The Greater Sacrifice

Of the more than 295,000 Australians who served on the Western Front, 46,000 lost their lives and 132,000 were wounded. Though often overlooked this represents a far greater sacrifice of young men than the Gallipoli Campaign in which an estimated 8,700 were killed and over 17,000 wounded. In all more than 61,000 Australians lost their lives in the Great War.

It was at Pozieres, a small village in the Somme valley in France, that the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) were said to have lost their innocence. This village was the scene of bitter and costly fighting for the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions in mid-1916. In less than seven weeks fighting at Pozieres and nearby Mouquet Farm, three Australian divisions suffered 23,000 casualties. Of these, 6,800 men were killed or died of wounds. It was a loss comparable with the casualties sustained by the Australian force over eight months at Gallipoli.

Pozieres was to become a benchmark that all subsequent battles were remembered for due to both its ferocity and intensity. The near-ceaseless artillery bombardment was an unprecedented experience of industrial-scale warfare for the men of the AIF.

Details:

On 23 July 1st Division captured the village and held its gains despite almost continuous artillery fire and repeated German counter-attacks. It suffered heavily and by the time the 1st was relieved by the 2nd Division on 27 July, it had suffered 5,285 casualties.

The 2nd Division mounted two further attacks. The first on 29 July, was a costly failure. However, the second attack launched on 2 August seized German positions beyond the village. But all came at great cost and the Australians endured heavy and effective retaliatory bombardments. By the time the 2nd was relieved on 6 August, a further 6,848 casualties had been amassed.

The 4th Division took its position in the line and faced a massive artillery bombardment, and on 7 August repelled a German counter-attack. This was to be the German’s last attempt to retake Pozieres. Some 4,649 men of the 4th were lost.