Australia and the Western Front 1914-1918

The great in ter natio nal con flict wh ich we now c all World War I began w ith a seri es CENTRAL P OWERS 1914 ALLIES 1914 of milit ary mob ili satio ns a nd d ecl arati ons JOINED CENTRAL of war bet ween 28 Ju ly a nd 4 Au gust 1 914. POWERS (YEAR OF JOINING) JOINED ALLIES (YEAR OF JOINING) On 28 June 1 914, a S erb ian nationa lis t, NEUTRAL Gavr ilo Pri nci p, as sassina ted Arch duke Fr anz Fe rdi nan d, heir to the throne of NO RTH the Au stro-Hungar ian Emp ire, in Sar aje vo, SEA the capi tal of the Aust rian ad min istered BRI TAIN RUSSIA provin ce of B osnia. Se rbia was a cen tre EASTERN FFRRONT of Slav nat ion alism, and its governm ent GERMANY was wor king to influ ence the sout her n BELGIUM pa rts of Au stria -Hu ngary to join i t.The WESTERN Au stro- Hun garian governm ent saw t he FFRRONT AUSTRIA- as sas sin ation as a cha nce to c rush this HUNGA RY FRANCE mo vem ent, by de clari ng w ar on Serb ia on ROMANIA (1916) 28 July 1 914. BL ACK I SEA TA SERBIA BULGARIA Se rbia appe aled to Ru ssi a, seen as t he LY (1915) (1915) protec tor of a ll t he S lav p eop les, for h elp. A s ystem of a lli anc es now m eant th at GREECE TURKEY ot her nat ions be came in volved. If Russi a (1917) foug ht Aust ria -Hungary, Fr ance wou ld be bound to s upp ort R ussia. If Au stria-

Hu nga ry fou ght, Ge rmany wou ld s upp ort it MEDITERRANEAN SEA ag ain st R uss ia and France, so on 1 Augu st 0km 500km Ge rma ny d eclared war on R uss ia. Ge rma n mi lit ary lea ders f elt that the coun try co uld not survi ve a war on two f ronts.To prevent this th ey pla nned to invade Fr ance throu gh B elg ium, sweep int o Pa ris, quic kly sec ure t he s urrender of France, and t hen focus all Ger many’s forces on defeating Russia (which would not be ready to fi ght for several weeks aft er a declara tion of war). On 3 Augu st 1 914, Ge rmany dec lared w ar on France a nd d ema nded p ass age for its troo ps through Belgi um. Br itain had gu ara nteed the ne utrality of Belgi um, so a Ge rman inva sion of Be lgium would le ad to Bri tain’s in vol veme nt as well. On 4 Augu st, Ge rmany inva ded Bel gium and Brit ain dec lared war ag ain st G erm any. In 1914 Au str alia w as s till a young nation c omposed of sta tes that until 1901 had been sel f-governi ng c olo nies of Great Bri tain.The new Com mon weal th Co nst ituti on of 1901 gave the new Fed eral go ver nme nt g reat p owers, Portrait of Lieutenant J C D Reid in clu ding p owers over ext ernal affai rs if it c ared to use the m. However, AWM H06659 Au str alia, si mil ar to other Brit ish Dom ini ons like New Ze ala nd a nd C anada, felt c lose to Britain – the great ma jor ity of t he p opula tion in the early de cad es of t he 2 0th cen tury were e ith er i mmi grants from Great Bri tain o r Ireland or t he d escen dan ts of s uch imm igran ts. Moreover, Au str alia w as mo st c onc ern ed that the B ritish wou ld con tinue to assi st wi th Au stralia n defe nce in the Pacific area against the e xpansion of oth er g reat po wers in the region su ch as the G erm an E mpi re a nd Jap an. So, when Britain decla red war against Germ any on 4 Augu st 1 914 it would h ave b een u nth inkab le to Au str alians at the time that Au str alia w as not also a uto matic ally at war, st and ing sho uld er to shou lder wi th G reat B rit ain and the interests of th e Br iti sh E mpi re as a whole. Portrait of Sergeant Eric Hall AWM H06000

1 While the war was fought on many fronts — in Russia and eastern Europe , in Tur key and in the Middle East — the cent re of the war was in western Eu rop e, in France and Belgium .This ‘Western F ront’ st retched f rom the No rth Sea on the Belgium coast to the F rench–German–Swiss bo rder near the Swiss t own of Basel (Basle). For either side — the Allies (Franc e, the British Empi re, the Russian Empi re and , ev entual ly, the United States) , and the Central Powers (the German Empire, the Austro–Hungarian Empire , the Ottoman Empi re) — to win the wa r, victo ry had to be achi ev ed on the Western F ront. (See page 16 for a map of the Western F ront.) The ear ly war of mobility in the west, during which Germa ny tried to deli ver a r apid knock-out bl ow to Franc e, quickly came to an end .The Germans failed The re n ow to overwhelm the Allies in a series of actions fought in no rthern France and in Belgium. By st ret ched a late 1914, most of Belgium, except for a na rrow fortified line Portrait of Dri ver Eric Bed ford strip bet ween the t own of Yp res (Ieper) in AWM H05557 West Flanders and the coast, was occupied between the two by Germa ny. Large sections of eastern France also l ay in German hands .The re no w side s, f rom the st retched a fortified line bet ween the t wo sides , from the No rth Sea to the Swiss bo rde r. North Sea to the For the next four years, both sides sought to break th rough the ene my’s positions with a Swiss bo rde r. wa r-winning campaign that would lead to victo ry in the west . During 1915 and the early months of 1916, a number of attacks were launched seeking this elusive break-thro ugh. The British Expediti onary Force (BEF) launched offensives at Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge and Loos, while the French undertook even bigger offensives in Artois and Champagne. None of these attacks gained significant ground, and casualties were heavy. For 1916 , Britain and France planned a joint major offensive in the Somme area, but the Portrait of Lieutenant Charles Germans struck in February with a huge attack on French forts at Verdun . Teasdale Main AWM H05741 Here, the Germans aimed at nothing less than ‘bleeding France white’ and bringing Britain, a country which depended on impor ts by sea to wage war, to her knees by institu ting unrestricted submar ine warfare. As the Verdun battle progres sed, the French were obliged to pull many of their forces out of the proposed Somme offensiv e, but they urged the British to go ahead with the attack, to take the pressure off Verdun. It was at this point in the war that the divisio ns of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) began arriving in France from Egypt . After the evacuation of Gallipoli, the AIF had reg rouped and retrained in Egypt . The force expanded g reat ly to four divisions — 1st , 2nd , 4th and 5th Divisions — each with 12 infantry battalions of approximately 1200 men , along with a rtille ry, transpo rt, supply and medical units . Another division , the 3 rd, was formed in England but did not enter se rvice until late 1916. In Ma rch–April 1916, the AIF m oved to no rthern France and went into the line south of the t own of Armentiè res. He re, the soldiers learned about the a rt and weaponry of static trench warfare — conducting raids, manning trenches , sniping and di rected a rtille ry actions .Then on 1 July 1916, the British opened their great offensive on the Somme to the north-east of the town of Albert . Portrait of Private Frank Pooler The opening attack , which cost 60 , 000 British casualties , failed to achi eve a AWM H05523 breakth rough , but because of the need to keep suppo rting France at Verdun , Note: all men on pages 11-14 were killed in action during 1917. the British p ressed on .The AIF was soon pulled into this titanic struggl e.

2 On 19 July 1916 , the 5th Division AI F, along with the British 61st Division , launched an attack at F romelles, well to the no rth of the main Somme battlefield .The aim at F romelles was to dr aw German rein forcements away from the Somme a rea, but the attack was a complete failu re. Within t wenty- four hours, the Australians were forced to ret reat to their sta rt lines and the division suf fered mo re than 5000 casualties. It was a ho rrendous int roduction for the men of the AIF to major action on the Western F ront . Howev er, worse was to foll ow. By mid- July 1916, the f ront line on the Somme stood just outside the village of Poziè res . Bet ween 23 July and 3 Septembe r, the AIF ’s 1st , 2nd and 4th Divisions mounted a series of major attacks in this area to capture Pozières village , the heights to the east and then positions to the no rth and west t owa rds Mouquet Farm . In general , all the Australian objecti ves were ta ken , but at a frightful cost on both sides .The Germans rega rded Poziè res and the heights Portrait of Private Donald Smith as vital positions, and subjected the AIF to massi ve a rtille ry bomba rdment and AWM H06776 ma ny desperate counte r-attacks. In all, the four Australian divisions suf fered mo re than 23, 000 casualties in six weeks — a total about equal to the In all, the four casualties suf fered on Gallipoli in eight months .The Somme offensi ve Aust ralian division s ground on until N ovembe r, and the AIF was again i nv ol ved in some minor su ffered mo re than actions at locations such as Flers . The loo ked-for b reakth rough n ev er 23,000 casualties eventuated, but Britain had stood by in six weeks — a her alliance with Franc e. The year 1917 also s aw the Allies total about equal looking once again for the elusi ve breakth rough .The F rench planned what to the casualties their commande r, General Ni vell e, saw as a decisi ve campaign, in April .To assist su ffered on the F rench, the BEF would mount attacks to the no rth and south of Arras aimed at Portrait of Corporal L N Walton Gallipoli in wearing d own the Germans and dr awing away AWM H06700 eight month s. their reserves from the French area. On 9 April , the Canadians mounted a high ly successful attack at Vi my Ridg e, driving the Germans off the heights the re. An attack on the he avi ly fortified Hindenburg Line to the south-east of Arras near Bullecou rt was conducted by the AIF ’s 4th Division and the British 62nd Division . It became a disaste r, and the village of Bullecou rt remained in German hands . A second attack , in ear ly M ay, mounted by the AIF ’s 2nd and 5th Divisions s aw the Australians b reak into the Hindenburg Lin e.The re followed two weeks of intense trench fighting as the AIF held on to their gains . Eventual ly, the Germans evacuated Bullecou rt, but both actions a round the village had p roved cost ly in casualties and little was achi ev ed .To the south, the French ‘Ni velle’ of fensi ve bet ween 16 April and 9 M ay cost France mo re than 187, 000 casualties and failed to find a way through the German lines . As ear ly as 1916, the British began to plan a major of fensi ve in Belgium a round the t own of Yp res (Ieper). For Britain, German possession of much of the coastline of Belgium was a disaste r, because German submarines — U-Boats — could range from there more easily out into the Atlantic. In June 1917 , U-Boats sank mo re than half a million tons of Allied shipping heading for Britain .The p roposed of fensi ve at Yp res would b reak th rough the ene my lines Portrait of 1st Corporal Edwa rd to the east of the t own, whe re the Germans held the high g round, and then Paten AWM H06599

3 send c aval ry into the ene my rear a reas. In this w ay the Belgian coastline would be clea red and the ene my dri ven back th rough Belgium. Befo re the major battle commenced, a small but significant action was fought at Messines to straighten the British line south of Yp res . At Messines , on 7 June 1917 , the 3 rd Division AIF went into action for the first time and, despite the usual he avy casualties, gained all their objectives . Af ter the suc cess at Mes sin es, the gre at Bri tish off ens ive at Yp res op ened on 17 Ju ly 191 7. For ten da ys the Br iti sh art ill ery, whi ch inc lud ed Aus tra lian uni ts, bo mbar ded Ge rman pos iti ons wi th four and a half mi lli on she lls . Th en, on 31 July, the inf ant ry a tta cked . From that da te unt il 6 Novembe r, Bri tish Em pire and Domin ion sol die rs s tru ggl ed acr oss the open lan dsc ape to the east and no rth -east of Yp res, tow ards the vi lla ge of Pas sch enda ele. By the sta nda rds of these gre at att rit ion ba ttl es the Br iti sh h ad s ome nota ble su cce sses. Th e AI F, for exa mple, gai ned all th eir ob jec tiv es at the Bat tle of Me nin Ro ad ( 20 Se pte mbe r), the Bat tle of Po lyg on Wood (26 Se pte mbe r) and the Ba ttle of Portrait of Lieutenant Norman Robson Wilkinson AWM H06133 Br oods ein de (4 Oct obe r). By ea rly Oc tob er, the Ger mans had be en pus hed ba ck a co nsi der able dis tan ce towa rds Pa ssc hen dae le. However, the weat her now bro ke and pe rsi ste nt rai nfall tu rned the ba ttl efie ld into a s ea of mud. The of fen sive went on, but li ttle pro gre ss was ma de. Ac tio ns were fou ght by the AI F su ch as the Fir st Bat tle of Pa ssch enda ele (9 Oc tob er) and the Se cond Bat tle of Pas sch end aele (12 Oc tobe r). The vil lage fin ally fell to the Can adi ans on 6 Novem ber, but so great had be en the ca sua lti es su ffe red in t he off ens ive th at it was cal led of f. Be twe en Augu st and No vem ber 19 17, al l At Hé bute rne, five div isi ons of the AIF fo ught at Ypr es, su ffe ring 33, 699 cas ual ties of whom Morlancourt and 11, 260 lo st the ir liv es. De rnancourt the In April 1917, the United States ente red the war on the Allied sid e. Aust ralians held o ff In that yea r, als o, rev olution b roke out in the Russian Empi re, and in st rong ene my atta cks Portrait of Bombadier R E F Ma rch 1918 the n ew Bolsh evik Hanna ker AWM H06780 go vernment under Vladimir Lenin and helped stab ilise took Russia out of the war by signing a separate peace treaty with Germany . the British lin e. This made it possible for the Germans to st rengthen their armies on the Western F ront, and th ey planned a g reat of fensi ve for ear ly 1918 to crush the BEF and the F rench be fore the United States could build up a large ar my in Franc e. On 21 Ma rch 1918, the Germans began a series of of fensi ves aimed at pushing a wedge bet ween the BEF in the no rth and the F rench armies to the south. Initial ly, the Germans had g reat success and the BEF was forced back ma ny kilomet res ac ross the old Somme battlefield .The AIF divisions, which had winte red in the t renches in Belgium, were rushed south to help stem the German advanc e. At Hébuterne (26 Ma rch – ear ly April), Morlancou rt (28 – 30 Ma rch) and Dernancou rt (28 Ma rch – 5 April) the Australians held off st rong ene my attacks and helped stabilise the British lin e. Australians also helped to halt another German of fensi ve at Hazeb rouck, to the no rth of Armentiè res , during April . Fu rther to the south , east of the major cent re of Amiens, units of the AIF were instrumental in halting German thrusts at t wo Portrait of Corporal J Anderson actions around the town ofVillers-Bretonneux on 4 April and 24–25 April . AWM H06549 These actions were later interp reted by the local F rench population as h aving saved Amiens. By late July 1918, the German attempts to b reak the Allied line had failed and the ene my was n ow decided ly on the de fensi ve.

4 Timeline of Major Battles on the Western Front

Green indicates Australian i nv ol vement.

1914 4 August Germa ny i nvades Belgium 23 August Battle of Mons 6-12 September Battle of the Marne 12 October - 11 N ovember First Battle of Yp res

1915 1 Ja nua ry - 30 Ma rch Allied of fensi ve in Artois and Champagne 22 April - 25 M ay Second Battle of Yp res May - June Second Battle of Artois 25 September - 6 N ovember Ren ew ed offensi ves in Artois and Champagne

1916 21 Februa ry - 18 December Battle of Verdun April First units of the AIF a rri ve in France 1 July - 13 No vember Battle of the Somme 19-20 July Battle of F romelles 23 July - 4 September Battles of Poziè res and Mouquet Farm

1917 9-15 April Battle of Arras 11 April First Battle of Bullecou rt 3-17 M ay Second Battle of Bullecou rt 16 April - 19 M ay French ‘Ni velle’ Of fensi ve on the Aisne June - N ovember British of fensi ve in Flanders (Belgium) 7 June Battle of Messines 31 July - 10 No vember Thi rd Battle of Yp res (often kn own as ‘Passchendaele’) 20 September Battle of the Menin Road 26 September Battle of Poly gon Wood 4 October Battle of B roodseinde 9 October First Battle of Passchendaele 12 October Second Battle of Passchendaele 20 N ovember - 3 December Battle of Cambrai

1918 21 Ma rch - 5 April German Somme of fensi ve 9 April - 8 M ay German Lys offensi ve 24-25 April Rec aptu re of Villers-B retonneux 27-30 M ay German Aisne of fensi ve 30 M ay - 17 June Battle of Chateau Thie rry and Belleau Wood 9-13 June German N oy on-Montdidier of fensi ve 4 July Battle of Hamel 15-19 July German Champagne-Marne of fensi ve 8 August - 4 September Allied Somme of fensi ve

5 Timeline of Major Battles on the Western Front continued

1918 cont. 8-11 August Battle of Amiens 31 August - 3 September Captu re of Mont St Quentin and Pé ronne 26 September - 11 N ovember Allied Meuse-Ar gonne of fensi ve 18 September - 17 October Hindenberg Line of fensi ve 29 September - 1 October Battle of St Quentin Canal 5 October Battle of Montb rehain – after this battle the AIF was withdr awn f rom action. 28 September - 14 October British-Belgian Flanders of fensi ve 7 October - 11 N ovember Allied Samb re-Scheldt of fensi ve 11 N ovember Armistice signed at Compiègne brings fighting to an end on the Western F ront Map of the Western Front HOLL AND

BELGIUM

GERMANY

LUXEMBOURG

FRANCE

Endof19 14 SommeOffensive19 16 YpresOffensive1917 GermanOffensives1918 All iedOffensives19 18

6 Resources for Kindergarten – Year 3

The foll owing pages p rovide some key images to help young child ren explo re some aspects of Australia ’s World War I heritag e. This activity could be ca rried out in the lead-up to the school ’s commemoration of Anzac D ay (25 April) or Remembrance D ay (11 No vember). Students colour in the fi ve images, and cut out and paste on the app ropriate c aption for each .These can be printed for the students to c reate their own books. Teachers will find s ev eral colou red a rtworks in the Image Libra ry on the CD- ROM that th ey can show to students, to help them choose appropriate colours . Other excellent resou rces for students at this l ev el can be found at: www.dva.g ov. au/comm em/ comm ac /st udie s/st udie s.htm and ww w.anzacd ay.org.au/e duc at io n/c hild hood/de fau lt.htm Students could also be encouraged to c reate other images and symbols associated with these commemorati ve d ays — such as poppies , rosema ry, wreaths , medals , et c. Teachers can sh ow photos or film f rom the libraries on the CD- ROM to sta rt class discussions about wa r, who se rves in war and what their jobs might b e, commemorati ve symbols , war memorials and fami ly histo ry. WM 03183 A A machine-gun position established by the 54th Battalion during the morning of the attack th rough Pé ronn e, Franc e, 2 September 1918 .

7 An Australian Nurse

Animals and War

8 An Australian Soldier

An Anzac Day March

9 A Local War Memorial

CAPTIONS FOR THE FIVE PICTURES:

The Australian soldiers were kn own as ‘diggers’ during World War I.

Soldiers use some animals to help them in war . How a re these animals helping the soldiers?

Anzac D ay is a special d ay in Australia. We remember all the people who h ave been in wars .The banners tell us whe re the soldiers and nurses were during a wa r. Young people often w ave small flags as th ey watch . Has a ny one in your fami ly been a soldier or a nurse in war?

The re a re ma ny war memorials in Australia .These help us to remember the people who p rotected our count ry. Is the re a war memorial near your home?

Ma ny Australian nurses took ca re of the diggers during World War I.

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