Warminster
England
23.6.18
Dear Jim
… I will be pleased to get that snap of you, I have not got a photo of you. I put a photo in I had taken when on sick leave, it’s the best I have ever had taken. I heard from Allan the other day he was detailed for Base Duties, so he is at L’Havre now, so he will have a bit of a spell out of the trenches, he needs it too. We are having nice weather now; its about the best time in England now. I am still working in the sergeants mess, it will do me for a stunt. Well Jim, old boy, I spose you are up to your eyes in work now.
Well Jim, I must ring off now, hoping you are all well.
I remain your loving brother
Percy
JULY
July was the month that Australian Lieutenant General John Monash was to make his mark on the battlefields of World War I. Between Villers-Bretonneux and Albert lies the village of Le Hamel which remained in German hands. Monash, in his first major action as a corps commander, combined artillery, tanks, infantry and aircraft to take the village in 93 minutes in one of the best-planned attacks of World War I. He had hoped it would take 90. The enemy line was bombarded and gassed then, as brigades from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th divisions and some American companies moved forward, aircraft bombed Le Hamel. The roar of the bombing masked the sound of 60 rumbling Mark V tanks, a faster, more robust version of its predecessors. As the tanks protected the infantry, aircraft destroyed German machine-gun nests. Monash’s moment arrived on 4 July 1918. His combined arms battle plan became a model for further Allied offensives in 1918.1 French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau was so delighted by the Australians’ success that he rushed to the front to offer his thanks. He addressed a group of the troops who had taken Le Hamel:
When the Australians came to France, the French people expected a great deal from you … We knew that you would fight a real fight, but we did not know that from the very beginning you would astonish the whole continent … I shall go back tomorrow and say to my countrymen: “I have seen the Australians. I have looked in their faces. I know that these men … will fight alongside of us again until the cause for which we are all fighting is safe for us and our children.”
The fighting during July had taken a further toll on the mates of the Marlow brothers. Jim Stone, brother of Joe and Myrtle, was wounded on 9 July but would return to his battalion in October. Charlie Cockcroft was badly wounded on 29 July; he recovered to be married in England in November and to return to Australia in December. Tom Alford was wounded on 5 July; his wound was listed as slight and he continued on duty. Tom did not get the ‘Blighty’ he so desperately wanted.
AUGUST
Rumours of a ‘big push’ were to become reality. On 8 August, at 4.20 am, with the British advancing in the north, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Australian divisions and the Canadian Corps advanced together in the Amiens Offensive. This was the beginning of what became known as the Hundred Days Offensive, a series of Allied victories from August until November which saw German forces pushed back and villages reclaimed in an advance of extraordinary rapidity. The offensive was launched on 8 August, the soldiers tasked with destroying the enemy positions south of the Somme; the French attacked still further to the south. Under the veil of dense river fog and a barrage of artillery fire, the men pushed forward to take the German line in the most significant advance made by Allied troops to that point. By nightfall, the Australians alone had advanced over 11 kilometres, taken 8000 prisoners and 173 guns. By 12 August, Australia had suffered another 5991 casualties, but had advanced 20 kilometres towards the Hindenburg Line and taken 10,000 German prisoners.2 The success of the offensive forced the German General Ludendorff to admit that ‘… the 8th August was the black day of the German Army in the war … The war must be ended.’3 The Americans had arrived on the front and German troops would soon be outnumbered. At home, the German people were starving. Ludendorff knew it was time to negotiate. The Kaiser did not.
The advance across the 1916 Somme battlefields continued. Series after series of shattering blows hit the enemy as village defences crumbled. The morale of the Allied troops soared and those not in the ‘big push’ were considered to have missed something remarkable. Allan wrote briefly of the advance and his disappointment at not being involved as the relentless advance pushed the German army back to the defences of the Hindenburg Line.
France
15-8-18
Dear Jim
I have just received a lovely lot of mail from Ausy and am awfully delighted. I was very pleased to hear that you all were well and that dear old grannie is on the mend. You all seem terribly worried according to letters you had only got word I have told you in previous letters how dear old Charlie was killed. Mum asked in her letter if Charlie ever regretted coming away. Well Jim not once did he. Many a talk we [had] over all the business and he never regretted it once. Those dear boys were to go but it is awfully hard on us but we must cheer up a little you need not worry over us as I am at the base and Percy is in England. There is some awful heavy fighting going on up the line I wish I was back with my boys. I have had several letters from my captain and the boys wishing that I was back with them. My Captain [Orchard] was the [best] man ever I met and the boys simply worship him. You seem awfully busy over there. Well Jim I hope you have a good harvest. I just received you & mums lovely parcel and I must thank you it is simply beautiful. None of the other boys are here to get the cigs. Well dear Jim this is all the news to night so will close with best love to all.
I remain
Your Loving Brother
Allan
On the day Allan wrote home he was unaware that Percy was crossing the channel, arriving back in France on the same day, perhaps in time to share the cigarettes. Percy’s time in Blighty had come to an end. He left Longbridge Deverill and boarded his ship at Folkestone on 14 August. After some seven months, Allan had a brief opportunity to see his brother at Le Havre before embarking for England; he was on duty but also looking forward to taking some leave to visit his cousins. By 18 August Percy was back with his unit.
From London, Allan wrote to Jim:
Hyde Park Corner S.W.I
21-8-1918
Dear Jim
Just a few lines to let you know that I arrived here safely with the draft but have to take them to Fovant to morrow. I am getting a few days leave so will be going to Leicester this time only about 4 days leave but it will do me. Well Jim old boy we are having glorious weather and I ought to have a nice time to Leicester. I’ll be going to see Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Ted. I have not seen Uncle Ted yet. Well Jim old boy I suppose [you] are awfully busy over there now. I do hope you have a good harvest. They have had record harvests over here. Just before I left France I had a beautiful parcel & a lot of letters from home. I am very pleased you are getting my mail alright. There seems to be a lot of old people dying. Well Jim the war news is splendid now. Our boys are doing well. Just before I left I met Percy he was looking well he was at the base. Yes Jim it is awful loosing those 3 dear boys & I find it awfully hard I do miss them. Yes poor Charlie was killed right out. He never spoke a word. He had a very nice burial & I had put a nice cross over him. In London now there is a big strike on, no buses running at all and I hear that the underground train people are going to strike. It is b- awful. Well Jim old [boy] I might be returning for 6 months shortly. I would like to get home for a few months just see how you all are but I won’t be staying. Well Jim old boy I can’t write anymore. I want to go to bed as I have to get up early in the morning.
Well goodbye Jim old boy and best love to all
I remain Your loving brother
Allan SM
The Alexandra Hotel
London
26-8-1918
Dear Jim
Just a few lines to let you know that I came down from Leicester to night. I had a very nice time indeed. All up there were splendid. I never saw them looking better. Uncle John Wilson was awfully busy with t
he harvests. They are having record harvests over here so I hope you have the same over there. Well Jim old boy what do you think of the war news now. Isn’t it splendid I think we will have the hun defeated by February. Let us hope so anyway. He is getting an awful towelling up now….
On the same day, Allan penned another letter to Eva Jones:
The Alexandra Hotel
Hyde Park Corner, S.W.I.
London
26-8-1918
Dear Eva
Just a few lines to let you know that I am splendid & sincerely hope that you all are the same. Many thanks for the lovely cake you sent me it was lovely. Well Eva you will see by the above address that I am in Blighty. I brought a draft of men over here and then they gave me a few days leave. I go back tomorrow morning. I spent my leave in Leceister with relatives & had a very nice time. The people over here are having record harvests and are awfully busy as they are not given much time to get them up. Well Eva I suppose you all are pleased with the war news now. I think we will have the rotter beaten by new year, let us hope so anyway. Eva I am always looking for one of those nice long letters of yours and I know there must be one on the water on its way across. Well Eva this is all the news tonight so cheerio and kind regards to all.
I remain
Your old Friend
Allan S
FRANCE, AUGUST
Now recovered from the effects of gas, Joe Stone had returned to his battalion. He wrote to Jim of the emotional impact of being in the line and of his thoughts on ‘catching a bride’ in Scotland:
France
30/8/18
Dear Jim
Just a line in haste hoping it finds all in the Best of health as it leaves me at present. Well Jim you will have to excuse me for not writing before but we have been pretty busy of late as you will have seen by the papers but we are out for a bit of a Breather at present & I can tell you we can do with it a constant going makes ones nerves pretty strung up & the only way is have a good spell. I had a letter from brother Jim the other day he had met Percy in Blighty I hope to be over there in a fortnights time as I have not had Blighty leave for 16 months and it won’t do any harm to see the old place again. I am going to spend part of my leave in Scotland & see if I can leave it without catching a bride. They say it is hard to do. I say Jim how are all those Bonnie Wee Lassies in Mologa getting on. I suppose they are all caught by now. I suppose you will be doing your dash one of these days. I don’t see anything over here that catches my eye so far. They tell me Pearly and Tom have dissolved partnership & she is going with a guy up Pyramid way. Well Jim news are scarce so I will write a longer one when I get Blighty.
I remain
Your Old Cobber
Joe
Remember me to all
The ‘breather’ was not to last. The Australians were ordered to continue to push towards the Hindenburg Line, the 38th taking the village of Curlu on 28 August. On 31 August Monash sent the 2nd and 5th divisions to capture Mont St Quentin and the old moated fortress of Peronne. The 3rd Division was to attack Clery-sur-Somme just a few kilometres to the north-west of Mont St Quentin and then advance to Bouchavesnes Spur. In a fast-moving fight, the under-strength and exhausted but spirited Australian soldiers continued to move forward against enormous odds. By 2 September they had taken Mont St Quentin, an apparently impregnable German stronghold, which had been captured in one of the greatest single feats of the war.
Of the 38th Battalion, Charles Bean wrote:
… the 3rd Division day after day had forced its way along the slopes and valleys north of the river, seizing Bray, Susanne and Curlu. The staff of the 38th Battalion, after seventy-one hours continuous work was just settling to sleep when Brig.-General W. R. Nicoll arrived with the order to push on immediately to Clery, at the actual [Somme] river bend; after dark on the 29th, at the end of eighty-nine hours of almost continuous effort, the battalion reached the eastern edge of that village.4
This period of the fighting saw astounding acts of personal bravery with men displaying indomitable courage and inspiring others. Corporal Albert Grinton of Tragowel, Victoria, won the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 31 August 1918, his citation describing his extraordinary pluck:
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty near Clery on 31st August, 1918. He became detached from his company and joined another party for the advance. Mainly through his assistance with a Lewis Gun, they cleared an enemy trench, killing about thirty men and capturing several machine guns. He got on top of the trench, and, under heavy fire, silenced a field gun which was firing over open sights.5
Grinton returned to Australia with his older brother, Jack, to farm on the northern outskirts of Bendigo. Almost 90 years on, when cleaning out a shed on the farm, Jack’s daughter found an old tin with postcards, letters and unexposed film, some 896 photos of the movements of the 38th Battalion during its time on the Western Front. While soldiers were banned from possessing cameras, an offence punishable by court martial, the men always found a way to circumvent the rules. 6
It is not clear exactly where Percy was as the Australians pushed forward. From later correspondence it appears that he was with the battalion but not in the front line; he was acting as a guide, responsible for directing troops to their positions in the line. What we do know is that Major Maudsley, the officer who had promised to keep Sarah’s son from harm, had now become a casualty himself, killed by a shell on 31 August during the push to Clery-sur-Somme.
Knowlson Haw.
Other friends and neighbours of the Marlow brothers had also fared badly. Charlie’s mate Knowlson Haw of the 37th Battalion had left the farm at Mologa and had arrived in France in January 1918. He was wounded on 23 August. Archie Bailey of the 7th Battalion was shot in the arm on 9 August in the action at Lihons for which he was awarded the Military Medal; it was the fourth time he had been seriously wounded. Charlie Wales of the 6th Battalion was killed near Lihons on 9 August; he had also been shot the previous September. Gordon Swainston had been shot on 10 August but returned a week later. He was shot again in the hand on 8 September in his final action; he would return to Australia in January 1919.
Most devastating of all was the news that Allan and Percy had lost their close neighbour, family friend and one of their best mates. Lance Corporal David (Les) Townsend had enlisted with Allan and Percy in the 38th Battalion and was a machine-gunner in D Company. He had sailed with the twins on the Runic. At Mologa they had been at school together, played football in the same team and also attended church as members of the congregation of St Luke’s Church of England. Les had fought with the Marlows at Messines and had been wounded at Passchendaele on 4 October in the rush to take the area where Tyne Cot Cemetery now sits. He returned to the front three months later. He was killed by a sniper at Curlu on 28 August.
Allan described Les Townsend as being like a brother. This photo was taken in Bendigo in the same studio in which Allan and Percy had their photos taken prior to embarking.
Letters from the local boys arrived home and appeared in the Pyramid Hill Advertiser. Harry Street, who had cried when leaving Larkhill for France and whose brother Will had been killed, was now an experienced veteran.
Dear Friends,
No doubt you will have heard of Leslie’s death long before you get this letter … The bullet was from a sniper and it hit Les in the centre of the forehead. German machine guns and snipers have a strong outpost and were giving our lads much annoyance. So Leslie’s Company (D) and my own (C) were trying to capture the post or put Fritz out of action, and Leslie probably exposed himself too much and Fritz got him. I was talking to Les just a few minutes before and he was looking very well on it. However, he has had a decent burial. I was there, and his grave is only about two chains from where I am writing this. You have my greatest sympathy in regard to Leslie’s death. He was well liked in his company. We have lost some fine lads lately. We have just finished 7 days of almost continuous fighting and I am almost knocked up. We have driven th
e Germans a long way back, but I fear peace will not come this year. The weather is fairly fine. I trust that I shall return to good old Aussie safely and give you all the news.
Yours truly,
H STREET
Private Bennett also wrote:
… We had been following up the river for five days. Les was at the right of the advancing troops at the place where he and three others fell. It was a very nasty place to take – steep hills on three sides; the Somme with its low lying, swampy ground, covered with tall reeds and trees; on the other the Huns had a machine gun hidden. I was there a few minutes afterwards and heard what had occurred, but did not see or hear who had fallen. It was a great shock two days afterwards on going round to see how my friends had fared. Les and his mates sleep on a gentle rise overlooking the Somme, only a few hundred yards from where they fell. A wooden cross with name, age and other particulars marks the spot – 29/8/18 in his case. God rest his gallant soul…7
Albie Brookes wrote to Les’s parents, telling a poignant tale of comradeship:
… I must express my greatest sympathy in your son Les being killed. Through his death I have lost one of my best pals, and I can assure you that the company to which he belonged, D.Coy., have lost one of the best and bravest of lads. I came away with a great number of the Pyramid lads, as you remember. We were all machine gunners, but on proceeding to France we were split up and put into different companies. For all that, when out of the line, we were always together. Our little crew has gradually got smaller and at the time of poor Les’ death only he and I were with the Batt. It was our custom when coming out of a stunt or trip in the line to look around for each other to see how we had fared, and many were the talks we had of old folks and times at Yarrawalla. Just before we went into the last stunt, I was round congratulating Les, on getting his second stripe, which he had earned months before receiving. The military authorities have notified you, no doubt, and perhaps you have heard from H. Street, but I thought you might like a little detail as to Les’ death. As you know, the tables have turned in our favour lately and we have been pushing the enemy well back, the Australians taking a great part in it. Our Batt. had a rough spin and we were expecting a relief but were required to take a village called Curlu during the day, and A. and B. to follow the next morning. While they were advancing D. Coy. was held up by the enemy with machine gun fire and sniping. It was almost impossible to proceed, so the head of the column, made for the machine gun and Les. being amongst them and always ready to do his bit got sniped through the head. There is little consolation in knowing that the poor fellow suffered no pain, death being instantaneous. I received the news just as we were starting up ourselves and it fair knocked me. We breakfasted at the spot next morning and I learned where Les. had fallen, and immediately made for the spot, but was just too late, which did not make me feel any better for the day’s work. But I was a little more at ease when I learned that the stretcher-bearers had carried him away. After coming out of the trenches I learned where his grave was and visited it. One cross is erected; on same are the words “In memory of Corpl. Les. Townsend, killed in action.”At the time of writing this I am in a pokey dugout, barely room to move, so you will excuse the writing. We are looking for relief, which is expected tonight …8
ANZAC Sons Page 63
