Battle of the Yser
Fromelles, VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial
The prompt action of men like Private Chadwick
The Australian attack at Fromelles was not just in the direction of the ‘Sugar Loaf’. A little futher to the east along the Rue Delvas from VC Corner is the Australian Memorial Park. It lies on the old enemy line. On the evening of 19 July 1916 men of six other Australian battalions headed for the German line spread out to either side of where the Park now is.
Despite considerable loss from enemy shellfire as they came down communication trenches to the front, the Australians managed to seize and hold the German line. Some then went to look for the supposed German ‘third’ line which they were to fortify and turn into a new front line. There was no such line and officers went about settling their men in muddy ditches or shell holes getting them to fill sandbags with mud to begin making breastwork defences. Others withdrew to the old German front line as the only defensible position around.
As they dug in, Australian Engineers dug a ‘sap’ (trench) across no-man’s-land a few hundred metres to the left of where the Park is, to allow the new line to be safely supplied. The German artillery now had this area in their sights and the area around the new sap was soon deluged with shells and bullets. The communication trench was awash with mud and, worse, full of the wounded. One man described it as a ‘butcher’s shop’ with men ‘groaning, crying and shrieking’. Ammunition carriers were hit; their boxes fell into the water and blocked forward movement. Despite the difficulties some essential material was getting across to the men in the new front line and in this critical task men like Private Luther Chadwick, 55th Battalion (New South Wales), came to the fore:
Private Chadwick displayed conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in that he took charge of a party and kept up the supply of ammunition and bombs to the front line. To do this he crossed no-man’s-land several times under heavy fire. Our position to the left would have been jepoardised if it had not been for the prompt assistance of men like Private Chadwick … he also, at great personal risk, assisted Lieutenant Denoon, who was severly wounded, to safety.
Recommendation for Military Medal, Private Luther Chadwick, 55th Battalion AIF, http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/awm28/1/255P1/0050.pdf
Portion of the German lines seized and then lost by Australian forces at the Battle of Fromelles, 19–20 July 1916. [AWM A01562]
Lieutenant William Denoon was wounded at a crucial time that night as the Australians endeavoured to beat off ever increasing German counter attacks.
At around 4.30 am on 20 July 1916, Denoon was ordered to lead a bomb attack from a position just to the left of where the Park now is. It was to be against enemy soldiers making their way along the old, now empty, front-line trench. This movement was gradually cutting off Australians in positions further forward and, if the enemy succeeded, there would be no retreat back across no-man’s-land. Denoon led his men forward and, in the face of murderous machine gun and rifle fire, won back critical metres of trench. So intense was the bombing dual between Australians and Germans that there was reportedly nearly twelve bombs in the air at any one time and a Bavarian soldier later told the German Crown Prince that he had personally thrown over 500! During this struggle Denoon received a bullet in the chest which led to lengthy hospitalisation, return to Australia and termination of his enlistment in the AIF. For his bravery at Fromelles he was awarded the Military Cross. William Denoon died in 1923, aged 41.
Australian prisoners taken at the Battle of Fromelles on 19–20 July 1916. [AWM A02239]
The Australian position all around the Park, as dawn came on 20 July, was precarious. Even before daylight there was a withdrawal across no-man’s-land from the extreme left of the Australian line. After that there was no way the positions on either side of the Park could hold on and the survivors of the 53rd, 54th and 55th Battalions were ordered back to the old Australian line. To allow men to escape, through a hastily dug communication trench across no-man’s-land, a rearguard fought to the last to protect the trench entrance. It was led by Captain Norman Gibbins, 55th Battalion, described by Charles Bean as ‘of great height and strength’ and one who ‘magnificently performed his duty’.
Australian prisoners after the Battle of Fromelles, 20 July 1916. [AWM A01551]
Gibbins was the last to leave. He called to the Lewis gunners to retire and then followed his men up the communications trench towards the Australian line. Here he found his way blocked by large numbers of wounded so he clambered out of the trench and made his way across the Australian breastwork. ‘I saw him just reach the top of our trenches’, wrote Sergeant Bertram White, 55th Battalion, ‘where he turned his head around sharply and was immediately struck in the head by a bullet and killed instantly’. Norman Gibbins’s body was recovered for burial and his grave is in the Anzac Cemetery, Sailly-sur-la-Lys, a village about seven kilometres behind the Australian line, in Plot I, Row A, Grave 5.
Original grave of Captain Norman Gibbins, 55th Battalion (New South Wales). The inscription beneath the cross reads: ‘With my soul’s homage and my heart’s utmost love to my beloved and deeply mourned brother. Violet Gibbins’. [AWM P03788.003]
A view from the German observation post on Fromelles church looking over the area where the Fifth Australian Division attacked at the Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916. [AWM E04032]
View towards the battlefield of Fromelles from the tower of Fromelles church. [DVA]
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© 2008 Department of Veterans' Affairs and Board of Studies NSW :: Last update - November 2008