THE BATTLEFIELD REPORT
Battle of Fromelles
Pyu San Min
Name of Battle(s) / Battle of FromellesLocation(s) / Fromelles is a small village in the Nord area of Northern France
Date/s of Event(s) / 19 July 1916 to 20 July 1916
Australian Units Involved / 5th Australian Division
'The worst 24 hours in the history of the Australian nation,' is how some described Australia's baptism of fire on the Western Front at the Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916. Directed against a strong German position known as the Sugar Loaf salient, the attack was intended primarily to draw German troops away from the Somme offensive further to the south.
The Battle of the Somme started on 1 July 1916. To reinforce its army, the Germans began to bring troops from other fronts. When battalions from Lille were reported heading for the Somme, the British devised ‘an attack at Fromelles’ which they hoped would persuade the Germans to keep their men there. The task was given to the 11th British Corps which brought together the 61st British Division and the 5th Australian Division for the attack. Both were inexperienced with the Australians having arrived a few days earlier.
In a hurried and poorly planned operation the Divisions attacked on a front of four kilometres.The German lines had been reinforced over the previous 15 months with concrete block-houses and their artillery ideally placed behind them on the high ground of Aubers Ridge.
In contrast the Australian artillery only began to organise on 9 July. Over the next few days
the Australian infantry, in full view of German observers, carried forward ammunition, sandbags, picks and shovels, duckboards, a tramline, food, water and medical supplies, often working 24 hour shifts. Thus, many of the soldiers were exhausted when the attack was scheduled for themorning of 17 July. Due to the low-lying, water-logged nature of the Australians could not dig deep trenches as used elsewhere onthe Western Front. As a result the troops had to build three-metre thick walls constructed ofbags filled with mud. These provided very poor protection from the German artilleryshell fire.
TheAustralian and German lines were separated by a stripof land known as ‘No-Man’s Land’. In front of theAustralians, No-Man’s Land ranged in width from 80to 400 metres. Running through it was a small river which made the whole areaa wet marsh in which wildgrass grew a metre high. This grass hid the treacherous natureof the terrain with barbed wire everywhere.
The German machine guns were well sited andcovered their entire line. The most formidable
Block house was at the Sugarloaf, a heavilyreinforced building, overlooking the widest part
of No-Man’s Land and able to provide cover fire over more than half the front.
Against such odds, after a heavy but inaccurateartillery bombardment, described by some as worsethan anything they had experienced on Gallipoli,the 61st British Division and the 5th Australian Division went into battle.
The men were cut downwave by wave. It is thought that a few men mighthave reached the wire immediately in front of theSugarloaf as pieces of Australian uniform werefound there after the Armistice.
Despite these failures the Australian 14th Brigade’s success was the mostspectacular. They captured their objective and advanced well beyond it. A small party of Australian troops moved half a kilometre behind the German lines, but theywere very much alone.
At 5am on 20 July it wasdecided by 11thCorps HQ to withdraw, leaving the troops to find their wayback. However, the Germans had reorganisedovernight and came round behind the Australians, sothat they had to fight back through a German line toreturn to their own.
By mid-morning on 20 July there were, byGerman estimates over 2000 corpses on No-Man’s Land. There were alsothousands of immobile wounded sheltering inshell holes, ditches, in the river or in thick grass.
Stretcher bearers, who could not withstand the call of broken men,worked continuously bringing the wounded offthe battlefield. In most cases they were left alone by theGermans to do their work.
The wounded were taken back under cover ofdarkness. The dead were left where they fell. Later,men were sent out to take from the bodies theiridentity discs and personal belongings, and thesewere subsequently posted to the next of kin. Thisis one reason why there are so many unidentifiedAustralians in the surrounding cemeteries.
The proportion of those killed was exceptionally high, for example of the 887 men of the Australian 60th Battalion engaged in the battle only 107 survived. It seems that Adolf Hitler, then a corporal in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, also took part in the battle.
Despite their inexperience, both Australian officers and men had performed bravely and effectively, given the circumstances. The battle was responsible for one of the greatest losses of Australian lives in 24 hours. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 casualties, rendering it incapable of offensive action for many months. The 61st British Division suffered 1,547 casualties. The German casualties were little more than 1,000. The attack was a complete failure as the Germans realised within a few hours it was merely a diversion. It therefore had no impact whatsoever upon the progress of the Somme offensive.
Today the V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery is a memorial to the courage of the Australian soldiers. Established after the Armistice of 1918, it consists of two mass graves covered with immaculate lawns and marked with a cross. The graves contain the remains of more than 400 Australian soldiers who were killed in the Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916. At the back of the plot stands a memorial which bears the names of the 1,208 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in the offensive but whose graves were never found.
PHOTOS
Soldiers of the 53rd Battalion, Australian 5th Division, waiting to attack during the Battle of Fromelles, 19 July 1916. Only three of the men shown survived the attack and those three were wounded.
Australian War Memorial (2014) Collections Database [AWM A03042] Accessed 17 March 2014
Portion of the German lines seized and then lost by Australian forces at the Battle of Fromelles, 19–20 July 1916.
Australian War Memorial (2014) Collections Database [AWM A01562] Accessed 17 March 2014
Dead Australian soldier in the German lines at Fromelles, July 1916.
Australian War Memorial (2014) Collections Database [AWM A01566]Accessed 17 March 2014
Australian prisoners after the Battle of Fromelles, 20 July 1916
Australian War Memorial (2014) Collections Database . [AWM A01551] Accessed 17 March 2014
Original grave of Captain Norman Gibbins, 55th Battalion (New South Wales). The inscription beneath the cross reads: ‘With my soul’s homage and my heart’s utmost love to my beloved and deeply mourned brother. Violet Gibbins’.
Australian War Memorial (2014) Collections Database [AWM P03788.003] Accessed 17 March 2014
The First World War (2014) Fromelles Accessed 15 March 2014
SOURCES:
Army (2014)Fromelles Accessed 16 March, 2014
Australians on the Western Front 1914 – 1918 (2014) VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial – Fromelles, France Accessed 14 March, 2014
Australian War Memorial (2014) Battle of Fromelles Accessed 15 March, 2014
Australian War Memorial (2014) The worst night in Australian military history: Fromelles Accessed 16 March, 2014
Office of Australian War Graves (2014) The Australian Memorial Park Fromelles (2007) Accessed 15 March, 2014
Walsh, M (date unknown) The Battle for Fromelles the 1st Australian Imperial Forces first major battle on the Western Front Accessed 16 March, 2014