Beaten Down By Blood Read online

  33. Ibid.

  34. Bishop, The Hell, the Humour and the Heartbreak, p. 215.

  35. James Stewart, Diary 31/8/18, AWM 3DRL 1459.

  36. 14th Brigade Report on Operations 31 August–2 September 1918.

  37. 5th Division Report on Operations 31/8/18–2/9/18.

  38. Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/189/2, 53rd Battalion.

  39. Ibid.

  40. 14th Brigade Report on Operations 31 August–2 September 1918.

  41. Bean, Diary 1/9/18, AWM 3DRL606 Item 116.

  42. 15th Brigade Report on Operations 1–5 September 1918.

  43. 19th Battalion War Diary, August 1918.

  44. J.J. Talbot Hobbs, Diary May–November 1918, 31/8/18-3/9/18, AWM PR82/153 Item 4.

  45. Ibid.

  46. J.J. Talbot Hobbs, Diary May–November 1918, 1/9/18, AWM PR82/153 Item 4.

  47. James Stewart, Diary 1–2/9/18, AWM 3DRL 1459.

  48. See Bean, Folder, AWM 3DRL606 Item 266 for Elliott’s comments on the conference.

  49. 15th Brigade Report on Operations 1–5 September 1918; H.E. Elliott, Diary, AWM 2DRL/0513.

  50. 54th Battalion Report on Operations 1–2 September 1918.

  51. Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/226/2, 58th Battalion.

  52. H.E. Elliott, Diary, AWM 2DRL/0513.

  53. Bishop, The Hell, the Humour and the Heartbreak, pp. 230–31; William Hawkins, Diary 2/9/18, SLV MSB 477; Norman Nicolson, Diary, AWM 3DRL/2715 Part 7.

  54. 15th Brigade Report on Operations 1–5 September 1918.

  55. Bean, Folders, AWM38 3DRL606 Item 274, article by William Smith in Reveille, 1 September 1935.

  56. John Gellibrand, Papers, AWM 3 DRL 1473 Item 50.

  57. Ibid.

  58. Bean, Diary 1/9/18, AWM 3DRL606 Item 116.

  59. John Gellibrand, AWM 3DRL 1473 Item 38 Series 3 Military Records.

  60. Harris (with Niall Barr), Amiens to the Armistice, p. 148; Pedersen, ‘Maintaining the Advance’ in Ekins (ed), 1918: Year of Victory, p. 141.

  61. Stanley, Men of Mont St Quentin, pp. 82–3.

  62. Monash, Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 194.

  63. John Monash, Papers, Letter to Ivor Maxse 1/9/18, NLA MS 1884 Outward Letters Series 1 Box 73 Folder 504 September 1918.

  64. 15th Brigade Report on Operations 1–5 September 1918.

  65. John Monash, Diary 6/9/18, NLA MS 1884 Series 5 Box 139 Folder 1034; John Gellibrand, Papers, Notebook 6/9/18, AWM 3DRL 1473 Military Records Series 3 Item 38; Charles Rosenthal, Diary 6/9/18, MLMSS 2739/1; J.J. Talbot Hobbs, Diary 6/9/18, AWM PR82/153 Item 4.

  Chapter 11

  1. Bidwell and Graham, Fire-Power, p. 132.

  2. 41st Battalion War Diary, September 1918, Part 2.

  3. 21st Battalion Report on Operations 31/8–1/9 1918.

  4. Frank Brewer, Papers 1917–1919, MLMSS 1536/3, account of Alfred Edwards.

  5. Bean, Official History, Vol. VI, p. 861; Jack Sheldon in correspondence with the author, November 2010.

  6. Bean, Official History, Vol. VI, p. 861.

  7. Philip Gibbs, New York Times, 12 September 1918.

  8. Montgomery, The Story of the Fourth Army in the Battles of the Hundred Days, p. 111.

  9. Monash, Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 158.

  10. Ibid., p. 184.

  11. James Marshall, ‘My Story of the Big War’, Diary 2/9/18, MLMSS 1164 Item 4.

  12. John Monash, Papers, AWM 3DRL/2316 Series 5/1.

  13. Bishop, The Hell, the Humour and the Heartbreak, p. 217.

  14. 5th Brigade Report on Operations 27/8–5/9 1918.

  15. Bean, Mont St Quentin-Péronne August 27–September 6 1918, extract, AWM 3DRL 1722 Item 35; Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/227/2, 17th Battalion.

  16. 6th Brigade Report on Operations 31 August–4 September 1918.

  17. 18th Battalion War Diary, August 1918.

  18. Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/228/2, 24th Battalion.

  19. 59th Battalion War Diary, September 1918.

  20. 58th Battalion War Diary, September 1918, Part 2.

  21. Bishop, The Hell, the Humour and the Heartbreak, pp. 232–3.

  22. 6th Brigade Report on Operations 31 August–4 September 1918.

  23. 5th Brigade Report on Operations 27/8–5/9 1918.

  24. 33rd Battalion Report on Operations 31/8/18.

  25. 19th Battalion War Diary, September 1918.

  26. 33rd Battalion Report on Operations 31/8/18.

  27. 10th Field Ambulance War Diary, August 1918.

  28. 9th Field Ambulance War Diary, August 1918.

  29. 5th Brigade Report on Operations 27/8–31/8 1918.

  30. 5th Field Ambulance War Diary, August 1918.

  31. 14th Brigade Report on Operations 31/8–2/9 1918.

  32. 15th Field Ambulance War Diary, September 1918.

  33. 6th Field Ambulance War Diary, August 1918; 14th Field Ambulance War Diary, September 1918.

  34. 6th Field Ambulance War Diary, August 1918.

  Chapter 12

  1. John Monash, Papers, 4/10/18, AWM 3DRL/2316 Series 5/1.

  2. John Williams, Anzacs, the Media and the Great War, UNSW Press, Sydney, 1999, p. 249.

  3. Stanley, Men of Mont St Quentin, p. 134.

  4. Bean, Diary 6/9/18, AWM38 3DRL606 Item 116.

  5. The Argus, 23 November 1918; The Melbourne Herald, 2 November 1918, 19 December 1918; The Age, 9 January 1919.

  6. Williams, Anzacs, the Media and the Great War, p. 249.

  7. See Bean, AWM 3DRL 8039 Item 43, for copies of these newspaper articles.

  8. Bean, Diary 4/9/18, AWM38 3DRL606 Item 116.

  9. Bean, Official History, Vol. VI, p. 874.

  10. Denis Winter, Haig’s Command: A Reassessment, Pen and Sword, Barnsley, 2004 (1991), p. 290.

  11. Barrie Pitt, 1918: The Last Act, Transworld (Corgi), London, 1962, pp. 201–4.

  12. Gary Sheffield and John Bourne (eds.), Douglas Haig: War Diaries and Letters 1914-1918, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 2005, 30/8/18, 1/9/18.

  13. Harris (with Niall Barr), Amiens to the Armistice, p. 162.

  14. Prior and Wilson, Command on the Western Front, p. 342.

  15. Henry Rawlinson, Diary, 28/8/18, Churchill Archives Centre, GBR 0014 RWLN 1/11.

  16. Ibid., 28/8/18, 29/8/18.

  17. Ibid., 30/8/18.

  18. Sheffield and Bourne (eds.), Douglas Haig: War Diaries and Letters 1914-1918, 1/9/18.

  19. Operations Files 27/8-5/9 1918, AWM26 473/1 Fourth Army.

  20. Harris (with Niall Barr), Amiens to the Armistice, pp. 167–8.

  21. Edmonds, Military Operations in France and Belgium 1918, Vol. IV, p. 415.

  22. Ludendorff, My War Memories 1914–1918, Vol. 2, p. 695.

  23. Monash, Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 192.

  24. Niall Barr, ‘Magnificent Performance but not War? The Australian Corps at Mont St Quentin August-September 1918’, unpublished article, used with permission of the author, pp. 2, 13.

  25. Operations Files 27/8-5/9 1918, AWM26 469/6 GHQ Intelligence.

  Chapter 13

  1. Major General John Cantwell, Mentoring Team Alpha, Afghanistan 2010, ‘A Careful War’, Part 2, Chris Masters, Four Corners, ABC, 12/7/2010.

  2. Bean, Diary 4/9/18, AWM38 3DRL606 Item 116.

  3. Ernest Scott, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, Vol. XI: Australia During the War (7th edn.), Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1941 (1936), p. 341.

  4. J.G. Roberts, Papers, SLV MS 8183 Box 265/4, letter from Frank Roberts, 23/8/18.

  5. Walter Serle, letter 20/5/18, SLV MS 8486 Box 1285/4.

  6. J.G. Roberts, Papers, SLV MS 8183 Box 265/4, letter from Frank Roberts, 23/8/18; Walter Serle, letter 20/5/18, SLV MS 8486 Box 1285/4.

  7. Christopher Pugsley, The Anzac Experience, Reed, Auckland, 2004, p. 274.

  8. Harris (with Niall Barr), Amiens to the Armistice, p. 293.

  9. Harris, Douglas Haig and the
First World War, p. 512.

  10. Henry Rawlinson, Diary, 26/9/18, Churchill Archives Centre, GBR 0014 RWLN 1/11.

  11. Ashley Ekins, ‘Fighting to Exhaustion: Morale, Discipline and Combat Effectiveness in the Armies of 1918’ in Ekins (ed), 1918: Year of Victory, p. 129.

  12. Bean, Diary 4/9/18, 8/9/18 AWM38 3DRL606 Item 116.

  13. Scott, Official History, Vol. XI, pp. 254, 259.

  14. Ibid., p. 738.

  15. Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/227/2, 59th and 60th Battalions.

  16. Bean, Folder, AWM 3DRL606 Item 266.

  17. Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/227/2, 59th and 60th Battalions.

  18. Bean, Diary 17/9/18, AWM 3DRL606 Item 116.

  19. Henry Rawlinson, Diary, 13/9/18, Churchill Archives Centre, GBR 0014 RWLN 1/11.

  20. Bean, Folder, AWM 3DRL606 Item 274b.

  21. Bean, Folder, AWM 3DRL 8042 Item 111f, Reveille, 30 May 1931.

  22. Bean, Diary 27/9/18, AWM 3DRL606 Item 117.

  23. Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/226/2, 37th Battalion.

  24. 6th Brigade War Diary September 1918.

  25. Bean, Folders, AWM 3DRL606 Item 274b.

  26. Potter, Not Theirs the Shame Who Fight, 30/9/18, p. 187.

  27. Bean, Diary 27/9/18, AWM 3DRL606 Item 117.

  28. McMullin, Pompey Elliott, p. 488.

  29. Bean, Notebooks, AWM 3DRL606/227/2, 59th and 60th Battalions.

  30. Bean, Diary 27/9/18, AWM 3DRL606 Item 117.

  31. Bean, Official History, Vol. VI, p. 939.

  32. Ibid., p. 1093.

  Epilogue

  1. Terraine, To Win a War, p. 187.

  2. Tim Cook, ‘Bloody Victory: The Canadian Corps in the Hundred Days Campaign’ in Ekins (ed), 1918: Year of Victory, pp. 180–81.

  3. Bean, Official History, Vol. VI, p. 940.

  4. Bean, AWM38 3DRL606 Item 274b.

  5. Bean, Official History, Vol. VI, p. 940.

  6. L.V. Horniman, letter 17/7/18 AWM 1DRL/0357, KIA 1/9/18.

  7. Henry Rawlinson, Diary 22/2/1919, Churchill Archives Centre GBR/0014 RWLN 1/11.

  8. Martin Crotty, ‘The Veterans’ Voice: The Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia 1916-1919’ in Ekins (ed), 1918: Year of Victory, pp. 229, 230.

  9. Charles Rosenthal, Diary 7/9/18, MLMSS 2739/1.

  10. www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/mont-st-quentin/index.html consulted December 2009.

  11. Ibid.

  12. May Butler George, The Argus, 10 January 1920.

  13. Herbert Bailey, AWM PR90/018.

  14. Norman Nicolson, Diary, AWM 3DRL/2715 Part 7.

  15. William Hawkins, Papers, SLV MSB 477; The Melbourne Age, 28 December 1918.

  16. ‘The Retreat’, in a souvenir from the ship Prinz Hubertus, William Hawkins, Papers, SLV MSB 477.

  17. Stanley, Men of Mont St Quentin, p. 10.

  INDEX

  A

  aerial observation and photography 160, 180–3

  The Age 230

  Aisne River 7

  Aizecourt-le-Haut 19, 117, 118, 123, 124, 126, 176, 179, 201, 203

  Albert 2

  Albert-Ham railway IX

  Alderman, Edith 121

  Allaines 87, 90, 92, 94–5, 118, 123, 124, 126, 170, 171, 179

  Allan, Captain Herbert 70, 71, 202, 205

  Amiens XVI, 2, 4, 5, 43, 161, 181, 232

  Amiens-Arras railway line 7

  Ancre River 7

  Andrews, Jack 148, 149, 151

  Anthon, Ernest 61

  Anthon, Lieutenant Daniel Herbert ‘Herb’ 42, 61, 62, 71, 76–7, 190

  Anvil Wood 73, 74, 96, 97, 99, 109, 114, 170, 171, 172, 173, 182, 201, 202, 204, 208

  Anzac Day XIV, XVI, 116, 253

  Anzac legend XIV–XVI, 135–42, 253 see also

  Australian Imperial Force (AIF); diggers

  Argyllshire 147, 148, 149, 150

  Armitage, Gunner James 168

  artillery 162–80 see also infantry weapons system

  4th Field Artillery Brigade 156, 162, 165, 166, 171, 172, 178

  5th Field Artillery Brigade 140, 162, 171, 178

  7th Field Artillery Brigade 162, 166, 167–8

  8th Field Artillery Brigade 156, 168, 176

  13th Field Artillery Brigade 154

  14th Field Artillery Brigade 106, 164, 177, 192

  diagram of program 169, 173

  heavy 163

  horse-drawn limber 174

  Ashmead-Bartlett, Ellis XVI

  Australian Flying Corps (AFC) 154

  3rd Squadron 181–3

  Australian Corps XV, XVI, 5, 7, 9, 22, 25, 26, 28, 34, 43, 52, 55, 71, 130, 132, 142, 162, 165, 181, 185, 193, 196, 199, 204, 205, 219, 228, 234, 239, 242, 246, 247

  Australian Imperial Force (AIF) 25 see also Anzac legend; diggers

  ammunition 222–3

  artillery see artillery

  battalions see Battalions

  batteries 35–6

  brigades see Brigades

  casualties XVIII, 64, 82, 99, 116, 126, 148, 217, 240, 247

  civilian support 240–1

  communications 193–7

  companies 33–4 see also Field Companies;

  Machine Gun Companies

  conditions 219–22

  corps staff 28, 30

  dead and wounded, care of 223–8

  discipline 40, 42–3, 239, 242–6

  divisions see Divisions

  engineers see engineers

  field ambulance see Field Ambulance

  field companies see Field Companies

  gas 179

  graves and crosses 212

  intelligence 199

  light horse see Light Horse

  machine gun companies see Machine Gun

  Companies

  morale and mood 132–40

  platoons 34

  postcards 144

  recruitment 134–5, 147, 150, 237–40, 242

  recruits see Gulargambone; Malver n

  reputation 247

  uniforms 240

  Australian Red Cross Society 151, 154, 158, 241

  Australian War Memorial 102, 249

  B

  Bailey, Arthur 154

  Bailey, Frank 154

  Bailey, Sapper Herbert 156, 192, 199

  Bapaume 7, 199, 233

  Bapaume-Péronne road X, 19, 68

  Barleux 177, 206, 221

  Barlow, Captain Harold 62

  Bartier, Sergeant William 102

  Bateman, Lieutenant Colonel William 202

  Battalions

  1st 243

  2nd Machine Gun 91

  3rd Machine Gun 158

  5th Pioneer 186, 189

  7th 8, 30

  9th 9

  11th 8

  17th XI, 60, 68, 69–70, 71–2, 77, 88, 135, 172, 200, 205, 217, 218, 220 18th 42, 60, 68, 72, 73, 82, 136, 137, 202, 205, 220

  19th X, 39, 68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 80, 135, 137, 190, 202, 205, 207, 220, 225, 246

  20th IX–XII, 33, 60, 62, 68, 69, 71, 71–2, 73, 75, 76–7, 78, 86, 141, 149, 166, 172, 190, 200, 204, 205, 219, 220

  21st XVIII, 8, 34, 81, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 135, 155, 156, 157, 203, 220, 238, 244–5, 246

  22nd 87

  23rd 81, 84–5, 87, 90, 91, 96, 154, 155, 158, 172, 194, 201, 203, 220

  24th 78, 82, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 147, 148, 149, 156, 172, 203, 220

  25th 42, 123, 178, 179, 245, 246

  26th 37, 118, 120

  27th 123, 124, 178, 207, 222

  28th 123, 124, 222

  33rd 37, 58, 59, 62, 64, 94, 167–8, 196, 217, 223, 224

  34th 34, 58, 145, 151, 166, 196

  37th 58, 65, 166, 244, 246

  38th 33, 58, 65, 67, 73, 244

  39th 65, 142, 158, 244

  40th 60, 67, 168, 196–7

  41st 94, 141

  42nd 64, 94, 246

  43rd 87, 89, 90, 94, 124, 126

  44th 38, 94, 126

  45th 148, 149
r />   53rd 95–6, 97, 97, 98–9, 105, 111, 112, 142, 149, 172, 173, 207, 208–10, 219

  54th 90, 96, 98, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 147, 149, 150, 172, 191, 195, 207, 211, 212, 220, 246

  55th 96, 98, 112, 113–14, 115, 138, 147, 207, 213, 222

  56th 96, 98, 105, 109, 112–14, 132, 176, 182, 203, 208, 210, 212, 213, 217

  57th 104, 105, 110, 129, 156, 211

  58th 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 113, 128, 211, 212, 221

  59th 104, 105, 106, 109, 114, 135, 153, 156, 211, 213, 221, 242

  60th 106, 109, 199, 211, 238, 245

  disbandment 243–5

  structure 33

  Battle of Chuignes 7–8, 161, 171

  Battle of Hamel XVI, 7, 171, 183

  Battle of Menin Road 77

  Battle of Mont St Quentin-Péronne XVII–XVIII, 7, 25, 198–216

  amended plan 30 August 1918 57

  attack 31 August 1918 53

  attack 1 September 1918 83

  attack 2 September 1918 108

  Australian achievements 141

  Australian casualties 64, 82, 99, 116, 126, 217

  battle procedure 39

  challenges 107

  final plan 67–8

  German artillery 59

  German casualties 126

  historians’ view 232, 234

  numbers 46–7

  press coverage 230, 232

  significance for AIF 237

  successful attacks 30 August-5 September 1918 127

  VCs 93

  wounded 79, 82

  Battle of the Scarpe 233

  Battle of the Somme XVII, 4, 14

  Bean, Charles XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, 8, 40, 43, 45, 56, 68, 89, 101, 102, 109, 118, 141, 159, 168, 170, 215, 228, 232, 239, 243, 245–6, 247, 249

  Monash, relationship with 232, 243, 247

  Official History XIV, XV, 232, 245

  Beattie, Melville 155–6

  Beaurevoir Line 43, 239

  Berlin Wood XII, 56

  Berlingots Trench 58

  Berrima 77

  Bessell-Brown, Brigadier General Alfred 163

  Bidwell, Shelford 184, 217

  Billett, Bill

  Mont St Quentin: A Soldier’s Battle XVIII

  Birdwood, Sir William 5, 30, 58, 244

  Bishop, Private Bert 112, 114, 115, 115–16, 207, 213, 220, 222

  The Hell, The Humour and the Heartbreak 115, 116

  Blackmore, Lance Corporal Albert 34, 135

  Blamey, Brigadier General Thomas 26, 28, 56, 204, 209

  Bottomley, Mary Jane 156

  Bottomley, William 156

  Bouchavesnes Ridge XII, 21, 37, 38, 56, 59, 65, 89–90, 94, 126, 128, 158, 165, 175, 196, 200, 214, 215, 216, 234, 235

  Quarry Farm 38, 64, 94

  Bowe, John 157

  Bray 7