Victoria Cross : Captain J E Newland, 12 Battalion, AIF

Victoria Cross. Engraved reverse suspender with recipient's details; reverse cross with date of action.

James Ernest ‘Jim’ Newland was born to William and Louisa Jane (nee Wall) Newland at Highton, Victoria on 22 August 1881. Little is known of his early life. He served in South Africa with the 4th Australian Commonwealth Horse under Lieutenant Colonel George Jamieson Johnson, during the final weeks of the Boer War. Hostilities ended before the contingent could see any fighting and they returned to Australia in July 1902. Although Newland did not see action while in South Africa it marked the beginning of a military career spanning almost four decades.

Shortly after returning he joined the Royal Australian Artillery in Victoria, serving with the unit for four years before moving to Tasmania and working briefly as a policeman. He rejoined the regular army in August 1910 and was posted to the Australian Instructional Corps. Three years later, on 27 December 1913, he married Florence May Mitchell at Sheffield.

On 17 August 1914, soon after the outbreak of the First World War, he transferred to the AIF and was posted to 12 Battalion as regimental quartermaster sergeant, service number 2. He embarked with his battalion on HMAT ‘Geelong’ from Hobart on 28 October 1914, bound for Egypt. Landing at Gallipoli on 25 April, Newland was wounded in the arm during the initial days of the battle and evacuated to Egypt. While convalescing he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant before returning to his unit on 26 May.

The following month he was transferred to Egypt to take charge of the battalion’s transport. Promoted to lieutenant on 15 October while on Gallipoli, Newland was later evacuated from the peninsula suffering from dengue fever.

During the reorganisation and ‘doubling’ of the AIF in Egypt after the evacuation, Newland was promoted to captain and adjutant on 1 March 1916. He sailed to France with his unit later that same month, disembarking in Marseilles on 5 April. The battalion’s first major battle was at Pozieres between 23 July and the evening of the 25th when it was relieved by 19 Battalion after suffering 375 casualties.

On 5 August Newland was made commander of ‘A’ Company, leading them in an attack on enemy trenches near Mouquet Farm on the 21st. The assault, against enemy trenches north east of the farm, was carried out in 4 waves with Newland in the advance. Successful in capturing their objectives, the men of the company began pursuing retreating Germans before being stopped by Newland, insisting instead that they consolidate their position under a bank about fifty metres from an enemy strongpoint. Once in position a bombing party was sent out to capture the strong point resulting in 20 Germans killed, 3 taken prisoner and a machine gun captured.

For his actions during the assault Newland was unsuccessfully recommended for both the Military Cross and, later, the French Croix de Guerre. Early in October a recommendation for a Mention in Despatches covering the same action was forwarded, this time successfully.

In December Newland was evacuated sick then briefly seconded to 2nd Brigade Headquarters. He returned to command ‘A’ company on 2 January 1917 in time for the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line the following month. In fighting near the village of le Barque on 27 February Newland was wounded while leading his company against a German position and evacuated. Newland rejoined his unit on 25 March.

By early April only the three ‘outpost villages’ of Boursies, Demicourt and Hermies stood between the southern division of the 1st Anzac Corps and the Hindenburg Line. 12 Battalion was charged with capturing Boursies, unassisted apart from some flanking protection from 10 Battalion. Newland’s company along with a platoon of ‘B’ Company was given the task of attacking the town proper while the remainder of ‘B’ Company along with ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies advanced on the left flank. On the evening of 7 April the battalion assembled for the attack, planned for early the following morning.

At 4am on 8 April Newland’s party moved off to their first objective; a windmill held by the Germans around 400 metres short of the village. Leading a bombing party on the windmill, Newland was able to move half-way to the objective before the Germans realised the threat. Directing their fire on Newland’s party, casualties soon mounted as the line rushed the mill, their unchecked charge convincing the enemy to hurriedly retire to the village. The company quickly consolidated their gains at the mill with posts in nearby trenches.

Enemy artillery fire began almost immediately on the newly captured trenches and continued throughout the day. At 10pm that evening the Germans mounted a concerted counter-attack, forcing the Australians to concede many of their gains. With the line threatening to collapse, Newland, with assistance from Sergeant John Whittle, hurriedly reorganised the men, called up reinforcements and continued to monitor and reinforce weak points, all the while inspiring his men in leading by example.

Newland’s efforts managed to stay further losses, however, by the time the lost ground was retaken his exhausted company was withdrawn before they could realise the taking of the town. Boursies was finally captured around dawn on 9 April. The 26 hours of continual fighting cost the battalion 256 casualties, with Newland’s company alone accounting for over 100.

During the night of 14/15 April, 12 Battalion relieved 9 Battalion in the front line around Lagnicourt, supposedly a relatively calm sector of the line. Before dawn on the morning of the 15th, Newland contacted headquarters with the news that they were under attack. The battalion commander was at first unconvinced as the night had been unusually quiet. Contact with ‘B’ and ‘C’ companies confirmed the news while contact with ‘D’ Company was lost altogether.

In fact the Germans had attacked in force, throwing four divisions against the front of an overstretched 1st Australian Division. The object of the German attack was to briefly re-occupy seven outpost villages, lost during recent fighting, with the intention of capturing or destroying as much artillery and material as possible. They were then to retire to their original lines.

The massive attack pushed back 20 Battalion on 12 Battalion’s left flank and had broken through ‘D’ Company. The enemy had overwhelmed the front line and succeeded in occupying the town and Newland soon found himself surrounded on three sides by a German force estimated to be ten times greater than his own. He ordered his company to withdraw to a sunken road, lined his troops on the banks and instigated a desperate last ditch defence. The Germans attempted to mount a machine gun in a position on the road to enfilade the Australians but Whittle rushed the position, killing the crew and capturing the gun.

From battalion headquarters, cooks, runners, signallers and batmen were sent to reinforce the line. During this period, Newland’s encouragement and complete disregard for his own safety inspired the defenders till reinforcements arrived in the form of two reserve companies of 9 Battalion. Sensing the German attack weakening, counter-attacks were quickly organised with Newland leading a party against the faltering Germans, capturing forty prisoners in the process.

By 11 am the battle was over. The front of Newland’s position was littered with the bodies of hundreds of German troops while 12 Battalion’s casualties numbered 125, killed, wounded and missing. The battalion was finally relieved at 2.10am on the morning of 17 April. For their roles in the fighting around Boursies and Lagnicourt during April both Newland and Whittle were awarded the Victoria Cross. The recommendation for Newland’s award reads:

‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the face of heavy odds on three separate occasions. On the night 7th/8th April 1917 Captain NEWLAND organised the attack by his Company on the WINDMILL on the BAPAUME-CAMBRAI Road West of BOURSIES, and having moved forward the platoons he personally and under heavy machine gun and rifle fire led a bombing attack up the main road.

Owing to the heavy enemy fire two of his Company Officers became casualties; he then personally rallied the Company and was one of the first into the objective.

On the night 8th/9th April 1917, the enemy counter attacked his position at the WINDMILL after a heavy barrage of smoke bombs and trench mortars.
By his own personal exertions and utter disregard of the heavy enemy fire, he brought up a platoon from the reserve Company and with the remnants of his own Company charged the enemy and succeeded in regaining the position.

On the morning of 15th April 1917, Captain NEWLAND was in command of the second Company from the left of the Brigade line N.E. of LAGNICOURT. At dawn the enemy attacked in great force overpowering the Company on his left, and entered LAGNICOURT from the N. West, thus taking Captain NEWLAND’S Company in the rear.
Captain NEWLAND at once brought back the left of his Company and beat off a combined enemy attack from three quarters.

These attacks were renewed three or four times, and it was Captain NEWLAND’S tenacity, and disregard for his own safety that encouraged the men to hold out. On seeing the enemy attacks weakening he personally led twenty men against them and took forty prisoners.

The position on the left of LAGNICOURT was at this time most critical.

The stand made by this Officer was one of the most important factors in enabling reserves to be moved up in time to stem the enemy advance and to deliver a successful counter attack.’

On 6 May, during the Second Battle of Bullecourt, Newland was again in the thick of the fighting when the Germans recaptured trenches that were gained early in the battle. For three hours Newland’s company fought in hand to hand combat in fighting that Newton later described as ‘some of the severest fighting the Battalion ever experienced’, before the trench was retaken. During the engagement Newland suffered a wound to the shoulder that ended his active service. He was evacuated to England and eventually returned to Australia, arriving on 18 September.

His return to Australia coincided with the increasingly rancorous public debate on the second Conscription referenda. A pro-Conscriptionist, Newland appealed for the ‘Yes’ vote in newspapers and at public rallies that, at times, descended into near riots. On one occasion at Evandale in Tasmania, anti-Conscriptionists disrupted proceedings and damaged property. It was, according to Newland, ‘a disgraceful exhibition. After all, the men were a harmless and cowardly lot. Their tactics were altogether harmful to their own cause.’

His appointment with the AIF was terminated on 2 March 1918. Florence died from tuberculosis in September 1924 and Newland remarried the following year to Heather Vivienne Broughton. The couple had a daughter, Dawn, born on 21 June 1926. Newland remained with the permanent forces and served as an officer in various capacities in the inter war period. He was promoted to major in 1930 and awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 1935.

During the Second World War he served as a quartermaster before being placed on the retired list on 22 August 1941 with the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel and taking up a position as assistant deputy commissioner to the Northern Territory for the Red Cross Society. Later that same year he, along with 15 other Victoria Cross recipients attended the opening of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

James Newland died on 19 March 1949 from heart failure and was buried at Brighton Cemetery with full military honours.