what can the battle of fromelles tell us about the spirit ... · in july 1916 the aif faced its...

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3© Australian Defence Force and Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd 2010

In 1915 Australian and New Zealand troops established the ‘Spirit of ANZAC’ at Gallipoli.

In 1916 most of these troops, together with new recruits who had been trained in Egypt, had been transferred either to the Middle East or to the Western Front of northern France and Belgium.

In July 1916 the AIF faced its first battle on the Western Front, at Fromelles.

‘At last the day is near when Australia’s boys will once again be given an opportunity to show the World what we are made of … to-morrow we hope to be on the road to Berlin … we are ready, fit, and well, and with God’s help will punish the Bosh for his cruelty to the weaker races … to-day, you should have seen the look of determination on the faces of all. I am sure that the Hun will be sorry for the day when Australia sent her sons to France.’

(Quoted in Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, MUP, 2010, pages 162-3)

What does the conduct of this first battle involving Australians on the Western Front tell us about the Spirit of ANZAC?

Detail of ‘Don’t forget me, cobber!’ sculpture by Peter Corlett at Australian Memorial Park, Fromelles, France.

CurriCulum CoNNeCtioN

This unit will help students understand the nature of warfare on the Western Front, as well as developing their knowledge and understanding of the nature of the ANZAC Legend or the Spirit of ANZAC.

What can the Battle of Fromelles tell us about the Spirit of ANZAC?

What is meant by the spirit of anZaC?In STUDIES 2/2010 we looked at the meaning of the ‘Spirit of ANZAC’. We saw that it is based on two elements: the facts of what happened, starting with the Australian soldiers and nurses of the First World War, and the image we have of those men and women and their behaviour and qualities. We suggested that it was important to base your image on the facts, but that may mean that you need to start to be selective about what you accept as the Spirit of ANZAC. You can be selective about what you choose to emulate, and what you choose to reject.

1 Here are some statements about the ANZACs in the First World War. Decide whether you agree, disagree or are not sure if each is part of what you understand to be the Spirit of ANZAC and the First World War.

StAtemeNt — the Spirit oF ANZAC iNvolveS thiS elemeNt: Agree DiSAgreeNot Sure/

CANNot tell

Australians were fearless fighters

They always showed mateship

They were better than other soldiers

They suffered greater casualties because they were used in the hardest fighting

The Australians were young boys and men

They joined to protect Australia as soon as war was declared

They were chivalrous towards the enemy

They were skilled in trench warfare

They were the best people of their generation

They enjoyed killing

They were prepared to sacrifice themselves for their comrades

Other elements? Add these if you have any further ideas

As you work through this unit you will be able to keep coming back and reconsidering your answers.

© Australian Defence Force and Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd 20104

What does it take to Win a battle?You will also have an image of the nature of warfare on the Western Front, and what it took to win, or not win, battles.

2 Here are some possible criteria. Decide if you think each is required for an army to win a battle, and record your answer in the ‘general ideas’ columns. You may want to add some other factors that are not listed.

3 Then decide from the evidence on the following pages which of these was achieved at Fromelles, and mark that in the final column.

poSSible CoNtributiNg FACtor to WiNNiNg A bAttle:

Your geNerAl iDeA or expeCtAtioN preSeNt At FromelleS?Agree DiSAgree Not Sure YeS or No

Good planning

Effective artillery support

Enough troops

Good equipment

Good intelligence/reconnaissance

Superior troops

Good leadership

Knowledge of the enemy

Willingness to incur casualties

Secrecy

Skill and bravery

Effective communications

Reinforcements available

Luck

An inferior enemy

Good weather

Favourable terrain

A weak enemy

Effective use of machine guns

As you work through this unit you will be able to keep coming back and reconsidering your answers.

© Australian Defence Force and Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd 2010 5

What happened at fromelles on 19-20 July 1916?Until recently the Battle of Fromelles has been little known to most Australians — even though it was the first time Australians fought on the Western Front, and was probably the bloodiest single day in Australia’s military history.

But 94 years after the battle 250 of the Australian and British soldiers who died at Fromelles were re-buried in a new war cemetery — the first new Commonwealth war cemetery created in over 50 years.


4 Look at this outline of the battle, together with the additional evidence in the following pages, and use it to: annotate the map on these pages so that it explains what

happened at Fromelles

add to the table on page 5 to decide if the criteria required to win a battle existed at Fromelles

make any revisions needed to your ideas on page 4 about the Spirit of Anzac

Map

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some key elements of the battle of fromelles

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5 Here is an outline of the plan of attack. Use this information to explain on the map what was planned, e.g. by using arrows and brief notes to explain the different elements. It took place from the afternoon of 19 July 1916 to the

morning of 20 July. Was intended as a diversion to stop German reinforcements

from the Fromelles area being sent to the major battle of the Somme taking place 80 kilometres away.

The attack involved Australian artillery, and a joint attack by the British 61st Division and the Australian 5th Division — about 20 000 troops — along a 3200 metre front, against the German 6th Bavarian Reserve Division troops.

The land is flat and with a high water table, and criss-crossed by drainage ditches and the Layes Brook main drainage channel.

Germans occupied the high ground on the Aubers Ridge in front of Fromelles, and 600 metres behind the German front line, and with a good view (though only 30 metres high) of all activities in the British lines.

No Man’s Land between the lines varied from 100 metres on left to 400 metres wide at the Sugarloaf salient.

There were two German salients — areas where the enemy trenches protruded forward into No Man’s Land, which meant that attacking troops had to go past these protrusions and were then subject to the enemy firing into their rear if the enemy defences were not destroyed. The two salients were known as the Wick and the Sugarloaf salients.

The Australian 5th Division was mainly recruits who had trained in Egypt, and had no combat experience.

The Australian artillery was not fully trained. The British 61st Division was a recently arrived second line

territorial division, under strength. The Germans were well dug in, with strong defences,

well protected from artillery. The German troops had been

there since 1915 and knew the area well, held the high ground, and had carefully measured out their artillery range and machine gun arcs of fire into No Man’s Land and the forward British trenches.

The British plan of attack at Fromelles was: – gather the attacking infantry

in their own front trench area, ready to advance in 4 waves;

– start a long and heavy artillery bombardment of the German front line to cut the wire in No Man’s Land and to destroy enemy machine-gun emplacements;

– stop the bombardment several times, to trick the enemy into coming out in expectation of an infantry attack, and then resume the bombardment and hopefully kill many of the defenders;

– while the bombardment is going on, have troops advance as far as possible into No Man’s Land towards the forward German trenches;

– stop the bombardment at a set time and have the infantry attack and take the enemy front line (including the vital Wick and Sugarloaf salients) before the defenders can organise their resistance;

– hold this line while the next waves of attackers about 100 yards apart bring supplies forward and then advance and take the second line of enemy trenches about 100 yards forward.

All this was to be a surprise or secret attack. For it to succeed it needed:– accurate artillery fire on the enemy front line to destroy its

defences;– perfect timing between the end of the bombardment and the

infantry attack;– the infantry to move as close to the enemy front line before

the bombardment stopped;– sufficient numbers of troops attacking.

However:– the Germans knew the plan and could see the preparations

for the attack;– communications during the attack were difficult once an

attack started. Runners could be sent back, but were subject to snipers. Telephone wires were laid, but were cut by artillery and feet. Aerial messages were not clear. By the time messages were received could be out of date and therefore inaccurate.


Aubers Ridge

Australian lines Sugarloaf salientGerman front line

Fromelles

the british force was:

brigade Attack battalions reserve battalions

182nd 2/7th Royal Warwickshire2/6th Royal Warwickshire

2/5th Royal Warwickshire2/8th Royal Warwickshire

183rd 2/6th Royal Gloucestershire2/4th Royal Gloucestershire

2/6th Worcestershire2/7th Worcestershire

184th 2/4th Royal Berkshire 2/1st Buckinghamshire

2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire2/5th Gloucestershire

Here is a summary of what actually happened.

A Forming up phase during the Allied barrage b Attack phase once the barrage was lifted

182nd 2/7thRW

Advanced over No Man’s Land during the barrage to within 50 metres of the German front line trenches.

At the end of the barrage charged to the German front trench and took it, but were unable to progress to the next line of trenches as the wire was not cut by the artillery.

2/6thRW

Were badly hit by German artillery, with many officers killed, and got to 50 metres of the German front trench.

Were unable to take the German front line. Support troops coming forward were caught in the open in No Man’s Land and badly mauled.

183rd 2/6thRG

Were devastated by German machine gun fire from the Wick salient as they were moving across open ground during the barrage.

They were unable to advance against the Wick salient, as it had not been destroyed by the barrage.

2/4thRG

Heavy German artillery shelling prevented them from moving from the British front line out to No Man’s Land.

Were not able to advance and attack, so Germans here were able to help their own troops to the left and the right against the British attack.

184th 2/4thRB

Heavy German artillery shelling and machine gun fire devastated the troops massing in the British front line.

Were unable to advance against the Germans.

2/1stB

Heavy German artillery shelling and machine gun fire weakened the force available to attack.

Were mown down in waves. A few soldiers reached the German lines and false reports of success were sent back to the British commanders.

15th 59thBatt


They were caught in the open in No Man’s Land at the lifting of the barrage, and were mown down.

60thBatt


14th 53rdBatt

Heavy German artillery shelling and machine gun fire weakened the force available to attack, but many managed to get to the German front line during the barrage.

They were then mown down by German gunfire from the Sugarloaf salient.

54thBatt

Heavy German artillery shelling and machine gun fire weakened the force available to attack, but many managed to get to the German front line during the barrage.

They attacked and took the German front line, then moved forward looking for the second line of trenches. These did not exist, and with many officers killed, the troops were uncertain how far to advance, and many became trapped in ‘islands’ with Germans all around them.

8th 31stBatt

Heavy German and Australian artillery shelling (‘drop-shorts’) weakened the force available to attack, but many managed to get to the German front line during the barrage.

32ndBatt

These had the shortest distance to cover to the front lines, and got close to the enemy front line.

the Australian force was:

brigade Attack battalions reserve battalions

15th 59th 60th

57th 58th

14th 53rd54th

55th 56th

8th 31st32nd

29th 30th

After the attack:

The German positions had not been destroyed by the artillery barrage, and they quickly organised a counter-attack.

There were not enough Australian troops to continue to take the second line — many of the reserve troops had been used to supplement the first waves devastated by the German bombardment.

A new plan was made to attack Sugarloaf again by British and Australian troops — but the Australians were not told of its cancellation, and the 58th and 59th attacked alone and unsupported on the right, and were mown down. They did not get to within 100 metres of the objective.

Those who had advanced in the first wave were now in isolated pockets, and were threatened on their flanks and even in the rear.

A proposed truce to gather the wounded was vetoed by senior officers, so wounded men had to get back to their own lines any way they could. Stretcher bearers came forward to help, but were also subject to enemy fire.

Next morning the attackers had to get back to their own lines any way they could and under constant threat from Germans all around them.

6 Use all this information add to your explanation on the map of what happened, and to make any changes to your answers in the tables on pages 4 and 5.

A b


Here is some additional information from eyewitness participants about the human aspects of the battle.

7 Use this additional information to understand what happened, and to add this to your annotation of the map.

8 Look also at what the information tells you about the outcome of the battle, and the behaviour of the Australians’ involved, the ‘Spirit of ANZAC’. Use this information to revise your answers in the tables on pages 4 and 5.

A ‘They lay in heaps behind the parapet …[or] crouched close under cover … Chaos and weird noises like thousands of iron foundries, deafening and dreadful, coupled with the roar of high explosives … ripped the earth out of the parapet, … we crept along seeking first of all the serious cases of wounded. Backwards & forwards we travelled between the firing line and the R.A.P. with knuckles torn and bleeding due to the narrow passage ways. ‘Cold sweat’, not perspiration, dripped from our faces and our breath came out only in gasps … By the time we had completed 2 trips [each of 5kilometres] . . . we were . . . completely exhausted.

Quoted in Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, pages 164-5

During the barrage D I couldn’t stop urinating, and we were all anxious for the barrage to begin. When it did begin, it seemed as if the

earth opened up with a crash. The ground shook and trembled, and the concussion made our ears ring. It was impossible to hear ourselves speak to a man lying alongside. It is strange how men creep together for protection. Soon, instead of four paces interval between the men, we came down to lying alongside each other, and no motioning could make them move apart.

Quoted in Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, page 168

entering No man’s land

e We lost some men going over to the enemy’s lines and you could hear the moans of the wounded and dying wherever you went. I got over the parapet … [and] made for a big hole and rested there while we got our breath … after that we made a dash but had to drop into any sort of hole we could find for machine guns were turned on to us and the bullets were just skimming over our heads … We got to Fritz’s front line trenches eventually … [and then] to the portion of trench which was behind their front line … and stayed there till 5.30 a.m. when we were forced to retire … The Germans got somehow or other into their own front line while we were between their first and second lines and there was grave danger of our being cut off, so we had to make a bolt for it and a good few were hit coming back … but the bullets happened to miss me somehow or other.


Massing before the attackThe German artillery caught the soldiers before they reached their own front line. Shell after shell burst among the packed columns, cluttering the trench floors with dead and wounded:

The nature of the land

b

Men of the 53rd Battalion shortly before going into action on 19 July. AWM

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C ‘We had to get up as close to the parapet as possible anybody who did not do this was simply courting death for shells were falling all round … there were dead and wounded everywhere … I had to sit on top of a dead man as there was no picking and choosing … I saw a shell lob about twelve yards away and it … lifted [two men] clean up in the air for about 6 feet and they simply dropped back dead … one or two of the chaps got shell shock and others got really frightened it was piteous to see them … One great big chap got away as soon as he reached the firing line and could not be found … I saw him in the morning in a dug

out he was white with fear and shaking like a leaf. One of our Lieuts. got shell shock and he literally cried like a child, some that I saw carried down out of the firing line were struggling and calling out for their mother, while others were blabbering sentences one could not make out For one to get shell shock it is worse than a wound, a wound will heal, but a chap when he has lost control of his nerves takes a lot before he has got mastery of them again, and it is doubtful if he would be able to be relied on again. It is a thing everyone has to fight against, and if he gives in at all he is practically done for as a fighter.

Quoted in Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, pages 164-5


Attacking the enemy

g Scores of stammering German machine-guns spluttered violently, drowning the noise of the cannonade. The air was thick with bullets, swishing in a flat, criss-crossed lattice of death. There were gaps in the lines of men – wide ones, small ones. The survivors spread across the front, keeping the lines straight ... The bullets skimmed low, from knee to groin, riddling the tumbling bodies before they touched the ground. 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 shellholes or were hit again. Men were cut in two by streams of bullets [that] swept like whirling knives. And still the line went on.

Quoted in Peter Pedersen, The Anzacs, Gallipoli to the Western Front, Viking, Melbourne, 2007, page 130

A German machine gun crew

Second and later waves

i It was awful. My thoughts I can hardly explain, my heart thumped with fear and my face must have been white. Now I was to lead and show an example to 20 men who carried three guns. I can never forget it - I prayed and all my hope was in ‘Him’. At last the time was drawing near, I drew my revolver and placed my whistle in my mouth ...I blew my whistle, gave a shout of ‘forward’... I dashed out along the railway line [trench railway]. I had only gone about 50 [metres] when I tripped and fell. ‘Hard luck’ exclaimed some of the 55th thinking I was shot but I sprung up and rushed on.,. rushed bang into barbed wire... I heard the bullets smacking the ground about me. Picking my way through the wire made me go slower and I thought of the awful position I was in. ‘Oh! God help me’ were the words I uttered. At last I was free...

Quoted in Paul Cobb, Fromelles 1916, The History Press, Stroud, 2010, page 90

J We … were given the job of delivering [bombs] … each of us carried our own equipment, 220 rounds of ammunition, 3 day’s rations, rifle, and in each hand a box of bombs weighing about 30 lbs. I suppose the full load was about a hundredweight, and with this we had to travel about half a mile through a narrow sap, with a veritable hail of shells falling round us the whole length of it … Some of the fellows dropped out, others dropped part or the whole of their load, but most of us saw the distance out, realising that the delivery of the bombs was … life or death to the men in the line.


K Nothing could exceed the bravery of those boys. The first wave went down like ‘wheat before the reaper’. When the time came for the second wave to go over there was not a man standing of the first wave, yet not a lad faltered. Each glanced at his watch and on the arranged tick of the clock leaped over. In many cases they did not get any farther than the first wave. The last wave, though they knew each had to do the work of three, were in their places and started on their forlorn hope at the appointed moment.

Quoted in Patrick Lindsay, Fromelles, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2008 page 101

Australian dead in German trenches

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bringing in the wounded

Q I had been sent by Capt Cameron with a party for two nights to get the barbed wire ready. We were supporting when the charge was made.,, the battalions who weren’t over met with too hot a reception and suffered severely; the distance was too far, When we came up... we did a 200 yard sprint across the open... for the next three days we did great work getting in the wounded from the front and I must say Fritz treated us very fairly though a few were shot at their work. Some of the wounded were as game as lions and got rather roughly handled but haste was more necessary than gentle handling and we must have brought in over 250 men by our company alone. It was not light work getting in with a heavy weight on your back especially if he had a broken leg or arm and no stretcher bearer was handy you had to lie down and get him on your back then rise and duck for your life with the

chance of getting a bullet in you before you were safe. One foggy morning an particular I remember, we could hear someone, over towards the German entanglements calling for a stretcher bearer; it was an appeal no man could stand against; so some of us pushed out and had a hunt; we found a fine haul of wounded and brought them in, but it was not where I heard this fellow calling so I had another shot for it and came across a splendid specimen of humanity crying to wriggle into a trench with a big wound in his thigh; he was about 14 stone weight and I could not lift him on my back, but! managed to get him into an old trench and told him to lie quiet while I get a stretcher then another man about 30 yards out sang out ‘don’t forget me cobber’. I went in and got four volunteers with stretchers and we got both men to safety

Quoted in Paul Cobb, Fromelles 1916, pages 102-103

During the night

N Capt Gibbins was the marvel – he kept walking up and down the lines never showing any sign of fear, encouraging people and helping them. Towards dawn our flanks were being attacked by enemy bombers so Capt Gibbins led an attack against them over ‘No Man’s Land’ and drove them back, but back they came and still again. Bombs and bombers were called for and still more bombs but our officers were becoming less. Mendellson was blown up on the right. Jock Mathews was shot. Toliard was wounded. Denoon had been shot through the shoulder.

(Quoted in Patrick Lindsay, Fromelles, page 98)

Troops of the Bavarian Reserve who opposed the Australians at Fromelles.

On the far right is Corporal Adolf Hitler.

p

being wounded

m Crump! Bang! Crash! The shells fall. Zipzipzip-zipzip! Machine-gun bullets kick up the dirt around them. A lull and they rush off again. Zipzip! Bang! Another twisted heap of khaki hits the ground. It is Ted. He does not move. His cobbers crawl over to his side. ‘Where d’you get it?’ they ask him. His lips move, but they do not hear his reply. His arm is shattered and blood is gushing from his side. He cannot last much longer-they think he is going west. His eyes ask them to do something. Stan rolls him on to a groundsheet and drags him yard by yard towards the trench. Shell splinters tear through the sheet. The ground rocks from a nearby shell-burst which almost covers them with mud. Stan drags him on. Ted is in mortal fear of being hit again. At last they come to the sally-port and he is carried on a duckboard into the trench.They give him the worst possible thing. He gulps down some rum, chokes, coughs blood, loses his breath; blood bubbles from his side, he is in the throes of death. He quietens. They give him water. If they can stop the bleeding he might survive. With a bandaged lead pencil they probe back his lung and plug the wound with a field-dressing and pieces torn from a greatcoat. They fix a tourniquet and bind his arm to a piece of duckboard. This completes their rough but honest first aid.”

(Quoted in Peter Pedersen, The Anzacs, Gallipoli to the Western Front, page 137

the withdrawal

o One Lewis gun crew stuck to it to the last and after all the rest had fallen back they could still be heard firing. We could see the Bosche working along the trench on both their flanks towards them but they still stuck to their posts and the gun kept firing. We saw some stick bombs thrown into their little stronghold - then silence! Their job had been done at the expense of their lives.”

(Quoted in Paul Cobb, Fromelles 1916, page 90)


Some final incidents

r Cruelty, humanity and tragedy intermingled. Preventing all attempts to save a man who had been blinded, the Bavarians let him stumble in circles near the Sugarloaf for several days before they shot him. Two Bavarians carried a wounded Australian to his own parapet, saluted and walked away. Unaware of what had happened, other Australians shot them. Captain Krinks and the three men who escaped with him went back to pick up their wounded and were returning with them when a panicky Australian sentry killed two of the rescuers with a single shot. Another Australian, hit through the arm, took food and water from the dead during the seven days it took to drag his wounded mate in.

Peter Pedersen The Anzacs, Gallipoli to the Western Front, page 141

britiSh 61st DiviSioN AuStrAliAN 5th DiviSioN

bde batt Dead (KiA & DoW)

bde batt Dead (KiA & DoW)

poW Wounded total

182nd 2/5RW 138 8th 29 61

166 1086 17802/6RW 1 30 118

2/7RW 108 31 156

2/8RW 2 32 224

183rd 2/4G 14 14th 53 240

283 948 17272/6G 20 54 169

2/7W 97 55 79

2/6W 2 56 40

184th 2/40B 42 15th 57 25

5 904 17332/1B 5 58 142

2/4RB 88 59 329

2/5G 36 60 389

Arty 6 Arty 14

16 208 293

182MGC 5 Sig 2

Eng 22

Machine Gun(MG)

45

Pioneers 2

totAl 572 2057 470 3146 5533

Casualty statistics

germANS

unit Dead (KiA & DoW)

Wounded missing/ poW

total

16th Bavarian 107 270 0 377

17th Bavarian 59 171 44 274

20th Bavarian 36 113 7 156

21st Bavarian 295 385 95 775

104th Saxon

4 4 0 8

1590

Nature of wounds (%)

upper limb 31.79

lower limb 31.00

head and neck 16.67

thorax/Chest 7.93

Abdomen 4.27

back 2.22

Shell shock 6.12

Paul Cobb, Fromelles 1916, page 109-114

9 Add any information to the tables on pages 4 and 5, and the map on pages 6-7.


ninety four years later — burying the missing deadIn 2010 an extraordinary event took place. The remains of 250 Australian and British soldiers were buried in a newly created cemetery — the first such cemetery in over 50 years. These men had died at Fromelles on 19-20 July. Why have they only now been buried in a war cemetery?

The story started in 1916, when many hundreds of bodies of soldiers were not collected and identified.

In 1919 and 1921 officials of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission searched the area for the remains of unburied and unidentified soldiers.

Most of those whose bodies were recovered, but who could not be identified, were buried in a mass grave at VC Corner cemetery, and several other nearby cemeteries. 1294 who had died at Fromelles remained unidentified, and about 900 of these were buried in known graves. Where were the rest?

The CWGC had stopped searching, as the inhabitants of the area needed to be able to resume their lives, without constant disruption to their fields as searches were carried out.

Melbourne school teacher and military historian Lambis Englezos began searching for the missing remains. He discovered photographs showing that the Germans had gathered many bodies and taken them somewhere via a railway track.

He found aerial photos showing what seemed to be large trenches in the nearby Pheasant Wood, and German documents detailing that the Germans had buried a large number of ‘English’ soldiers. Later photos

showed the trenches had been filled in. In 2003 he convinced the military to test these trenches, and it was discovered that there were remains there, and Australian military artefacts.

Finally a full archaeological dig was carried out, and the remains of 250 Australian and British soldiers were identified, together with 6200 items of clothing and personal belongings.

Over 2000 family members of Australians who had died at Fromelles but never been identified now provided DNA samples, and these were used to identify and name 94 of the men from Pheasant Wood.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission now planned a new cemetery on land donated by the Madame Demessiet, the French landowner on whose land the graves had been found. In 2010 the men were now buried in the beautiful new cemetery — the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) War Cemetery.

Roger Lee, The Battle of Fromelles 1916, page 186

Julie Summers, Remembering Fromelles, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2010, page 81

10 Why do you think so much time and effort was spent in recovering, identifying and commemorating these men? Do you think it is justified? Explain your ideas.


The following pages show the personal details of 87 of the men, who have now been identified by archaeological remains and DNA testing.

11 Divide your class into 8 groups, and have each group take one of the columns A-H for analysis of Rank (A), Origin by State/City/Country (B), Age (C), Occupation — Skilled/Unskilled/Professional (D), Marital status (E), Mobility (F), Date of enlistment (G) and Unit (H).

Count the numbers in the appropriate column, and comment to the rest of the class on what this information tells you about the nature of the men at Fromelles, and of the characteristics of these ANZACs. Does this information have any influence on tour ideas about the Spirit of ANZAC on page 4?


A b C D e F g hPrivate Vinton Battam Baker Waterloo, Sydney, NSW 1885 Iron moulder S West Kogarah Sydney, NSW Aug 1915 55th Battalion

Sergeant Oscar Eric Baumann Ambleside, SA 1897 Joiner S Eastwood, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Henry Bell Bendigo, V 1876 Insurance agent M Bendigo, V July 1915 29th Battalion

Corporal Herbert Thomas Bolt Newtown, Sydney, NSW 1894 Brick maker M Newtown, Sydney, NSW Sep 1915 55th Battalion

Private Harold John Bourke West Maitland, NSW 1894 Railway employee S West Maitland, NSW Aug 1915 30th Battalion

Lieutenant John Charles Bowden South Yarra, Melbourne, V 1881 Bank manager M South Melbourne, V Sep 1915 59th Battalion

Private Justin Hercules Breguet Geelong, V 1897 Bread carter S Geelong, V Jul 195 29th Battalion

Private Norman Leslie Brumm Albury, NSW 1897 Labourer S Auburn, Sydney, NSW Jun 1915 29th Battalion

Private Edward Nason Burney Port Melbourne, V 1893 Farm labourer S Yarloop, WA Jul 1915 32nd Battalion

Lieutenant Robert David Burns Potts Point, Sydney, NSW 1888 Station manager S Parramatta, NSW May 1915 14th Machine Gun Coy

Private Thomas Clifft Cartwright Richmond, NSW 1895 Stableman S South Fremantle, WA Jul 1915 32nd Battalion

Lieutenant Eric Harding Chinner Petersburg, SA 1894 Bank clerk S Petersburg, SA Sep 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Roy Allison Clark Jerilderie, NSW 1895 jeweller S Liverpool, Sydney, NSW Sep 1915 54th Battalion

Private Alexander Stanley Clingan Waterloo, Sydney, NSW 1894 Boiler maker S Newtown, Sydney, NSW Aug 1915 53rd Battalion

2nd Lt Clarence Timbrell Collier Geurie, NSW 1893 Solicitor S Roseville, Sydney, NSW Aug 1915 53rd Battalion

Private Maurice Corigliano Beachport, Q 1883 Boatman S Beachport ,Q Sept 1915 32nd Battalion

Lance Corporal William Andrew Craigie

Nymagee, NSW 1882 Labourer S Nyngen, NSW Sept 1915 54th Battalion

Private Henry Alfred Cressy Tamworth, NSW 1894 Locomotive Driver S Boolaroo, NSW Aug 1915 54th Battalion

Private John Edwin Crocker Adelaide, SA 1896 Tailor’s cutter S Marlestone, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Harry Croker Wallambra River, NSW 1892 Labourer S Wallambra River, NSW Sept 1915 30th Battalion

Private William Joseph Cuckson Balmain, Sydney 1890 Labourer S Summer Hill, Sydney, NSW July 1915 54th Battalion

Private Robert Arthur Dewar London, England 1886 Tram conductor S Kogarah, Sydney, NSW Aug 1915 55th Battalion

Private Edwin Henry Dibben Buckland, England 1883 Coach builder S Summer Hill, Sydney, NSW Aug 1915 54th Battalion

Private Downie Dodd Glasgow, Scotland 1883 Bricklayer S Drummoyne, Sydney, NSW Nov 1915 56th Battalion

Private Fred Arthur Dyson MacLeay River, NSW 1897 Labourer S MacLeay River, NSW Oct 1915 54th Battalion

Private Harold Esam Warnambool, V 1894 Labourer S Warnambool, V July 1915 31st Battalion

Private Robert (Gladstone) Fenwick Helensburgh, NSW 1894 Miner S Woonona, NSW July 1915 30th Battalion

Lance Corporal Frederic James Glenn Redfern, Sydney, NSW 1896 Audit Clerk S Redfern, Sydney, NSW July 1915 30th Battalion

Private John Joseph Goulding Albidge Bank, England 1883 Labourer S West End, South Brisbane, Q Aug 1915 31st Battalion

Corporal Robert Courtney Green London, England 1886 Farmer S Toodyay, WA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Bertie Greenfield Worthing, Sussex, England 1889 Brick maker S West Leederville, Perth, WA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Gilbert Allen Griffiths NSW 1886 Farm Hand S Trayning, WA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Norman Arthur Hale Melbourne, V 1885 Telegraph linesman S West Melbourne, V July 1915 31st Battalion

Private Laurance Harriott Parramatta, Sydney, NSW 1889 Labourer S Redfern, Sydney, NSW July 1915 54th Battalion

Private William Bruce Higgins Stroud, NSW 1897 Grazier S Gloucester, NSW Aug 1915 30th Battalion

Private Clarence Rhody Swan Hoffman Moonta, SA 1894 Saddler S Adelaide, SA Sept 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Clifford Dawson Holliday Sydney, NSW 1895 Undergraduate student

S Hornsby, Sydney, NSW Aug 1915 54th Battalion

Private Arnold Holmes Nottingham, England 1889 Psychiatric warder S Claremont, Perth WA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Frederick Griffin Holst Sebastapol, Ballarat, V 1896 Electrical engineer S Caulfield, Melbourne, V July 1915 60th Battalion

Private Edward James Hope Penrith, NSW 1888 Railway employee S Penrith, NSW Sept 1915 54th Battalion

Private Thomas Edward Hunt Kilmore, V 1869 Baker S Carlton, Melbourne, V Jan 1916 31st Battalion

Private David George Irvin Bemboka, NSW 1892 Farmer S Bemboka, NSW July 1915 54th Battalion

Lieutenant Ernest Augustus Jentsch Enmore, Sydney, NSW 1893 Clerk S Petersham, Sydney, NSW June 1915 53rd Battalion

Private Cyril Donald Johnston Inverell, NSW 1892 Teacher S Delungra, NSW Oct 1915 54th Battalion


A b C D e F g hPrivate Jack Joyce Wolverhampton, England 1887 Drover S Wagin, WA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Adolf Thompson Knable Melbourne, V 1894 Teacher S Dardanup, WA Aug 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Daniel Michael Lawlor Adelaide, SA 1887 Presser S Adelaide, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Corporal David Frederick Livingston Taraville, Q 1876 Grazier M East Melbourne, V Nov 1914 29th Battalion

Private Reuben Harold Magor Sandergrove, SA 1892 Salesman S Norwood, Adelaide, SA Aug 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Robert Thomas Maudsley Yorkshire, England 1889 Labourer S Keswick, Adelaide, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Archie McDonald Wyrallah, NSW 1896 Farmer S Wyrallah, NSW July 1915 31st Battalion

Private Alec McGregor McKenzie West Coast, SA 1891 Farmer S West Coast, SA May 1915 32nd Battalion

Private John Gordon McKenzie Orroroo, SA 1891 Farmer S Orroroo, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Hughie McLean Tamagulla, V 1888 Engineer S Adelaide, SA June 1915 32nd Battalion

Lieutenant Alan Mitchell Camperdown, Sydney, NSW

1894 Supervisor S Mosman, Sydney, NSW Nov 1915 30th Battalion

Lieutenant Harry Lowry Moffit Bendigo, V 1883 Accountant S Gisborne, V Mar 1915 53rd Battalion

Private Alfred Victor Momplhait Alberton, SA 1886 Clerk S Port Adelaide, SA June 1915 32nd Battalion

Private John Morley (born William John Howard)

Yambuk, V 1869 Painter S Richmond River, NSW July 1915 31st Battalion

Private Peter Laurence Myers Liverpool, Sydney, NSW 1896 Labourer S Lidcombe, Sydney, NSW Aug 1915 54th Battalion

Private Arnold Needham Lancashire, England 1898 Station Hand S Liverpool, Sydney, NSW Jan 1916 54th Battalion

Private Henry Oscar Nelson Wellington, New Zealand

1896 Woodworking machinist

S Ryde, Sydney, NSW July 1915 30th Battalion

Lieutenant Colonel Ignatius Bertram Norris

North Sydney, NSW 1880 Barrister M Darling Point, Sydney, NSW July 1915 53rd Battalion

Lance Corporal George Pagan Mooroopna, V 1891 Farmer S Gilgandra, NSW July 1915 54th Battalion

Private Edgar William Parham Gawler, SA 1878 Baker M Mile End, SA Aug 1915 32nd Battalion

Lieutenant John Parker Kiama, NSW 1895 Assurance collector S Lismore, NSW May 1915 30th Battalion

Private Andrew Murray Perry Goolwa, SA 1871 Carpenter S Narracoorte, SA Sept 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Raymond Holstein Pflaum Blumberg, SA 1897 Shop assistant S Blumberg, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Walter Pheasant London, England 1894 Cook S NSW May 1915 54th Battalion

Private Harold Charles Pitt Magill, SA 1896 Labourer S Payneham, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Herbert George Pollard Northcote, Melbourne, V 1891 Farmer S Kew, Melbourne, V July 1915 29th Battalion

Private Howard James Randall Kingston, SA 1891 Engine cleaner S Kingston, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Maurice Leslie Reid Owen, SA 1889 Farmer S Owen, SA Aug 1915 32nd Battalion

Sergeant Harold Richardson Newcastle, NSW 1889 Clerk S Woonona, NSW June 1915 54th Battalion

Private Samuel Thomas James Ridler Surrey, England 1874 Miner S Norseman, WA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Corporal James Hugh Ross Stirling, Scotland 1893 Grocer S Northcote, Melbourne, V July 1915 29th Battalion

Private Mervyn Ross Dardanup, WA 1894 Clerk S Dardanup, WA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private Gordon Thomas Smith Buxton, V 1893 Labourer S Buxton, V July 1915 29th Battalion

Private Joseph Raymond Stead Murray Town, SA 1895 Farmer S Murray Town, SA June 1915 32nd Battalion

Private William Charles Tucker Norwood, Adelaide, SA 1896 Hardware assistant S Adelaide, SA July 1915 32nd Battalion

Private John Turner Dubbo, NSW 1896 Saddler S Dubbo, NSW July 1915 30th Battalion

Sergeant William Wass Derbyshire, England 1881 Fitter S Pelaw, NSW Aug 1915 54th Battalion

Private Percy Weakley Adelaide, SA 1880 Labourer M Spring Hill, Brisbane, Q July 1915 31st Battalion

Private Arthur Joseph Weir Nhill, V 1890 Farmer S Nhill, V July 1915 29th Battalion

Private Albert Williamson Canowindra, NSW 1892 Labourer S Yrang Creek, Canowindra, Q Aug 1915 54th Battalion

Private Henry Victor Willis Alberton, V 1896 Labourer S Alberton, Adelaide, NSW July 1915 31st Battalion

Private Eric Robert Wilson Port Macquarie, NSW 1896 Labourer S Hibbard, Port Macquarie, NSW July 1915 53rd Battalion

Private Samuel Charles Wilson Braidwood, NSW 1886 Labourer S Hibbard, Port Macquarie, NSW July 1915 53rd Battalion


On the next pages are some of the artefacts found during the archaeological dig at Pheasant Wood.

12 For each object: Identify the object. Suggest how it probably was able to be used to help

identify the men as Australian (A-G) and what it might help us to know and understand about the stories of the men buried there (F-N).

Do this just by looking at the objects. Then check the information on each one on page 20 and make any changes to your original answers.

A

F

D

b

g

C

e

This is:

It probably helped identify the body as Australian because:

This is:


This is:


This is:


This is:


This is:


This is:



Images from Julie Summers, Remembering Fromelles, pages 36-55. Photographs reproduced with permission of Julie Summers and Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

This is:

It might tell us that:

This is:


This is:


This is:


This is:


This is:


This is:


l

h K

i

J N

m


13 Why do you think the Battle of Fromelles was a defeat? Use the information you have gathered on page 5 in constructing your final answer.

14 What do you think the Battle of Fromelles tells you about the Spirit of ANZAC? Use the information you have gathered on page 5 in constructing your final answer.

15 Does the Battle of Fromelles change any of your ideas about the nature of the war on the Western Front in the First World War? Explain your ideas.

16 Imagine that you have been asked to commemorate the Battle of Fromelles. What would you say? What would you show? What meaning do you think it has for young people today?

Furtherreading:Paul Cobb, Fromelles 1916, The History Press, Stroud, 2010

Roger Lee, The Battle of Fromelles 1916, Army History Unit, Canberra, 2010

Patrick Lindsay, Fromelles, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2008

Robin Corfield, ‘Don’t Forget me, Cobber’, The Battle of Fromelles, Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2009

Peter Pedersen, The Anzacs, Gallipoli to the Western Front, Viking, Melbourne, 2007

Julie Summers, Remembering Fromelles, CWGC Publishing, Berkshire, 2010


the images on pages 18-19 are:A Australian uniform tunic belt buckle b Australian issue boots C Buttons D Shoulder badgee Rising Sun badge F Purse and Egyptian coinsg Fremantle-Perth return train ticketh bible pages i Monkey charm J Metal crossK Cigarette lighterl Locket containing hairm Rosary beads N Pipe

what can the battle of fromelles tell us about the spirit ... · in july 1916 the aif faced its...

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