Battle of Pozières, 100 years ago

This Saturday, the Australian War Memorial will remember and honour the service and sacrifice of those Australian’s who fought during the battle of Pozières, 100 years ago.

On 23 July the 1st Division attacked and captured the German-occupied village, making an advance of over 1,000 yards. The successful capture of the village pushed a bulge in the British line, thereby allowing German artillery to relentlessly shell the Australian positions from multiple sides. The 1st Division suffered heavily under the bombardment, incurring 5,285 casualties over five days.

Ivor Margetts was born in Launceston, Tasmania, on the 4th of September 1891 to Stephen Ward Margetts and his wife, Charlotte. His father owned a well-known auctioneering business and was a local preacher in the Baptist church. He attended school in Launceston and Hobart University, where he later became a teacher. He was a prominent footballer, well known in clubs all around Tasmania, and was described as “a through sportsman in every way”.

On the outbreak of war in August 1914 Margetts left his position at the Hutchins School in Hobart to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He was granted the rank of second lieutenant on the basis of his experience in the local Militia. By the time he landed on Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915 he had already been promoted to lieutenant.

A number of Margetts’s brothers also served in the AIF. Ralph Margetts served with the Medical Corps, and heard of Ivor’s exploits at the Gallipoli landing from a wounded sergeant of the 12th Battalion. Ralph wrote:

[The sergeant] saw Ivor about midday; he was well, but very untidy – said he was fighting like a wild Irishman, with most of his clothes torn off … You should just hear the naval men who put our men ashore speak of the way our lads charged up those hills! They say it was simply wonderful, and they have made a name for themselves forever.

Ivor Margetts continued to prove himself an able soldier. He was promoted to captain on Gallipoli in late July, and wrote home of many narrow escapes, including one occasion on which every other officer in his company was killed or wounded. He came through unscathed, but later found his clothes riddled with bullet holes.

The 12th Battalion arrived in France in the first half of 1916. Its first serious engagement on the Western Front came at Pozières [pron. Pozzy – air], when on the 23rd of July it participated in a successful occupation to capture the village from the Germans. The night before the attack Margetts explained the plan to his men, finishing by saying, “Remember lads, it is not hard to die.” The battalion launched its attack just hours later.

By the 24th of July it was reported that the village was clear, and Captain Margetts and another officer went through the village marking areas for trenches to be dug. At around 10 pm he was leading his men to the new forward positions when the group came under shell-fire. Captain Margetts was struck in the chest with a large shell fragment and died within minutes. He was buried in a nearby shell hole, aged 24.

An officer of the 12th Battalion wrote to Mr and Mrs Margetts in Tasmania to tell them of their son’s death, adding:

we were all so sure that he, above all others, was going to come through all right and live to be the example to his fellows which his ability was sure to have made him … we had always been such good pals before the war … He will be hard to replace in the battalion, as he had a better military knowledge of both field and officer work than I suppose any other officer.

One of Margetts’ men likewise called him “a gentleman and a soldier”, and wrote:

The men simply worshipped him, and what’s more he had that knack of knowing how to treat his men. He always got the best out of us without any trouble.

Margett’s grave survived the battle, and is recorded in a photograph held by the Australian War Memorial. However, subsequent fighting meant that the small white cross marking his grave was lost, and today he has no known resting place. He is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Villers-Bretonneux [pron. Villers – Breton – oh].

His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.  His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Captain Ivor Stephen Margetts, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told at the Australian War Memorial.