Battle of Fromelles

19 July – 20 July 1916
(summary prepared by Army History Unit)

The Battle of Fromelles was the first battle fought by the Australians on the Western Front and the first battle of the Fifth Division.

Operational Setting

The Battle for Fromelles began 19 days after the opening of the Somme Campaign. This was not coincidental as, according to British Official History, the purpose of the Battle of Fromelles was to prevent the Germans thinning out their forces from areas of the Front not heavily engaged and using them to reinforce the Somme front 80km to the south. Given that the Battle for Verdun was also still raging and was costing both the French and the Germans heavy casualties, this was a logical military move. However, the heavy casualties involved and the limited and (seemingly) dismissive acknowledgement of the battle in British high Command communiqués afterwards has led to much modern criticism of the battle. It has been described as ill planned, ill thought through and is used by some nationalistic critics as evidence of the incompetence of British High Command causing unnecessarily heavy casualties in Australian units.

The battle occurred in northern France just south of Armentieres. The most prominent feature in this area, Aubers Ridge, was a major terrain feature which the British tried to capture in a number of vicious battles in 1915 – Loos and Neuve Chapelle. In this part of France, the low lying land and very high water table made the ground boggy and any diggings quickly filled with water.

Battle Outline

Initial planning recognised that simple heavy raiding of the enemy's line would be insufficient to deter withdrawals and that something more serious was required. The Plan called for a ‘demonstration' but in the event this changed at Corps and Divisional level to become an attack. The point chosen for the attack was a part of the German line, dominated by a German fortified position known as the ‘Sugar Loaf' and about a mile in front of the ridge, where it made a ‘right bend'. The Laies River (little more than a ditch) crossed the German Line at this point. Given serious troop shortages on the British side, only two divisions were to be used in the attack – the new, inexperienced 5th Australian Division and the seriously under strength Territorial British 61st Division. The 5th Division was to attack the Sugar Loaf from the north while the British were to attack from the west.

Initial planning was for the attack to be a surprise but this was changed and it was preceded by a seven hour artillery bombardment. As was the experience south on the Somme, British artillery at this stage in the war was unable to suppress the enemy or destroy their fortifications or even, in many instances, cut the defensive barbed wire belts. The infantry began their advance at 1800 hours on the 19th of July, with over two hours of daylight remaining. The 5th Division advanced bravely and aggressively and the left-hand brigades, the 8th and the 14th, made good progress across the waterlogged ground, capturing over 1000 metres of enemy trenches. There was considerable confusion as to their objectives as in many cases the shallow Laies River was mistaken for a trench. Consequently, many of the attacking troops advanced too far into the enemy position, leaving their flanks vulnerable to counter attack.

The right hand brigade, ‘Pompey' Elliott's 15th, was not so fortunate. Having already been badly hit by enemy artillery in their own trenches while forming up for the attack, they found the enemy defensive positions, especially the Sugar Loaf itself, an impossible objective to reach. They were taken in enfilade by enemy machine guns and caught in the open by enemy artillery, taking heavy casualties and being unable to advance. This left the middle brigade, the 14th, with an exposed flank and it soon began to take heavy casualties from the machine guns in the Sugar Loaf, now firing down their lines in enfilade at it. The 15th was eventually forced to retire to its own trenches, leaving the right flank of the 14th Brigade open to counter attack.

The British 61st Division was equally as unsuccessful as the 15th Brigade, and for the same reasons. They did penetrate the German lines in a few places but were unable to hold and were quickly driven out. At no stage did the British Division succeed in neutralising the Sugar Loaf, its primary objective. This enabled the German defenders to concentrate all their counter-attack forces onto the two Australian brigades that had captured part of their line.

The enemy launched two counter attacks on the 8th and 14th Brigade positions. The first one, at dusk on the 19thof July, was driven off but the second, at about 0100 on the 20th and directed at both ends of the Australian position, succeeded by 0400 in driving out most of the 8th Brigade defenders. At 0800, the remaining defenders of the 14th Brigade were ordered to retire. Soon after, the line returned to the same state it was in before the attack.

The combination of heavy casualties, poor communications, poor understanding of the situation by distant headquarters and some local misunderstandings, the collection and evacuation of the casualties of the battle was poorly handled. Wounded were left lying on the battlefield all through the next few days while attempts to arrange a truce to enable their collection were made. The high death rate among the Australians can be attributed in part to this failure to arrange a truce to collect the wounded.

The following images show the battle positions. Select the photos for a full-size view.

Fromelles Battle Map

Aerial Photograph with Positions

Key Participants

5th Australian Division – Major General James McCay.

8th Brigade - Brigadier General Edwin Tivey
14th Brigade - Colonel Harold Pope
15th Brigade - Brigadier General Harold E. (Pompey) Elliott

61st British Division – Major General C.J. MacKenzie

182nd Brigade – Brigadier General A.F. Gordon
183rd Brigade - Brigadier General C.G. Stewart
184th Brigade - Brigadier General C.H.P. Carter

Costs and Rewards

Costs and Rewards.

The Battle of Fromelles cost the following casualties:

5th Australian Division 5,533 casualties, including 1917 killed;
61st British Division 1,547 casualties, including 519 killed.
Enemy (Bavarian) 1,000 casualties.