Battle of the Yser
Butte de Warlencourt
You was not here – the 18th Battalion at Malt Trench
On 26 February, the 18th Battalion’s efforts to move forward against Malt Trench continued. Supporting Australian artillery was still in the process of being moved forward, and gave what one Australian observer described as a ‘scattered, ineffective sort of bombardment’ against the enemy trench, failing to cut the wire entanglements in front of it for the infantry. As the men of the 18th tried to move forward to an assembly position about 100 metres from Malt Trench, more were hit. Moreover, further artillery firing again failed to cut the wire, so they were forced to lie low until dark, when bombing parties were able to move unobserved along the main road and the road to Le Barque.
The party on the southern side of the main road, under Captain John Hill, were crawling under wire when a party of Germans threatened to cut them off. Lance Corporal Eric Allsopp, although badly wounded in the eye, and with the rest of his Lewis machine–gun crew out of action, kept the Germans at bay while Hill’s company crawled back under 12 metres of wire, assailed by enemy grenades. Allsopp was assisted by Corporal Edwin Nipperess and Corporal William Patterson, who threw grenades back at the Germans. Nipperess also recovered three wounded men and brought them to safety under machine–gun fire. Then, yet again, he went back to pull out two of the dead, lest their badges of identity and other papers fall into enemy hands and thereby allow their unit to be identified. Allsopp, Nipperess and Patterson were all awarded Military Medals for their bravery, although Nipperess had been recommended for the Victoria Cross.
At 5.30 am on 27 February 1917, Australian trench mortars pounded the German positions on either side of the Bapaume road. Lewis machine–guns also kept up a concentrated fire. However, all efforts to rush the German wire were strongly resisted. Then, at 6 am, it was noticed that the Germans had fallen silent. The 17th Battalion (New South Wales), which had relieved the 18th, rushed forward along the road and through the wire. The Germans were seen hurrying away along a communication trench. Sergeant Abraham Vandenberg, 18th Battalion, crept on beside the main road and into a deserted enemy support trench, where, according to the official history, he found the following notice:
If we not will that you here, you was not here.
The English might not have been of the best but the meaning was clear!
This site is being added to progressively. See the Updates page for new regular additions.
© 2008 Department of Veterans' Affairs and Board of Studies NSW :: Last update - November 2008