The Great War: The capture of Montbrehain, 1918
The last important action fought by the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War is virtually unknown.
The Gallipoli campaign of 1915 is widely known throughout Australia and the anniversary of Australian troops going into action for the first time is commemorated each year as Anzac Day. In contrast, the last important action fought by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War, around Montbrehain, a French village 75km east of Amiens, is virtually unknown.
On October 5, 1918, men of the depleted 2nd Australian Division captured the village after tired British troops, who had fought their way in two days earlier, had been unable to hold it. It was appropriate that in this their final battle the Australians should push deeper into the Germans’ territory than they had ever been before. It was a decisive success that resulted in the enemy being driven back beyond their Hindenburg Line defences.
At the end of the battle, in which the division suffered more than 400 casualties, the victorious troops could only stand weary, severely reduced in numbers and anxious for a long rest. They did not know it then, but they would not have to fight again. US troops took over their front and the division commenced its move to the safe rear areas.
The Australian prime minister had earlier insisted that all of the hard-used Australian units be rested before they might have to face yet another harsh battlefield winter. Already the Australian Corps’ four other divisions had been withdrawn to recover and to rebuild their strength. The war ended before any of them had returned to the front.
Since the previous August, each of the corps’ five divisions in France had been fighting a series of actions that had forced the Germans from their Amiens Line, to Péronne and Mont St Quentin, back to the Hindenburg Line, and now beyond it. They had played a vital role in the Allies’ “Advance to Victory”. This had been a period of movement in open rolling country, heavily supported by artillery, using tanks, and employing good infantry tactics. It was a contrast to the static warfare to which the Australians had been introduced when they arrived in France in 1916.
Throughout this period of successful advances the Australians had been driven hard by their commander, Lt-General Sir John Monash. He wanted to keep the Germans on their back foot and the attack on Montbrehain, at a time when he had few troops left, demonstrated his personal determination. Even when the last infantrymen were withdrawn after Montbrehain, the Australian artillery served on for a while, temporarily attached to American and British formations.
For the Australians, the order to attack Montbrehain was unexpected. On October 4, following a couple of days of fighting, men of the 2nd Division had moved into old German positions and were making themselves comfortable in abandoned trenches and dugouts with the expectation that they were about to be relieved. That evening they got the news that they would make another attack next morning, uphill against the fortified village. The unwelcome announcement was regarded by the troops as “a bombshell which did not come from the enemy”.
The attack on Montbrehain was set for 6.05am. The 21st and 24th Battalions (Victorians) were to advance behind an artillery barrage while the 2nd Pioneer Battalion would follow, swinging to the right to form a defensive flank. Two very under-strength companies of the 18th Battalion would also be added to the battle. Tanks would be used, but there were only enough for two to accompany each battalion, mainly to assist in mopping up. Field guns, and some heavy artillery, would provide the barrage that would open 300 yards (275m) in front of the infantry and move forward at 100-yard (90m) lifts every four minutes. Once the objectives had been reached the gunners would maintain protective fire for a further hour.
The Australian battalions were severely low in numbers. Most had difficulty in maintaining three companies (normally four), and these were usually reduced to only three platoons each. Only a fortnight earlier the 21st Battalion had been ordered to disband to provide men to fill out the other battalions of the 6th Brigade. On September 24 the troops, anxious to retain their proud identity, announced they would not carry out the order. There were similar occurrences in other brigades. In sensational circumstances, negotiations quickly followed and it was agreed that the disbandment be deferred. Going into battle, the battalion was keen to maintain its reputation, prove its value as a fighting unit and justify its independent existence.
By 1918 the infantryman had become a specialist, skilled in a variety of weapons, and soundly trained in platoon tactics. Platoons, when at full strength, had four sections, totalling up to 40 men. Normally there was a Lewis light machine-gun section, a section of rifle-bombers, and two sections of riflemen. However all units were by now severely low in numbers. Where possible, there were now two Lewis guns in a platoon, and the others sections were structured around this fire-power. In the assault, in addition to his rifle, each soldier carried machine-gun ammunition or four Mills bomb grenades. For this attack, two Vickers machine-gun teams also accompanied each battalion.
Going into battle, the 21st battalion was keen to maintain its reputation, prove its value as a fighting unit and justify its independent existence
The attack commenced early on a fine and misty morning. The 21st and 24th Battalions and the 2nd Division Pioneers moved off behind the barrage. Unfortunately, some early casualties were caused in the 21st Battalion by faulty shooting from their own artillery, and the tanks did not arrive on time. The enemy machine-gunners engaged the advancing Australians, who went forward in short rushes pressing close behind their falling shells. Numerous sharp encounters with the enemy followed as the infantry moved across fields, through wire, over hedges, and among damaged buildings. Enemy machine-guns poured out fire and snipers took a toll, but the advance continued.
The German defenders were tired and depleted. However they were strong in both light and medium machine-guns. Some of these were set up in buildings in the village, while others were in a string of trenches or quarries on the outskirts. This time there were few deep defences. Many enemy posts resisted fiercely and inflicted heavy casualties. Enemy artillery also engaged the attackers.
Early in the movement, the 24th Battalion was held up by heavy fire coming from one of the quarries to the north-west of the village. Lieutenant George Ingram led an attack that captured nine machine-guns and killed 42 enemy. He then went on ahead until fired on from a house. Again he attacked, bursting in through the back of the building, rushing down the stairs, forcing 30 Germans to surrender. He later assisted in the capture of other positions. For this work, Ingram, who already held the Military Medal, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award given to the veteran battalion during the war.
The employment of the Vickers gun teams among the assaulting troops was successful. Two teams advancing with the pioneers reached a railway cutting and suddenly found they were in a position to pour enfilading fire into a line of enemy machine-guns that had been set up along an embankment about 200m away. These machine guns were quickly put out of action and a major defensive line destroyed. The gun teams had not expected to be engaging the enemy at such close range. At the end of the day they rightly felt that they had played a full part in what they described as an “infantry fashion (that) was not regarded as part of the gun-team’s training or work”.
Stiff fighting continued during the day. When the tanks arrived they made a useful contribution by engaging some strong-points. Several forward Australian positions came under pressure as the Germans regrouped, but this time the enemy did not have the strength to mount a general counter-attack. The heaviest actions had been fought before noon, and the last position fell during the early evening. The village had not previously been in the front line and so still contained some civilians who came out to welcome their liberators. That night the Australians handed over to the Americans.
The Australian 2nd Pioneer Battalion had not been used in a full infantry role before this battle. It was a rather desperate move that had worked well. The battalion received high praise from the brigade commander. The commanding officer, Lt-Colonel F Annand, who received a bar to his DSO for the action, wrote proudly in his diary: “Had a tough fight but decided victory. Our battalion did splendidly in its first organised share in our attack as part of the infantry.”
No towering monument stands at Montbrehain to announce that here the AIF fought its last battle, but nearby war cemeteries contain some of those who were killed. One of these is the Calvaire Cemetery, which stands within the village and on the site of an enemy strong-point. It contains 55 Australians, seven of them unidentified. The headstones stand in neat rows.
These were ordinary Australians who had crossed the world to fight, far away from home and their loved ones. Their deaths seem all the more tragic because each of these men had only to survive that one last battle, just that one day, then they would be safe, they would go home. Some had been fighting for more than three years.
Thirty officers and 400 other ranks became casualties at Montbrehain. Officer casualties were high—10 had been killed. One company lost most of its officers, and the three company commanders of the 24th battalion were killed or wounded. It was a high price to pay.
Charles Bean described the successful battle in his Australian official history of the war. However, he concluded: “It is difficult to feel that it was wisely undertaken; it seemed, rather, devised to make some use of these troops before withdrawing them in accordance with the Prime Minister’s demand.”
Their deaths seem all the more tragic because each of these men had only to survive that one last battle, just that one day, then they would be safe, they would go home
Three weeks later some of the Australian artillery batteries, which had continued to serve with the British Army, withdrew to the village for a few days’ rest. Two-thirds of the buildings had been damaged or destroyed, and only a handful of villagers remained, but the Australians made themselves comfortable in what was available.
When the artillerymen departed from Montbrehain, the only remaining Australians were those buried there. Following the war the Imperial War Graves Commission set about establishing permanent war cemeteries and erected standard headstones over each of their graves.
Peter Burness AM was a senior curator and historian at the Australian War Memorial for 43 years. He is a Fellow of the Memorial, the author of several books, and editor of The Western Front diaries of Charles Bean (NewSouth, 2018).
-
Mates — to the very end
There is no grave more poignant in Calvaire Cemetery than that of Captain John Fletcher. He was a schoolteacher from Eaglehawk in Victoria and was one of the 24th Battalion’s company commanders in the attack. Another company was led by his best friend from pre-war days, Captain John Mahony, who had been well known at home as a footballer. They had joined together, had served on Gallipoli, where Fletcher was wounded in the campaign’s closing days, and had endured some of the AIF’s worst battles on the Western Front. Mahony had been awarded the Military Cross for his work at Mouquet Farm in 1916.
The historian of the battalion recorded the dread felt by the men before the battle, when they learnt that they were to make one further attack before being relieved. But their spirits revived and it is recorded that on the eve of battle, nine of the officers joined in a sing-song in an old captured dugout. Fletcher joined Mahony in singing ‘I’m Courting Bonnie Lizzie Lindsay Noo’, and alone sang ‘The Bells of St Mary’s’.
During the attack Fletcher’s company advanced until held up by heavy machine-gun fire. A tank came up to lend support but it drew artillery fire from the Germans. Some of this fire caught Fletcher and he was killed. Mahony was on the right flank; he was mortally wounded later in the day.
The two close friends had survived the war’s most awful experiences only to die in the last battle.
