ANZAC Sons

by Allison Marlow Paterson

In the Field

  24th March 1918

  My Dear Mother Father & Jim,

  … I am still at the school but will be going back to the battalion one day this week … I got a nice cake and some cigarettes today from Auntie Charlotte Wilson it was very good of her to send it, she often sends me a cake I have just written to her thanking her for it. I also got a letter from Devon they were all well … I went down to poor Geordie’s grave this morning to see if the plate I ordered was put up, but the corporal told me they were unable to finish it as they had been so busy at the hospital, he said he would see that it was fixed up alright. I did not hear anything from the people in England who were to take the photos, so I spoke to the Chaplain of the school he said he would see to it for me as he did a lot of that work I gave him my address also yours, one photo will come to me and one will go to you, so you will get one alright I think it will take some time as they have a lot to take, but it will be done in time. We are having lovely weather over here now today was a perfect day, I have had a splendid time here and feel the benefit of the rest. I do not think Percy will be over here for some months, he is better where he is …

  On 23 March, as the Germans began shelling Paris, the 38th Battalion was resting to the north at Lumbres near St Omer. The battalion was now ordered to the Ypres sector; over the next 24 hours the men received various orders for movement, marching and bussing north towards the Belgian border, then returning to St Omer where trains waited to take them to the Somme battlefields.4 Orders were frequently changed as confused reports of enemy movement arrived. The rail system was chaotic and some main roads were clogged and impassable; the German advance had wreaked havoc.

  By 26 March the 38th had reached the Somme, arriving at Mondicourt station to be greeted by the news that enemy forces were just over four kilometres away. The battalion began a march of some eight kilometres to the village of Authie along roads crowded with terrified refugees and disorganised Allied troops retreating in disarray. They reached Authie at 7.00 pm and rested briefly. The battalion diary entry the following day carried a note of urgency:

  2am Orders received that Bn. to proceed at once by route march to MARIEUM where Bn. embussed at 5 a.m. for FRANVILLERS. Arrived FRANVILLERS 1.30pm. Immediately proceeded by route march to HEILLY – Germans reported to have reached vicinity – Moved forward in open order to village MERICOURT and a previously selected position was taken over from 43rd. Battn. A.I.F. just beyond Village - No enemy yet encountered. A. & B. Coys holding line from MERICOURT Le-ABBE Station to about cross-roads at D.11.b. [Map reference difficult to read] C. Coy in support – D. Coy in reserve.5

  By 8.00 am the following morning — 28 March — the 38th’s encounter with the enemy had begun. German soldiers were sighted on a ridgeline less than one kilometre from the battalion’s line in Marrett Wood, close to the tiny village of Treux on the Ancre River between Amiens and Albert. The German troops fired into the wood and advanced. The men of the 38th resisted stoically and the Germans retreated taking heavy casualties. Enemy artillery fire intensified. For the next 24 hours the battalion watched and waited. If German forces broke through, they would have a clear run to Amiens, the vital rail junction central to the movement of troops and artillery to the Somme battlefields. From Amiens, enemy forces could readily reach the coast, open up the supply lines to Germany and advance on Paris.

  On 26 March the 4th Division had arrived at Doullens where a hastily convened meeting of Allied commanders was underway. The New Zealanders were moved to Amiens and both divisions moved to form a line north of the 3rd Division in an area with which they were very familiar — the hard-fought battlegrounds of 1916. Pozieres, Mouquet Farm and Albert had now fallen in the face of the German advance. In Doullens the Allies agreed that a coordinated defence was the only way to halt the German advance. French commander General Foch was appointed Supreme Commander on the Western Front, uniting all Allied forces under one commander for the first time.6 General Gough, whose command of the past two years had included the devastating battles of Pozieres, Bullecourt and Passchendaele, was relieved of his duties and returned to England on 28 March.

  During the final days of March, the 3rd Division artillery moved in to support the infantry as they beat back German attacks on their position. On 30 March the Germans advanced south of the Somme. To the north the 3rd Division held the line above Hamel as the enemy pushed forward. 7

  The 3rd Division Memorial crowns the ridge at Sailly-le-Sec (author photo 27 April 2011).

  The events that unfolded that day are described on the memorial to the men who fought courageously to stem the advance. High on a ridge just south of the Ancre River at Sailly-le-Sec sits the memorial to the 3rd Division. The inscription reads:

  Sailly-le-Sec

  March 1918

  At dusk in front of the [Australian positions] the Germans were seen retiring from whatever shelter their broken waves had reached. The cries of their wounded for stretcher bearers could be heard all night.

  (Charles Bean, Australia’s official historian)

  The soldiers of the Third Division arrived on these heights overlooking the Somme on 27 March 1918. The next day the Australians pushed further eastwards only to be met by stiff German opposition as the enemy’s forces also tried to advance. Approaching the village of Sailly-Laurette on the Somme River east of Sailly-le-Sec an Australian unit was ambushed by massed German machine gunners. However, the Third Division consolidated its positions and held firm. On 30 March 1918 the Germans began a general advance mainly to the south of the Somme but one division attacked above Sailly-le-Sec. Three times during that day waves of German infantry tried to come up the valleys and slopes east of the Third Division Memorial. Each time they were beaten back with heavy losses caused by intense rifle, machine gun and artillery fire. No further attempt to break the Australian line here was ever made. To the Third Division this was the place for the memorial – ‘the fighting … called a halt to the German offensive … [and] it was natural in choosing a site for a memorial it [the 3rd Division] would select a position on the line which it first occupied under such historic circumstances…

  According to Charles Bean, by the end of March, Ludendorff knew that ‘the offensive had failed; in crossing the desolation of the old Somme battlefields the Germans had outrun their communications. Guns and shells could not be brought up in the quantities necessary for breaking down the new Allied line, drawn around the wide salient made by this thrust.’8 The storm troopers could go no further; vital support had failed to arrive. Ludendorff would not abandon the offensive, but the assault paused as communications were restored and artillery hauled to the front. He was determined to strike again.

  BELGIUM, MARCH

  As the situation to the south rapidly developed, Charlie wrote to his family from close to Neuve Eglise. He had initially been ordered to travel south to return to his battalion but fortune had smiled on him and the order had suddenly been cancelled. The race to stem the German offensive saw units move with such rapidity that Charlie had no idea where the main body of the 38th Battalion was now positioned.

  In the field

  28th March 1918

  My Dear Mother, Father & Jim

  … I have left the school, we were all recalled a few days before the school was to finish and ordered to join our battalions, but we were stopped before we got back and put on another job behind the line, so I am not with Allan I wrote to him about my mail, I have no idea where they are. I saw Albert’s grave today and got the Caretaker to look after it and level it up and plant some flowers I will be getting a photo of it for you. I do not know how long I will be here, you will see by the papers that there is a big fight on, there are more of my battalion here, I got another letter from the Commonwealth Bank re another remittance which I think is from Pearl I wrote to the Bank asking them to forward it on to Ida for the present. I wrote to you the day before I left the school. I got a letter from Devon and a nice cake from Auntie Wilson also a letter from Per
cy he was getting on alright. We have been having grand weather over here lately the trees and hedges are starting to look green. I have a platoon on putting up barbed wire entanglements behind the line, it is not a bad job. I am hoping to hear from Allan next week and hope to get some of your mail which is there, we can buy anything we want here and there is a fine YMCA not far away so we don’t do too bad. Well I have no news so will close for this time with love and best wishes to all.

  I remain

  Your loving

  Charlie

  Charlie wrote to his mother on Easter Sunday — just a day after the 3rd Division had courageously held the ridges of Sailly-le-Sec. He had paid another visit to Albert’s grave. He appears relieved as he writes, believing that it is unlikely he will be recalled to the 38th.

  In the field

  Easter Sunday

  31st March 1918

  My Dear Mother,

  Just a few lines to say I am getting on alright I am not with Allan but I am in charge of a platoon putting up barbed wire entanglements we are working near where Albert is buried, I saw his grave today also two days ago when I asked the caretaker to fix it up for me and put some flowers on it and when I saw it today I was so pleased to see that he had done it. I wrote to England, as I told you before, to get a photo of it, which will take time but you will get it. We were recalled from the school a few days before it finished and ordered to join our units as you will know long before this reaches you that there is a big battle on but I do not think I will see any of it as we are ordered to stay here for some time yet …

  ENGLAND, MARCH

  In England the news of the German offensive spread rapidly and the familiar village names of two years ago began to reappear in the newspapers. The situation was clearly desperate. Holding Amiens was critical, but the villages to the east of the rail junction were now falling with alarming speed. Percy wrote home; he was improving and was now at the convalescent camp at Hurdcott on Salisbury Plain. The news of the German advance soon reached the soldiers recovering from illness or wounds.

  March 26th 1918

  Hurdcott

  Dear Jim

  Well Jim, just a few lines to let you know I am still alive and well I am in a new home again, a convalescent camp at Hurdcott, don’t think I will be here long, they will be sending them across to France quick now this big push is on. I have not seen anything in the paper about the Australians, so I don’t think they can be in it yet if all goes well I ought to be a month in England, yet there is some rumours about cutting out the sick leave, that will be a terrible [indecipherable]. I am waiting on a mail anytime now, there is one in, but I have not got any yet. I was at Harefield when I wrote to you last, they soon shift you out of there if there is not to much wrong. There is a concert on here tonight, they have some pretty good turnouts. I saw Charlie & Albert Cockcroft Uwin Johnson had just gone on leave the day I got here, he went to Scotland struck oil there I believe. I am thinking of going to Leicester and Scotland. Its hard to get meat in England, you have to have a pocket full of ticket, sugar, meat tickets & so on. Well Jim I will close hoping it finds you all well I am your loving Brother.

  Percy

  FRANCE, APRIL

  Allan wrote: 4/4/18 This is a photo of D Company cooks & Quarter Master Allan

  On the final day of March, the 38th moved into forward trenches between Mericourt and Treux, south-west of Albert, to relieve the 39th Battalion. Heavy rain was falling and continued intermittently over the next fortnight as the battalion moved in and out of the line around Buire. German forces continued to rake the area with machine-gun fire and heavy artillery barrages while the Australians secured the trenches and laid more wire. Enemy aircraft and observation balloons ranged in the sky above. Even in the rear areas, in billets at Ribemont, the soldiers were not safe from the German artillery as it set its sights on the village.9

  On 4 April German forces thrust forward along a 34-kilometre front taking the village of Hamel, but were repulsed at Villers-Bretonneux by the Australian 9th Brigade of the 3rd Division which suffered 660 casualties in its defence of the strategic position.10 The following day, in a battle Charles Bean described as ‘the strongest attack made against the Australians in the war’, the 12th and 13th brigades of the 4th Division lost 1100 men as they defended the village of Dernancourt just beyond Buire on the railway line between Amiens and the town of Albert with its leaning virgin. Albert was now in enemy hands. Battalion historian Eric Fairey estimates that, on 9 April, 1000 shells fell in the area around the villages of Buire and Treux and along the railway line which the battalion was holding. That night the 38th Battalion was relieved and moved into the support trenches of Mericourt where battalion headquarters had been established in a nearby chateau.11

  Allan was promoted lieutenant on 2 April and promptly sent for a two-day ‘rest’ during which he was finally able to write home after two weeks of movement and fighting the ‘fray … and having the time of my life’. Typically laconic, he forgets to mention his promotion in a letter to his mother.

  Dear Mum

  This is one of my brother officers of my company. He is a little bonza ASMarlow (To another D Coy “Knit” Joe Poole)

  Lieutenant Joe Poole.

  Joe (Harold Frederick) Poole had sailed on the Runic with Allan and Percy. Like Allan he had been promoted in the field to lieutenant. He suffered a severe gunshot wound to his jaw on 20 August 1918 and returned to Australia in July 1919.12

  4-4-18

  My Dear Jim,

  … I received your letters safely & was delighted over same what a stunner harvest you must have had and it was a good one too. What a pity I was not home for the bag sewing & the lunches. Bill Jones would be great company alright. When is he getting married you might ask him to wait till I get home. I believe Bob Leed is winning MG now that is [indecipherable]. You seem to have had a wet harvest. Ill bet the boyscouts would put the wind up you with their fires. I have told you in previous letters about Bill Street that he died of wounds about a fortnight after he received them. We cant find his grave. I was also disappointed with the conscription. I am in favour of conscription. Men are very short at times very few coming in now. There were never 6 divisions in France. No division has been cut up to reinforce another. Very few Australians have been resting. No we had a most glorious winter this year is the most pleasant year I have ever spent. Fancy Billy Williams breaking it off. Well Jim you may not get a letter for a week so don’t worry because we were travelling and I had a minute to write. Well Jim I am well [in] the fray which is going on at present and having the time of my life. Percy is still in Blighty & doing well. Charlie is still away at the school so I am happy as they are both away. Sometimes when the guns open up one would think hell had open up. I will be sending you some photos in a day or two so I hope you get them …

  After days in the field, paper was in short supply and Allan was writing on a series of postcards from England. He appears pleased that Charlie and Percy were not with him as he played his part in the defence of the Somme; his relief was to last just a few days longer. Limited by the censor, he clearly hints to his father of his whereabouts by underlining the word ‘some’.

  Postcards of Manaton, England

  In the field

  4-4-1918

  My Dear Dad

  Just a few lines to let you know that I am well & was terribly pleased to get your letter. What a good harvest you had. By jove wouldn’t you miss me at the bag sewing or at the lunch table, mostly at the latter I am afraid. Well dear dad you will see by the papers what has taken place and we are well in it. I never had such an experience in all my life. By jove we were hurried down here. My captain sent me out for two days rest & I am billeted in a lovely French house, a cosy bed & plenty to eat but I return to the line to night. I had a letter from Percy he is getting on well and is still in Blighty. Charlie is still away at the school. So I am as happy as old Dick because the two boys are away. I like to be in the fighting on my own. I have
seen too much of brothers being together in these battles. Well dear dad I cant tell you where we are but it is a new sector. I can tell you it is some place. Well cheerio dear dad & all I am happy. Don’t worry it is better than the combined Sunday school picnics.

  I remain

  Your Loving Son

  Allan S

  All the lads are well and in great spirits

  ENGLAND, APRIL

  Still recuperating, Percy wrote to Jim from Hurdcott; he had been granted leave to visit his relatives and was looking forward to heading further north to Scotland:

  England

  April 7 1918

  Dear Jim

  Well old boy got a couple of -- pesting me, Albert Cockcroft U Johnson they are talking and I am writing. Uwin got married up in Scotland, I suppose you can hardly believe it. Its been a bad day raining and blowing all day we had church parade in the morning half holiday in the afternoon. Got a letter from Mum the other day, it was the first I have had for a long time. I am going on leave Thursday, going to Leicester and to Scotland. I expect to get four days leave after I am back for a while, then I am going to Devon.

  Charlie Cockcroft went away from here yesterday, to Sutton Veny he will soon be over.

  Well Jim I will close

  Hoping it finds you all well

  I remain your

  aff brother

  Percy

  The following letter is written on the back of a photo. Lieutenant Leslie Roberts, MM, was a member of the 38th Battalion, later signing up to serve in World War II. At the time he wrote he was in Cambridge recovering from a fractured ankle. He describes the AIF’s desperation to find men to bolster the defences on the Western Front.

  Lieutenant Leslie Roberts wrote to Allan from hospital in England.

  12 Ward

  1st E.S. Hosp

  Cambridge

  15-4-18

  Dear Allan,

  I am not going to dare wangle an excuse for not writing before, therefore must get away from that line of thought. I did send you a card while I was at Morbecque congratulating you on the pip but got no reply. Well old sport I suppose Perc has told you how I got in this place. I am now in the 5th week of bed (Did I hear you saying lucky dog) may be I am after what you are going through. I should sit for the final on the 30th of this month but, can see myself well in this place, it will mean I will be put in another coy. with a short time to go after I get clear of this place. I have heard rumours of the 3rd Div + 12th Bgde of 4th Div being cut to hell and am afraid this time as it came from A.I.F. H.Q. Did you know they cleared about 200 out of A.I.F. H.Qrs & sent them over, some of them have never handled a rifle, left Vic with “Army Post Office Corps” what a gutser, up to coming in here I had a good time in Cambridge. Well old sport trusting this finds self, brothers & fellow officers in the best of health.