Monument in Pozières, France to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the First Australian Division who fought in France and Belgium 1916, 1917, and 1918. © 2013 John M. Shea

To the officers non-commissioned officers, and men of the First Australian Division who fought in France and Belgium 1916, 1917, 1918. Pozieres, Mouquet Farm, La Barque, Thilloy, Boursies, Demicourt, Hermies, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt, 3rd Battle of Ypres, Menin Road, Broodseinde Ridge, Passchendaele, Battle of the Lys, Second Battle of the Somme, Lihons, Chuignolles, Hindenburg Line



À la mémoire des officiers sous-officiers et soldat de la Prèmiere Division Australienne qui ont combattu en France et en Belgique 1916, 1917, 1918

Other views: Front, Front

Monday, July 24, 1916

"The class of fighting on the Somme is an eye-opener to all of our men. The intense artillery on both sides tend to unnerve the very best. Curtain or barrage fire was entirely new to oldest of our soldiers. The idea is to establish an impassable wall of steel and shrapnel either in front of our men advancing or behind the country attacked so as to prevent reinforcements coming up. We know from personal experience what German barrage is like. Our own must be terrible as I believe we fire three to the German one."

Quotation Context

Sapper J. Julin writing in December, 1916 about the July 23, 1916 assault on the village of Pozières, France by the First Australian Division, part of the months-long Battle of the Somme. The Australians had suffered heavily in the July 19 and 20 Battle of Fromelles, and British Commander-in-Chief Douglas Haig had hoped to follow that failed attack by giving the Australians, recently arrived on the Western Front, 'a simple task' (Somme, Lyn Macdonald, p. 166). The Australians took the village on July 23, then suffered through days of the German bombardment Julin describes.

Source

Three Armies on the Somme by William Philpott, page 241, copyright © 2009 by William Philpott, publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, publication date: 2009

Tags

1916-07-24, 1916, July, Battle of the Somme, Pozieres, Pozières