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Three Australian dead, 'known to be buried in this cemetery,': A. L. Day, W. T. Hart, and J. Mc Auley, died June, 1918, and buried in Dive Copse Cemetery, Sailly-le-Sec, France.
Text:
Known to be buried in this cemetery
Australian Imperial Forces
4695 Private
A. L. Day
32nd Bn. Australian Inf.
21st June 1918 Age 26
While you lie in peaceful sleep
Your memory we will always keep

Known to be buried in this cemetery
Australian Imperial Forces
2418B Lance Cpl.
W. T. Hart
27th Bn. Australian Inf.
11th June 1918 Age 22
Great our sorrow . . .
God knew . . .

Known to be buried in this cemetery
Australian Imperial Forces
5905 Lance Cpl.
J. Mc Auley
27th Bn. Australian Inf.
11th June 1918 Age 25
Peace Perfect Peace

Three Australian dead, 'known to be buried in this cemetery,': A. L. Day, W. T. Hart, and J. Mc Auley, died June, 1918, and buried in Dive Copse Cemetery, Sailly-le-Sec, France. © 2013 by John M. Shea

Image text

Known to be buried in this cemetery

Australian Imperial Forces

4695 Private

A. L. Day

32nd Bn. Australian Inf.

21st June 1918 Age 26

While you lie in peaceful sleep

Your memory we will always keep



Known to be buried in this cemetery

Australian Imperial Forces

2418B Lance Cpl.

W. T. Hart

27th Bn. Australian Inf.

11th June 1918 Age 22

Great our sorrow . . .

God knew . . .



Known to be buried in this cemetery

Australian Imperial Forces

5905 Lance Cpl.

J. Mc Auley

27th Bn. Australian Inf.

11th June 1918 Age 25

Peace Perfect Peace

Other views: Larger

Tuesday, June 11, 1918

"If the counter attack should be launched on the 12th, it would find [the Germans] better prepared than on the 11th.

This insistence of General Mangin and the clearness of his views finally convinced General Fayolle, and he drew up his orders, dated 4 P. M. the 10th, for the attack to be carried out as soon as possible on the 1th. These orders, which were communicated to the troops, concluded with these words:

'To-morrow's operation should be the end of the defensive battle which we have been fighting for more than two months. It should mark the definite check of the Germans and the renewal of the offensive on our part. It must succeed. Let everyone understand this.'

The attack did, in fact, begin the following day, the 11th, at 11 A. M. The effect was astonishing. The villages of Méry and Belloy were taken, the valley of the Aronde was cleared, and more than a thousand prisoners with several guns were captured."

Quotation Context

The fourth of Germany's five 1918 offensives, the Noyon-Montdidier Offensive, began on June 9 on a twenty-five-kilometer front in an attempt to build on the success of the Aisne (Blücher) Offensive begun May 27. But the French were not surprised as they had been in May, and Allied Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch, from whose Memoirs our quotation is taken, had reserves ready for the first opportunity that appeared. General Émile Fayolle commanded the reserves with General Charles Mangin reporting to him. In the spring of 1917, Mangin was under the command of Robert Nivelle during his disastrous Second Battle of the Aisne. Both men had been sacked. A year later, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau insisted on reinstating Mangin, who was referred to as 'the Butcher'.

Source

The Memoirs of Marshal Foch, translated by Col. T. Bentley Mott by Ferdinand Foch, pp. 329–330, copyright © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co., publication date: 1931

Tags

1918-06-11, 1918, June, Mangin,