Our Darkest Day

by Patrick Lindsay

Pte G. Honey #1291

  Pte T. Hunt #347

  Pte A.W.J. Irving #1528 found

  Pte J. Joyce #1624

  Pte A.T. Knable #1603

  Pte D.M. Lawlor #126 found

  Pte F.O. Loader #2064 found

  Pte R.H. Magor #3209

  Pte R.T. Maudsley #137

  Pte A.M. McKenzie #1797a found

  Pte J.G. McKenzie #151

  Pte H. McLean #293 found

  Pte A.V. Momplhait #3282 found

  Pte E.W. Parham #2092

  Pte A.M. Perry #2095

  Pte H.C. Pitt #595 found

  Pte Walter H. Pretty #1556 found

  Pte. H.J. Randall #1558 found

  Pte M.L. Reid #3256 found

  Pte S.T.J. Ridler #1036 found

  Pte M. Ross #1040

  Pte R.G.M. Scott #1046 found

  Pte A.G. Smith #1640

  Pte J.R. Stead #187 found

  Pte W.C. Tucker #1581 found

  14TH BRIGADE

  53rd Battalion (6)

  Pte A.C. Bromley #4744 found

  Pte A.S. Clingan #3168 found

  2nd Lt Clarence Timbwell Collier

  Sgt C.S. Hill #842

  Pte George William Hungerford #3327 found

  L/Sgt E. Jentsch #3331 found

  Pte G.H. Johnston#3096

  Lt Harry Lowry Moffitt

  Lt Col Ignatius Bertram Norris found

  Pte P. Shannon #3433

  Pte A. Verpillot #4885 found

  Pte F.J. Williams #3605

  Pte E.R. Wilson #4887 found

  Pte Samuel Charles Wilson # 3534 found

  54th Battalion (15)

  Pte Michael Balkin #4254 found

  Sgt Jack Campbell #495

  Pte Roy Allison Clark #4155

  Pte W. Connolly #3585a

  L/Cpl William Andrew Craigie #4420 found

  Pte Henry Alfred Cressy #4179a found

  Pte William Joseph Cuckson #3032 found

  Pte E.H. Dibben #4183a found

  Pte Willie Hilton Doust #3557

  Pte B.J.A. Dunston #4483 found

  Pte F.A. Dyson #3560 found

  Pte G.R. Gray #2927

  Pte Laurence Harriott #4509 found

  Pte C.D. Holliday #4801 found

  Pte J.L. Holmes #4305

  Pte E.J. Hope #4188

  Pte C.D. Johnston #4315a found

  Pte P.L. Myers #4850Pte A. Needham #4946

  L/Cpl G. Pagan #2966 found

  Pte W. Pheasant #3462 found

  Sgt H. Richardson #4581

  Pte B. Richardson #4581

  Pte A. Russell #4299 found

  Pte J. Scott #4873

  Cpl J. Toole #690

  Pte J. P. Wailes [Wallis] #4617 found

  Sgt W. Wass #239

  Pte R. R. Wildman #1888 found

  Pte A. Williamson #4249

  55th Battalion (7)

  Pte V. Baker #3007

  Pte V. E. Baker #3247

  Pte R.A. Barrett #3031 found

  Pte R.C. Bishop #3761 found

  Cpl H.T. Bolt #3009 found

  Pte L. Broadhurst #3013

  Pte R.A. Dewar #3047 found

  Pte P.W. Fahey #3060 found

  Cpl F. Fletcher #3310 found

  Pte J.J. Harris #3819

  Pte L. Leister #4840 found

  Pte R.J. McGuarr #3873

  Lt B.L. Mendelsohn found

  Pte H. N. St Smith #3924

  Pte A. Thompson #2825

  56th Battalion (1)

  Pte D. Dodd #4770

  14th Machine Gun Company (2)

  Pte N.T. Lee #2779

  Cpl G.F. Stalgis #2898

  Lt R.D. Burns found

  15TH BRIGADE ( 7 )

  57th Battalion

  None

  58th Battalion

  None

  59th Battalion (2)

  Lt J.C. Bowden

  Cpl R.W. Johnson #3367

  60th Battalion (5)

  Sgt. V.M. Grogan #3114

  Pte F.G. Holst #2925

  Sgt D.C. McCaul #1980

  Pte J.L. Nitchie #146

  C.Q. Sgt J. Ralston #1501 (1382?)

  The soldiers who are on the wall at VC Corner as missing / unidentified plus the additional soldiers who are on the memorial wall at Villers-Bretonneux. They all have files in the Red Cross records showing they were gathered at Fromelles and buried by the Germans.

  This list of missing Diggers was compiled prior to the exhumations. The 79 soldiers listed as ‘found’ were identified in 2010 and 2011. The names of a further 31 soldiers are given on pages xlviii–lii

  Appendix III

  5TH DIVISION AIF DEATHS, FROMELLES

  Appendix IV

  CASUALTIES OF WORLD WAR I

  Source: http://www.greatwar.nl/index.html

  Appendix V

  BROTHERS WHO DIED

  AT THE BATTLE OF FROMELLES

  (List researched by Stephen Brooks)

  8TH BRIGADE

  14TH BRIGADE

  15TH BRIGADE

  Appendix VI

  MAJOR - GENERAL VON BRAUN ORDER

  NO. 5220

  No. 5220 21.7.16

  Bayer. Res. Inf. Rgt. No. 21

  (21st Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment)

  Subject: Bringing up of materials and recovery of bodies

  1. The following are assigned to the Regiment to undertake recovery of the wounded and dead:

  a. 1 NCO and 24 men of the Medical Company. These will be billeted at Desprez (Eck Farm) and draw rations with the 21st Infantry Pioneer Company. They will be employed as directed by the Regimental Medical Officer.

  b. Three motor lorries. These will be loaded at Brulle with screw pickets, rolls of wire and long stakes, which will be unloaded beside the light railway line, E of Fromelles, on the Mittlere Hochstrasse. The unloading will be carried out by a working party from the h-Company. The lorries will then be loaded in the vicinity of the Regimental Command Post with German dead, which are to be deposited in the SE quadrant of the cemetery at Beaucamps. The Regimental Band will detail men to carry out this work as ordered by the Regimental Medical Officer, who will also arrange for the necessary supervision by a Medical Officer and other personnel, as required.

  Sergeant-majors are to be in attendance during the laying-out of the bodies and will collect papers and identity disks in such a way that the personal effects and identity disk are removed from each body individually and are immediately placed in a sandbag, tied off and tagged with a cardboard or stiff paper label (pendant address label), on which the number and company appearing on the identity disk are recorded.

  Each body thus registered is to be laid immediately in one of the mass graves excavated in accordance with 3. below. The Medical Officer in attendance, who will direct the operation, is to ensure that each layer of bodies is immediately covered with a layer of earth mixed with chloride of lime, and that, when full, the grave is immediately covered over in a suitable manner. The grave sites will be allocated by the Ortskommandant (Town Major) of Beaucamps. Consecration of the bodies and the graves will take place later.

  Tent squares [Zeltbahnen] may be used to move the bodies, but must not be used as burial shrouds. Detached body parts are to be wrapped in cloth and buried.

  The other vehicles used to transport the pioneer materials are likewise to bring back German bodies; the light railway is also to be used for this purpose as far as the halt at Beaucamps, from where the bodies will be transported on stretchers. The unloading points are to be sited to one side, fenced off at a suitable distance with barbed wire and guarded in watches by sentries posted by the Regimental Band.

  The civilian population is to be prevented from loitering and staring at the bodies.

  The entire recovery operation at Beaucamps will be carried out in four-hour shifts until specific arrival times are known. The sergeant-majors of the IIIrd Bn will begin at 8.00pm today, followed by those of the 1st, then those of the IInd Bn, etc.


  The ‘English’ bodies will be buried in mass graves immediately to the south of Pheasant Wood. The removal of effects and identity disks, in the same way as for the German bodies, is to be carried out by the h-Company, supported by one medical NCO and 4 men of the regiment, under the orders of the Regimental Medical Officer.

  In order to expedite the rapid removal of the bodies, the dead are to be separated by nationality and laid out at depots close to the light railway, Grashof and Christuskreuz.

  The misappropriation of even the most insignificant item of property from a body (German or ‘English’) constitutes robbery of the dead and will be severely punished. The collection of effects, as ordered above, may only be carried out by the sergeantmajors at Beaucamps or in the presence of a senior NCO of the h-Company at Pheasant Wood.

  The IIIrd Bn is to provide one section, in rotation, to assist at Beaucamps. The assistance of stretcher bearer sections from RIR 20 is requested.

  2. From today, three motor lorries are assigned to undertake double trips during the night to take forward the pioneer materials. See 1. above.

  The h-Company will provide a squad from 10pm to carry out the unloading at Fromelles (tonight, the occupying Company for the first trip, then the relieving Company for the second trip).

  The IIrd Bn will provide two squads each day to load the other vehicles at Desprez when requested by the commander of the Infantry Pioneer Company. The e-Company will provide two sections to unload the materials at Christuskreuz. Times to be decided by Leutnant Marx.

  3. The Ortskommandatur (Town Major’s Office) at Beaucamps is to have mass graves dug for approximately 300 bodies, separated by unit, but alongside one another. The officers are to be laid out separately in the centre. For the burial of the ‘English’ dead, the h-Company is to excavate mass graves for approximately 400 bodies. Until that time it is only to be employed on remedial works within the [*] position.

  Signed: von Braun

  Copies to:

  Regiments: 2

  Battalions: 3

  Companies: 14

  Reg. Med. Off.: 1

  IInd & IIrd Bn. Med. Offs: 2

  Ortskommandatur: 1

  23

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My thanks to Lambis Englezos, for his friendship, foresight, passion and determination. Without Lambis, the missing Diggers of Fromelles would still be languishing in their unmarked and lonely graves at Pheasant Wood.

  Martial Delebarre, for his friendship, knowledge and unquenchable passion for Fromelles, and the men who fought for her liberty.

  John Fielding and Ward Selby, for their devotion to the cause well beyond the call of duty.

  Chris Bryett, for his friendship and his untrammelled determination and energy in pursuing the story of the fate of the missing Diggers of Fromelles.

  Peter Reece for his wise counsel and his enduring advocacy on behalf of the Digger.

  Tim, Liz and Alexandra Whitford for their friendship and their deep emotional connection to the men of Fromelles and their determination to keep the story alive.

  Richard Wright for his knowledge and experience so freely given.

  Roger Lee, for his help and devotion to the Digger.

  Sarah Lindsay for her love and support and her hard work in Fromelles.

  Robin Corfield and Neville Kidd for their wonderful scholarship and devotion to the Diggers.

  Stephen Brooks for his diligent sleuthing into the casualties of Fromelles.

  Bruce Billson and Cameron Hooke for their openness and concern for the men of Fromelles and their descendants.

  Mike Kelly, George Jones and Martin Brown for their support and efforts to keep the story alive.

  Mme Carole Laignel, M. Hubert Huchette, the late M. Pierre Demassiet, Mme Marie-Paule Demassiet and the people of Fromelles for their hospitality and generosity of spirit in remembering the men who fought for their freedom so long ago.

  My admiration and special gratitude to Mme Marie-Paule Demassiet for her selfless donation of her land at Pheasant Wood ‘pour les soldats’.

  Jenny Ingham, Judy Fitzhenry, Jill Potter and the many other families of the missing for keeping the faith. May their prayers be answered.

  Kevin O’Brien for his support.

  The Hon. Warren Snowdon, Minister for Defence, Science and Personnel, for his candour and passionate support of the Digger.

  Sandy Grant, Keiran Rogers, Pam Brewster, Fran Berry, Julie Pinkham, Jenny Macmillan, Rod Morrison, and the team at Hardie Grant for all their skill and support.

  My special thanks to Carl Harrison-Ford for his wonderful work editing this manuscript.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  BOOKS

  Adam-Smith, Patsy, The Anzacs, Nelson, Melbourne, 1978

  Bean, C.E.W., Anzac to Amiens, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1948

  Bean, C.E.W., Official History of Australia in the War, 1914–1918, Vol. II, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1929

  Bourne, John, The Great World War, 1914–1945, HarperCollins, London, 2000

  Carlyon, Les, Gallipoli, Pan Macmillan, Sydney, 2001

  Carlyon, Les, The Great War, Pan Macmillan, Sydney, 2006

  Carthew, Noel, Voices From the Trenches: Letters to Home, New Holland, Sydney, 2002

  Cobb, Paul, Fromelles 1916, Tempus Publishing, London, 2007

  Corfield, Robin S., Don’t Forget Me, Cobber!, Corfield & Co., Melbourne, 2000

  Corfield, Robin S., Hold Hard, Cobbers, Vol. I, Corfield & Co, Melbourne, 1992

  Coulthard-Clark, Chris, The Encyclopaedia of Australia’s Battles, Allen &Unwin, Sydney, 1998

  Dixon, Norman, On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Jonathan Cape, London, 1988

  Gilbert, Martin, The First World War, Holt, London, 1996

  Gilbert, Martin, The Somme, Henry Holt, New York, 2006

  Grey, Jeffrey, A Military History of Australia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999

  Hanson, Neil, The Unknown Soldier, Doubleday, London, 2005

  James, Lawrence, Warrior Race: A History of the British at War, Abacus, London, 2002

  Keegan, John, The First World War, Pimlico, London, 2002

  Kidd, Neville, An Impression Which Will Never Fade, self-published, Sydney, 1999

  Knyvett, Captain R. Hugh, Over There With the Australians, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1918

  Kyle, Roy, An Anzac’s Story, Penguin, Melbourne, 2003

  Lindsay, Patrick, The Spirit of the Digger, Pan Macmillan, Sydney, 2004

  MacDonald, Lyn, Somme, Michael Joseph, London, 1983

  McMullin, Ross, Pompey Elliott, Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 2002

  Miller, William Ian, The Mystery of Courage, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2000

  Odgers, George, 100 Years of Australians at War, Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1999

  Pedersen, Peter, Fromelles, Leo Cooper, South Yorkshire, 2004

  Pedersen, Peter, The Anzacs: Gallipoli to the Western Front, Penguin Viking, Sydney, 2007

  Pelvin, Richard, ANZAC: An Illustrated History, 1914–1918, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2004

  Stevenson, David, 1914–1918: The History of the First World War, Allen Lane, London, 2004

  Travers, Tim, The Killing Ground: The British Army, The Western Front and the Emergence of Modern War, 1900–1918, Pen & Sword, London, 2003.

  Williams, John F., Anzacs, the Media and the Great War, UNSW Press, Sydney, 1999

  Williams, John F., Corporal Hitler and the Great War, 1914-1918: The List Regiment, Cass Military Studies, London, 2005

  Wray, Christopher, Sir James Whiteside McCay, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2002

  PAPERS AND COLLECTIONS

  Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau Files, www.awm.gov.au/database/1drl428.asp

  Australian War Memorial Collection Databases, www.awm.gov.au

  Commonwealth War Graves Commission official registers, www.cwgc.org

  Elliott, Major General H.E. (Pompey)
, ‘The Battle of Fleurbaix’, Melbourne, 1929–30

  ‘Fromelles Inquiry’, Journal of the Royal United Service Institution of NSW, Vol. 50, No. 4 Summer 1997/98

  National Archives of Australia, Online War Service Records, WWI, www.naa.gov.au

  INDEX

  A

  Albany, Western Australia

  Albert, France

  Alexandria, Egypt

  Allied High Command

  Amann, Max

  Anzac cemetery

  Arblaster, Captain Charles

  Armentières

  Armistice

  Arras

  artillery

  Australian

  German

  Association pour le Souvenir de la

  Bataille de Fromelles

  Aubers

  Aubers Ridge

  Australian Army

  History Unit

  Australian Imperial Force

  Australian War Memorial

  ANZAC

  Anzacs

  Anzac Corps

  I Anzac Corps

  II Anzac Corps

  New Zealand Army Corps

  Battalions

  2nd

  29th

  30th

  31st

  32nd

  53rd

  54th

  55th

  56th

  57th

  58th

  59th

  60th

  Brigade

  6th

  8th

  14th

  15th

  casualties

  Division

  1st

  2nd

  4th

  5th

  New Zealand Division

  Light Horse Brigade

  Australian Defence Department

  Australian Defence Force

  Austria-Hungary

  Australian Memorial Park

  Australian Naval and Military

  Expedition Force

  Australian War Graves Service

  Australian War Memorial

  B

  Balsdon, Privates James, Russell

  Joseph

  Barbour, Lieutenant Tom

  Barr, Privates David, Colin

  Barry, Private William ‘Bill’

  Barton, Peter

  Battle of Fromelles

  Battles Nomenclature Committee