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Tobruk Diaries: Masses, Miracles and a Godsend

09 May 2011 by Carlie Walker. No comments
1941, Tobruk,Tobruk diaries, Commemoration, Rats of Tobruk, Second World War

Cosgriff’s Diary:  Friday 9^th May 1941

Mass of BVM [Blessed Virgin Mary].  Evacuation flopped…ship failed to turn up – tonight?  Gave McIven Dr. Regiss card to give to Eyetie chaplain.  Two bombs very close to wards 2 and 7 – if the first had hit so would the second.  The new shelter in 7 stood it with full marks – second miracle this week.  Two very sick patients Lemon and Kennedy holding their own.  Quiet at front and here too.  Out of stockings – got…from Q. N. Store.  McQuillan lent me Irish papers – ports question and De Valera – good reading.  Everybody wondering what our next escape will be like.  “In Te Domine Speravi” [God, refuge of the oppressed]. DG. read on

WWI letters & diaries at the Memorial.

18 April 2011 by Sue Jamesion. 4 Comments
Collection,Family history,News,Personal Stories, Commemoration, First World War, Private Records, WWI Centenary

With the Centenary of the Great War of 1914-1918 only a few years away, staff in the Research Centre at the Australian War Memorial are busily working on a variety of special projects aimed at supporting the Australian community’s commemoration of this momentous occasion. 

One such project involves the re-cataloguing and in-depth indexing of the Memorial’s remarkable Private Records collection from WWI.

The AWM holds over 5,000 personal records from the First World War, mainly letters and diaries written by Australian men and women on active service. While earlier cataloguing for these personal records provided an index of such things as the unit with which the collection’s maker served (e.g. 8th Light Horse Regiment), and the places in which he served (e.g. Gallipoli), the new standard of Private Records cataloguing involves far more detailed description.  Many more subject headings (like ‘mud’, ‘camels’, ‘prisoners of war’ and so on) have been added to the online catalogue record of individual collections, as well as biographical information about the collection’s ‘maker’ – information previously only available on a paper file.  To get an idea of what I mean, take a peek at 2DRL/0481 – (papers of Lt John Alexander Raws & Lt Robert Goldthorpe Raws, both of the 23rd Battalion, AIF.)

As a family historian myself, I feel the most exciting aspect of this project is identifying individuals named in letters and diaries.  I record the name of every person mentioned in each collection, even if the reference is only very brief.   This ensures these names are made ‘searchable’ on the Memorial’s online catalogue. 

It’s wonderful what these references can bring to light.  Take for example the case of 1120 Private Leonard Arthur Thomas Beggs of the 22^nd Battalion…from his official war service record, he would appear to have been less than a model soldier – but just look what his commanding officer had to say about him in a letter home from Gallipoli.

“[N]ot forgetting Beggs, a terrier of a chap, will do anything. Put up entanglements under fire, work…on sandbags at night, scout round for provisions for us at the beach, my word he’s the one to find the illicit canteens…He’s a real scout and will do anything to oblige us”. –
1DRL/0554 (papers of Captain Louis Carl Roth, MC, 2 Pioneer Battalion & formerly of 22 Infantry Battalion, AIF)

read on

Tobruk Diaries: The Siege begins

04 April 2011 by Carlie Walker. No comments
1941, Tobruk,Tobruk diaries, Battles, Commemoration, Rats of Tobruk, Siege, Tobruk

Bryant’s Diary: Friday 4^th April 1941

About 8 o’clock this morning orders came through to retire immediately.  We packed up and carried our gear to the top of the hill to wait for the truck.  Nobody seemed to know what was up.  We went back and were carried by truck to a place some miles away.  We took up a position and waited for trucks of the RASC to take us away.  Before we left, any gear behind was destroyed.  The trucks travelled to Barce on the inland road.  “Snowy” Wilderberg and John Gilmour of 18 pl. were killed when two trucks collided.  It is bad luck to go out that way.  With regard to the retirement I think that the whole affair is disgraceful.  Moreso, when the men haven’t seen action.  It points wholly and solely to inefficiency of higher command.  The smart-alecs slipped somewhere.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Friday 4^th April 1941

No Mass today and little sleep last night.  Scare of air attack with canon. Breakfast at Dolann’s C.C.S. Lunch at McEwens ambulance.  Journey through dust – cramped and tired.  Arrived at Tobruk at 4:30 – Hospital patients everywhere.  Looked at inglit cases and anointed Eyetie.  Rumours scare all the time.  O’Connor at front and quite combatant.  To bed early tired and disgusted with loss.  Rejoined nurses today.  Hospital being set up on beach.  End of day of acute tension.

 

 

Bryant’s Diary: Saturday 5^th April 1941

We learned today that we were to take up a defensive position.  In the morning we learned that the 2/13^th Bn went into action against the German AFV’s and 3000 infantry.  The Bn had a bit of a tough time and it is reported they lost 4 officers and 150 men (i.e. D Coy and half A Coy).  We took up our position for defence late in the afternoon, but during the night we were ordered to pack up and leave.  When we got on the trucks we were told we would go back and have a lap at the enemy.  During the night Jackie Wilson and Ted Taylor and I went on a patrol at mid-night, but we saw nothing.  Last night we went to a castle on a hill and loaded ourselves up with tins of pineapple, cigarettes and tobacco.  They were to be destroyed; so the boys got in before this happened and today we had a big feed.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Saturday 5^th April 1941

Mass without bookstand and chart.  Shots today for first time on Libya.  Attack first crew of bad Catholics today – one really sick Leiut refusing sacraments.  Thos [Thomas] Gard turned up after lunch.  Reckons position is desperate.  Daly turned up and lost all except Mass kit…  Mass in statue tomorrow.  No ink so write up this draw and the pencil so useful.  Rumour that Tripoli has been taken.

Bryant’s Diary: Sunday 6^th April 1941

Once more we moved and this time onto the left flank of the 2/15 Bn and this was on the extreme flank of our front line.  We could see Barce clearly and the “Eyetie” flag flew over the town.  We had just got into position when off we went again.  This time we travelled all night flat out across the desert.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Sunday 6^th April 1941

Two Masses – here and beach – poorly attended.  Gard did not turn up for breakfast.  Buried 4 corpses in Tobruk cemetery and drank beer with the undertaker.  Matheson has dysentery.  Hospital ship due in tomorrow.  Nurses went at 5:30 – never to return.  Position serious and fighting expected in streets tomorrow.  Patients panicky and Gunner too.  We have to stay put and be P.O.W’s.  20 bed feeling pretty unsafe.  News of German tank patrol few miles out.

Bryant’s Diary: Monday 7^th April 1941

We travelled until 11.30 am and took up another position.  Word was received that our convoy was attacked by three AFV’s but were stopped by our artillery.  We also heard that our Div HQ’s was captured at Barce.  The Huns attacked and it is reported that 2 Coys of the 2/15^th Bn were cut off and that the 2/13^th engaged the enemy a second time.  We are now at our posts waiting for the Hun.  Just on dark we moved again.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Monday 7 April 1941

Mass in room – Len penitent after paying nurses.  C.C.S from Derna arrived during night with bad news.  Steele arrived at 11 with dysentery and admitted to hospital.  Matheson wanted to go on hospital ship but C.O. said “No”.  Loading wounded to hospital all day.  Position better today.  Watched bombs and tanks being unloaded.  Wards full of dysentery.  Mass full fleeing English officers.  John Horan came to our room to make space for Poms.  John Devine rejoined our crowd.

Bryant’s Diary: Tuesday, 8^th April 1941

We had a cow of a day today.  D Coy was reserve Coy to protect “B” Echelon and do odd jobs.  Our first job was to build a road over the escarpment and during the course of construction we had two interruptions, both being alarms.  The wind blew all day and dust was everywhere, but late in the afternoon we were all told have a good night’s rest, the first in four nights.  I believe the 2/13^th Bn was attacked again, but it beat off the attack.  It was officially confirmed about Tripoli falling.

Cosgriff’s Diary:  Tuesday 8 April 1941

Mass in happier circs.  Hospital ship sailed today but took too few patients.  Few battle casualties arriving but wounds are horrible.  Dust storm all day today.  20m Gard came in and took Fanny [car] to hear confessions.   Generals O’Connor and Neems captured, also 2^nd armoured  Div.  Fr. Lynch missing, 2IC and 40 men of Hanson’s Field Ambulance.  Should be big casualty list.  Anti-scare models but I would like to see attack started.  Indians retook Malilla. Two German prisoners in ward.

Bryant’s Diary: Wednesday 9^th April 1941

The day opened up with an air-raid on Tobruk by the Germans.  Eight planes took part, but they lost three.  One of our Hurricane fighters seemed to be in trouble and I believe it made a forced landing.  Instead of having a day of rest I was attached to a tank hunting party.  We were on utility trucks, armed with a Boys A/Tank rifle, a Bren and some grenades.  Lord help us if we’d have met any, although we went out three times.  Once more we moved and this time a little closer to Tobruk.  I don’t know where we will end but some seem to think that the whole retirement is part of a plan.  It looks as if this is the only feasible explanation of the whole affair.

Cosgriff’s Diary:  Wednesday 9 April 1941

Mass as usual.  Met Molly Grady’s cousin in hospital, O’Loughlin.  Grady did not return car.  Gunner has starts, also Matheson and Ley.  Englishmen drinking all our beer.  Steele and I went to wharf to see tanks being unloaded.  No news of attack being launched.  Defences creeping in closer all the time.  Negotiating for closer cemetery – War cemetery now on defence perimeter.  Bish. Riley arrived and to help with Easter communion.  Full of Bullo.

Bryant’s Diary:  Thursday, 10^th April 1941

Early this morning we took a position inside the perimeter defences of Tobruk.  It was the dustiest day I ever have seen and believe me it is uncomfortable.  In the afternoon we relieved the 2/43^rd Battalion at the front.  The trenches are the old Italian ones and are like miniature Maginot Lines.  They are made of concrete and are protected with a strong barbed-wire fence and a very deep anti-tank ditch.

 Cosgriff’s Diary:  Thursday 10^th April 1941

Two Masses as Steele on the job.  Thos [Thomas] Gard arrived back with car after Steele had gone after him.  I had to return with Tom – dust – convoys moving – lost – machine gun opened on convoy – Gardy left me after Mutual confessions.  Bath after return and handing of car to Steele.  Beer and then the bomb on Ward 11.  Steele lucky as direct hit on his room.  J. Chambers and Zac killed.  Row wounded.  Forster and Hanneman killed.  Terrible injuries and everyone feeling pretty sad.  All scared of air-raids now.  Busy in hospital till all hours.

 Lecky’s letters: 10 April 1941

…I’m quite well and happy…My closest shave so far has been dodging our own AA shrapnel which showers down now and again, otherwise all is well…This letter has had a compulsory interruption for an hour during which time I have witnessed a magnificent display of fireworks from the depths of a slit trench… I have lived in a continual sandstorm for the last week but it is surprising how little you mind it after a while…

Tobruk Diaries: Just ‘ordinary’ days

21 March 2011 by Carlie Walker. No comments
1941, Tobruk,Tobruk diaries, Battles, Commemoration, Exhibition, Northern Africa, Rats of Tobruk, Research material, Siege, Tobruk

Bryant’s Diary: Friday 21^st March 1941

Today was one of the lousiest days I’ve put in anywhere.  The weather was terrible.  The old Sahara Desert can be very nasty when it likes.  Sand is everywhere.  A warning order has arrived ready to move by night.  It might be tomorrow night.  Information has been received that some Wogs* are signalling to aircraft by placing their camels near objectives.  We’ll have to watch them.

Bryant’s Diary: Saturday 22^nd March 1941

I was told last night to go on the advance party to our new destination.  We left about 6:30 in the morning back towards Bengasi.  The convoy stopped at El Magrum when three bombers came over.  We thought they were certain to drop bombs on the convoy, but three bombs were dropped at El Magrum.  We arrived at our destination about 15 miles inland from Bengasi.  The country here is a great improvement on the desert.  Except for the lack of trees the place looks very fertile.  The soil is very red and a thin layer of grass covers most of the ground.  We can get plenty of eggs and they are some of the best eggs I’ve ever eaten.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Saturday 22^nd March 1941

Mass in our perfect chapel under ship’s crucifix.  Fr. O. Steele arrived here today – Senior to 9^th Div.  Went with Steele and Tom to Momma’s to buy eggs and arrange for washing.  Steele not bad on Italian.  To Barce Presbytery in afternoon.  Met two Friars who speak Latin well.  Church beautiful.  Harry Furnell here A.L.M.S. to 9^th Div.  Word to start packing – too bad as we all like Barce.  Steele missed transport and had to stay the night.

Bryant’s Diary: Sunday 23^rd March 1941

This place is called Regima and is a few miles from Benina where there is an R.A.A.F. station.  Some Wogs* came around this morning with some eggs and Jack Deering fired a shot over their heads and they went for their lives, leaving their eggs behind.  We now found out that this place is only a bivouac area and that the battalion was due in the morning.  As far as food is concerned, we have been living like lords.  The 2/13^th Battalion arrived today 8 hours late, having been lost.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Monday 24^th March 1941

Two Masses today.  Steele and Tyrer and Zac to Benghazi yesterday in my car – used my petrol and punctured a tyre.  Worried about ability to retain flat.  Chas and Eric left for Tobruk.  Buried Eyetie – in a blanket.  Wrote to Marie.  Met Cliff Howell – live wire and hard worker.  Trying to get car for Owen.  Great friends with Eyetie family now.  Nurses – 8 coming to Tobruk on hospital ship.  Decided to change from A.G.H. with Daly but met too much opposition.  Steele fell into solo school and lost.  Still reading letters.

Bryant’s Diary: Tuesday 25^th March 1941

We spent all day straightening up our gear and cleaning our precious bodies.  Someone hit on the brilliant idea of making a bath out of a groundsheet and everybody had a first-class bath.  The meals today were fit to serve in Hotel Australia.  There are rumours that we may go to Greece, but who knows?  I bought a ton of supplies at the canteen and we should never starve now.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Wednesday 26^th March 1941

Two Masses.  Poor J. McCusher R.I.P.  Tim Hartnett R.I.P.  Advance party loaded and left.  Spring saved me and I do not want to leave here.  Worked new spring through Eyetie.  Maurice Hudson and Frank McDermott here in hospital.  Mail again and all up to date now.  One from A.J. no telling of approaching marriage – too bad.  Meet Fr. Lynch and had good dinner – 4 priests.  Equi gale started today and plenty of dust.  Reading letters to all hours.  Elsa’s and Sheila’s.  Sheila finished with Month and signing for Val.

Bryant’s Diary: Thursday 27^th March 1941

We marched farther today and the section leaders made a reconnaissance of our new position.  My section is to occupy a position between Wadi el-Avoinat and Wadi Dabaa…The sections are scattered and now each one is responsible for cooking.  It appears that we are just being kept out of the way.  I don’t think anyone could find us and we certainly won’t be bothered.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Thursday 27^th March 1941

Two Masses as Steele waits here for H.Q. of Div.  Dusty day.  Had Hudson returned to Base for knee operation.  Wrote home Elsa and Bert Tooze.  Plenty of censoring to do now.  Trying to get some way to learn Italian.  Momma returned washing, setting some remedy for their few.  Small mess left but a good one… Marsh and nurses at Tobruk.  Hospital on new site so there will be plenty of tent pitching.  Won 17 accas at solo, Steele lost 47.

* A slang term used during the Second World War to describe any person of European descent.

Tobruk Diaries: Planes, ships and automobiles

07 March 2011 by Carlie Walker. 1 Comment
1941, Tobruk,Tobruk diaries, Battles, Commemoration, Exhibition, Rats of Tobruk, Second World War, Tobruk

Bryant’s Diary: Friday 7^th March 1941

The convoy spread out more today and there were only six trucks to the mile.  As a result our truck didn’t leave until about 1 o’clock.  We had a bit of a shock when a large plane flew towards the convoy.  The truck pulled up and we dived out and took cover.  The plane turned out to be British and I bet the pilot laughed.  We passed through Barce, the ex-Italian aerodome and finally camped at Tocra.  During the night we heard an air raid on Bengasi.  We could hear the roar of the exploding bombs and then could see the tracers and the anti-aircraft shells in the sky.  We learnt later that 18 bombs were dropped.  I was sung to sleep by a million mosquitoes.

Bryant’s Diary: Saturday 8^th March 1941

We left today at the head of the convoy and travelled through Bengasi to a point somewhere 60 miles along the main road.  We had to change trucks just before our destination and 16 Platoon had to go further ahead to relieve a Platoon from the 2/5^th Bn.  Bengasi is one of the most beautiful towns I’ve seen.  It is situated on the sea shore and there are dozens of avenues of Australian gum trees.  The country around this district seems to be the best in Libya, but even this is very poor.

Lecky’s Letters: Sunday 9 March

…Well, I landed back [from Palestine], chez-moi [my home] and found I had half an hour in which to pack and come down here – to the 1 Aust Corps School of Signals for a refresher course…Equipment from Aust is very short at the school but they manage splendidly on captured Italian stuff – in fact Dame Rumour has it that big Australian advances are held up pending fresh supplies of material from Italy!  I rejoin my unit next week, where Cliff’s brother (Ron) is now adjutant … Fear a drought in the near future as this is too good to last.  Cliff wrote several times – last from Bathurst, poor kid, also Nan and the sweet young things of my acquaintance…I had a stroll through Gaza War cemetery with a cobber the other day, and was very impressed with the order and dignity of the place…Close by is the famous Gaza Ridge, still deeply pock marked by the 16” shells of the Queen Elizabeth in the last war… I have twice fallen into smaller ones in the dark but luckily landed on sand…

Bryant’s Diary: Monday 10^th March 1941

We spent most of the day digging in and camouflaging our position.  At 9:30 this morning there was an air raid and the plane flew fair over our trenches.  The bombs fairly shook the ground and shrapnel could be heard whistling over our head.  Nobody was hurt around our area, but I think Brigade HQ copped the bulk of the attack.  This afternoon a flaming sand flea bit me fair on the penis.  I caught the blighter, but he gave me a hot half hour.  Just before sundown we could hear a bombing attack going on close to our position, but they didn’t come near us.  It is as cold as hell tonight.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Monday 10^th March 1941

No news yet of departing.  Spent day scrounging for water – bottles and haversacks.  Boys got rifles to work and we exploded plenty of land mines.  C.C.S. full of importance of their going.  No electric light in tent tonight.  To bed early with everybody disgusted with lack of hospitality.  At 10:30 news that we are to go tomorrow.

Bryant’s Diary: Tuesday 11^th March 1941

We spent all day erecting an anti-aircraft gun pit and it wasn’t too soon.  Late this afternoon two German bombers dropped their eggs on the hill feature behind us.  You could see them go into a dive and then would follow the roar of the exploding bomb and the subsequent column of smoke.  The Bophas opened up and both planes hedge-hopped right over our position.  One plane machine-gunned an ambulance without success.  We opened up with the Bren, but without success.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Tuesday 11^th March 1941

Last Mass at Bardia.  Everybody packed early and ready to go.  Clark and Polson of Petrol Park arrived with bottles of ’sky which disappeared quickly.  Loaded on trucks – in back with men.  Meal on road – hard ration.  Arrived at Tobruk at 4:30 and driven to C.C.S.   Dormitory to sleep in.  Meet Chas Daly in his dugout with car sword and revolver.  Party in Casey and comfortable quarters.  John left gastroscope with me.

 

Bryant’s Diary: Wednesday 12^th March 1941

I tested the Bren gun this morning and the bloody thing wouldn’t fire.  It took nearly two hours to fix it up.  It was quiet nearly all day until just before dusk when three German bombers came across.  Two followed the road fairly high up and the Bophas kept them busy, but the third came low over our right and machine-gunned our position.  I got a good bead on his with the Bren, but the gun didn’t fire.  However, I fixed up the stoppage and let him have a full magazine as he was going away.  Nobody was hit.

Cosgriff’s Diary: Thursday 13^th March 1941

Mass in Casey’s room.  Terrible air-raid at 2:40 am and every hour after.  Took car in and had it registered in my name.  Runs very well but plugs and battery faulty.  O’Callaghan took Chas back and gave him his car.  Dust started in earnest this evening.  Row most interesting bloke in this show – genuine at anything.  No raids tonight in this dust.  Last night’s raid on El Adam ’drome – ruined two bombers.  Crowd starting to hitch-hike to Barce.

Tobruk Diaries: They’re off: Moving on

21 February 2011 by Carlie Walker. No comments
1941, Tobruk,Tobruk diaries, Battles, Commemoration, Exhibition, Second World War

Bryant’s Diary: Friday 21^st February 1941

Retired back to Wadi Chariar and took up positions in old Turkish trenches.

 

Cosgriff’s Diary: Friday 21^st February 1941

Pino Defunctis [For the Dead].  Slept in to 7:15.  Used private fruit knife at breakfast.  Found Byrne Nolee a Catholic.  Photos turned out…O.K.  Sent parcel to Elsa.  Letters to her and Jas Carragher.  Tom Steele back from Nile Boat.  John and Len on getting “stinkin” on peace night.  Bought lime-juice for water-bottle.  No news of active warfare and nothing to do.  Dr. Steele here today.  Mail day but no letter for John or I.  Len threatening to write Mary a stinker.

 

Bryant’s Diary: Saturday 22^nd February 1941

Marched back to camp and arrived a little after one o’clock.  Copped road guard to cap everything.  Coy off to range tomorrow to fire the Bren.

 

Bryant’s Diary: Sunday 23^rd February 1941

Left by transport for Jaffa range to fire the Bren.  Palestine improves as you move north along the coast and Richon and surroundings are very beautiful.  Richon is very close to the range and the majority of the population are Jewish.  The orchards there are first-class and where we camped oranges, lemons and grapefruit can be had for nothing.  The range itself is very extensive and facilities are available for Small Arms, grenades, Anti-Aircraft practices.  Gum trees are plentiful and improves the place immensely.  The Bren guns fired all right through day, but the shooting was very mediocre.  I got 62 out of 115.  Went to Richon on the Sunday night and saw “Wuthering Heights”, but it is a lousy show.

 

Cosgriff’s Diary: Monday 24^th February 1941

Alex with Len.  Mass at S. Catherina.  Kids singing at Exporition of SS.  Bath at Tim’s room – then tour to Moustapha barracks, Pompey’s pillar, catacombs lunch with Tim then car tour of seafront etc.  Home early by Len.  Zac’s scene with Dick over waiting for Mass – horrible dipler of Jew’s childish temper – went in to dinner alone.  Fr. Phillips on leave to Alex.  No letter today.

 

Lecky’s Letters: 25 February 1941: Red Shield Huts – Hostels for Australian troops, to Mum and Dad,

As you can see by the above address I have moved in and have begun a refresher course, so far I have only done 2 days but the methods and ideas are all the latest and seem to be very good.  I came down with a cobber and a batman between us so we lost no time in making ourselves as comfortable as possible – especially since we have a huge Indian Pattern tent with all mod cons. H & C showers, pictures and canteen handy, an excellent mess and best of all we are within 100 yds of some very nice nurses whom we met on the way over…Routine starts at 6:30 am (when its quite dark) and finishes at 4 with a game of football or basketball, with lectures in between so I hope to be very fit in mind and body when I return. 

Still no mail from you – last was dated 23 Jan 41… please write as often as you possibly can as you have no idea how much mail from home means… I must tell you about my leave to Jerusalem…We stayed at the Hotel Fast which was originally owned by a German, but he had to leave hurridly (sic) on a certain September morn in 1939 so the pub was taken over by the Comforts Fund…I was given 2 nights lodging, meals, bus fare there and back and a free sightseeing tour…so three cheers for the Comforts Fund…After an excellent meal I retired feeling very lonely and to the lounge where I found myself invited to join a party consisting of two New Zealand Nurses, an M.O. from the same place and an Aussie officer (whose language was shocking) who was just up from the scene of actions where he had spent some months and been mentioned in despatches.  We did the rounds of the city night clubs…and they invited me to accompany them on a trip next day which I very gladly accepted… [I] boarded a 7 seater Plymouth sedan with the others.  The trip meant missing the principal sights of Jerusalem but was well worth it as we saw nearly all of Palestine…

 

Bryant’s Diary: Wednesday 26^th February 1941

Rumours and indications are pretty strong today that our Brigade will move very soon, possibly to Egypt.  It has come.  We are moving all right.  We have received our orders to pack up and tonight we have to sleep without blankets and stand by.

 

Bryant’s Diary: Thursday 27^th February 1941

We got our gear ready to move and should leave sometime tonight.  I received a big batch of letters today, the first Air Mail lot in a fortnight.  It must have been held up for some reason.  Received advice of Geoff’s marriage.  Good luck to him.  We left Gaza Ridge about 9:30 in the night by train for Egypt. 

 

Cosgriff’s Diary: Thursday 27^th February 1941

Pino defunctis.  Len waiting hour and half for pay conveyance.  While we were at Alex returning pay, C.O. made his famous announcement “there off armoured boys”.  That it all the news we got of departure.  Chas Littlejohn apologises for Zoe and resigns chair.  Marsh and Morton home for departure…

The Gallipoli Landing and the first ANZAC Day

23 April 2009 by Annette Gaykema. 3 Comments
From the collection,News,Personal Stories, ANZAC Cove, ANZAC Day, Commemoration, Gallipoli

As we ready ourselves to commemorate ANZAC Day at the Australian War Memorial, we can gain a small insight what it was like at the Gallipoli landing. Personal diaries held by the Memorial describe what it was like landing at Gallipoli on Sunday, 25 April 1915 under the heavy fire of Turkish machine guns. Although the photos accompanying this blog post do not relate directly to the diary entries, they are able to illustrate the stories in a different way.

Sergeant Apcar de Vine of the 4th Battalion writes: “landed myself at … midday under a hot shrapnell [sic] fire, all landed safely…

read on

Passchendaele: an almost universal experience

06 October 2007 by Craig Tibbitts. 1 Comment
To Flanders Fields, 1917, Commemoration, Passchendaele (Ypres)

Along with the intensity of the fighting, the horrendous conditions and the heavy losses of Passchendaele, there is another reason why this campaign universally symbolises such great loss, tragedy and futility above others of the First World War.  This is simply because such a high percentage of men experienced it.  During the three and a half months it lasted, just over fifty British and Commonwealth infantry divisions, and almost one hundred German ones were committed.  It is therefore reasonable to say that about one and a half million men witnessed this battlefield first-hand.

In such a tiny sector of the front, it is difficult to fathom how so many men could have been involved.  Across the whole frontage of the sector, only about 10 miles in width, both sides would normally have 10-15 divisions at any one time.  But behind them in reserve positions lurked many more, ready to come up in support to either exploit a breakthrough, or (in the case of the Germans), stop one.  Due to the intensity of the battle, some units would go into the front line and be decimated in a matter of days so they had to be pulled out and replaced by another division.  This went on over and over again; some divisions went in only once, while others were committed several times.  It is also worth noting that as the campaign progressed, the frontage under attack gradually narrowed until at the end, it was barely one mile in width (see map at bottom of this article)

Other arms of service supporting the infantry were also in the thick of the action, especially artillery, engineers, supplies, signals, tanks and medical services to name a few.  In the case of the Australians for example, while their infantry was committed to six of the eight phases of the campaign, their artillery was involved for its entirety.

The following illustrates the high proportion of divisions committed to Passchendaele throughout the second half of 1917:

• 88 of Germany’s 212 divisions, representing approximately 40 % of their army.  Many other German divisions spent almost the entire war on the Eastern Front, or opposing the French in the southeastern sectors of the Western Front.
• 41 of the British Army’s 66 divisions (nearly two-thirds).
• All four Canadian divisions.
• New Zealand’s one and only division.
• All five Australian divisions.

A useful comparison is the dreadful campaign at Verdun; during this ten-month ordeal in 1916 that cost at least 700,000 French and German casualties, three-quarters of the infantry divisions in the French Army went through it.  For the French, Verdun is symbolic of their great sacrifice and the main focal point of their commemoration.

Total casualties at Passchendaele are estimated at 475,000; about 275,000 British and Commonwealth and about 200,000 German.  38,000 Australians, 15,654 Canadians and 5,300 New Zealanders fell there, either killed, wounded or missing.  Especially for these smaller nations, Passchendaele was their most costly engagement of the war, indeed their entire military history.  Because of the scale of losses and the fact that the Commonwealth nations committed their entire forces to the campaign, it was sadly not uncommon for families to lose several members during it (see article on Polygon Wood battle).

With these statistics in mind it is little wonder that after the war ended, the Ypres-Passchendaele area quickly became the focal point for commemoration for all the nations involved in this terrible campaign, and remains so to this day.

Five diggers laid to rest today

04 October 2007 by Craig Tibbitts. 3 Comments
To Flanders Fields, 1917, Commemoration

The remains of five AIF soldiers will be laid to rest today with full military honours in the Buttes New British Cemetery at Polygon Wood, Belgium.  The remains were discovered by chance in September 2006 during roadwork and pipe-laying excavations near the small village of Westhoek.  This is situated in the middle of the dreaded Ypres-Passchendaele Salient where up to half a million casualties on both sides fell, of which tens of thousands were either never recovered or were unidentifiable.

The Australian Army through its History Unit headed the investigation into the identity of the five men, with the assistance of the Memorial Museum Passchendaele, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and the Office of Australian War Graves.  The Australian War Memorial also provided some assistance early in the piece, particularly with archival maps and documents.

Subsequent DNA testing proved successful in identifying two of the five men (see news articles below).

May they all now rest in peace.

*New: A large number of photos and some You Tube clips can now be found on the Dutch/Flemish WW I Forum:
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/viewtopic.php?t=10901

New articles

History sleuth, Army News, 5 April 2007 (an earlier piece on the search for the mens’ identities)

Missing WWI soldiers identified, Army News, 4 September 2007.

Remains of diggers identified, Canberra Times, 5 September 2007.

Lost for 90 years, diggers identified by DNA, The Age, 5 September 2007.

Australian diggers honourably laid to rest, ABC News, 5 October 2007.

Rain and Mud: the Ypres – Passchendaele Offensive

01 August 2007 by Craig Tibbitts. 3 Comments
To Flanders Fields, 1917, Battles, Commemoration, Exhibition, Passchendaele (Ypres), Research material

Swamp around Zonnebeke, Oct 1917 (E01200) E01200

When considering the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, what immediately springs to mind is a desolate, shattered landscape of mud.  So when looking through the photographs of this battle here on the blog, and in the exhibition, it may be puzzling that some depict this morass with men and horses up to their waists in mud, yet many others show a rather dry and dusty landscape.  The answer is that this was a lengthy campaign (July to November), and the weather conditions proved quite changeable and fickle.  The same applies to the Somme Offensive which ran for a similar period during the previous year.  The other factor at Ypres was the physical characteristics of this part of Flanders.  The water table in this area is very high and indeed parts of the battlefield were swamp or reclaimed swamp.  So even when the surface appeared dry, it could in places be sodden below the crust and digging into the ground even to a shallow depth would invite water.  Naturally the blanket coverage of shell craters only made the situation worse.

According to Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson in Passchendaele: the untold story (p 97), during August 1917, 127 mm of rain fell in Flanders, which was double the normal average for that month.  October also proved another very wet month, with 30 mm of rain falling in just the five-day period 4-9 October (pp 126, 159).  However the month of September was mostly dry and this coincided with the three major pushes that the Australians spearheaded in the Ypres sector (Menin Road 20 Sept, Polygon Wood 26 Sept, and Broodseinde 4 Oct).  During these attacks the troops marvelled at how strong and utterly dominant their supporting artillery fire was. 

But in the afternoon of 4 October, right after the Broodseinde operation had been completed (it was over by noon), the weather broke and the rain set in, quickly turning the devastated battlefield into a quagmire.  In these conditions it was impossible to drag forward enough artillery and ammunition to maintain such strong support.  So the troops that attacked in the wet after 4 October noticed a dramatic drop-off in supporting artillery fire to the point where at times it was barely noticeable.  Another pitiful result was the greatly increased difficulty of evacuating the wounded.  The decision therefore to continue the offensive and capture Passchendaele in the rain and mud was a weighty one.  As C. E. W. Bean later wrote,

‘In these circumstances Haig made the most questioned decision of his career.’ (Bean, Vol IV, p 883).

Interestingly, at this point Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig acknowledged the weather and terrain problems, telling war correspondents on 11 October:

‘It was simply the mud which defeated us on Tuesday [9 October].  The men did splendidly to get through it as they did.  But the Flanders mud, as you know, is not a new invention.  It has a name in history – it has defeated other armies before this one…’ (quoted in Bean, Official History, Vol IV, p 908).

One wonders with this admission of the difficulties presented, why Haig then persisted with the offensive.  However it must be considered that there were real dangers in halting the offensive where they stood.  They were still short of the final ridge at Passchendaele and had they remained short of it, it would have been very difficult and costly in lives to hold such a poor position.  So perhaps it can be argued that the final push to capture Passchendaele through the dreadful mud of October and November was a combination of this tactical necessity, Haig’s perception of an imminent German collapse and his desire to see his grand plan through to a successful conclusion.

For the Germans the onset of rain was a Heaven-sent.  Indeed Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, the Field Marshal in command of the entire northern sector of the Western Front (i.e. that principally opposing the British and Commonwealth forces), made a relieved note in his diary;

12 October 1917

‘Witterungsumschlag.  Erfreulicherweise Regen, unser wirksamster bundesgenosse.’

(trans. Sudden change of weather.  Most fortunate rain, our most effective ally).

It should also be remembered that despite these dreadful conditions and the grievous losses, the British Army and its Commonwealth troops did succeed in capturing Passchendaele and part of the final ridge.  It was the Canadian Corps that finally achieved this on 6 November.  The Canadians would by 1918 become past masters at providing massive artillery support for their infantry, but in the mud before Passchendaele in November 1917, these techniques they were trying to perfect must have been greatly frustrated.  With this in mind, their capture of Passchendaele is all the more impressive.

Finally, in one of the war’s ‘what ifs’, it may well be speculated that the offensive at Ypres during 1917 might have succeeded had it gotten underway several weeks earlier, and the final ridge at Passchendaele been captured in early October, before the weather really broke.  One can only wonder…