Belgium 1914

Battle of the Yser

France 1915

Notre Dame de Lorette

France 1916

Battle of Fromelles

The Battle of the Somme

France 1917

Battle of Vimy Ridge

Advance to the Hindenburg Line

First and Second Bullecourt

Belgium 1917

Battle of Messines

Third Battle of Ypres

Battle of the Menin Road

Battle of Polygon Wood

Battles of Broodseinde, Poelcappelle and Passchendaele

France 1918

Defence of Amiens

Battle of Hamel

Battle of Amiens

Battle of Mont St Quentin

Hindenburg Line

Armistice

Treaty of Versailles

Le Hamel, Australian Corps Memorial

The normal dawn bombardment

From the captured German trench just beside the Australian Corps Memorial at Le Hamel there is a view down the hill to the village of Le Hamel and further to the north across the Somme River to the heights above the village of Sailly–le–Sec. Clearly visible there is the obelisk of the 3rd Australian Division Memorial. Watching from these heights during the night of 3–4 July 1918 was a group of Australian observers looking carefully for any unusual movements from the German lines around Le Hamel:

Throughout the night British planes bombed the Germans at Le Hamel. As one plane dropped its bombs and flew away the rumbling of the next coming up could be heard. Despite such interruptions, the Australian observers had little to report:

But this was no normal bombardment. It heralded the beginning of the Battle of Hamel, a limited action aimed at straightening out a bulge in the line defended by the Australian Corps between the Somme River and Villers–Bretonneux. As the bombardment on the German lines commenced across a front of some 6.5 kilometres, an AIF force of some 7,500, assisted by four American companies training with the Australians, rose from their positions and advanced on the German lines. Coming up closely behind them, but still hindered by the lack of light, were 60 of the latest British Mark IV tanks. Tank engines warming up make a lot of noise and it was to hide this as much as possible from the enemy that the intensive night bombing raids had been undertaken.

Basically, the Battle of Hamel was all over in just 93 minutes. The German positions were taken, more than 1,600 Germans were made prisoner, and a considerable quantity of guns and equipment seized. In many places, however, the fighting was desperate and the AIF suffered more than 1,400 casualties. For Charles Bean the ‘tragedy of the action’ at Le Hamel was the death of 12 men of the 15th Battalion (Queensland and Tasmania) from their own shells falling short during the early stages of the advance. The unit was making for a well–defended German position known as ‘Pear Trench’ to the south of Le Hamel between the village and the Bois de Vaire (Vaire Wood). A typical casualty was Corporal William Banks, age 25, of South Brisbane, Queensland. Private Samuel Laycock recalled:

But such accidents were accepted as inevitable in situations were the soldiers were instructed to stay close behind the slowly advancing bombardment from their own artillery. This was to protect them from enemy fire.

Lieutenant–Colonel Edmund Drake–Brockman, commanding officer of the 16th Battalion, reported that the ‘short shooting’ at Hamel was ‘nothing beyond what is normally expected on such occasions’.

Artillerymen were also in danger on the battlefield. As the advance progressed through Le Hamel village the Germans shelled it and here Lieutenant Laurence Brunton of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade AIF died. Brunton had come forward from the back–line gun positions to act as a forward observer for his guns and had set up an ‘Observation Post’ in the village. The post was hit and Brunton struck in the head and killed. His body was discovered in a cellar in Le Hamel two days later and his remains lie today in Villers–Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Plot 19, Row F, Grave 8. He was a popular man in his unit and one of them described the ceremony:

The trench beside the Australian Corps Memorial was captured by elements of the 44th Battalion (Western Australia). It lies on the final objective line for the Australian advance that morning on a hill known locally as Le Hurleux. Here the Germans had a strong point and headquarters called the ‘Wolfsberg’. Over to the left, the advancing Queenslanders of the 15th Battalion were held up by a particular gun. Seeing a British tank officer who was simply ‘walking about’, they called up the tank which proceeded to knock out the machine gun and patrol up and down the trench as the Australians entered it and captured about 50 Germans and 27 light machine guns.

After dark on 4 July a German counter-attack developed in the ‘Wolfsberg’ area. Close to the new Australian line there was a strong point that had remained in German hands all day and at 10 pm, just after sunset, about 200 German infantry and bomb throwers advanced along a communications trench towards the ‘Wolfsberg’. They drove back some of the Australians but were hampered by accurate mortar fire into the communications trench from elements of the 11th Light Trench Mortar Battery led by Sergeant John Distant, of Childers, Queensland . A hastily put together group from the 44th Battalion struck back:

Private James Lynch, one of the so–called ‘bayonet men’ who protected the bombers of the 44th as they went into the attack, is buried in Plot 1, Row F, Grave 7, in the Villers–Bretonneux Military Cemetery.

The quick victory at Le Hamel, even though a minor one, gave Allied leaders then meeting in Paris a distinct morale boost. The 77–year–old French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau, who made it his habit every weekend to visit a French unit, was about to send the AIF a congratulatory message but decided, ‘No, I’ll go and see them myself’. So the following Sunday his weekend excursion took him to the Headquarters of the Australian 4th Division at Bussy–la–Daours near Corbie, not far from Le Hamel. Standing in the middle of a ring of Australian soldiers accompanied by Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, Australian Corps commander, Clemenceau spoke in English:

---

This site is being added to progressively. See the Updates page for new regular additions.

© 2007 Department of Veterans' Affairs and Board of Studies NSW :: Last update - 17 February 2008

• Department of Veteran's Affairs
• Board of Studies NSW
• Privacy
• Admin
• Disclaimer
• Copyright
• Accessibility