The FReeper Foxhole Remembers ANZAC Day - The Diggers' 4th of July - April 25th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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Diggers' Fourth of July



Battle of Hamel, (france WWI)

Before he could launch his innovative assault on German-held Hamel, Australian Lt. Gen. John Monash had to prevail against American General John J. Pershing.



The aggressive German spring 1918 offensive created a bulge in the British line that encompassed the French village of Hamel, near Amiens, on April 4. As a result, Allied troops were exposed to German observers and enfilading fire. In June the Allies made plans to retake Hamel, a move that would strengthen their position and improve the artillery situation. That attack would also showcase the Australian Corps and the innovative tactics of its commander, Lieutenant General John Monash.



Monash Advances Beliefs

Appalled at the horrific casualties and "ghastly inefficiency" of World War I combat, Monash, a 53-year-old former engineer from Melbourne, adopted the view that the infantry's role was "not to expend itself upon heroic physical effort," but "to advance under the maximum possible array of mechanical resources, in the form of guns, machine guns, tanks, mortars, and aeroplanes...to the appointed goal." Monash became an advocate of the use of combined arms operations, including those that employed tanks. Tanks were still in the early stages of development, however. Their crews were unskilled, and their employment had thus far been clumsy. Although the British had first introduced the tank in combat in September 1916, early models had been disappointing.

In the summer of 1918, however, the introduction of the new Mark V tanks -- faster, more agile, better armed and crewed than the Mark IVs -- promised Monash the possibility of a less costly victory. Monash believed that detailed planning and coordination could yield success. "A perfected modern battle plan is like a score for an orchestral composition," he wrote, "where the various arms and units are the instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases. Every individual unit must make its entry precisely at the proper moment, and play its phrase in the general harmony."



Monash faced manpower problems for the coming assault. Battle casualties, the deadly influenza epidemic of 1918 and a drop in recruiting levels in Australia had depleted the infantry section of his "orchestra." Monash therefore needed a strategy that would use manpower sparingly. But he had two important assets to work with -- the new generation of better-engineered tanks and an infusion of troops from the United States.

The Hamel Plan

Monash had a reputation for devising unusual tactics and planning operations in precise detail. The Hamel action was to be no exception. On June 21, he submitted his meticulously worked out proposal for a dawn attack by elements of the Australian Corps' 4th, 6th, 7th and 11th brigades under the 4th Division's Maj. Gen. Ewan Sinclair-McLaglan, to his superior, General Sir Henry Rawlinson, commander of the British Fourth Army. The operation also called for the use of some newly arrived American troops. Rawlinson approved it forthwith. He agreed that the Americans -- though not experienced -- could boost Monash's numbers and, in carrying out his battle plan, they could gain valuable experience alongside the more seasoned Australian infantry, or "Diggers." Monash immediately requested about 2,000 men.


Street sign from France. Australian troops replaced the German street signs in Péronne following the capture of the town on 1 September 1918. By this time the word digger was universally applied to Australian troops serving in France.

On June 27, Maj. Gen. George W. Read's II Corps of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) advised the 33rd Division's Maj. Gen. George Bell, Jr., that "participation...in a raid of some kind...is approved...[and] is considered valuable training." Early on June 30, one month after arriving in France, C Company of the 131st Infantry joined the 42nd Battalion from Queensland, while E Company reinforced the South Australian 43rd Battalion. Companies A and G of the 132nd Infantry reported to the 13th Battalion from New South Wales and the Queensland 15th Battalion, respectively.

The American companies, each numbering about 250 troops, were welcome. The Australian 42nd Battalion, 1,027 strong when it landed in France in November 1916, had only 433 men in June 1918. The 43rd, with 41 officers and 575 troops, incorporated a platoon from the 131st Infantry's E Company in each of its four companies.

Warm Welcome For Yanks

The Americans were most appreciative of the warm reception the Diggers gave them. Captain W. Masoner of G Company reported that the 15th Battalion's Colonel T. McSharry "guided us to a Reserve Trench...and remained...until all men found sleeping places and dugouts." "The men were fed very well," added Captain J. Luke of E Company.



Later that day, the rest of the 131st's 1st and 2nd battalions, with stretcher-bearers, intelligence personnel and other specialists, joined the Australian 4th and 11th brigades. American battalion and company commanders eagerly shadowed their veteran Australian counterparts. Following standard Australian practice, about 50 troops from each company were sent to the rear as a reserve in case of heavy attrition. The rest settled in along the front line and got acquainted with their Aussie comrades in arms. Armorer Sergeant Bob Melloy of Kangaroo Point admired Chicago-born Sergeant Lee Lawless' safety razor, the first he had ever seen, and was duly presented with one. During another war more than 20 years later, Major Melloy returned the favor when he acquired more than 4,000 Queensland properties for American forces in Australia, including headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur.

Pershing's Wrench

Mutual respect quickly grew. The Americans' commander had exhorted his troops, saying, "you're going into action with some mighty celebrated troops guaranteed to win and you've got to get up to their level and stay with them." The Yanks, in turn, soon impressed the Diggers with their modesty and keenness to learn as they practiced with Lewis light machine guns and grenades and began operating the Mark V tanks. Australian correspondents observing the Americans remarked that it felt as if "we had been walking among ghosts...of the old 1st [Australian] Division," and that "they swear a little less, they drink coffee rather than tea," but otherwise "might as well be our own fellows." The 14th Battalion's historian added that "their presence also had a most stimulating effect. Instead of the grim, set faces usually noticeable prior to battle, our men were all smiles and laughter, and determined to show the newcomers what Australians were capable of on the battlefield."



On July 2, two days before the counteroffensive was scheduled to begin, Monash arranged for the popular Australian prime minister, Billy Hughes, to address some troops from each brigade, taking care that Hughes' visit would not disrupt preparations for the coming "show." Then Monash's planning hit a serious snag. During a visit to the U.S. II Corps headquarters, the AEF commander, General John J. Pershing, learned of the plan to commit American troops to the assault on Hamel and advised General Read that they should not participate. The next day, he telephoned with "further and positive instructions...that our troops should be withdrawn." Pershing believed it was better if American troops fought together rather than as scattered units among the Allied armies. He also wanted assurance that they were fully trained before committing them in offensive actions.



Early on July 3, Pershing's order to withdraw reached six of the 10 U.S. Army companies attached to the Australian Corps. The troops reacted with disappointment. Two Americans in the 42nd Battalion donned Queenslanders' tunics and stayed. The rest dutifully obeyed the order. The Americans' departure at that late juncture hurt Monash's meticulous plan badly because it required reorganizing Australian units -- the 16th Battalion's strength was halved, and the 11th Brigade's manpower dropped from 3,000 to 2,200 soldiers.

Haig's Diplomacy

Then, at 4 p.m. on the day before the battle, Monash received an order from Rawlinson's headquarters calling for the withdrawal of all Americans. By 5 p.m., Monash had confronted his commander and insisted that the remaining four companies were essential. Pershing's order came too late, he said, and unless Rawlinson absolutely insisted that Pershing's order to withdraw all Americans by 6:30 p.m. be carried out, he intended to proceed as planned -- using the Americans. Monash's demand threatened to put Rawlinson at loggerheads with the American command. There could be serious consequences.

"You don't realize what it means," Rawlinson said. "Do you want me to run the risk of being sent back to England? Do you mean it is worth that?"

"Yes, I do," replied Monash. "It is more important to keep the confidence of the Americans and Australians in each other than to preserve even an Army commander."

Rawlinson, knowing that Monash was a talented officer, decided to back his corps commander if Marshal Sir Douglas Haig did not countermand the decision by 7 p.m. As it happened, Haig called just before 7, and he turned out to be very helpful. Citing the importance of the assault, he resolved the matter, saying, "The attack must be launched as prepared, even if a few American detachments cannot be got out before zero hour."

Combined Operations

Monash, who had planned the opening action to occur before daylight, went to bed early. In the early morning hours of July 4, his artillery commander, Brigadier W.A. Coxen, saw him pacing the drive. When the opening barrage thundered out, Monash looked toward the front, then turned to his office.



Monash's plan called for capturing the town of Hamel, the woods near Hamel and Vaire, and the spur beyond, entailing an advance on a six-kilometer front to a depth of about three kilometers in the center, tapering to one kilometer in the south.

The essence of Monash's combined operations strategy was to infiltrate his men and equipment close enough under cover of darkness to use heavy weaponry against the targeted areas, then employ tanks as a cover for the advancing infantry. If the artillery did its job, the infantry's task would devolve into a mop-up operation. Monash's plan also called for extensive use of reconnaissance aircraft so that he could direct troop movements quickly and effectively.

Monash's top intelligence officer had rightly estimated Hamel's defenders at about 3,000 troops. He assessed them as being for the most part of indifferent quality and located in poor defensive positions. There were some exceptions, however, including strongpoints at an installation called Pear Trench, in the northern sector of the targeted area around Hamel, and scattered areas where he expected serious resistance in parts of the woods and in the village. Those observations were incorporated into intense planning sessions that Monash had organized involving all levels of his command, from corps to battalion. The final session, conducted in secrecy on June 30, included 250 officers and resolved 133 items on a detailed planning agenda. The action, involving aircraft, tank corps, artillery and infantry, each with an assigned role, was to be tightly controlled from the very beginning.



The Infantry Advances

In the trenches, the 42nd Battalion enjoyed a hot meal at about 11 p.m. as they listened to 144 Allied aircraft dropping more than 1,100 bombs on Hamel -- an initial softening-up operation. Meanwhile, cloaked by darkness and the noisy uproar of the aircraft, the tanks began their three-mile move from sheltered positions in woods and orchards to their attack positions. Between midnight and 1:45 a.m., the infantry followed the treadmarks of the tanks that had broken through the wire barriers -- an easier task for Americans in their canvas leggings than for Australians in their cloth puttees. By 3 a.m., the troops -- who hailed from Illinois and every province of Australia -- had been issued rum and were in position, ready to attack.

Harrassing artillery fire kicked in at 3:02 a.m. For several weeks previously, Monash had ordered that high explosives, smoke bombs and poison gas shells be fired toward the target at about that time, a tactic intended to condition the defenders to regularly expect a barrage -- and make them think that the smoke masked the presence of gas. This time, however, Monash purposely omitted the gas, making it possible for his troops to move forward safely under cover of smoke and noise.

At 3:10 a.m., 313 heavy guns and 326 field artillery pieces, joined by mortars and more than 100 Vickers machine guns, produced a barrage worthy of the Fourth of July, while the tanks gunned their engines for the half-mile dash. A mix of 10 percent smoke, 40 percent high-explosive and 50 percent shrapnel shells fell 200 yards ahead of the infantry, while larger shells landed 400 yards farther ahead.

The infantrymen rose and moved forward. In four minutes, the artillery adjusted its range 100 yards farther ahead, and the infantry advanced in the wake of the covering fire.

Costly Maneuvers

Captain Carroll M. Gale's C Company, accompanying the Australian 42nd Battalion, followed the barrage, advancing 100 yards every three minutes. His troops came within 75 yards of the exploding shells without sustaining any casualties, but other units were not so fortunate. One squad from E Company and an American section attached to the 15th Battalion lost 12 men killed and 30 wounded because shells fell short of their target. The 15th then hung back while survivors of Lieutenant R. Canaway's 43rd Battalion moved between the barrage and those shells that were falling short.



Advancing into the barrage proved costly to some other Americans as well. After their officers became casualties, three platoons attached to the 13th Battalion were guided to safer ground by Australian NCOs. When Sergeant F.J. Darke saw an American officer wounded by the shelling, he took over his platoon and turned it back from the barrage, and Corporal M.J. Roach was mortally wounded while extricating another U.S. platoon from danger.

A Private's Courage

The mist, smoke and dust cut pre-dawn visibility down to 20 yards and slowed the tanks. The barrage had overshot Pear Trench, located near the start tapes -- white tapes that had been placed to mark the starting positions -- leaving its wire intact. Consequently, German machine guns raked oncoming infantry, but their return fire was formidable. A typical Australian rifleman carried 200 rounds and two grenades; signalers and runners had 100 rounds each. Specialized troops called bombers added 100 rounds to the eight grenades they carried. A platoon's main punch, however, came from Lewis light machine-gun teams who could fire 500 rounds per minute and who carried 18 magazines of 97 rounds each.



One such team, from the 15th Battalion, silenced an enemy machine-gun post. Then the team's "second member," Private Harry Dalziel from Irvinebank, Queensland, spotted another German machine-gun nest as it opened fire. Dashing toward it, revolver in hand, he killed or captured the gun's crew, allowing the Australians in front of it to proceed with their advance. Although the tip of Dalziel's trigger finger had been shot off, he ignored an order to retire and continued to serve his gunner until Pear Trench was secured. When again ordered to report to the aid post, Dalziel instead elected to bring up ammunition. While he was doing so, a bullet smashed his skull. Miraculously, he did not die. He was transferred to Britain for treatment and later received the Victoria Cross from King George V.



During another firefight, this time in the woods, German machine guns in the so-called Kidney Trench killed the 16th Battalion's company commander, his sergeant major and one of its Lewis gunners, stalling the battalion's advance. From the flank, Lance Cpl. Thomas Leslie "Jack" Axford, a former brewery worker from Kalgoorlie who already had won the Military Medal, grenaded and bayoneted 10 Germans, captured six of them, tossed their machine guns out of their positions, called the stalled platoon to come up and then rejoined his own unit.

Dugouts connected to Kidney Trench yielded 47 more prisoners. Axford was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his "great initiative and magnificent courage."

Tanks For The Infantries

Six minutes after the operation was launched, the tanks arrived, in accordance with the careful plan of Monash and his tank commander, Maj. Gen. H.J. Elles. Unsupported by heavy artillery and bogged down in mud and barbed wire, the tanks -- intended to provide cover for the infantry -- had failed the Aussies on April 11, 1917, at the Battle of Bullecourt. There, at a village in the center of the Hindenberg line, 10,000 Australians had been killed. With that failure in mind, Monash revised the scenario for Hamel and added some public relations.

Using prebattle demonstrations of tank operations, intense rehearsals, joy rides and long persuasive discussions, Monash generated enough of a rapport between infantry and tank crews that many of the British tanks sported Australian battalion colors and names. To allay the infantry's fears that wounded men, hidden by 3-foot-tall field crops, would be crushed by the tanks, Monash issued white tape which could be tied to vegetation or an upturned rifle to mark the wounded soldier's position.



The single most important innovation in tank strategy at Hamel lay in placing the tanks under the control of infantry commanders who could order them to follow closely on the heels of their troops and eliminate enemy strongpoints. Tank commanders also had worries. They protested that advancing so close behind the artillery barrage could expose their 8-foot-8-inch-high vehicles to overhead hits from friendly fire, but they accepted Monash's order, which overruled their objections. As it happened during the course of the battle, some of those objections proved well taken. A third of the attack's armor casualties occurred when an 18-pounder shell fell short and struck a tank attached to 13th Battalion's D Company, killing its guide, Private T. Parrish. In Vaire Wood, Captain G. Marper was wounded by machine-gun fire as he directed a tank carrying his 13th Battalion's colors toward enemy positions. The tank crushed one of the German machine guns under its treads, and the other's crew surrendered.

A New Strategy

With combined air, artillery and tank attacks, the 42nd Battalion's assault in the northern flank had met little resistance. Meanwhile, to its south, the 6th Brigade's 21st and 23rd battalions smoothly followed the barrage and the tanks. The southernmost sector was more difficult -- the 25th Battalion suffered 93 casualties. Two platoons were cut down to only eight troops, but Sergeant C.G. Ham led them to take and hold the final objective, for which he was later awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM).

The new strategy yielded many prisoners, starting with the Germans' communication trench in Vaire Wood. When one Digger took a prisoner using the fractured French comment, "Finis la guerre," the German stunned him by laughingly replying, "Yes, my -- -- oath" -- a phrase that demonstrated how well he had learned Australian English while working in the West Australian gold fields before the war.



After passing through the woods, the Australians reached a prearranged halt line and paused 10 minutes to regroup. Thirty tanks were assigned to support the assault on Hamel itself, the third anticipated strongpoint. When stiff resistance was encountered at Notamel Wood, a 43rd Battalion sergeant pulled a tank's rear bell handle. The door opened and he pointed out a troublesome machine-gun position to the tank's crew. The tank crushed it.

No tanks had arrived at the outskirts of Hamel, however, when a brisk fight broke out in front of the village, during which a platoon of the 43rd Battalion under South Australian Lieutenant I. Symons and its attached American platoon killed 15 Germans and captured another 40. When Symons fell wounded, his 21-year-old runner, Private D. Anderson from Broken Hill, took charge of his platoon for the rest of the battle, for which he was subsequently awarded the Military Medal.

Tanks Minimizing Casualties

By the time another 10-minute halt was called, Hamel lay open, save for some scattered resistance. North of the Pear Trench, a well-placed machine-gun position held up the 43rd Battalion until Australian Corporal F.M. Shaw and Corporal H.G. Zyburt of the 131st rushed it. Firing his Lewis gun from the hip, Shaw advanced 200 yards and enabled Zyburt to get into the position, where he bayoneted three of the gunners. Shaw shot an officer who rushed him. Then, finding his Lewis magazine empty, he hit another German on the head with his revolver. When that failed to stop his assailant, Shaw shot him. A total of eight Germans were killed, the rest surrendered and two previously captured Australians were freed.

When the advance resumed, the tanks came fully into their own. Following their commander's dictum, "It is the primary duty of the tanks to save casualties to the Australian infantry," they hugged the barrage, destroying strongpoints with machine guns, canister fire or their treads.



Engaging three machine guns in a quarry near Hamel, Shaw called in a tank. Its machine gun silenced two of the nests, while the 23-year-old farmer from the Yorke peninsula helped take the third, capturing one German officer and 20 soldiers. Why that tall, slow-speaking son of an Adelaide minister didn't become Hamel's third VC recipient was a mystery to his mates. Shaw, who was awarded the DCM, was mortally wounded near Proyart a month later. His American partner, Zyburt, was awarded the Military Medal.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

Success Signals

While the 43rd Battalion cleared Hamel, the 13th, 15th, 42nd and 44th battalions and their accompanying tanks pushed on to their objectives farther east. The remaining battalions had already reached theirs.

Success signals flowed to the rear by pigeon, lights, rockets, telephone and radio. Signalers maintained communications throughout the battle, while special squads confused the enemy by contradicting any German flare with the opposite color.

Monash, who had calmed his nerves by sketching the prime minister's chauffeur, learned that he had won his victory 93 minutes after the push began -- three minutes past the planned timetable. Their objectives won, the Allies promptly began consolidating their gains, improving German trenches and digging new ones. At the now exposed Vaire Wood, Diggers found and occupied some of the craters that had been specially made for Allied defensive positions by 9.2-inch howitzer shells during June. Their positions were plotted and issued on maps to the troops. Three RE-8s of No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC), flew over the new front lines, taking 108 photographs.



Supplies, previously brought forward by men or mules over dangerous, exposed ground, now reached Hamel via carrier tanks or were dropped from aircraft. Every soldier had carried water bottles, two days' food and a ground sheet, with riflemen also carrying three empty sandbags and a pick or shovel. Now, under Monash's orders, four carrier tanks -- each with an infantry NCO and four unloaders -- did resupply work that would otherwise have required 1,200 men. The results were astonishing for the time. When the 13th Battalion's colonel reached his dump site, he found 34 coils of barbed wire and pickets, 50 tins of water, 150 mortar rounds, 10,000 small-arms rounds, 20 boxes of grenades and 45 sheets of corrugated iron -- a 41Ž2-ton load -- neatly stacked, with the carrier tank already back in the rear.

New Plans For The AAFC



In hindsight, some thought the carrier tanks were the greatest innovation at Hamel. Each of the fighting tanks also carried a load of supplies -- a 1,200-round box of ammunition, 24 Lewis gun magazines and water for the infantry.

Monash's plan also added some new roles to the AFC's repertory. At 4:40 a.m. on July 5, RE-8s of No. 3 Squadron flew low, tooting horns that signaled the Diggers to light flares in their trenches so the planes' observers could mark the new front line on maps -- maps that were dropped at 4th Division headquarters 10 minutes later.


Ammo drop by Parachute

The two-seaters of No. 9 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF), delivered nearly 120,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, dropping them by parachute from boxes fitted under the wings to marked sites along the line. That innovation -- inspired by a captured German document -- had been developed by Captain Lawrence J. Wackett and Sergeant W. Nicholson and his mechanics at No. 3 Squadron, AFC. Townsville-born Wackett, who would later found the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, received a British grant of 300 pounds sterling for inventing the release gear and cases for the ammunition and parachutes.


Captured German Dog Messenger

Allied Air Superiority

Other aircraft strafed and bombed German positions, and except for a half hour in the late morning, the Allies maintained air superiority with the loss of only two planes. Lieutenants A.E. Grigson and H.B. James of No. 3 Squadron AFC shot down one enemy fighter that tried to interfere with their work, and drove another down out of control. Lieutenants D.F. Dimsey and F.J. Mart shot down a Pfalz D.IIIa that was attacking another RE-8.



All but three British tanks reached their objectives, and their crews suffered only 13 casualties. Most of the tanks joined Australian and American infantrymen in scouting and neutralizing remaining pockets of resistance before departing for the rear at 5:30 p.m., some carrying cheering infantrymen who had been wounded.

The Germans sniped at the new Allied positions, and groups of Diggers and doughboys moved up 400 yards in an effort to deal with them. By 7 a.m. next morning, 700 more prisoners had been flushed out of the village and the woods. Lance Corporal Schulz of the 43rd Battalion's Intelligence Section and two German-speaking Americans followed a cable trace that Schulz had noticed in an aerial photograph. Their search was rewarded when they unearthed a dugout and captured a German battalion commander and his staff of 26.

Hamel's Price



Except for a brief air attack and some shelling, the German response on July 5 was slight. Then, at about 10 p.m., the Germans bombarded with high-explosive and gas shells, after which storm troopers and 200 infantrymen drove a 200-yard wedge between the 44th Battalion's A and B companies east of the village. Four hours later the 44th, augmented by Australians and Americans of the 43rd Battalion, counterattacked. Not only did they regain the lost ground, they recovered 11 out of 15 Australians captured in the German assault. National Guardsman Corporal A. Thomas Pope of E Company, 131st Infantry, rushed an enemy machine-gun position alone, bayoneted its crew and held off the enemy until help arrived.

The night's action cost the Germans 30 troops killed and 50 men and 10 machine guns captured. The 43rd Battalion later presented the gun Pope had captured to his regiment.



Taking and securing Hamel cost the Allies a total of 1,400 casualties, including 39 Americans killed and 196 wounded. The Germans lost more than 2,000 men, including 43 officers and 1,562 enlisted men captured, together with two anti-tank machine guns, a new .53-caliber anti-tank rifle, 32 trench mortars and 177 machine guns. In addition, the Allies recovered 73,000 rounds of British ammunition and boxes of grenades lost when the Germans had first taken Hamel in April. On top of that, the Aussies of the 21st Battalion enjoyed coffee that was mistakenly dropped into their lines by a German airplane.

Old Comrades

On July 5, a highly gratified Monash publicly thanked General Bell and praised the "dash, gallantry and efficiency" of the four American companies, concluding that "soldiers of the United States and Australia should have been associated for the first time in such close cooperation on the battlefield is an historic [event] of such significance that it will live forever in the annals of our respective nations."

When Company A was withdrawn to rejoin the AEF on the night of July 5, the 13th Battalion's historian noted that the Aussies "really felt like [they were] losing old comrades." At 5 a.m. the next morning, following a breakfast of Aussie stew and a series of speeches and cheers, the doughboys of Company E, some wearing the 43rd Battalion's colors, also departed, leaving the South Australians feeling, as one of them put it, "very proud of our victory and our Yankee pals."



Pershing Pleasantly Surprised

The Americans were grateful for the experience. Captain Gale spoke for many of them when he said that "more real good was done...by this small operation with the Australians than could have been accomplished in months of training behind the lines." As for Pershing, in his memoir My Experiences in the World War, he described the American participation at Hamel as "somewhat of a surprise," and though the "behavior of our troops was splendid....Its [the battle's] immediate effect was to cause me to make the instructions so positive that nothing of the kind could occur again."

Later, at Moulliens-au-Bois on August 12, Pershing watched King George V award the DCM to Corporal Tom Pope and two other doughboys for their valor at Hamel while four others got the Military Cross and 11 received the Military Medal. Later still, in Luxembourg on April 22, 1919, Pershing himself would present Pope with the Medal of Honor.

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
http://anzacs.net/AnzacStory.htm
www.military.com/History/History_Period?mlegend=0&period=WWI&service
www.awm.gov.au/
The Diggers Fourth of July, by Peter Nunan

[snippy_about_it]

The Anzac Story


Memorial at Hamel

ANZAC Day - 25 April - is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.





The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

For more information on our Australian allies and their war experiences;

Gulf War 1990 - 1991

Vietnam War 1962 - 1972

Korean War 1950–53

Second World War 1939 - 1945

First World War 1914 – 1918

Thanks to FReeper Dundee for today's thread suggestion and links.

[snippy_about_it]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

Thanks to CholeraJoe for providing this link.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Thanks to quietolong for providing this link.

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Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

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The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

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FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Sunday Morning Everyone.


If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy. Gonna read this one with interest tomorrow. Most of my ANZAC knowledge of WWI is about Gallipoli.

[snippy_about_it]

Good night Sam.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Matt. It's almost 1 a.m. and I'm headed off to bed. See you later.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[GailA]

Good morning, supposed to be a rainy day again here in Memphis.

This little jewel is OVER 300 bucks.

[The Mayor]

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you. —Psalm 55:22

God invites us to burden Him with what burdens us.

[The Mayor]

April 25, 2004

Give Him Your Burden

Read: Psalm 55:16-23

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you. —Psalm 55:22

Bible In One Year: 2 Samuel 21-22; Luke 18:24-43

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A poor man in Ireland was plodding along toward home, carrying a huge bag of potatoes. A horse and wagon finally drew up alongside him on the road, and the driver invited the man to climb aboard. After getting on the wagon, he sat down but continued to hold the heavy bag.

When the driver suggested that the man set the bag down in the wagon, he replied, "I don't want to trouble you too much, sir. You are giving me a ride already, so I'll just carry the potatoes."

"How foolish of him!" we say. Yet sometimes we do the same thing when we attempt to bear the burdens of our lives in our own strength. No wonder we become weary and overwhelmed with anxiety and fear.

In Psalm 55, David spoke of the anxiety he felt because his enemies were attacking him (vv.1-15). But then he gave his concerns to the Lord and was filled with renewed hope and confidence (vv.16-23). That's why he could write, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you" (v.22).

When you recall the story of the man and his bag of potatoes, remember the simple lesson it illustrates: Rather than trying to bear your burdens by yourself, set them down in God's hands. —Henry Bosch

Give Him each perplexing problem,
All your needs to Him make known;
Bring to Him your daily burdens—
Never carry them alone! —Adams

God invites us to burden Him with what burdens us.

[Soaring Feather]

Good Sunday morning to all in the FOXHOLE!

[Soaring Feather]

Click the pipes if you wish.....
Brave Heart Theme

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on April 25:
1214 Louis IX king of France (1226-70)
1228 Koenraad IV Roman Catholic German king (1237-54)
1284 Edward II king of England (1307-27)
1599 Oliver Cromwell Puritan lord protector of England (1653-58)
1710 James Ferguson astronomer
1792 John Keble Anglican priest/founder (Oxford Movement)
1825 Charles Ferdinand Dowd US, standardized time zones
1840 James Dearing Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1865
1874 Guglielmo Marconi Bologna Italy, inventor (radio/Nobel 1909)
1900 Wolfgang Ernst Pauli Austria, physicist (Pauli inhibition/Nobel 1945)
1906 William J Brennan Jr Newark NJ, 92nd Supreme Court judge (1956-90)
1908 Edward R Murrow Pole Creek NC, newscaster (Person to Person)
1912 Gladys L Presley mother of Elvis
1918 Ella Fitzgerald Newport News VA, jazz singer (The First Lady of Song, Is it live or Memorex, A-Tisket A-Tasket)
1923 Albert King Indianola MS, blues singer/guitarist (Bad Look Blues)
1925 Flannery O'Connor short story writer (or 03/25)
1930 Paul Mazursky Brooklyn NY, writer/director (Moscow on the Hudson)
1932 Meadowlark [George] Lemon basketball star (Harlem Globetrotter)
1940 Al Pacino New York NY, actor (And Justice For All, Godfather, Scorpio)
1942 Jon Kyl (Senator-Republican-AZ)
1945 Stu Cook Oakland CA, rock bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival-Proud Mary)
1952 Vladislav Tretiak USSR hockey player (Olympics-gold-1972, 76)
1971 Michelle Harris Newark DE, Miss Delaware-America (1996)

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Deaths which occurred on April 25:
1295 Sancho IV the Brave, scholar/king of Castile/León, dies
1342 Benedict XII [Jacques Fournier] Pope (1334-42), dies
1482 Margaret of Anjou Queen (Henry VI), dies
1607 Don Juan Alvarez Spanish Admiral (Gibraltar), dies in battle
1744 Anders Celsius Swedish astronomer (Centegrade Thermometer), dies at 42
1840 Siméon-Denis Poisson French mathematician (Poisson verdeling), dies
1862 Charles Ferguson Smith US Union General-Major, dies of infection at 55
1882 Johann CF Zöllner German astronomer (astro photography), dies
1905 Jacob Olie Dutch photographer, dies at about 70
1937 Clem Sohn air show performer dies at 26 when his chute fails to open
1955 Paulus B Barth Swiss painter/lithographer, dies at 73
1960 Amanullah emir/king of Afhanistan (1919-28), dies at 67
1981 Dixie a mouse who lived 6½ years, dies
1982 Don Wilson TV announcer (Jack Benny Show), dies at 81
1982 John Cody US cardinal/archbishop of Chicago (1965-82), dies at 74
1982 William R Burnett US, writer (Asphalt Jungle), dies at 82
1988 Clifford D[onald] Simak sci-fi author (Hugo, Way Station), dies at 83
1995 Art Fleming game show host (Jeopardy), dies at 74
1995 Ginger Rogers actress/dancer (Top Hat, Stage Door), dies at 83

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 STACKHOUSE CHARLES D.---SHEBOYGAN WI.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 WESKAMP ROBERT LARRY---ARVADA CO.
[03/06/74 REMAINS RETURNED]
1968 CROSSMAN GREGORY J.---STURGIS MI.
1971 LEMON JEFFREY C.---FLOSSMOOR IL.
1971 ODOM CHESTER R. II
[AWOL?]
1971 SIGAFOOS WALTER H. III---RICHBORO PA
1972 BROWNLEE ROBERT W.---CHICAGO IL.
1975 WALSH BRIAN
[LED AWAY AT GUNPOINT]
1975 YIM JOHN SUNG

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1185 Sea battle at Dan-no-ura Minamoto Yoritomo beats Taira-family
1449 Anti-pope Felix V resigns
1507 Geographer Martin Waldseemuller 1st used name America
1607 Battle at Gibraltar Dutch fleet beats Spanish/Portuguese fleet
1614 Amsterdam Bank of Loan forms
1660 London Convention Parliament meets & votes to restore Charles II
1684 Patent granted for the thimble
1707 Battle of Almansa-Franco-Spanish forces defeat Anglo-Portuguese
1719 Daniel Defoes publishes "Robinson Crusoe"
1792 Guillotine 1st used, executes highwayman Nicolas J Pelletier
1850 Paul Julius Reuter, use 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices
1859 Ground broken for Suez Canal
1861 7th New York arrives to reinforce Washington DC
1861 Battle of Lavaca TX
1862 Battle of New Orleans LA - US Admiral Farragut occupies New Orleans
1864 Battle of Marks' Mill AR (Camden Expedition)
1867 Tokyo is opened for foreign trade
1875 Latest date for measurable snow in NYC (3")
1876 Chicago Cubs 1st National League game, beats Louisville 4-0 (1st National League shutout)
1881 250,000 Germans petition to bar foreign Jews from entering Germany
1881 French troops occupy Algeria & Tunisia
1886 Sigmund Freud opens practice at Rathausstrasse 7, Vienna
1896 Fight in Central Dance Hall starts fire (Cripple Creek CO)
1898 US declares war on Spain over Cuba
1901 New York becomes 1st state requiring auto license plates ($1 fee)
1915 78,000 ANZAC troops land at Gallipoli
1925 Paul von Hindenburg elected 2nd President of Germany (Adolf Hitler is 3rd)
1926 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot", premieres in Milan
1926 Persian cossack officer Reza Chan crowns himself Shah Palawi
1927 Spain routes 20,000 soldiers to Morocco (uprising Rifkabylen)
1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for the blind
1933 US & Canada drop Gold Standard
1944 United Negro College Fund incorporates
1945 46 countries convene United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco CA
1945 Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany's final transmission
1945 Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany
1945 US & Soviet forces meet at Torgau Germany on Elbe River
1945 Red army completely surrounds Berlin
1947 Trial against WWII mayor of Amsterdam Edward Voûte begins
1950 Chuck Cooper becomes the 1st black to play in the NBA
1952 American Bowling Congress approves use of an automatic pinsetter
1952 6th NBA Championship Minneapolis Lakers beat New York Knicks, 4 games to 3
1953 Scientists identify DNA
1954 Bell labs announces 1st solar battery (New York NY)
1954 British raid Nairobi Kenya (25,000 Mau Mau suspects are arrested)
1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1956 Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" goes #1
1957 1st experimental sodium nuclear reactor operated
1957 Ibrahim Hashim forms Jordanian government
1959 St Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic, Great Lakes opens to shipping
1960 1st submerged circumnavigation of Earth completed (Triton)
1961 Mercury/Atlas rocket lifted off with an electronic mannequin
1961 Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit
1961 Premier Moïse Tsjombe of Katanga arrested in Congo
1967 Abortion legalized in Colorado
1967 Jules Feiffer's "Little Murders", premieres in NYC
1971 About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington DC
1972 Hans-Werner Grosse glides 907.7 miles (1,461 km) in an AS-W-12
1974 Chancellor Willy Brandt Secretary Günther Guillaume found to be a spy
1974 Marcello Caetano overthrown in Portugal; he is exiled to Madeira and later to Brazil (Carnation revolution)
1975 Mario Soares' Socialist Party wins 1st free election in Portugal
1975 West German embassy blown-up in Stockholm Sweden
1976 Cub centerfielder Rick Monday rescues US flag from 2 fans trying to set it on fire
1976 Elections in Vietnam for a National Assembly to reunite the country
1978 Phillie Phanatic makes 1st appearance
1978 Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more
1979 "Rock 'n Roll High Schools" premieres
1979 Peace treaty between Israel & Egypt goes into effect
1980 Announcement of Jimmy Carter hostage rescue bungle in Iran
1982 In accordance with Camp David, Israel completes Sinai withdrawal
1983 Yuri Andropov invites US schoolgirl Samantha Smith to USSR
1984 Rock group Wings disbands
1985 For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 goals in a Cup game
1985 West German Parliament ruled it illegal to deny the holocaust
1986 ETA bomb attacks Madrid killing 5
1988 John Demjanjuk (Ivan the Terrible), sentenced to death in Jerusalem
1990 Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by shuttle Discovery
1991 Lisa Olson brings suit against NFL New England Patriots for sexual harassment
1993 Russia elects Boris Yeltsin leader
1994 14" of snow in Southern California
1994 King Azlan Shah of Malaysia resigns
1994 Mexican businessman & billionaire Angel Losada kidnapped
1996 "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk", opens at Ambassador Theater NYC
1998 First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified via videotape for the Little Rock, Ark., grand jury in the Whitewater case.
1999 Vice President Al Gore was among the 70,000 who attended a memorial service for the victims of the Columbine High School shootings five days earlier.
2001 In unusually blunt terms, President Bush warned China that an attack on Taiwan could provoke a U.S. military response.
2001 A rescue plane flew out of the South Pole with ailing American doctor Ronald S. Shemenski in the most daring airlift ever from the pole.

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Australia, Nauru, New Zealand, Solomon Is, Tonga, W Samoa : ANZAC Day (1915)
Azores : Portugal's Day (1974)
Italy : Liberation Day
Portugal : Revolution Day (1974)
England : Cuckoo Day
Babylon : New Years Day (except leap years)
Swaziland : Flag Day
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi : Confederate Memorial Day (1868) (Monday)
US : National Dream Weekend
US : National Earthquake Awareness Week Begins
Actors Appreciation Month

---

Religious Observances
Ancient Rome : Robigalia; god of mildew asked not to harm
Anglican, Roman Catholic, Lutheran : Feast of St Mark the Evangelist
Christian : Latest possible date for Easter (eg 1943, 2038)
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of the Greater Litanies
Christian : National Christian College Day
Buddhist-Laos : Buddhist Holiday

---

Religious History
1530 The Augsburg Confession was read publicly at the Diet of Worms. Written principally by Philip Melanchthon, the document comprised the first official summary of the Lutheran faith.
1792 Birth of John Keble, English clergyman and poet. Credited with having founded the Oxford Movement in 1833, Keble also authored the hymn, "Sun of My Soul, Thou Savior Dear" (1820).
1800 Death of William Cowper, 69, English poet. A lifelong victim of depression, Cowper nevertheless left a great spiritual literary legacy, including three enduring hymns: "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," "Oh, For a Closer Walk with God" and "There is a Fountain."
1929 The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America was organized in Detroit, partly in response to the insurgence of Communism in Eastern Europe. Previously, its parishes were under jurisdiction of the Patriarchate in Bucharest, Hungary.
1982 Captured in 1967, the Sinai Peninsula was returned by Israel to Egypt, as part of the 1979 Camp David Accord.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world."

---

Martha Stewart's Way vs. The Real Woman's Way...
Martha's Way #6: Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust just before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.
Real Woman's Way #6: The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust, so I don't do it.

---

New State Slogans...
Mississippi: We're not Arkansas

---

Male Language Patterns...
"I broke up with her." REALLY MEANS,
"She dumped me."

---

Female Language Patterns...
"You wouldn't understand." REALLY MEANS,
"I don't understand, but I'm not going to tell you that. Are you sure we're legally married?"

[SAMWolf]

Hi Matt! Cold? I thought Spring arrived?

[Dundee]

This prayer was written by the late Petty Officer H B Shipstone of HMAS SYDNEY - 1941. It is read each year at the HMAS SYDNEY Memorial Service in Carnarvon at the Quobba Memorial, overlooking the ocean where it is believed SYDNEY went down.

Let me live, O Mighty Master,
Through this war. Yet if I'm slain
Tasting triumph and disaster
Joy, and not too much of pain
Let me roam the raging waters
For a while to love and laugh
And when I'm beneath the ocean,
Let this be my Epitaph -

"There sleeps one who took his chances
In that war-crazed tragic hell
Battled luck and circumstances,
Loved and laughed, but fought and fell
Victor, then he did no crowing
Wounded, then he did not wail;
Cursed and swore, but kept going,
Never let his courage fail.

He was fallible and human,
Therefore loved and understood
By his fellow men and women
Whether good, or not so good.
Kept his spirit undiminished
Had a laugh for every friend,
Fought for freedom till it finished,
Lived, loved, laughed, until the end

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

For all the fallen in defence of our freedoms.

Lest we forget.

[SAMWolf]

Supplies, previously brought forward by men or mules over dangerous, exposed ground, now reached Hamel via carrier tanks or were dropped from aircraft. Every soldier had carried water bottles, two days' food and a ground sheet, with riflemen also carrying three empty sandbags and a pick or shovel. Now, under Monash's orders, four carrier tanks -- each with an infantry NCO and four unloaders -- did resupply work that would otherwise have required 1,200 men. The results were astonishing for the time. When the 13th Battalion's colonel reached his dump site, he found 34 coils of barbed wire and pickets, 50 tins of water, 150 mortar rounds, 10,000 small-arms rounds, 20 boxes of grenades and 45 sheets of corrugated iron -- a 41Ž2-ton load -- neatly stacked, with the carrier tank already back in the rear.

Someone was thinking and ahead of his time.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. We've been enjoying a spell of nice sunny weather.

[SAMWolf]

Whoa!! That guy in the center looks like me, lol! Wonder what makes it so special?