the pounder batteries were firing close by and whilst we were watching one brought down from our batteries and machine guns a wonderful barrage. us an opportunity of seeing the ruins of the Cathedral and Cloth Hall trenches which we generally occupied when holding the line). Our five weeks happy stay objectives. Kamerads". All rights reserved. The southern party under Capt. broken duckboards, and slipping off the boards into the mud and getting through my puttee and made a small flesh wound as big as a sixpence. he was killed "Well, I have been used to the bush all my life, In front of us our barrage was slowly creeping forward, the over regularly every night in his aeroplanes and bombed the town and Captain happened to pass by and sharply told me to advance and get on The attack of the 3rd May 1917 at Bullecourt had a devastating effect on the 22nd Battalion and they, like the majority of I Anzac Corps, spent the summer reinforcing, refitting and training for Haig’s Ypres campaign, first in the pleasant village and countryside of Bouzincourt on the Somme and then to Campagne in northern France. One afternoon our procedure in the battle was into a shell hole, which we did. An hour’s journey brought us to the gave us hot cocoa, biscuits, chocolates and cigarettes. them in my gasbag, and the men always knew where they could get a smoke. The Second Battle of Bullecourt began at 3.45 a.m. on 3 May with eight successive waves of infantry, this time supported by artillery fire. Enemy shelling was heavy and continuous and the Battalion suffered close to 100 casualties, including fourteen killed or died of wounds. killed or wounded. [click on link for geo-referenced Trench map reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland]. In the following days the British and Australians were subjected to continuous shelling and, in some areas, the Germans attacked with flame-throwers. difficult as the night was dark, the mud very bad, the shells bursting White and gold lights were extent the battle had cost us in wounded and valuable lives. several miles, besides many larger guns and hundreds of machine guns and before, but I feel frightened tonight". them wounded). sight of which was one of awe-inspiring grandeur. to their gunners". It was awarded the third prize of 100 francs at the Third Australian Divisional Essay Competition, held after the Armistice at St Maxent, near Abbeville, France. British soldiers moving forward during the Battle of Broodseinde. pal and myself were detailed to carry a dead Aussie from the pill box The Australian troops had been pushed to the extreme and exhibited some defiance towards the British command. Bullecourt, which the Australians had handed over to the British prior to their transfer, was lost once again in March 1918 before being liberated for good a few months later in September. Few battles encapsulate World War One better than the Battle of Passchendaele. uneducated and couldn't write, and I used to write his love letters to That night many bombs were also dropped on the town doing We were Our eighteen Finally, on 9 April, they reached the Hindenburg Line, a seemingly impenetrable line of defences comprising extensive barbed wire entanglements, rows of deep trenches, numerous machine gun nests positioned behind concrete shields, extensive tunnels, slit trenches and deep bunkers. Rodda (MC) organised a party and rushed and bombed a hostile block house that was causing casualties, killing 6, taking 15 prisoner and capturing two heavy machine guns. The 3rd Ypres campaign, controversial in 1917 and remaining so ever since, will forever be remembered as a campaign of ‘wretchedness in the Flanders mud’. Despite the torrential rain Haig, to the surprise of many, decided to push on with the offensive. About midday the Sergeant came and The only accommodation consisted of these shell holes, and all available men worked long hours burying cables and on fatigues. number of soldiers who come out alive and unwounded. Cross Ambulances, etc. were taken prisoner and many of them were wounded. on looking at my watch found it was 9am - three hours since the attack his girl in Queensland for him. Those at the forefront were severely impeded by the barbed wire, many getting entangled and subsequently picked off by German artillery. One party of thirty, including a Colonel and his Staff surrendered to Pte Drury of C Company when he entered their pillbox, and before they could destroy their papers and maps. Lieut. I escaped without a scratch, with Battalion A.I.F. Only my head was protruding. The reputation of the Australians, as well as the New Zealanders and Canadians, increased further during the campaign and acknowledged by friend and foe alike. up. A pal and myself were on the wrong track, and the order "About turn" came For the soldiers who fought at Passchendaele, it was known as the ‘Battle of Mud’. The 22nd Battalion had 162 men killed or died of wounds during the 3rd Ypres campaign. By this stage of the war both sides were now adopting the strategy of defence in depth, and for the Germans around Ypres their strong-points were dominated by concrete block houses and pill-boxes (example, photograph right of a pillbox at Garter Point) that provided protection for their men and machine guns.