Remembering Pozieres: ‘Generation where sacrifice had no bounds’

The theme “sacrifice for others” was the unifying message from the weekend tribute in the French village of Pozieres.

Australian Army soldiers carry the coffin of an unknown Australian soldier into Pozieres cemetery on Saturday. Picture: Department of Defence

The theme “sacrifice for others” was the unifying and emotional message from the weekend commemoration in the French village of Pozieres to honour the most ­intense period of military sacrifice in Australia’s history, 100 years ago to the day.

A group of 1300 Australians ­assembled at Pozieres, a high point on the Somme and ­rivalled only by Gallipoli in our war commemoration, to pay ­tribute to the 1st ANZAC Corps that suffered 24,139 casualties in the ­offensive launched on July 23, 1916.

“They left their homes, families, friends, loved ones and they left their futures,” Veterans’ ­Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said of the men of the Australian ­Imperial Force who fought at ­Pozieres. “They were of a generation where sacrifice had no bounds.”

In his address as the main Australian government representative, Mr Tehan reminded those present that the men were volunteers who at Pozieres suffered artil­lery bombardments of an industrial scale far beyond anything the AIF experienced at Gallipoli.

The commemoration was not just a homage to the men who suffered and died a century ago. It ­became an invocation of their sacrifice and, in the process, offered a homily to the current generation of the enduring importance of giving to the community. Mr Tehan said Pozieres enshrined the ­notion of “giving for our country”.

The Australian engagements at Pozieres left 6731 dead in the short campaign as part of the huge, ill-fated, Anglo-French ­offen­sive that had begun on the Somme on July 1.

Pozieres, a century later, has a distinct Australian feel. More Australians were lost at Pozieres in seven weeks of fighting than were lost in the entire eight months on Gallipoli.

“It was a bloody and brutal ­battle,” Mr Tehan said. “It was a military success — our soldiers captured the village and held it — but success came at a terrible cost.”

Held in the late-afternoon sun on Saturday at the 1st Division Memorial site under Australian and French flags, featuring the Last Post and the national ­anthems of both nations, the cere­mony was a fusion of national, military and religious tribute.

The Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, said: “On this day 100 years after these momentous events I ask us all to remember them. Courage meant many things on the battlefield at Pozieres. To run across no-man’s land towards an enemy trench, to stand against fierce counter-­attacks, to endure the shellfire, to deliver supplies and ammunition under ceaseless fire, to see your mates fall, and to stoically fight on took an almost inhuman effort.”

Mr Tehan told the story of two brothers, Alec and “Goldy” Raws, both killed at Pozieres with Alec telling his father when he volunteered that “there are some things worth more than life”.

The Somme saw a dramatic ­escalation in the rate and intensity of Australian casualties and ­exposed the AIF to relentless artillery that often left men dead, wounded or mad.

The battle at Pozieres saw three of the five Australian divis­ions fully engaged — the 1st, 2nd and 4th — being constantly rotated during the six weeks of most intensive and terrifying combat.

Pozieres was reduced to ashes. Nearby cornfields, almost ready to harvest, gave way to end­less troop processions, horse-drawn supplies and artillery pieces.

In 1993, when Paul Keating was prime minister and the ­Unknown Soldier was interred in the Australian War Memorial, soil from Pozieres was scattered over his coffin. It highlights the true meaning of Pozieres: the ­unmatched, iconic location of Australian sacrifice.

The ceremony began with an opening address by Australian ambassador to France, Stephen Brady, who said Pozieres was a battle in which men were “obliterated” in an experience that was “beyond comprehension’’.

In his Prayer of Remembrance, Monsignor Glynn Murphy, the army’s director-general of chaplaincy, said: “We give thanks for the steadfast support and loyalty they gave to each other amid the worst days of heir young lives.”

In the 1930s, the Australian War Memorial bought the land on which the windmill had stood at Pozieres. French and Australian flags honour the location.

Pozieres is a sacred site and the soil, in a symbolic gesture, now lies in the heart of the nation.