DOCSLIB.ORG

Machine Gun Units

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Machine Gun Units Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Machine Gun Units Machine Gun Units Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Canadian Machine Gun Corps ................................................................................................................... 2 Machine Gun Squadron, Canadian Cavalry Brigade ................................................................................. 4 1st Canadian Machine Gun Company ........................................................................................................ 1 2nd Canadian Machine Gun Company ....................................................................................................... 2 3rd Canadian Machine Gun Company ....................................................................................................... 4 4th Canadian Machine Gun Company ....................................................................................................... 6 5th Canadian Machine Gun Company ....................................................................................................... 8 6th Canadian Machine Gun Company ....................................................................................................... 9 7th Canadian Machine Gun Company ..................................................................................................... 10 8th Canadian Machine Gun Company ..................................................................................................... 19 9th Canadian Machine Gun Company ..................................................................................................... 20 10th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 21 11th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 22 12th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 23 13th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 24 14th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 25 15th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 26 16th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 27 17th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 28 18th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 29 19th Canadian Machine Gun Company ................................................................................................... 30 Yukon Infantry Company ........................................................................................................................ 31 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade .............................................................................................. 33 2nd Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade ............................................................................................. 46 Borden’s Motor Machine Gun Battery ................................................................................................... 48 Eaton Motor Machine Gun Battery ........................................................................................................ 54 Yukon Motor Machine Gun Battery ........................................................................................................ 57 1st Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps ........................................................................................... 62 2nd Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps .......................................................................................... 69 3rd Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps ........................................................................................... 95 4th Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps ........................................................................................... 98 Canadian Machine Gun Training Depot ................................................................................................ 100 Canadian Machine Gun Corps Depot .................................................................................................... 101 2nd Canadian Tank Battalion. CMGC ..................................................................................................... 102 3RD Canadian Tank Battalion, CMGC. .................................................................................................... 103 Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Machine Gun Units Introduction Each infantry battalion in France had machine gun sections and, in the winter of 1915 - 1916, they formed brigade machine gun companies. A further reorganization took place in March 1918 when machine gun battalions were created. Tank battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were included in the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. 1 Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Canadian Machine Gun Corps Background Information Organized in France on 16 April 1917 to take entire charge of the machine guns of the Canadian Corps Authorization published in Canadians’ Routine Order 558 of 22 February 1917 Composed of: (a) Machine Gun Squadron, Canadian Cavalry Brigade (b) Machine gun companies (c) 1st Motor Machine Gun Brigade and motor machine gun batteries (d) A depot organized in England on 4 January 1917 (authorized by Canadian’s Routine Order 150 of same date) Brigade machine gun companies detached from their respective brigades on 8 September 1917 and formed the companies of the different divisional machine gun battalions Sources In this section, the text in bold is the main topic and the indented part is the archival reference. Use the archival reference to order the document. Corps subject files (see finding aid for description of files) RG 9 III-C-1, vol. 3926-3954 Demobilization RG 24, vol.1975, file HQ 683-1010-1 History RG 24, vol.1975, file HQ 683-1010-2 OMFC file RG 9 III-A-1, vol. 80, file 10-9-23 Historical record RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 7 Honours and awards RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 8 Correspondence re photos RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file9 Operations. Passchendaele, Nov. 1917 RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 10 2 Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Notes on formation of CMGC RG 24, vol.1833, file GAQ 8-17 History RG 9 III-C-1, vol. 3931, folder 17, file 1 War diary, Machine Gun Officer, Canadian Corps, 1 Nov. 1916 - 18 April 1919 RG 9 III-D-3, vol. 4981 3 Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Machine Gun Squadron, Canadian Cavalry Brigade Background Information Organized in Tully, France on 20 February 1916 under the command of Captain W. T. Lawless, later by Captain W. K. Walker. Formed from machine gun sections of Royal Canadian Dragoons, Lord Strathcona Horse and Fort Garry Horse. Redesignated as 1st Canadian Machine Gun Squadron on 4 April 1917. Sources In this section, the text in bold is the main topic and the indented part is the archival reference. Use the archival reference to order the document. War diary, 18 Feb. 1916 - 31 March 1919 RG 9 III-D-3, vol. 4988, folder 633 Historical record, establishment RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 1 Correspondence re badges RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 2 Correspondence re honours and awards RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 3 Operations. Moreuil Wood, 21 March - 2 April 1918 RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 4 Operations. Amiens, 8-11 Aug. 1918 RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 5 Operations. Cambrai, 9-10 Oct. 1918 RG 9 III-D-1, vol. 4686, folder 36, file 6 Demobilization RG 24, vol.1974, file HQ 683-1008-1 Daily orders, Pts. I and II, 20 Feb. 1916 - 19 Jan. 1917 RG 9 III-C-3, vol. 3986, folder 9, files 4-10 Daily orders, Pts. I and II, 20 Jan. 1917 - 1 May 1918 RG 9 III-C-3, vol. 3987, folder 10, files 1-9 Daily orders, Pts I and II, 2 May - 23 Dec. 1918 RG 9 III-C-3, vol. 3987, folder 11, files 1-3 4 Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Canadian Records Office file RG 9 III-B-1, vol. 1087, file M-156-4 5 Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1st Canadian Machine Gun Company Background Information Organized at Mont du Cats in January 1916 as the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade Machine Gun Company. Commanded by Lieutenant J. R. Anglin, later by Captain W. J. A. Lalor. Redesignated as 1st Canadian Machine Gun Company in July 1916. Composed of machine gun sections of infantry battalions of 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 13th Canadian Machine Gun Companies were detached from their respective brigades in September 1917 and formed the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 13th Companies of the 1st Canadian Divisional Machine Gun Battalion. Reorganized on 27 March 1918 to form the 1st Battalion, Canadian
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The World War I Correspondence of William Montgomery
    19 BRONWYN HUGHES ‘Y’rs affectionately, Mont’: the World War I correspondence of William Montgomery William ‘Mont’ Montgomery was a 24-year-old art student at the National Gallery School when, concerned at the dire war news from France, he enlisted on 29 January 1915.1 When the new Victorian 6th Brigade was raised at Broadmeadows in late March, No. 929, Private William Montgomery was assigned to D Company, 21 Battalion.2 Over the next four years Mont fought in many major battles – Gallipoli, Pozières, Ypres and Mont St Quentin among them – learning the art of soldiering and attaining the rank of sergeant. Tragically, on 5 October 1918 and with the Allied victory so close, Mont died of wounds in the battle for Montbrehain village on the Hindenburg Line.3 It was the last day of the last battle fought by Australians on the Western Front. Y’rs affectionately, Mont Soon after entering Broadmeadows Army Camp, Mont wrote the first of hundreds of letters home, always signing off his last page – ‘Yrs affectionately Mont’. Mont wrote as if he was painting with oils or watercolour, using colourful words to capture his firsthand experience of war, from broad views of daily life in the trenches to terrifying, exhilarating, wounding battles, but without losing his humanity or wry sense of humour. Wary of the censor’s blue pencil, Mont sometimes turned his keen eye towards the sustaining beauty of landscape, the local people, architecture, customs and food, which were all so different from the sheltered Australian life he knew as a child and youth.
    [Show full text]
  • “Come on Lads”
    “COME ON LADS” ON “COME “COME ON LADS” Old Wesley Collegians and the Gallipoli Campaign Philip J Powell Philip J Powell FOREWORD Congratulations, Philip Powell, for producing this short history. It brings to life the experiences of many Old Boys who died at Gallipoli and some who survived, only to be fatally wounded in the trenches or no-man’s land of the western front. Wesley annually honoured these names, even after the Second World War was over. The silence in Adamson Hall as name after name was read aloud, almost like a slow drum beat, is still in the mind, some seventy or more years later. The messages written by these young men, or about them, are evocative. Even the more humdrum and everyday letters capture, above the noise and tension, the courage. It is as if the soldiers, though dead, are alive. Geoffrey Blainey AC (OW1947) Front cover image: Anzac Cove - 1915 Australian War Memorial P10505.001 First published March 2015. This electronic edition updated February 2017. Copyright by Philip J Powell and Wesley College © ISBN: 978-0-646-93777-9 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................. 2 Map of Gallipoli battlefields ........................................................ 4 The Real Anzacs .......................................................................... 5 Chapter 1. The Landing ............................................................... 6 Chapter 2. Helles and the Second Battle of Krithia ..................... 14 Chapter 3. Stalemate #1 ..............................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of British Tactical and Operational Tank Doctrine and Training in the First World War
    The evolution of British tactical and operational tank doctrine and training in the First World War PHILIP RICHARD VENTHAM TD BA (Hons.) MA. Thesis submitted for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy by the University of Wolverhampton October 2016 ©Copyright P R Ventham 1 ABSTRACT Tanks were first used in action in September 1916. There had been no previous combat experience on which to base tactical and operational doctrine for the employment of this novel weapon of war. Training of crews and commanders was hampered by lack of vehicles and weapons. Time was short in which to train novice crews. Training facilities were limited. Despite mechanical limitations of the early machines and their vulnerability to adverse ground conditions, the tanks achieved moderate success in their initial actions. Advocates of the tanks, such as Fuller and Elles, worked hard to convince the sceptical of the value of the tank. Two years later, tanks had gained the support of most senior commanders. Doctrine, based on practical combat experience, had evolved both within the Tank Corps and at GHQ and higher command. Despite dramatic improvements in the design, functionality and reliability of the later marks of heavy and medium tanks, they still remained slow and vulnerable to ground conditions and enemy counter-measures. Competing demands for materiel meant there were never enough tanks to replace casualties and meet the demands of formation commanders. This thesis will argue that the somewhat patchy performance of the armoured vehicles in the final months of the war was less a product of poor doctrinal guidance and inadequate training than of an insufficiency of tanks and the difficulties of providing enough tanks in the right locations at the right time to meet the requirements of the manoeuvre battles of the ‘Hundred Days’.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Records of the 79Th Cameron Highlanders
    %. Z-. W ^ 1 "V X*"* t-' HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE 79-m QUEEN'S OWN CAMERON HIGHLANDERS antr (Kiritsft 1m CAPTAIN T. A. MACKENZIE, LIEUTENANT AND ADJUTANT J. S. EWART, AND LIEUTENANT C. FINDLAY, FROM THE ORDERLY ROOM RECORDS. HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co., 32 PATERNOSTER Row. JDebonport \ A. H. 111 112 FOUE ,STRSET. SWISS, & ; 1887. Ms PRINTED AT THE " " BREMNER PRINTING WORKS, DEVOXPORT. HENRY MORSE STETHEMS ILLUSTRATIONS. THE PHOTOGRAVURES are by the London Typographic Etching Company, from Photographs and Engravings kindly lent by the Officers' and Sergeants' Messes and various Officers of the Regiment. The Photogravure of the Uniform Levee Dress, 1835, is from a Photograph of Lieutenant Lumsden, dressed in the uniform belonging to the late Major W. A. Riach. CONTENTS. PAGK PREFACE vii 1793 RAISING THE REGIMENT 1 1801 EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN 16 1808 PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN .. 27 1815 WATERLOO CAMPAIGN .. 54 1840 GIBRALTAR 96 1848 CANADA 98 1854 CRIMEAN CAMPAIGN 103 1857 INDIAN MUTINY 128 1872 HOME 150 1879 GIBRALTAR ... ... .. ... 161 1882 EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN 166 1884 NILE EXPEDITION ... .'. ... 181 1885 SOUDAN CAMPAIGN 183 SERVICES OF THE OFFICERS 203 SERVICES OF THE WARRANT OFFICERS ETC. .... 291 APPENDIX 307 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, SIR JOHN DOUGLAS Frontispiece REGIMENTAL COLOUR To face SIR NEIL DOUGLAS To face 56 LA BELLE ALLIANCE : WHERE THE REGIMENT BIVOUACKED AFTER THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO .. ,, 58 SIR RONALD FERGUSON ,, 86 ILLUSTRATION OF LEVEE DRESS ,, 94 SIR RICHARD TAYLOR ,, 130 COLOURS PRESENTED BY THE QUEEN ,, 152 GENERAL MILLER ,, 154 COLONEL CUMING ,, 160 COLONEL LEITH , 172 KOSHEH FORT ,, 186 REPRESENTATIVE GROUP OF CAMERON HIGHLANDERS 196 PREFACE. WANT has long been felt in the Regiment for some complete history of the 79th Cameron Highlanders down to the present time, and, at the request of Lieutenant-Colonel Everett, D-S.O., and the officers of the Regiment a committee, con- Lieutenant and sisting of Captain T.
    [Show full text]
  • Midlothian Roll of Honour 1914 - 1918
    Midlothian Roll of Honour 1914 - 1918 Regiments G to Q The Midlothian Roll of Honour commemorates the men and women of Midlothian who gave their lives in the First World War 1914-1918. It records details of every casualty on First World War memorials in the Midlothian area. The document firstly contains a table listing the name, regiment and birthplace of each casualty. Below this table is the Roll of Honour (ordered by Regiment), containing greater detail (some with photographs) about each casualty. Name on memorial Regiment Place of birth 1 Sinclair Aitken Gordon Highlanders Newbattle 2 William Baigrie Gordon Highlanders Dalkeith 3 William Barclay Gordon Highlanders Kettle Parish 4 Frank Symons Bussel Beedle Gordon Highlanders Stornoway 5 George Brown Gordon Highlanders Lasswade 6 Andrew Cameron Gordon Highlanders Edinburgh 7 Robert Carson Gordon Highlanders 8 George Crawford Gordon Highlanders 9 John Alexander Downie Gordon Highlanders Edinburgh 10 John Bruce Fortune Gordon Highlanders Arniston Engine 11 John James Foulis Gordon Highlanders Penicuik 12 George Edward Ramsay Gray Gordon Highlanders Dalkeith 13 William Gray Gordon Highlanders Garvald 14 David William Hamilton Gordon Highlanders Musselburgh 15 James Kerr Wilcock Hilton Gordon Highlanders Rosewell 16 Alexander Innes Gordon Highlanders Glasgow 17 David Jack Gordon Highlanders Dalkeith 18 George Jarvie Gordon Highlanders Fort William 19 Frederic Walter Kerr Gordon Highlanders 20 James George Ketchin Gordon Highlanders Milton Cottages, Glencorse 21 Thomas M Knight Gordon Highlanders
    [Show full text]
  • George Frederick Thorpe Was Born on the 3Rd February 1897 at Higher Malsis, Sutton-In-Craven
    T H E F ALLEN OF S U T T O N - I N -C R A V E N G EORGE F REDERICK T H O R P E M ACHINE G U N C O R P S D IED OF W OUNDS 1 1 T H S EPTEMBER 1 9 1 7 BORN IN 1 8 9 7 AT SUTTON - I N - C R A V E N , THE SON OF CLEMISHAW AND MARY THORPE Thorpe Family History • George Frederick Thorpe was born on the 3rd February 1897 at Higher Malsis, Sutton-in-Craven. Certified copy of Birth Certificate for George Frederick Thorpe (source: General Register Office) Higher Malsis, Sutton-in-Craven (source: Andrew Monkhouse postcard collection) • 1901 census shows Clemishaw, his wife Mary (nee Lund) and their 3 children living at Sun Street, Cowling as follows: Name Age Work Birth place Birth year Clemishaw (Head) 38 Gardener (domestic) Hoyland, South Yorkshire 1863 - 1931 Mary Maria (wife) 32 Cowling 1869 - 1907 Amy 8 Bingley 1893 Marion 6 Bingley 1895 George Frederick 4 Sutton-in-Craven 1897 - 1917 • 1911 census shows that Clemishaw had been married to his 2 nd wife Elizabeth for 3 years having been widowed in 1907. It also shows the Thorpe family now living at 193, Keighley Rd, Cowling as follows: Name Age Work Birth place Birth year Clemishaw (Head) 46 Gardener (domestic) Hoyland, South Yorkshire 1865 - 1931 Elizabeth (2nd wife) 38 Housewife Cowling 1873 Amy 18 Weaver Bingley 1893 Marion 16 Weaver Bingley 1895 George Frederick 14 Weaver Sutton-in-Craven 1897 - 1917 Cowling (source: Andrew Monkhouse postcard collection) World War 1 It had been 99 years since Britain was last involved in a major European conflict following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 August 4 th 1914 Britain declares war on Germany In the autumn of 1914, the young men of the nation came from town and village to take the King's shilling and to offer him their dedicated services in defence of their homeland.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Portfolio Item (PDF)
    “Expect to like this great as it may be exciting.” The War Diary of Sapper John Popham Fotheringham June 1917 - January 1919 June 2009 Sapper John Popham Fotheringham served as a driver with the 9th Canadian Artillery Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery in France and Belgium from June 1917 to January 1919. His diary, on its own, is not particularly detailed, except in certain small parts. However, when meshed with the War Diary of the Brigade, and the history of the Canadian Army in action in World War 1, it becomes evident that Sapper Fotheringham was involved in some of the biggest battles of the latter stages of the war - Amiens, Cambrai, Arras - only missing Passchendaele as he recovered from exposure to mustard gas in September 1917. John Popham Fotheringham was born in Ottawa on May 19th, 1897 to John Turnbull Fotheringham and Mary Popham Fotheringham. His sister, Laura, was born two years later. His uncle, George Beveridge Fotheringham (father of cousin Lieutenant John Beveridge Fotheringham) served with the Ottawa Field Battery during the Fenian Raid of 1866. J.P. Fotheringham studied Applied Science at McGill University in 1915 to 1916, serving in the cadet corps with CCTC McGill. On August 24th, 1916, at Ottawa, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a Sapper (Private) with the Canadian Engineers, being posted to the 3rd Canadian Divisional Signal Company. Following training, he left Canada on January 16th, 1917 on the RMS Scandinavian, arriving in England on February 6th. He arrived in Le Havre, France, on May 24th, 1917. He marched from the Divisional Rest Camp and joined the 3rd Canadian Divisional Company on June 9th, 1917.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Full Report
    H U M A N ON THEIR WATCH R I G H T S Evidence of Senior Army Officers’ Responsibility WATCH for False Positive Killings in Colombia On Their Watch Evidence of Senior Army Officers’ Responsibility for False Positive Killings in Colombia Copyright © 2015 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-32507 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org JUNE 2015 978-1-6231-32507 On Their Watch Evidence of Senior Army Officers’ Responsibility for False Positive Killings in Colombia Map .................................................................................................................................... i Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations ...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Canadian Infantry Combat Training During the Second World War
    SHARPENING THE SABRE: CANADIAN INFANTRY COMBAT TRAINING DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR By R. DANIEL PELLERIN BBA (Honours), Wilfrid Laurier University, 2007 BA (Honours), Wilfrid Laurier University, 2008 MA, University of Waterloo, 2009 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in History University of Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario, Canada © Raymond Daniel Ryan Pellerin, Ottawa, Canada, 2016 ii ABSTRACT “Sharpening the Sabre: Canadian Infantry Combat Training during the Second World War” Author: R. Daniel Pellerin Supervisor: Serge Marc Durflinger 2016 During the Second World War, training was the Canadian Army’s longest sustained activity. Aside from isolated engagements at Hong Kong and Dieppe, the Canadians did not fight in a protracted campaign until the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The years that Canadian infantry units spent training in the United Kingdom were formative in the history of the Canadian Army. Despite what much of the historical literature has suggested, training succeeded in making the Canadian infantry capable of succeeding in battle against German forces. Canadian infantry training showed a definite progression towards professionalism and away from a pervasive prewar mentality that the infantry was a largely unskilled arm and that training infantrymen did not require special expertise. From 1939 to 1941, Canadian infantry training suffered from problems ranging from equipment shortages to poor senior leadership. In late 1941, the Canadians were introduced to a new method of training called “battle drill,” which broke tactical manoeuvres into simple movements, encouraged initiative among junior leaders, and greatly boosted the men’s morale.
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER S1V the First Attack on the 1St Australian Division's New Front At
    CHAPTER S1V THE BATTLE OF THE LYS-(11) APRIL llTH-%TEI THE first attack on the 1st Australian Division’s new front at Hazebrouck was made shortly after midnight of the 13th’ when a company of Germans came marching up a cross- country lane leading from Verte Rue to the Rue du Bois, across the Australian front. Behind a hedge bordering this lane was a Lewis gun post’ of Lieutenant Murdoch’s’ platoon of the centre company (Captain Fox’sS), 8th Battalion. The approaching troops, who were seen at some distance, were allowed to march without alarm to within twenty yards, when the Victorians blazed at them from every barrel, and continued to pour a withering fire into the Germans, whose survivors panicked and fled. Murdoch and some of his men went out and found a German officer and twenty men of the 141st Infantry Regiment dead, (Attack shown by artow.) and five abandoned machine-guns. Two nights later a sixth gun was found. The history of the I4rst I.R. (35th Division) states that on.ApriU 13, when the I and I1 Battalions of the regiment were held up after taking Verte Rue, the reserve battalion-the 111-was ordered to advance northwards on their right and seize Rue du Bois4 The battalion advanced in almost full force, with only the 10th company in reserve. “ Unfortunately,” says the history, “ no attack patrols were ahead of the front, and so it happened that, when the road had nearly been reached, machine-gun fire struck against the leading company. Many pressed back.
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER JX Ll-Rr Rr2e the Left of the 3Rd .4Ustralian Division Was A\\Istiiig
    CHAPTER JX MORLANCOURT-MARCH 28~~AND 30~11 ll-rrrr2E the left of the 3rd .4ustralian Division was a\\istiiig the 35th British Division to repel tlie attacks on 'I'reus. its right was watching rather perplesedly, from the folds aliove the Somme, scattered evidences of a hattle \\hich was apparently proceeding across tlie region southward f roni the rivet- At the saiiie time preparations were 111 progress for immediately mdertnking the projected advance of the division's line. Brigadier-General Cannan, who was visited during :he niorning by his divisional commander, General Motlash, obtained from him the impression that this advance \vas intended rather as a demonstration-to itnpress the Germans with the fact that their progress in that sector was at an end. Cannan accordingly put forward a plan, already prepared, for a patrol action. The 43rd, holding the higher part of the slope above the Soninie, would try to steal, by daylight patrols, the un- occupied portion of the knuckle in its front and possibly part of tlie nest spur, in front of Morlan- court. The ground so occupied would afterwards be consolidated Monash also visited General McNicoll, commanding his northern brigade. the xotli. and arranged for an advance on its front also. Tt was probably after these visits. 1)ut before noon, that Monash received from VI I Corps an important communication. It had been made known that the conference at Doullens had arrived at the decision--welcomed with intense satisfaction throughout the British Army-to give suprenie control over 212 z6th-28th Mar., 19181 MORLANCOURT 213 the Allies’ forces on the Western Front to a single leader- the French general, Foch.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Xi1 Australia Doubles the A.I.F
    CHAPTER XI1 AUSTRALIA DOUBLES THE A.I.F. THEAustralians and New Zealanders who returned from Gallipoli to Egypt were a different force from the adven- turous body that had left Egypt eight months before. They were a military force with strongly established, definite traditions. Not for anything, if he could avoid it, would an Australian now change his loose, faded tu& or battered hat for the smartest cloth or headgear of any other army. Men clung to their Australian uniforms till they were tattered to the limit of decency. Each of the regimental numbers which eight months before had been merely numbers, now carried a poignant meaning for every man serving with the A.I.F., and to some extent even for the nation far away in Australia. The ist, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Infantry Battalions-they had rushed Lone Pine; the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th had made that swift advance at Helles; the gth, ioth, I ith, 12th had stormed the Anzac heights; the igth, iqth, igth, 16th had first held Quinn’s, Courtney’s and Pope’s; the battalion numbers of the 2nd Division were becoming equally famous-and so with the light horse, artillery, engineers, field ambulances, transport companies, and casualty clearing stations. Service on the Gallipoli beaches had given a fighting record even to British, Egyptian and Maltese labour units that normally would have served far behind the front. The troops from Gallipoli were urgently desired by Kitchener for the defence of Egypt against the Turkish expedition that threatened to descend on it as soon as the Allies’ evacuation had released the Turkish army ANZAC TO AMIENS [Dec.
    [Show full text]