Acting Bombardier Walter George Smith

Rod Martin

When war broke out in August 1914, there was a rush of young men to the Australian recruiting offices.  So many men were attempting to enlist that the military realised that it could be choosy about who it signed up.  As a result, it enforced strict rules concerning the physiques and medical fitness of the men it accepted.  They had to be of a certain height, have a certain chest circumference, not have flat feet and have good teeth.  It may be that butcher Walter Smith of 22 Lethbridge Street in Moonee Ponds tried to enlist at that time and was rejected because of the condition of his teeth.  By the time he did sign up in March 1916, the numbers of recruits had declined drastically (from a peak of more than 35 000 in July 1915 to around 6 000 per month just a year later) and the army, looking to expand units and supplement the troops heading for the Western Front, could not afford to be so selective any more.  Walter was accepted and referred straight away to the army dental board for treatment.

Twenty-five year-old Walter was a fairly average-sized man for his time, standing around 170 centimetres tall and weighing around sixty-five kilos. He was assigned to the artillery, initially appointed to 118 Howitzer Battery, and did much of his training at Maribyrnong and Geelong.  While at one of those places, he came into contact with someone who had measles, and he was sent to the special isolation camp at Ascot Vale and put in quarantine for five days during July 1916.

Once cleared of any infection, he resumed his training during August and September and then sailed for Plymouth on A60 HMAT Aeneas on 3 October, travelling via the Cape of Good Hope in order to avoid German submarines in the Mediterranean.

Troops boarding HMAT Aeneas, Port Melbourne 3 October 1916 (AWM PB0008)

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/PB0008

HMAT Aeneas sailing from Port Melbourne, 3 October 1916  (AWM PB0002)

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/PB0002

Walter arrived in England on 19 November and stayed there until he transferred to the training camp at Etaples, near Boulogne, in January 1917.  That month, in order to economise on batteries and brigade commanders, batteries were increased in size from four to six guns each, some brigades were disbanded and others became army brigades, not attached to any particular divisions. In early April, Walter was assigned to 106 Howitzer Battery, a part of 6 Australian Field Artillery Brigade.  106 Battery was equipped with six 4.5 inch ‘light’ howitzer guns.  These weapons were manoeuvrable, had short barrels and were designed to fire shells on high trajectories, which then had steep angles of descent, falling much like bombs from mortars or aeroplanes.

4.5 inch howitzer  (en.wikipedia.org)

Because of their relatively short range, the 4.5 inch howitzers had to be located close to the enemy trenches.  As a result, they were obvious targets for the enemy, and were often bombarded by similar kinds of enemy guns.  The life of a howitzer gunner was a very dangerous one!

6 Field Artillery Brigade was initially assigned to support the Australian 2 Division, and followed it around as it moved to different theatres of war.  When Walter joined it in April 1917, it was located in the Somme Valley in France, not far from the town of Bullecourt.  Its main task was to bombard the enemy trenches with its eighteen-pounder field guns and its howitzer battery.  In many cases, the aim was to use the shells to break gaps in the German barbed wire so that troops could pass through during any advance against the German lines or stealthy night time raids.  The tasks had their dangers.  The brigade lost three men killed and three wounded during that month.

In the first week of May, 6 FAB was at Bullecourt to support 2 Division during the battle known as Second Bullecourt. An earlier attack by 4 Division had been repulsed, causing    3 000 casualties and the capture of 1 300 men.  The second attack was more successful, but still inconclusive.

6 FAB men unloading ammunition in the Somme area 1918   (AWM E02907)

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/E02907

The brigade stayed in the area of the Somme until the end of the month, when it moved north into Belgium to assist 4 Division in the planned attack in Flanders – known as the Third Battle of Ypres.  The start of June found the men based at Ploegsteert, near Messines.  The front around Ypres had been active since the start of the war, and a new offensive had been planned, the ostensible purposes of which were to capture the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast, divert German resources from the front in France (thus taking pressure off the beleaguered French Army) and damage German morale.  The easternmost target of the advance was the small village of Passchendaele, and the battle is often referred to erroneously by that name.

Third Ypres began with the successful detonation of nineteen huge mines under Messines Ridge on 7 June.  While not actively involved in that event, Walter’s 106 Howitzer Battery was nevertheless subjected to German shelling, and the left section was twice forced to evacuate the area.  The next day, some of their ammunition was blown up by aerial attack.

By then the Battle of Messines had begun, the Allies taking advantage of the devastating and unexpected effect of the mines on the Germans.  In five days, the allied troops captured the ridge and three kilometres of territory.  It was, according to Peter Cochrane, one of the great set-piece victories of the war.  It came at a high cost, however: 6 800 Australian casualties.

(Gibbs: From Bapaume to Passchendaele 1917)

And we should not forget the service and sacrifice made by horses during the war.  The recent Steven Spielberg film War Horse serves to remind us of the many duties carried out by horses, including cavalry, supply wagons and field guns/howitzers.  Many of the horses suffered and died as a result of their involvement.  In August 1917 alone, for example, 6 FAB lost eight horses killed or dead from disease.  Seven were killed by one shell at Reninghelst on 31 October.

Walter’s brigade continued its activity in the area for the majority of the month.  On 24 June, for example, 106 Battery fired 100 rounds at an active German battery.  On the 26^th, it retreated for a rest period, and many of the men went on leave to the nearby town of Bailleul. 

After returning to active duty in mid-July, 106 Battery was attached to another field artillery unit and remained with it until late August. This happened on a number of  occasions during the war, no doubt depending on who needed light howitzer support at any particular time. 

In September, 6 FAB was based at Zillebeke (see map above), and it supported some of the Australian successes in Belgium, including the Battles of Menin Road and Polygon Wood.  It was during this time that Walter was appointed as an acting bombardier (equivalent to a lance-bombardier in the modern army).  In early October, the brigade moved away from the action towards a training and recuperation spot at Reninghelst.  By the time it arrived there, the weather in Flanders had deteriorated, incessant rain turning the delicate soil to thick, glutinous mud that bogged everything down.

A 4.5 inch howitzer bogged down near Passchendaele, October 1917    

(AWM E01088)  http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/E01088

At the end of the month, Walter went on some well-deserved leave to England, and returned to the brigade on 17 November.  Third Ypres had petered out and it ended with a somewhat pyrrhic victory when the ruined village of Passchendaele was captured during the month.  Conflict along the front line still went on, however, and 6 FAB was still in Belgium.  It remained there until early April 1918, operating once again in the vicinity of Messines.  On 7 April, however, the brigade was relieved, handed its guns over in situ and headed south towards Amiens in France.  The Germans had mounted what was to be their last big offensive during the previous month, and support was needed to stop their advance.  By 13 April, 106 Battery was firing as many as 200 rounds a day on targets such as roads and machine guns near Ribemont in the Somme Valley.       

106 Battery howitzers at Ribemont, April 1918.  Walter could be

number 1, 4 or 6.  The other men have been identified.    (AWM E04779K)

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/E04779K

The Australians maintained a holding pattern along the front during May, June and July while the Allies regrouped and prepared for a counter-attack.  In May, the Australians began a tactic of ‘peaceful penetration’.  In Richard Travers’ words, they cut off and captured small segments of the German lines by stealth attacks.  They began counter-attacking in earnest by winning the Battle of Hamel in early July. Late that month, 6 FAB moved to Villers-Bretonneux near Amiens, preparing to provide support for the start of the major counter-attack, the Battle of Amiens, planned by Sir John Monash for 8 August.  At 4.20 am on that day, the brigade joined in the preliminary bombardment just before the infantry went over the top.  On the day that German general Erich Ludendorff described as the ‘black one’ for the German Army, the Allies won a resounding victory, advancing thirteen kilometres across a 15 000-metre front.  the Germans suffered 27 000 casualties, including 12 000 prisoners.

As the battlefront moved eastwards, 6 FAB followed in its wake.  During the month, 106 Battery suffered eight casualties, six of them deaths.  Five men were killed on 17 August alone. By the end of September, the brigade was in action at Villeret, north-east of St. Quentin.  On 5 October, 2 Division, the only Australian one left in the line, mounted an attack on Montbrehain.  It was to be the last Australian infantry action of the war.  6 FAB provided artillery support for the attack, which was successful.  After Montbrehain, the infantry handed control of the action to American forces, and then went into reserve.  6 FAB, however, remained on duty, this time supporting advancing American forces.  On 17 October, it participated in a barrage in support of 30 American Division at Busigny. Beginning at 5.20 am, the Americans gained their first objective and the brigade moved up to support their further advance.  As it did so, the troops encountered a heavy barrage from the Germans, and were unable to move further ahead.  Sometime during that barrage, Walter was hit by shell fragments in the head and the shoulder.  He was evacuated to a hospital in Rouen, and by the time the armistice came into effect on 11 November was reported as ‘doing well’.  On 8 December he was transferred to the London General Hospital at Camberwell and on 27 December was reported as ‘doing very well, very cheerful’.  Eight days later he was dead.  The head wound was obviously more serious than first imagined and he contracted meningitis, perhaps as a consequence of it.  Red Cross reports indicate that he became unconscious six days before he died and remained so except for a few hours.  A Red Cross visitor reported that his end was quite peaceful and that he did not suffer.  The visitor reflected that ‘it was a happy release’.

Walter was given a full military funeral at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey in January 1919.

A military funeral at Brookwood Cemetery, 1919.  Judging by the long coats being  worn, the funeral was held in cold weather.  It could have been Walter’s. (AWM D00185)   

Sources

Australian War Memorial

Cochrane, Peter: Australians at war, Sydney, ABC Books, 2001

En.wikipedia.org

Gibbs, Philip: From Bapaume to Passchendaele 1917, London, William Heinemann, 1918

http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au

National Archives of Australia

The Age, 5 May 1917

Travers, Richard: Diggers in France: Australian soldiers on the Western Front, Sydney, ABC Books, 2008

WELCOME & FAREWELL

The esteem in which Pt. Gordon Lyon (4th Light Horse) is held by the Ramblers was exemplified last Saturday at Essendon, when he was presented with a silver-mounted whip. The evening took the form of a welcome home, and at the same time a farewell. Pt. G. Lyon is leaving for the front again on or about the 28th of this month. The toast of The King was proposed by the chairman, Mr. A. G. E. Smith. The presentation fell to the lot of Mr. Geo. Dobson, who said if it had not been for the work of our men who had left Australia to fight our battles for us, we would be in a very bad way. There is little need to say how proud the Ramblers were of their mate. They trusted Pte. Lyon would come back again safely. The whip will help to remind him that there are friends at home ever thinking of him. The speaker stated his willingness to enlist on May 1st, and if accepted, he would have to leave a wife and four children. (Applause.)-

In responding, Pte. G. Lyon said he was glad the Ramblers had given an evening, and pleased beyond description with the whip. Mr. Dobson spoke of the spirit in which it was given, and that was everything. Pt. Lyon gave a review of the war as he had seen it--humour and pathos. The men here did not seem to understand that there is more in life than pleasure and money-making. He was glad to hear that one of their number had that day enlisted. He would be a better man for having done so. He would keep the whip close by him, and it would take a good man to take it from him. He thanked all for their good wishes. (Applause.)

The next toast fell to Mr. Stan Jennings. He said one of our members, Mr. Walter Smith, had enlisted, and been referred to the Dental Board. He wished him success, and was sure he would uphold the good name of Australia. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Walter Smith has since passed the Board, and has been accepted. In responding, Mr. Walter Smith, said he only hoped he would pass the Dental Board, and be able to do his share of what has to be done.

The chairman proposed the toast of "Our Guest.'' They all knew the sacrifice he made when he enlisted. He had offered his life in defence of our homes, and had not counted the cost. It was men like Pt. Lyon who were making history. He was one of the first to offer himself. They were sure he would make good if he got a chance. It was a pity that the best of our man hood should go, but such is war. Mr. Stevens, who has returned from the front, supported the toast, and said he was unable to return to the front. He wanted to say that Pte. Lyon was a game man. He knew what war was, and was going back with a smile. (Applause.)

Pt. Lyon responded, and said he could say no more than he had already said. He thanked all for their kind remarks. Much of the pleasure of the evening was due to Mr. Stan Jennings and Mr. Walter Smith, both of whom rendered vocal items. The National Anthem brought the evening to a close. 

WELCOME & FAREWELL. (1916, March 23). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 5 Edition: Morning.. Retrieved January 28, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74592345