The battle for

The battle for
villers – bretonneux
and how it was nearly lost
Matt Walsh
Table of Content
Topic
The British approach
The Plan
Training and Leadership
Structure
The Big Picture
Background
• The Western Front
Operation Michael
The Australians
The first Battle of Villers- Bretonneux ( The Battle of the Avre) [4th April 1918]
The second Battle of Villers- Bretonneux (24th -25th April 1918)
The conduct of the Battle
15th Brigade
The Villiers- Bretonneux Cross
Cemeteries
• The Australian National Memorial
• Adelaide Cemetery
• The Unknown Soldier
The village of Villers-Bretonneux
• The Victoria School
• Restaurant Le Kangourou
Awards received during the Battle
An interview with Lt. Clifford Sadlier VC
Map of Villers-Bretonneux area
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This booklet is an initiative of the Defence Reserves Association (NSW) Inc and the Military Police
Association of Australia Inc. as part of their Schools Military History Program.
Written and compiled by Matt Walsh JP MLO ALGA (MCAE) Dip Bus & Corp Law (CPS)
© 2008 Matt Walsh.
The British approach
An examination of the tactics and planning or lack of it by the British High Command in respect to the
defence of Villers-Bretonneux and its ultimate recapture by the Australians on the 25th April 1918 is an
indication of the inadequacy of the British Senior Officers (Command). It is apparent that they had not
learnt anything from their shambles at Gallipoli.
An examination of the plan or lack of planning by the British in regard to the Villers-Bretonneux
would reveal the following:•
•
•
•
•
British Training Programs
British Officer selection procedures
British Brigade organisation
British Officers lack of comprehension of the ‘Big Picture’
Deficiencies in the defence Plans for Villers- Bretonneux including flexibility
The Plan
In September 1916 the British introduced to the Western Front their secret weapon ‘The Tank’.
When developing their plan for the defence of Villers- Bretonneux they should have considered the
suitability of the ground east of Villers-Bretonneux in that was highly suitable for use by tanks British
and German. This should have included the knowledge that whilst the German version was inferior to
the British in a cross country action, this would not be an impediment for the Germans as the terrain
south of the Roman Road was ideal for tanks.
It is interesting to note that the Germans at this time had twice as many tanks consisting of captured
rebuilt and modified MkIV tanks as well as their own ATV tanks.
It was also a failure by the British to recognise and plan for the use of field guns as anti armour
weapons, whilst the Germans had realised the importance of this tactic and in April 1917 they used
them against the Canadians at Vimy Ridge and again by Lt. General Otto Von Moser in the defence of
the Hindenburg Line (Bullecourt - Reincort).
The Germans perfected this technique and their gunners received specific training in the anti- armoured
role, during the Battle of Cambrai (November 1917) the British lost 64 tanks to anti-armour fire.
The British failed to recognise the effectiveness of field guns being used in an anti-armour role, thus
permitting the Germans to capitalise on the use of tanks in overrunning front line trenches.
-1Training- Leadership
The GOC 8th Division Major General William Heneker was a typical example of the British ‘Spit and
Polish’ approach. He required soldiers to salute him if they were within eyes range. This was more
important to him than providing his men with training in combat skills.
This approach to both training and leadership would appear to be the result of the British Officer
Selection Program, which was based on ‘Social Standing’ and which Public School you had attended.
This resulted in junior officers being posted to front line units with no experience or leadership
capabilities, particularly when under fire.
Whereas the Australian junior officer had on most occasions started as a Private and worked their way
up the ranks, and therefore were combat smart.
Structure
It appeared that the British were continually changing their Division/Brigade/Unit structure. This
made it difficult to integrate the various units and develop an “Esprit de Corps”, whereas the
Australians retained the same infantry structure throughout the duration of the war.
The Big Picture
Whilst it would appear the GOC 8th Division did not have an overall counter penetration or attack plan.
Brigadier General Harold” Pompey” Elliott of the 15th Australian Brigade could see the ‘big picture’
and made counter attack plans should the inevitable occur and Villers Bretonneux fall. This plan
included the timely and accurate information about the progress of the Battle, something the British had
failed to do. Fortunately, we are aware of the result. The Australians recaptured Villers Bretonneux on
the 25th April 1918.
-2Background
When one reads books relating to World War I, one will continually find references to the “Western
Front” this reference is actually the German “Western Front” as their Eastern Front was in Russia.
The “Western Front” was an irregular and multiple lines of trenches which ran a distance of 760
kilometres from the English Channel to the Swiss Border.
Map showing the German
Western & Eastern Fronts
Western Front
Eastern Front
Operation Michael
The Germans commenced an offensive on the morning of 21st March 1918 between Arras and St.
Quentin known as ‘Operation Michael’ as a result of this offensive the Germans in less than a week had
recaptured all the ground they had lost to the British in the previous (18) eighteen months.
Paris was subject to shelling on the 23rd March 1918 and Peronne and Bapaume were retaken on the
24th March 1918 with Albert and Pozieres captured by the 26th March 1918. This then placed the
Germans within (1) one mile of Villers- Bretonneux and within reach of the railhead at Amiens.
The Australians
By the 25th March 1918 the Australian 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions moved to the Somme to halt the
German advance.
-3The First Battle for Villers- Bretonneux
In 1918 Villers-Bretonneux was a town of 5,000 inhabitants and was virtually untouched by the war.
On the 4th April 1918 the Germans commenced their offensive on Villers- Bretonneux and managed to
reach the outskirts of the town. They were held back by the 9th Australian Brigade under the command
of Brigadier General Rosenthal they were assisted by some British troops.
The 9th Brigade was made up of the following Infantry Battalions.
Villers- Bretonneux was saved for the time being.
Operations by the 12th and 13th Brigades of the 4th Division continued in the surrounding areas.
This caused “Operation Michael to grind to a halt and it was cancelled.
-4The Second Battle of Villers- Bretonneux (24th 25th April 1918)
Things remained reasonably quite on the Somme until the 24th April 1918 when the Germans again
launched an attack with Infantry supported by Tanks which resulted in the capture of
Villers- Bretonneux and seriously threatened the town of Amiens.
Troops of the 13th Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Glasgow
supported by the 15th Brigade under the command of Brigadier Elliott, which consisted of the following
Infantry Battalions.
Conduct of the Battle
The attack was commenced south of Villers-Bretonneux by the 13th Australian Infantry Brigade with
its main objective to capture Monument Wood thus threatening the German Lines of withdrawal and
the possible introduction of German reinforcement into Villers- Bretonneux.
Even though approximately half (1/2) of 13th Brigade were new reinforcements and had never been in
action before they quickly learnt from their more experienced mates and took on the Germans in their
own lines with their bayonets disregarding the fact that they were being subject ot heavy machine gun
fire. It was during this action that Lieutenant Clifford Sadlier won his Victoria Cross (VC)
and Sergeant Stokes a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). After the battle, the bodies
of Australians were found heaped amongst the barbed wire.
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The 13th Brigade advanced towards the high ground reaching where the roads from Hangard and
Dormart meet before heading towards Villers-Bretonneux. The Diggers continued towards
Villers-Bretonneux mopping up any Germans they encountered.
15th Brigade
On the northern flank the Battalions of the 15th Brigade under the Command of Brig. Pompey Elliott
were ready to advance along the Fouilloy-Cashy Road this advance commenced at 11.45pm some (2)
two hours after the advance by the 13th Brigade. The Brigade continued their advance to the Roman
Road where the line was consolidated. This resulted in the German Garrison in Villers-Bretonneux
being cut off. Whilst the British units were to provide support to the Australian offensive they were
late in arriving.
At 7.00am (3) three British Whippet Tanks appeared and assisted in clearing Bois d’Aquenne. The
railway station at Villers-Bretonneux was captured by the British. The town was to remain in Allied
hand for the remained of the war.
The Villers-Bretonneux Cross
This wooden Cross was made by the men of the 51st Battalion and was erected by a party under the
command of Lieutenant R.A. Wood. A Service dedicating the Cross was conducted by Chaplin Donald
Blackwood.
The Cross remained in Villers-Bretonneux until the 24th September 1933 when it was given to St.
Anne’s Church Ryde NSW for safekeeping.
Because the Cross had been made by the men of the 51st Battalion a Western Australian Battalion, it
was moved from Ryde to St. George’s Cathedral Perth on Remembrance Day 1956 and where it still
remains to-day. Its rededication was undertaken by Chaplin Donald Blackwood.
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Cemeteries
There are (2) two cemeteries in Villers- Bretonneux, “The Villers – Bretonneux Military Cemetery in
which stands the ‘Australian National Memorial” which was erected to Commemorate all the
Australians Soldiers who fought in France and Belgium during World War I. There are the names of
10,770 Australian servicemen on the Memorial who died in the Battle Fields of the Somme in 1918.
The Memorial is situated about 2km north of the Village on the East side of the road to Fouilloy.
The Australian National
Memorial
Villers- Bretonneux
Military Cemetery
The other Cemetery is the Adelaide Military Cemetery a smaller one situated west of the village on the
north side of the road from Amiens to St. Quentin. It was from this Cemetery that the remains of
the ”Unknown Australian Soldier” were exhumed and re-interned in the Australian War Memorial
Canberra on Remembrance Day.
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The Village of Villers- Bretonneux
The Village and its people have never forgotten the Australians. If you walk through the Village you
will come across familiar names:- ‘The Rue de Melbourne and Rue de Adelaide ‘ and the ‘Victoria
School’.
The Victoria School
Who could miss ‘Restaurant Le Kangourou”.
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Awards received during the Battle
Victoria Cross
Lieutenant Cliff Sadlier VC
Distinguished Conduct Medal
L/Cpl Cecil Burt DCM
Pte Reg Helyar DCM
Pte H.I .Passmore DCM
Sgt Charles Stokes DCM
Interview with Lieutenant C.W.K. Sadlier V.C. in 1960’s:
‘Fritz had pushed us back from Villers-Bretonneux and orders came through that
we were to counter-attack. I was a Lieutenant in charge of a platoon and second in
charge of my Company. At 10 pm we were given two hours notice that we were to
move into the town. We were to push forward over three miles of country we had
never seen to join up with the 15th Brigade. The officers were given a ten-minute
glimpse of a map of the area and then we were given our orders.
My platoon was to cover the left flank of the Battalion. On the left was a thick
wood, which unknown to us, sheltered as many Prussian Guards as we had Diggers
in our whole Battalion.
When Lieutenant Colonel Christie gave the order to advance we moved quickly into the open alongside the
wood. Jerry waited until we were well into the open before let fly. We wondered what had struck us. Before
we had gone 50 yards, 39 out of the 42 in my platoon were in mud either dead or wounded. I hit the deck and
saw Charlie Stokes from another platoon was still alive and 2 bombardiers named Guthrie and Collins had also
escaped the hail of fire.
I knew that if we did not clean out the edge of that wood, the 51st Battalion would be sitting ducks.
I gave brief instructions to the survivors and led a mad rush towards the wood. Just as I got to the timber, I felt a
burning pain in my leg. I had got a machine gun bullet point blank through it. It did not give much trouble, so I
kept going, hurling grenades and firing my pistol. I concentrated on one machine gun that seemed to be doing a
lot of damage. Probably more by good luck than good management, I cleared out the post and took the gun.
But another machine gun bullet smashed into my forearm, paralysing it. My revolver was empty and because of
my limp arm, there was nothing else I could do, but to get out.
By then the flank had been cleared enough for the rest of the Battalion to charge through. The counter attack
was a success. I was bandaged up at a Regimental Aid Post and sent back to London, where I entered the South
Kensington Hospital. Here my wounded arm was operated on by a clever man who joined the nerves and gave
me back the use of my arm. It’s a bit stiff, but I didn’t ever think I would use it again. In July I was still
recuperating at South Kensington when the rumour came through that I was going to be awarded the
Distinguished Service Order. I said I’d believe it when I saw it. A few of the boys were playing bridge when a
reporter came into the room and asked which one of us was Sadlier. I stood up and the reporter told me I had
been awarded the Victoria Cross. It was the proudest moment of my life.
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Late in July 1918, I attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace where King George V pinned the Victoria
Cross on me and read out the citation. The King went on to shake my right hand, but when he saw it was still in
a sling, he took my left hand and shook it.
The citation reads:
‘Clifford William Sadlier, Lieutenant 51st Battalion. For conspicuous bravery during a counterattack by his
Battalion on strong enemy positions. Lieutenant Sadlier’s platoon, which was on the left of the Battalion, had to
advance through a wood, where a strong enemy machine gun post caused casualties and prevented the platoon
from advancing. Though badly wounded, he at once collected his bombing section, led them against the
machine guns and succeeded in killing the crew of four and taking the gun. In doing so, he was again wounded.
The very gallant conduct of this officer was the means of clearing the flank and allowing the Battalion to move
forward, thereby saving a most critical situation. His coolness and utter disregard of danger inspired all.’
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