by Peter Brune
22.Bean, Vol VI, p. 896.
23.AWM 4, 1/48/31, General Staff, Headquarters 4th Australian Division, October 1918 Diary, Report on Operations 10–20 September 1918.
24.AWM 23/21/43, Part 2, 4th Infantry Battalion, September 1918, Appendices.
25.AWM 23/3/35, 3rd Infantry Brigade, September 1918 Diary, Report on Operations 18 September 1918.
26.ibid.
27.AWM 4, 23/4/36, Part 1, 4th Infantry Brigade, September 1918 Appendices 1–24.
28.AWM 4, 23/33/34, 16th Infantry Battalion Diary, September 1918, Report by the Officer Commanding C Company, 16th Battalion.
29.AWM 4, 23/33/34, 16th Infantry Battalion Diary, September 1918, Reports by the D, C and B Company Commanders for Operations on 18 September 1918.
30.AWM 2DRL/0711, Lieutenant Sydney Traill, 1st Battalion, diary, 18 September 1918.
31.AWM 4, 23/1/38, Part 1, 1st Infantry Brigade, Report on Operations 18–22 September 1918, September 1918 Appendices.
32.AWM 23/3/35, 3rd Infantry Brigade, September 1918 Diary, Report on Operations 18 September 1918.
33.ibid.
34.AWM 4, 23/4/36, Part 1, 4th Infantry Brigade, September 1918 Appendices 1–24, Report on Operations Le Verguier 18/9/18.
35.ibid.
36.AWM 4, 1/48/31, General Staff, Headquarters 4th Australian Division, October 1918 Diary, Report on Operations 10–20 September 1918.
37.AWM 4, 23/4/36, Part 1, 4th Infantry Brigade, September 1918 Appendices 1–24, Report on Operations Le Verguier 18/9/18.
38.Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914–1918, p. 357.
39.AWM 4, 1/48/31, General Staff, Headquarters 4th Australian Division, October 1918 Diary, Report on Operations 10–20 September 1918.
40.ibid.
41.ibid.
42.ibid.
43.Major-General Archibald Montgomery, The Story of the Fourth Army in the Battles of the Hundred Days, August 8th to November 11th, 1918, p. 126 (footnote).
44.ibid. p. 127.
45.Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914–1918, p. 357.
46.Bovington Tank Museum, E2006.2387, 5th Tank Brigade History.
47.Bean, Vol VI, p. 921.
48.ibid. p. 924.
49.AWM 4, 23/12/31, 12th Infantry Brigade, September 1918, Brigadier-General Leane’s Report on Operations 10–20 September is an appendix.
50.ibid.
51.ibid.
52.Bean, Vol VI, p. 940.
11 . . . some damn good men amongst them
1.Bean, Vol VI, p. 935.
2.AWM 2DRL/0711, Lieutenant Sydney Traill, 1st Battalion, diary, 2 September 1918
3.Ernest Scott, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–18, Vol XI, Australia During the War, p. 409 (note).
4.ibid. (in narrative).
5.Peter Pedersen, Monash as Military Commander, p. 278.
6.G D Mitchell, Backs to the Wall, p. 318.
7.Bean, Vol VI, p. 937.
8.AWM 4, 23/10/23, Part 1, 10th Infantry Brigade Unit Diary, September 1918
9.ibid.
10.ibid.
11.ibid.
12.AWM 4, 23/15/31, 15th Infantry Brigade Unit Diary, September 1918, Part 1.
13.ibid.
14.ibid.
15.ibid.
16.Ross McMullin, Pompey Elliott, p. 489.
17.AWM 4, 23/15/31, 15th Infantry Brigade Unit Diary, September 1918, Part 1.
18.ibid.
19.ibid.
20.ibid.
21.Bean, Vol VI, pp. 939–40.
22.ibid. p. 875.
23.ibid. (footnote).
24.AWM 3 DRL 749, Private William McLennan, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, diary, 29 August 1918.
25.In his Official History, Charles Bean mistakenly records the events described as occurring on 14 September 1918: Bean, Vol VI, p. 875.
26.The timings and circumstances pertinent to this event are taken from the 15th Brigade’s September Unit Diary, while the identification of the platoons and the fact that their HQ were involved is taken from a list of grievances compiled by the men, which is found in an appendix to part 3 of the September diary.
27.AWM 4, 23/15/31, 15th Infantry Brigade Unit Diary, September 1918, Part 1.
28.ibid.
29.ibid.
30.ibid.
31.Quoted in Ross McMullin, Pompey Elliott, p. 486.
32.AWM 2DRL/0711, Lieutenant Sydney Traill, 1st Battalion, diary, 21 September 1918.
33.Ashley Ekins has corrected Bean’s count of 119 by pointing out that Bean failed to include a number of the acquitted files. See Ashley Ekins (ed.) 1918 Year of Victory, p. 271, note 23.
34.AWM 4, 23/1/38, Part 1, 1st Infantry Brigade, September 1918, Appendices.
35.Ashley Ekins (ed.) 1918 Year of Victory, p. 271, note 20.
36.ibid. p. 117.
37.AWM 2DRL/0711, Lieutenant Sydney Traill, 1st Battalion, diary, 23 September 1918.
38.Geoffrey Serle, John Monash, p. 361 (note).
39.Peter Pedersen, Monash as Military Commander, p. 276.
12 . . . one dead man to every 2 yards of trench
1.Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, The Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 235.
2.Bean, Vol VI, p. 943.
3.Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, The Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 240.
4.ibid.
5.AWM 4, 1/50/31, Part 5, General Staff, Headquarters 5th Australian Division.
6.Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, The Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 243.
7.AWM 4, 1/48/31, General Staff, Headquarters 4th Australian Division, September 1918, Part 2.
8.ibid.
9.The numbers for the 1st and 2nd AIF Divisions and their roles are taken from AWM 4, 1/42/44, General Staff Headquarters, 1st Australian Division, Part 3, September 1918; and AWM 4, 1/48/31, Part 2, General Staff, Headquarters 4th Australian Division, September 1918.
10.AWM 4, 1/48/31, Part 2, General Staff, Headquarters 4th Australian Division, September 1918.
11.Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914–1918, p. 359.
12.Major-General Archibald Montgomery, The Story of the Fourth Army in the Battles of the Hundred Days, August 8th to November 11th, 1918, p. 153.
13.AWM 4, 1/50/31, Part 5, General Staff, Headquarters 5th Australian Division.
14.ibid.
15.AWM 4, 8/6/21 Part 1, No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps Unit Diary, September 1918.
16.Bean, Vol VI, p. 953.
17.Edward M Coffman, The War to End All Wars: The American Experience in World War I, p. 293.
18.Peter Pedersen, Monash as Military Commander, p. 287.
19.AWM 4, 8/6/20, No. 3 Squadron Australian Flying Corps, September 1918, Part 1.
20.ibid.
21.AWM 4, General Staff, Headquarters Fourth Army, Part 3, September 1918.
22.General o’Ryan, quoted in Bean, Vol VI, p. 955.
23.Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914–1918, p. 374.
24.AWM 4, 23/8/34, 8th Infantry Brigade, September 1918.
25.ibid.
26.ibid.
27.AWM 4, 23/15/31, 15th Infantry Brigade, September 1918, Part 4, Report on operations, September 28 to 2 october 1918.
28.ibid.
29.ibid.
30.Report of operations carried out by 58th Battalion, cited in AWM 4, 23/15/31, 15th Infantry Brigade, September 1918, Part 4.
31.Bovington Tank Museum, Tank Battle Sheets of 8th Battalion, Tank Corps, for Tank 9199, 29 September 1918.
32.ibid. Tank 9385, 29 September 1918.
33.Report of operations carried out by 58th Battalion, cited in AWM 4, 23/15/31, 15th Infantry Brigade, September 1918, Part 4.
34.Major-General Archi
bald Montgomery, The Story of the Fourth Army in the Battles of the Hundred Days, August 8th to November 11th, 1918, p. 157.
35.Bean, Vol VI, p. 993.
36.AWM 4, 23/58/23, 41st Infantry Battalion, September 1918, Appendices, Part 2, Summary of operations of 41st Battalion 29/9/18 and following days.
37.ibid.
38.Bean, Vol VI, p. 997.
39.The substance of this conversation and its timing is taken from Peter Sadler’s thorough use of the Australian telephone and wire records for Australian Corps records, and cited in his The Paladin: A Life of Major-General Sir John Gellibrand, p. 177.
40.Peter Sadler, The Paladin: A Life of Major-General Sir John Gellibrand, p. 177.
41.AWM 4, General Staff, Headquarters 3rd Australian Division, September 1918, Part 3, Action Near Bony—29th September to 2nd october 1918.
42.AWM PR00420, Gunner James Armitage, 30th Battery, 8th AFA Brigade, 3rd Division, diary, 29 September 1918.
43.Rawlinson’s diary, quoted in Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914–1918, p. 375.
44.Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914–1918, p. 375.
45.State Library of South Australia, PRG/503, papers of Lance-Corporal L S Clarkson, 32nd Battalion, letter to his parents from Trouville Hospital France, 4 October 1918.
46.AWM 4, 23/14/31, 14th Infantry Brigade, October 1918, Report on Operations, 29 September to 2 October 1918.
47.ibid.
48.AWM 4, 23/70/26, 53rd Infantry Battalion, September 1918, Report on Operations, 29 September to 2/3 October 1918.
49.AWM 4, General Staff, Headquarters 3rd Australian Division, September 1918, Part 3, Action Near Bony—29th September to 2nd October 1918.
50.ibid.
51.AWM 4, 23/14/31, 14th Infantry Brigade, October 1918, Report on Operations 29 September–2 October 1918.
52.AWM 4, 23/15/31, 15th Infantry Brigade, September 1918, Part 4, Report on Operations, September 28 to 2 October 1918.
53.AWM 4, General Staff, Headquarters 3rd Australian Division, September 1918, Part 3, Action Near Bony—29th September to 2nd October 1918.
54.AWM PR00420, Gunner James Armitage, 30th Battery, 8th AFA Brigade, 3rd Division, diary, 1 October 1918.
13 The equal of any
1.Bean, Vol VI, p. 1057 and note.
2.Geoffrey Serle, Monash: A Biography, p. 527. Serle points out that the police estimated the crowd at 300 000 but ‘250 000 at least’.
3.Liddell Hart, Through the Fog of War, p. 149.
4.Montgomery, quoted in Peter Pedersen, Monash as Military Commander, p. 294.
5.David Lloyd George, Memoirs, Vol 6, p. 3423.
6.Liddell Hart, Through the Fog of War, p. 150.
7.J M Bourne, ‘The BEF’s Generals on 29 September 1918: An Empirical Portrait with Some British and Australian Comparisons,’ paper delivered at the Australian Army History Conference 1998.
8.ibid.
9.Bean, Vol VI, p. 1092.
10.Peter Pedersen, Monash as Military Commander, p. 287.
11.Liddell Hart, Through the Fog of War, p. 150.
12.Bean, Vol VI, p. 1092.
13.Liddell Hart, Through the Fog of War, p. 150.
14.Letters, Rawlinson to Montgomery-Massingberd, 8 May, 9 September 1920, quoted in Peter Pedersen, Monash as Military Commander, p. 220.
15.David Lloyd George, Memoirs, Vol 6, p. 3423.
16.David Lloyd George, Memoirs, Vol 4, p. 2270.
17.ibid. p. 2274.
18.Tim Fischer, Maestro John Monash, p. 194.
19.Brigadier-General Norman ‘Ox’ Webber, quoted by Tim Cook, in Ashley Ekins (ed.) 1918 Year of Victory, p. 164.
20.Tim Cook, in Ashley Ekins (ed.) 1918 Year of Victory, pp. 165–66.
21.Tim Fischer, Maestro John Monash, p. 194.
14 . . . great-hearted men
1.Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, The Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 289.
2.Mitchell Library, Sydney: MSS 2763, Corporal Clifford Geddes, diary, 20 August 1918.
3.AWM 2DRL/0711, Lieutenant Sydney Traill, 1st Battalion, diary, 31 August 1918.
4.ibid. 2 September 1918.
5.AWM PR00420, Gunner James Armitage, 30th Battery, 8th AFA Brigade, 3rd Division, diary, 10 November 1918.
6.ibid.
7.ibid.
8.State Library of South Australia, PRG/503, papers of Lance-Corporal L S Clarkson, 32nd Battalion, Letter to his parents, 24 September 1918.
9.ibid. 12 October 1918.
10.ibid.
11.ibid. 23 October 1918.
12.ibid. 24 December 1918.
13.ibid. 29 December 1918.
14.AWM PR 87/018 Papers of Private Paul Johanesen, 8th Battalion, memoir.
15.ibid.
16.ibid.
17.AWM PR 87/018 Papers of Private Paul Johanesen, 8th Battalion, letter to his parents, May 1917.
18.ibid. Memoir.
19.ibid. Letter to his parents, 28 January 1918.
20.ibid. Memoir.
21.Mr C R Johanesen, letter to the author from Wy Yung, Victoria, 6 November 2017.
22.AWM 3 DRL 749, Private William McLennan, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, diary, 9 April 1918.
23.ibid. 21 May 1918.
24.ibid. 3 June 1918.
25.ibid. 19 May 1918.
26.AWM 3 DRL 749, Private William McLennan, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, from his obituary, given by E A D’Ombrain, which accompanies McLennan’s diary.
27.Bean, Vol VI, p. 1078.
28.Bean, letter to The Times, quoted in E M Andrews, The Anzac Illusion, p. 147.
29.Stuart Macintyre, The Oxford History of Australia: Vol 4, 1901–1942, p. 86.
30.Bean, Vol VI, Serle’s introduction, Queensland University Press edition, 1983, p. xxviii.
31.Michael McKernan, Here Is Their Spirit, p. 351.
32.Bean, Vol VI, p. 1096.
Appendix II
1.AWM 3DRL/2316, papers of General Sir John Monash, conference notes, 31 July 1918.
Appendix III
1.AWM38 3DRL 6673/60; papers of Charles Bean, letter to Brudenall White, 28 June 1918, courtesy of the Bean family.
Index
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(All dates 1918, unless otherwise indicated.)
First Army (BEF) 17; to advance beyond R. Scarpe (Aug) 196
First Army (French) 23; advance (9 Aug) 168; attack Hindenburg Line (18 Sep) 276
1st Bde (1 Div), at Chuignolles (23 Aug) 201–3; in Outpost Line attack (18 Sep) 282
1st Btn (1 Div), Outpost Line attack (18 Sep) 285–6
1st Div (AIF), advance (9 Aug) 169, 172; advances without artillery support (9 Aug) 172; Artillery Diary record of timing (9 Aug) 172–3; at Ypres (20 Sep 1917) 43; captures Lihons and Rainecourt 184; communications problems 170; as Corps reserve at Amiens 137; Hargicourt as objective (18 Sep) 281; included in Australian Corps (Nov 1917) 89; relieves 3 Div (9–10 Sep) 276; tanks allotted to (9 Aug) 169; three-phase attack by (23 Aug) 201
1st Div (AIF) Artillery, in support at Battle of Amiens 170
1st Div (AIF) Unit Diary, at Amiens (9 Aug) 182
1st Div (British), attack fails (18 Sep) 293
1st Div, Canadian Corps 135; problems (9 Aug) 171
‘I Anzac’ Corps renamed ‘The Australian Corps’ by Haig 89
Second Army 17; at Messines 53–4
Second Army (French), at Montdidier 129
Second Army (German) 4, 7; withdraws to Hindenburg Line (3–4 Sep) 268
Second French Army, attack at Montdidier 129
2nd Bde, action on 9 Aug 18 180–81; at Aubigny (8 Aug) 170
2nd Bde (1 Div), attack (23 Aug) 201; tanks in support (23 Aug) 202
2nd British Bde, used only
one Btn (18 Sep) 293
2nd Btn (1 Div), in Outpost Line attack (18 Sep) 282, 285
2nd Div (AIF), at ‘Hamel Spur’ 104, 108; at Ville-sur-Ancre (19 May) 103; at Ypres (20 Sep 1917) 43; in attack at Amiens 137, 138; attack plan for Mont St Quentin 223; breaks through Beaurevoir Line (3 Oct) 353; captures at Amiens (8 Aug) 153; captures Lihons and Rainecourt 184; as Corps reserve 315; fights along Canal du Nord (3–4 Sep) 260; front at Mont St Quentin and Péronne 227; included in Aust Corps (Nov 1917) 89; nearing bend in R. Somme (28 Aug) 212; Report on Mont St Quentin fighting (1 Sep) 248; tactics on 30 Aug 231; tanks allotted to (9 Aug) 169; told to capture Mont St Quentin (29 Aug) 229–30
2nd Div Artillery, to support attack on Mont St Quentin (30 Aug) 231
2nd Div (Canadian Corps) 135, 171; problems (9 Aug) 170–71
2nd Guards Div (German), prisoners taken 233
2nd Machine Gun Btn, to support attack on Mont St Quentin 223
2nd Royal Sussex Btn (18 Sep) 293
2nd Tank Btn 104, 169; at Wiencourt 166; losses 167; poor liaison with 1 Div 177; report for 9 Aug 18 190; supports taking of Chuignolles (23 Aug) 203; to provide 12 tanks in support (23 Aug) 202
II Corps (American), Monash holds conference for senior officers (23 Sep) 321–2
Third Army (BEF) 17, 19; at Bullecourt 50; at Somme 33; attacks Albert (22 Aug) 267; in Hindenburg Line attack (18 Sep) 276; orders from Haig (23 Aug) 196; to advance on Bapaume (Aug) 196; to capture Bapaume (23 Aug) 201
3 Squadron (RAF), tasks at Amiens 144–5
3rd Artillery Div (AIF), secrecy at Amiens 145–7
3rd Bde, at Hamel (9 Aug) 170
3rd Bde (1 Div), attack plan (23 Aug) 201–2; in Outpost Line attack (18 Sep) 282; takes Froissy Beacon (23 Aug) 205
3rd Bde Report on operations, success of attack (18 Sep) 287
3rd Btn (1 Bde), sustains great losses (18 Sep) 286–7
3rd Btn (1 Div), in Outpost Line attack (18 Sep) 285
3rd Div (AIF), attacks Passchendaele (Oct 1917) 43; captures Old Quarry and Quarry Farm (31 Aug) 245; captures Suzanne, Vaux and Curlu and moves on Cléry (28 Aug) 212; faces problem near ‘Happy Valley’ (22 Aug) 196–7; German prisoners and Aust casualties (May) 103; leapfrogging at Amiens 138; leapfrogging on Hindenburg Line (29 Sep) 330; Monash appointed Commander (Jul 1916) 83; Mont St Quentin front (30 Aug) 236; objectives Knob, Bony and tunnel entrance (30 Sep) 343; possesses all of Hindenburg System (1 Oct) 351; in pursuit from Péronne (5 Sep) 274; tasks accomplished (2 Oct) 351, 353; thrust to Bray and La Neuville Peninsula (23 Aug) 207; to leapfrog through 27 American Div (29 Sep) 337; under Monash at Messines (Jun 1917) 83