The Battle of Fromelles

CHAPTER III TRENCH-WARFARE : THE BATTLE OF FROMELLES _. 1 HE hattle line in France which for three years determined iii great measure the nature and course of the fighting was for the most part that selected by the German The trench line in France General Staff after its failure to effect a break- through in October, 1914. It was a defensive position and sited to control an extensive field of observation and artillery fire. Its chief features should be known to any student of the war in France. They have been well set out as follows :-I “The German General Staff . selected as the buttress of its new line a series of eminences that lay more or less continuously from the sea to Switzerland. Examples of high ground thus selected are Pass- chendaele Ridge, Messines Ridge, Aubers Ridge, Vimy Ridge. and there were many others. Their tactical importance was amply evidenced by the sanguinary struggles which eventually centred round most of them. Defences were invariably flung out some thousands of yards in front of the dominating ridges [so that] the typical German position consisted of a considerable width of low-lying ground, trenched, wired, and studded with strong points, behind which rose in tiers ridge after ridge of higher ground, culminating finally in a feature that conferred commalid over all the adjacent terrain for miles.’’ In the Flanders area this command derived not so much from the height of the ridges as from the uniform flatness of the rest of the country. In the sector south-west of Armentitres. with which this chapter is concerned, the British line was in front of the River Lys, and routes of access and egress were therefore determined by existing bridges. The land was rescued from swamp only by a vast reticulation of ditches. The place of trenches, which when dug in the lowlands became water- See The Story of the Fifth A~istralwuDiwsion, PP. 88-89. by Captain A. D. ‘Ellis. 35 3h THE WESTERN FRONT [I916 logged, was taken by sandbagged parapets aid duckboard tracks. Roads, except the cobbled ones, were soon cut up. The system of l~reast\vorks around the eastern edge of -4rmentikres and thence to the south-west-about nine miles in all-was held on a two-divisional front, first by I Anzac, and later, in mid-July. by II Anzac which disposed the newly- arrived 5th Australian Division on the right, and the veteran New Zealand Division on the left. The conditions of fighting in this area permitted the close approximation of medical posi- Tkc Sccoird .4rmy Ama, hlay 1916. tions to the firing line. Peasants worked in the fields and children attended school within a few miles of the front line with only occasional mishaps. But in its place and time the fighting here was fierce enough. May-June, 19161 TRENCH-WARFARE 37 Scheme of Clenraitcc. Field ambulance dressing stations’ were formed in front of the Lys in schools or breweries, mostly little damaged though only a few miles behind the line. Evacuation to these and clearance from the regimental aid-posts were straightforward though at times eventful. Regimental bearers, commonly attached to companies, carried wounded f roin the front lines through narrow saps to the aid-posts in sandbagged cupolas or cellars outside the field of machine-gun fire Thence clearance to the horse- or motor-ambulance post was chiefly by wheeled stretcher. Roads were seldom severely shelled except during raids. The general scheme of dressing and rest stations, and of clearance to casualty clearing stations will be made clear by the maps and sketches. Trc,irch-.ieral.ftrrc. In this trench-warfare casualties from the wiping, machine-gunning, and occasional artillery “hates” aver- aged not more than ninety to a hundred per week for the Corps. A sharp rise from time to tinie.shows the shelling of a relief or of a billet; through their excellent system of ground observation the Germans could inflict such losses almost at will.3 The ‘ total Australian battle casualties in May and June were, 499 killed or died of wounds arid 1,579 wounded Raids. In May the serenity of this warfare was broken, never, for the A.I.F.. to return till the end of the war. On RIay 5th the force sustained the first German “raid.” The “raid” was simply a trench-line battle on a small scale, and all the great battles of 1916-17were in tactical method not unlike large-scale raids. Raids were undertaken for various purposes, but chiefly to take prisoners for identification of their units, to inflict casualties and to promote the morale and the “offensive spirit” of the attacking side and lessen those of the enemy. At times they served a tactical or even strategic purpose. But unless it was specially desired to improve the sector of line or to eliminate a strong-post, the enemy trench entered was not retained In 1918 the Australian troops raided for fun. Com- batant preparations for these miniature battles were often very detailed and at this time included elaborate artillery action of the kind known as the “box barrage.” Casualties sustained or inflicted varied from five or six up to a hundred or more. 2011 March 27 the 7th Field Ambulance opened a laige dressing station at Morbecque. On April 5 it mobed to Fort Ronipu, taking over an hl D S wlth A.D.S’s at Bois Grenier. Fleurbaix and Port i Clous. =Thus on April zo the 9th Battalion sustained 74 casualties iii a company billet In this first sharp test of morale the regimental medical officer and bearers kept their heads and were commended. The Regimental hfedlcal Officer, Capt A. McKillop, and five bearers were wounded, one bearer was killed. 38 THE WESTERN FRONT [MayJuly, 1916 One or more squads of regimental bearers usually accom- panied the raiders. General medical arrangements dovetailed in with the normal scheme of evacuation and do not call for special description, and space precludes a detailed account of any one raid. Casualties were chiefly due to the shelling, mainly to the preliiiiinary bombardment, which was often very severe. That preceding the German raid at Bois Grenier on July 3rd is described by the regimental medical officer‘ as the fiercest I ever saw during the war, though I experienced some that continued for hours, even for days on end. When it ceased parapet and parados had been replaced by a line of gaping holes. And yet a few dazed men not only survived but fought with the raiders. ’ Capt R C Winn, R h.1 0. of the 14th Bn . Apr.-July, 19161 TRENCH-WARFARE 39 This feature of intense shelling became familiar, and was an important element both in battlecraft and in medical work.5 At the beginning of June, in fulfilment of a pledge to the French High Command raiding became an element in the British operations in relief of Verdun. In all thirteen were undertaken at this time by units of the I Anzac Corps. To the A.I.F. and its medical service they were of great value both as training for attack and in welding the various units and services into an efficient weapon of war. TABLE1.-Casualties of A.I.F. on Western Front to 30th June, 1916. Battle Casualties I Noli-Battle Casualties Killed in action ..... 418 Died of Disease ...... 51 Died of wounds ...... 178 Accidentally killed .... 24 Died of Gas Poisoning . 2 Sick .......... 5,437 Wounded in action .... 1,725 Accidentally injured .... 40 Gassed ......... 9 Self inflicted injuries . 13 Shell Shock ....... 50 Prisoners of war .... 24 It was unhappily far otherwise with the operation of the same kind but on far greater scale, carried out by Australian and English troops at the end 0; this series. Battle of Fromelles The Battle of the Somme had then opened some three weeks before, on July 1st. On the 3rd the I Anzac Corps (Leut.-General Sir William Birdwood) had been replaced by II Anzac (Lieut.-General Sir Alexander Godley) and, after moving to Bailleul: entrained on July 11th for the south to join the “Reserve” Army. On the 19th-the day on which the transferred units began to move up to the Somnie battle line-the 5th Division, which had been left in Flanders, was called on-only three weeks after arrival from 5The purpose and events of these raids in May-July, I 16 are described in detail in Vd. 111 of the Oficial Hsstwy of Australso an tho r%~ of 1914-18. This form of warfare was one of which the Australian troops became the acknowledged masters (Ibtd., Vd. VI). e While there the I Anzac Corps staff, instructed by Second Army, reconnoitred medical positioiis for a British attack on Messines, preparations for which were in progress. 40 THE WESTERN FRONT [July, 1916 Egypt-to undertake an action that involved some fifty per cent. of casualties to its infantry engaged. The Battle of Fromelles has been called “a; important raid” (British Official), an “attack on a sector of the line (German Official), and an “ attack at Fromelles ” (Official Chronology). The Australian Official Historian properly names it a Battle. The plan was ihe out- come of ail ambitious scheme of the British XI Corps The military to assist the Soinme offensive by repeating a previous plan unsuccessful attack threatening the important Aubers Ridge that dominated the western approach to Lille. Forestalled by the Battle of .Albert the local general staff was loth to give up its scheme, which then became a “feint” to divert atten- tion from the Somme.

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