On Monday 26th June 1916, Thomas
arrived in the region of Blaringhem. He was based in the town of Morbecque, which was located 20 kms from the front line.
As he familiarised himself with the French countryside and cobblestoned villages, Thomas would have noticed the local women and children going about their daily lives in a manner that seemed
counter-intuitive to how one ought to behave in a war-zone. He would have experienced these French townsfolk as friendly and
hospitable. However, Thomas and his mates were warned by their commanding officer to be cautious when interacting with the local people as there were rumours some were German spies attempting to gather intelligence from loose
lip soldiers frequenting the local taverns.
“Even
the farm where we were billeted in had a girl who we understood was under
observation as a suspected spy” (Captain W H Zander, 30th battalion, cited in Corfield 2000, p.93)
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| The red dot shows the region where Thomas was located when he arrived at the front line. |
On Saturday 8 July
1916, Thomas marched for two days along “beautiful woods and peaceful
villages” (Lindsay, 2007) to the town of Estuaries. During this march, the
new English boots provided to him when he landed at Marseilles are likely to have cause severe blistering on his feet. During this long march, many soldiers had to withdraw to receive medical treatment.
The order was given that Thomas' 5th
AIF Division was to relieve the 4th Division from front line duties. The ground in the area had a very high water table. As trenches could not be dug more than one metre in depth, sandbags were needed to raise the height. The heavy rain in early July 1916 made the ground sodden, which also caused conditions to be difficult.
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| Here is an example of trench conditions similar to what Thomas would have experienced. Notice too how the sandbags created the breastwork that raised the height of the trench. |
On the night of 10 July 1916 Thomas walked quietly along the communication trenched to position himself behind sandbags. As he completed this task he would have been confronted by the smell of decay and urine. When dawn arrived he would have gazed at the carnage in no man's land and also seen the intimidating sight of five enemy
balloons hovering overhead that day. Thomas may have also fired his first shot in anger during his stint at the frontline.
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| A German balloon used in WW1 to spy on the allies up to a height of 4000mt. The Balloon was connected to a wrench on the ground so it could be wound down. |
The sharp pungent smell of cordite from exploding artillery shells was inescapable. So too the ominous ‘wizzzz bang!’ noise of artillery fire, which caused many soldiers to hold their breath and hope the shell was not going to land on them (Wilkinson, 2011). Sadly, Thomas witnessed the fate of some of his fellow soldiers when they were killed or injured by artillery fire, some of which had come from ally artillery fire that had fallen short.
“The 29th (Battalion) had been in the line for a few
days at the beginning and taken some losses, not a few due to shorts from the
Australian artillery” (Corfield, 2000, p113).
On Thursday 13 July, 1916, Thomas and his battalion left the frontline, marched through Erquinghem then on to Bois Granier, where he was billeted. At Bois Granier he had several accommodation choices
available to him: stable, pigpen or cowshed.
Little did our (Grand) father know that in less than a week he would be involved in the AIF's first major battle at the Western Front that stands as Australia's bloodiest 24 hour period in history.
bibliography
Corfield, R (2000), Don’t Forget Me, Cobber: The Battle of Fromelles, Corfield and Company, Vic.
Wilkinson, C (2011), Fromelles: Australia’s Bloodiest Day at War. Black Dog Books, Vic.
Lindsay, P (2007) Fromelles. Hardie Grant Books, Vic.
