant construction work.

Due to the shifting front line, the 2nd Battalion's first major engagement of 1917 did not come until 9 April when, on the periphery of the Arras offensive, they took part in an attack on Hermies, one of the outpost villages of the Hindenburg Line. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Milligan, who had taken over on 17 March, the battalion had departed Haplincourt at 7:30 pm the previous evening and marched to their form-up point. The plan was to attack with the battalion's four companies advancing side-by-side from the north-east to attack from behind the German defences, sweeping down on the village like a fan with the left-most company providing flank protection and establishing a series of posts to stop the garrison from escaping while the two centre and the right-most companies took the village. At the same time, two companies from the 3rd Battalion would attack the German main defensive position from the south-west.

In the end, the Australians were detected while waiting to step off and, after being illuminated by flares and taking fire from a German picquet, hastily launched the attack. After overcoming this, the left-centre company, having lost all of their officers, lost their formation and had to be re-organised before the attack on the eastern side of the village could continue. The two companies passed through hedges and the ruined buildings, clearing the outskirts of the village with little resistance. The left-most company then began its task of establishing outposts to the east. At the same time, on the right, the right-most company had advanced to the Doignes–Hermies road when they had begun to take fire. Overcoming this and skirting a wire obstacle, they began moving towards the rear of the German main defence line. At this point, they came under fire from a low hill on the western outskirts of the village, which took them in the flank and pinned them on its slope. In the darkness, the location of the enemy machine-gun could not be ascertained initially. The Australians remained fixed there for almost an hour-and-a-half before members of the right centre company, who had avoided most of the German resistance, were able to locate it and destroy it from the rear just before dawn. The two centre companies were then able to enter the village proper, forcing large numbers of the garrison to try to escape to the north-east, where they were taken prisoner in large numbers. Here the left-most company had been establishing a number of posts in the open fields. Most of these were established with minimal resistance, however, one platoon became heavily engaged by a machine-gun positioned near a sandpit on the other side of a road. A small group of men crossed the road and attempted to provide covering fire for the platoon. Amongst this group was Private Bede Kenny who, under heavy fire, rushed the enemy position and destroyed it with grenades, taking the surviving Germans prisoner. For his actions, he was later awarded the Victoria Cross. Minor skirmishing continued after this, but by 6:00 am the village had been captured and 200 prisoners taken, for a loss to the 2nd Battalion of eight officers and 173 other ranks killed or wounded.

The battalion played only a limited, supporting role during the 1st Division's repulse of the German counter-attack at Lagnicourt in mid-April, and following this the battalion's next major action came in early May when it was involved in the Second Battle of Bullecourt. The day before the attack, the battalions of the 1st Brigade, despite being due for rest, had been attached to the 2nd Division, and they were subsequently employed to provide work parties to release reserves among the 2nd Division units to take part directly in the fighting. Having not yet recovered its losses from the fighting around Hermies, and being subjected to artillery bombardment during their approach to the front, the 2nd Battalion entered the line on 4 May with just 16 officers and 446 other ranks, subsequently relieving the 24th Battalion. As the Germans attempted to force the Australians back, the 2nd Battalion was moved around a number of times to shore up the line, until units of the 5th Division came up to relieve those of the 1st Brigade on 8 May.

The battalion's next major action came in mid-September when they were committed to the fighting around Menin Road, which formed part of the wider Third Battle of Ypres, in a supporting role. On 16 September, the battalions of the 1st Brigade relieved the 47th (London) Division around Glencourse Ridge, located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Ypres, holding the line until relieved on 18 September by the 2nd and 3rd Brigades who were to undertake the assault within the 1st Division's sector of the line. Following the assault, the 1st Brigade, including the 2nd Battalion, went forward on 21 September and secured the ground that had been gained. They were subsequently relieved shortly afterwards on the night of 22/23 September by troops from the 14th Brigade, as fresh divisions were brought up to continue the attack at Polygon Wood. The battalion's casualties during this time amounted to 11 officers and 188 other ranks killed or wounded.

After a brief period of rest, they returned to the line near Broodseinde on 1 October, taking up a position near Molenaarelsthoek, on the right of I Anzac's position for the upcoming battle. The attack went in on 4 October, and after overcoming an encounter with a German infantry regiment, the 212th, in no man's land, the Australians successfully managed to capture their objectives. During the battle, the 2nd Battalion lost 10 officers and 144 other ranks killed or wounded, some of which were suffered after an intense German mortar barrage had fallen upon the troops in their form-up point prior to the attack, killing or wounding up to one seventh of the assault force.

On 19 December 1917, after the battalion had moved to the relatively quiet Messines sector in Flanders along with the other Australian divisions following their involvement in the Passchendaele operations, Stevens resumed command; Milligan having been elevated to the general staff. Stevens would subsequently lead them through until September 1918 when he was granted "Anzac leave" which allowed personnel who had enlisted in 1914 to return Australia for an extended period of leave.

Throughout the winter, the Australian divisions remained around Messines, where they had been formed into the Australian Corps. During this time, the brigades rotated through the line, taking their turn to man the divisional sector. The 2nd Battalion had spent Christmas at Kemmel before moving on to Wytschaete Ridge on 26 December. They stayed their until late January when they moved on to Méteren. In early 1918, the collapse of the Russian resistance on the Eastern Front enabled the Germans to transfer a large number of troops to the west. As a result, on 21 March, they launched an offensive along the Western Front. On the opening day of the offensive, the 2nd Battalion's lines near Belgian Wood were raided by the 72nd Infantry Regiment and although the attack was beaten off, four men from the battalion were forcibly taken back to the German lines as prisoners. The initial attack, coming along a 44-mile (71 km) front between La Bassée and La Fère, was quite successful and with the Germans making rapid gains, the Australians were transferred to the Somme Valley where they were put into the line around Amiens to blunt the attack in early April.

Shortly thereafter, during the Battle of the Lys, the 2nd Battalion, along with the rest of the 1st Division, were sent to Hazebrouck. Upon arriving there on 12 April, they took up defensive positions around Strazelle to await the German advance. On 17 April, while defending the village of Sec Bois, the battalion helped turn back a determined German attack.

Following this, between late April and July, a period of lull followed. During this time, the Australians undertook a series of small-scale operations that became known as "peaceful penetrations". After relieving the 3rd Brigade around Méteren on 27 April, the battalions of the 1st Brigade began patrols on 30 April to capture German soldiers to gain intelligence and harass the enemy. These were generally met with considerable success, although they were not without mishap. Two separate patrols were undertaken by the 2nd Battalion on 2 May. The first resulted in one officer being shot while attempting to enter a German trench, while the second resulted in another being shot by an Australian sentry who had not been warned that a patrol had gone out. Later in May, they took up a position opposite Merris, remaining there until the end of the month. Throughout June and July they alternated between Meteren and Merris during which time they continued to raiding operations, which advanced the line about 1,000 yards (910 m) without significant loss.

In August, having gained the initiative, the Allies launched their own offensive commencing at Amiens on 8 August 1918, where the battalions of the 1st Brigade were attached temporarily to the 4th Division, to act as its reserve, guarding the river crossing at Cerisy. Following this they were involved in the advance through Chipilly and Lihons, remaining in reserve until 11 August. Throughout the period of the first week of the offensive, the battalion suffered three officers and 45 other ranks killed or wounded.

After this, the battalion continued operations throughout August and into September. On the night of 10/11 September, while around Hesbécourt, the 2nd Battalion carried out peaceful penetration raids against German reserve positions around Jeancourt. Finding the village empty, they encountered a German patrol from the 81st Infantry Regiment, which was attacked and quickly overwhelmed. At noon the following day, they launched a larger attack with artillery and mortar support, destroying two German outposts to the south of the village, killing eight Germans and capturing 22 others. In their last action, against the Hindenburg Outpost Line on 18/19 September, the battalion suffered a further 77 casualties.

On 23 September the battalion was relieved by American forces. At this time they were withdrawn from the line along with the rest of the 1st Division. They would take no further part in the fighting. In early October, the rest of the Australian Corps, severely depleted due to heavy casualties and falling enlistments in Australia, was also withdrawn upon a request made by Prime Minister Billy Hughes, to re-organise in preparation for further operations. On 11 November, an armistice came into effect, and as hostilities came to an end, the battalion's personnel were slowly repatriated back to Australia for demobilisation and discharge. This was completed in May 1919.

Throughout the war, the 2nd Battalion lost 1,199 men killed and 2,252 wounded. Members of the battalion received the following decorations: one Victoria Cross, four Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, 20 Military Crosses, 21 Distinguished Conduct Medals, 58 Military Medals with two Bars, four Meritorious Service Medals, 55 Mentioned in Despatches and five foreign awards.