Portion of tree trunk with embedded artillery shell : 17th Battalion, AIF

Place Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Mont St Quentin
Accession Number RELAWM00964
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Brass, Wood
Location Main Bld: First World War Gallery: Western Front 1918: Villers Bretonneaux
Maker Unknown
Place made France
Date made 1918
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Portion of a tree trunk into which an artillery shell has penetrated. Attached to the top of the trunk by four tacks is a thin brass plaque into which is stamped 'COLLECTED BY 17TH BATTALION. / A.I.F. NEAR THEIR HEAD/ QUARTERS. AT MEREAUCOURT. WOOD. / ON THE 30. 8. 18.'.

History / Summary

This shell was found deeply embedded in the trunk of a tree by 17 Battalion on 30 August 1918 in Mereaucourt Wood near Mont St Quentin. The men were so astonished by their finding that they cut the tree down to take the shell portion of it with them as a souvenir.

The 17th Battalion was raised at Liverpool in New South Wales in March 1915 as part of the 5th Brigade. It left Australia in early May, trained in Egypt from mid-June until mid-August, before landing at Gallipoli on 20 August.

At Gallipoli the battalion participated in the last action of the August Offensive - the attack on Hill 60 - before settling into a defensive routine in the trenches. For a short period part of the 17th garrisoned Pope’s Hill, but for most of its time on the peninsular the battalion was responsible for the defence of Quinn’s Post. The Battalion was evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915.

After further training in Egypt, the 17th Battalion proceeded to France. Arriving there on 22 March 1916, it took part in its first major battle at Pozières between 25 July and 5 August. The battalion returned to the Pozières trenches for a second time, although in a reserve role, between 18 and 28 August. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division, which included the 5th Brigade, came south again in October. The 17th Battalion was spared from having to mount an attack across the quagmire the Somme battlefield had become, but did have to continue manning the front through a very bleak winter.

In 1917 the 17th was involved in the follow-up of German forces after their retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and was one of four battalions to defeat the German forces at Lagincourt. The battalion took part in three major battles before the year was out, second Bullecourt (3-4 May) in France, and Menin Road (20-22 September) and Poelcappelle (9-10 October) in Belgium.

After another winter of trench duty, 17th Battalion helped to thwart the German Spring Offensive of 1918. With this last desperate offensive defeated, the Allied armies turned to the offensive and the 17th participated in the battles that pushed the German Army ever closer to defeat: Amiens on 8 August, the legendary attack on Mont St Quentin on 31 August, and the forcing of the Beaurevoir Line around Montbrehain on 3 October. Montbrehain was the battalion’s last battle. It was training out of the line when the armistice was declared in November 1918, and was disbanded in April 1919.