Fromelles 1916 “I shall never forget”
100 years ago today, my grandfather, William James Bruce Carfrae (1083/Private) was involved in the infamous Battle of Fromelles, the first set-piece engagement experienced by Australian forces on the Western Front during the Great War. The battle was engineered as one of a series of diversionary operations designed to divert German troops from the ongoing Allied Somme offensive that had begun earlier in the month.
Soldiers of the Fifth AIF Division, recently landed at Marseilles following six months of training in Egypt, arrived at the front, around 90 km north of the Somme battlefields, on July 10 after a two day, 50 km march in full kit from Morbecque. Will was a member of the 29th Battalion (8th Brigade), and over the next week he would become familiar with the routine of trench life as his Battalion was shuffled from reserve to frontline trenches, back to billets and forward again to the danger zone. Will maintained a diary throughout the war and we are fortunate to have this brief, but succinct record of his years of service.
The objective of the operation was for a combined AIF and British force to capture the enemy positions along a two kilometre stretch between the village of Fromelles and Aubers Ridge. During 1915 and 1916 British troops had thrice failed to take the ridge, and by now the Germans in this zone were well and truly entrenched – the most significant feature of their occupation being a cement bunker complex of machine guns known as the Sugar Loaf Salient.
General Haking’s plan was to soften up the enemy with a three day artillery barrage, followed by an infantry attack. After a brief delay due to bad weather, the infantry was finally engaged late in the afternoon of July 19. Will’s Battalion was ordered to occupy a reserve position as the first assault force of Battalions from the 14th and 8th Brigades went over the top at 5.45pm.
After traversing a marshy 150 to 200 yard stretch of No Man’s Land, the Australians were to clear the German front trenches, force the enemy back and to take control of a third trench line. The outcome of the operation would depend very much on the ability of the 15th Brigade under Pompey Elliott in combination with the 61st British Division, to take out the Sugarloaf machine gun nest and suppress adjacent German trench fire.
Despite heavy casualties during the advance, some men of the first wave negotiated the enemy bullets and successfully cleared the German dugouts, but the so-called “third trench line” turned out to be no more than a map reader’s fantasy and soldiers were forced to shelter in watery ditches and shell holes until they were able to construct a temporary line with shovels and sandbags.
Meanwhile, the first attack on the Sugarloaf Salient had proved a costly failure and Elliott was left with barely 20% of his original assault Battalions. The German machine guns were still as active as ever and presented a real danger to the exposed Australians of the 14th Brigade. General Haking ordered the British to mount a second attack at 9.00 and requested assistance from the 15th Brigade. Elliott cobbled together a force and sent them forward, but by then Haking had changed his mind. News that the operation had been cancelled did not reach Elliott until 9.10, and the 15th Brigade suffered further devastating losses.
The surviving members of the 8th and 14th Brigades who had successfully claimed more than 1000 metres of enemy trench were placed in a risky position as the Germans began a counter attack around 9.00. It was necessary to strengthen the Australian hold on enemy territory, and as the Germans began to reoccupy their original positions, the 29th Battalion was called into action. Since 8.00, parties from the four Companies of the 29th had been engaged in support activities, carrying grenades, bombs, shovels and stores to the front line, and some soldiers had remained to fight. Around 11.00 it was officially determined that D and C Companies would be deployed to reinforce the now thinly held front line. At 11.35 the commanding officer, Lieut Col Clark reported: I have now no men left at all. There was no other option.
During the early morning of July 20 B and A Companies of the 29th were pulled out of the battle, whilst C and D Companies remained in the trenches to cover their withdrawal. It was now every man for himself and the challenge for the remaining infantrymen, including Private Carfrae, was to find a way back across No Man’s Land. Will was one of the fortunate ones to reach safety. Many fell into German hands and were taken prisoner. Others were killed in the attempt or were left to die a lingering death on the field of battle. By 6am on July 20 the battle was officially over, but the wounded were still being retrieved three days later.
Although a relatively brief conflict, the cost of the Battle of Fromelles was considerable. In its first major engagement on the Western Front, the Fifth Division of the AIF had lost 5533 men killed, wounded or captured. Naturally, many questions have been asked since 1916, and many reasons have been put forward as to why the exercise failed and why thousands of lives were sacrificed in what was after all, only a feint. The Great War would continue for a further two and a half years, and it would continue to generate many such riddles.
Private Carfrae served in France with the Black and Gold 29th Battalion until it was disbanded in October 1918. By that time almost 500 of its officers and men had given their lives. He was one of the fortunate ones to live to tell the tale… but he rarely mentioned “the war”… and who can blame him? A fellow Private from the 29th, Jim Cleworth, summed up his experience of the battle thus; the novelty of being a soldier wore off in about 5 seconds, from that point on it was a question of survival. Fromelles was confusion at its best, it was like a bloody butcher’s shop, it was terrible.
Will’s understated diary entries for July 19 and 20, 1916 read as follows;
19 We took German first line trenches Stopped there all night but retired to our own line next morning 20 In front line trenches all day (The 19th and 20th I shall never forget)
You can learn more about Private Carfrae, his generation and Australia’s involvement in the Great War by enrolling in the CAE course The Great War: An Australian Perspective scheduled for November
http://www.cae.edu.au/course_category/talks/history/
