Battles at France and the third battle of Ypres
FRANCE
It would be difficult these days to find an Australian who hasn't heard of Gallipoli. What many Australians fail to realise is that after this bitter and bloody campaign against Turkey many of these same troops were sent to France to fight on the Western Front of World War I. It is here that they made a significant contribution to the defeat of the German forces who had invaded France in 1914.
After escaping the horrors of Gallipoli, the Anzac troops were redeployed to France to fight the Germans. The only units not sent to the Western European front were the light horse which remain in the Middle East. By July 1916 there were more than 90,000 Australians on the Western Front, another 90,000 training in England while about 25,000 remained in the Middle East
YPRES
The Australian infantry divisions joined the Third Battle of Ypres which had been going on since 31 July when they took part in the battle of Menin Road on 20 September 1917. Fortunately a change in the weather brought for them better fighting conditions. The side-by-side advance of the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions took them up to the splintered remnants of Polygon Wood not far from Zonnebeke. The 4th and 5th Divisions then took over and, as part of the wider effort, they attacked on 26 September. In both cases the fighting was bloody. German concrete pillboxes often blocked the Australians' progress, and many men fell under shell and machine-gun fire. However with heavy artillery support the objectives were taken and enemy counter-attacks held off. These systematic step-by-step advances, staying within range of the supporting artillery, pushed the line forward by a few kilometres, but they were made at a heavy cost; in just over a week there were almost 11,000 Australian casualties.
It would be difficult these days to find an Australian who hasn't heard of Gallipoli. What many Australians fail to realise is that after this bitter and bloody campaign against Turkey many of these same troops were sent to France to fight on the Western Front of World War I. It is here that they made a significant contribution to the defeat of the German forces who had invaded France in 1914.
After escaping the horrors of Gallipoli, the Anzac troops were redeployed to France to fight the Germans. The only units not sent to the Western European front were the light horse which remain in the Middle East. By July 1916 there were more than 90,000 Australians on the Western Front, another 90,000 training in England while about 25,000 remained in the Middle East
YPRES
The Australian infantry divisions joined the Third Battle of Ypres which had been going on since 31 July when they took part in the battle of Menin Road on 20 September 1917. Fortunately a change in the weather brought for them better fighting conditions. The side-by-side advance of the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions took them up to the splintered remnants of Polygon Wood not far from Zonnebeke. The 4th and 5th Divisions then took over and, as part of the wider effort, they attacked on 26 September. In both cases the fighting was bloody. German concrete pillboxes often blocked the Australians' progress, and many men fell under shell and machine-gun fire. However with heavy artillery support the objectives were taken and enemy counter-attacks held off. These systematic step-by-step advances, staying within range of the supporting artillery, pushed the line forward by a few kilometres, but they were made at a heavy cost; in just over a week there were almost 11,000 Australian casualties.