Australian barbed wire : 8th Infantry Brigade, AIF

Places
Accession Number RELAWM00544
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Steel
Maker Unknown
Unknown
Date made c 1916
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Piece of barbed wire with two strands of loosely twisted wire with thinner shorter pieces twisted around one of the main wires to make a barb.

History / Summary

This length of barbed-wire was part of the entanglement in front of the Australian breastwork at Fleurbaix, from which the battalions of the 8th Infantry Brigade attacked Fromelles.

Fromelles was the first major battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front. Directed against a strong German position known as the Sugar Loaf salient, the attack was intended primarily as a feint to draw the Germans from the main Somme offensive, then being pursued further to the south. A seven-hour preparatory bombardment deprived the attack of any hope of surprise, and ultimately proved ineffective in subduing the well-entrenched defenders.

When the troops of the 5th Australian and 61st British Divisions attacked at 6pm on 19 July 1916, they suffered heavy losses at the hands of German machine-gunners. Small sections of the German trenches were captured by the 8th and 14th Australian Brigades, but, without flanking support and subjected to fierce counter-attacks, they were forced to withdraw. By 8am on 20 July the battle was over. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 casualties, rendering it incapable of offensive action for many months; the 61st British Division suffered 1,547. German casualties were little more than 1,000. The attack was a complete and costly failure as the Germans realised within a few hours it was merely a feint, and made no impact whatsoever upon the progress of the Somme offensive.