Battle of the Yser
First Battle of Bullecourt
11 April 1917
Australians prepare for an attack near Bullecourt, France, May 1917. [AWM E00454]
The First Battle of Bullecourt was fought as part of the British 1917 spring offensive north and south of Arras. These operations were undertaken to support a major attack further south by the French under General Robert Nivelle.
The usual practice was to use a preliminary artillery bombardment to cut the enemy wire ahead of an infantry assault. But this time it was decided to have twelve British tanks lead the Australian infantry.
On 11 April 1917, soldiers of the Fourth Division were in position east of the village of Bullecourt but by 4.30 am only three tanks had reached their positions. Some Australian units now advanced while others waited for the tanks. Early-model tanks were slower than a walking man, their steel was thin and deadly shooting by German artillery meant none reached the wire before the Australian infantry. Only one tank reached the first trench captured by the Australians and all of them had been knocked out by 7 am.
Despite the failure of the tanks, both the German front line and support trenches were entered and an advance was made towards Reincourt village. At 7.15 am, Captain Harry Murray, 13th Battalion (New South Wales), sent back a message saying that ‘with artillery support we can keep the position till the cows come home’. Five minutes later, seeing German troops moving near Riencourt, Murray fired the SOS signal for artillery support. The signal was repeated 17 times during the morning but there was no answering barrage.
Owing to exaggerated reports of Australian success, mainly from air and artillery observers, higher-level staff members believed that the advance was proceeding and not being held up. Therefore the artillery was not allowed to fire and the Germans were able to move in to counter-attack with impunity. At the same time German machine-guns were sweeping the open spaces in front of, and at the rear of, the Australian positions.
The Australian supplies of grenades were soon exhausted and the attempt to link the trenches held by different battalions was abandoned. The Germans gradually drove the Australians back and by 11.30 am it was clear that the captured trenches could not be held. With German fire sweeping the escape route, Harry Murray told his men: ‘It is either capture or go into that’. Many tried but only a few returned. Murray was one of the few.
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An hour later, the last of the Australians made their withdrawal. These men were helped by artillery which had finally been allowed to fire in support. The troops of the 48th Battalion (South Australian and Western Australia) in the Hindenburg Line were commanded by Captain Allan Leane, a nephew of the 48th’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ray Leane. Many of the battalion leaders were from his family and the battalion was known as the Joan of Arc Battalion (‘Made of all Leanes’). Captain Leane was missed by his men near the wire and Private John Robert Knight later reported that he saw Captain Leane dead in a shell hole with a bullet in his head. His body was not recovered.
At the First Battle of Bullecourt the Australian infantry had managed to seize, and temporarily hold, a strongly fortified section of German line without any of the normal artillery support. However, this abortive attack cost 3289 casualties and made the Australian infantry extremely sceptical about the battlefield value of tanks.
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© 2008 Department of Veterans' Affairs and Board of Studies NSW :: Last update - November 2008