Australians in the Battle of Mont St Quentin 31 August to 3 Sept 1918

… we reached a trench strongly held by the enemy. With bomb and bayonet we forced them back, making our way gradually along …

[Corporal Philip Starr, A Company, 21st Australian Infantry Battalion, Historical Notes, Mont St Quentin, 1 September 1918, 3DRL 6673/91, AWM 38]

Monash's plan

Mont St Quentin is only 100 m high, but this stronghold was key to Germany's defence of the Somme front in 1918. The hill overlooks the Somme River, about 1.5 km north of Péronne. Taking the hill and then Péronne would help the Australian Corps to advance eastward.

The Australian Corps was attached to General Rawlinson's 4th Army, part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). However, Rawlinson thought the hill was 'unattackable' and doubted Monash's ambitious and risky plans.

The plan was for the 3rd Division – the 9th, 10th and 11th brigades – to hold the left flank of the hill while the 5th Division – the 8th, 14th and 15th brigades – would hold the right flank.

Major General Charles Rosenthal would lead the 2nd Division to take the heavily fortified hill. In the division, Brigadier General Edward Martin headed the 5th Brigade, Brigadier General James Robertson the 6th Brigade, and Brigadier General Evan Wisdom the 7th Brigade.

From 25 August, the Australian Corps were transported to the starting points in their units. Some units had to walk up to 25 km in poor weather towards Mont St Quentin. Their progress was slowed because retreating German troops had destroyed bridges over waterways, as well as roads, railway lines and wells. 2940A Private Percy 'Doc' Morris of A Company, 20th Battalion, later recalled:

We came down about 10,000 yards at right angles to the Canal, and camped there, and expecting to hop over the next morning; but there was a delay somewhere, and it put us back for a day. We "stood to", and "stood down" as Fritz had blown up the bridges by which we intended to cross.

Engineers and pioneers made hasty repairs, sometimes under enemy fire, and the attack was delayed by a day.

When the Australian troops finally saw the Mont, they realised how difficult their objective would be. They would have an uphill fight across open ground, making them vulnerable to attack from the Germans above.

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The attack

The action began on the night of 31 August when the 2nd Division crossed the Somme River to attack Mont St Quentin from the north-west the next morning.

When the attack started at 5 am on 1 September, the Germans were not expecting it.

To overcome their uphill disadvantage, the Australians worked in small dispersed groups. 'Doc' Morris later recalled making a lot of noise to sound like a large group:

On the morning of the 31st August ... we received a small issue of what is called "Black Charley" known as rum. One party went up Oflant Alley, and we crossed out and crawled along the road for about 200 yards. We stood straight up. The boys started off like a lot of squealing yelling hounds; one would have thought it was a stock yard broke loose.

By 7 am, the Australian troops had captured the village of Mont St Quentin, as well as the slope and the summit of the hill. By 8:20 am, the Allied troops had broken through Germans' lines to Péronne.

However, the Germans regrouped and launched a counterattack that same day. Fierce fighting caused heavy losses to both sides on 1 September. Outnumbered by German troops, the Australians were forced back to the summit of Mont St Quentin.

After their reinforcements arrived, the Australians retook the area, but they had 3,000 casualties. Heavy fighting continued until the Australians established a stronghold in the area. They also forced the complete withdrawal of the Germans from the adjacent town of Péronne.

The brief but ferocious battle was part of a larger Allied offensive that ended the war on the Western Front, now known as the Hundred Days.

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Australians in battle

According to Major AC Fidge (Australian Army) writing in 2003, Monash had planned for the 2nd Division to cross a series of marshes and launch a frontal assault, but this attempt failed. After the initial setback, Monash demonstrated his ability to think and react quickly by 'manoeuvring his divisions in the only free manoeuvre battle of any consequence undertaken by the Australians on the Western Front'.

According to Captain WJ Denny, who fought in the battle, the Germans never conceived it was possible that this 'great natural fortress … would in a few hours not only fall, but that the whole garrison would be killed or captured'.

The calibre and skill of the Australian troops were well articulated by the French Special Correspondent of Le Journal newspaper:

It is required a forest-trapper or a hunter versed in the art of ambush and bush-craft – and the Australians, bold seekers after adventure, are these – to venture to attack on a stormy night a strong position like Mont St. Quentin. At the back of their barbed wire defences the German machine-gunners thought themselves impregnable and immune from capture. Their sentries watched behind their parapets. The citadel, with its three rows of trenches, stood like a dark shadow on the banks of the Somme. Only a few hours were necessary for the Anzacs to conquer this impregnable mountain, and of the garrison of 3,000 who defended it, more than one third are today lamenting in the prisoners' cage behind the line.

A German account of the battle was provided to 3819 Corporal Alfred Henry Edwards of B Company 17th Battalion by a prisoner. Alfred was wounded in action on 31 August. He and a wounded German prisoner were lying in a lorry together on the way to the 37 Casualty Clearing Station at Daours. According to Alfred, the German's regiment was 'one of the finest regiments we had been against – all big men, six feet, and very neatly dressed, officers very haughty in manner, and could never understand how defeat took place'. The German prisoner repaid Alfred's compliment in kind by saying that he had 'never met any men to come up to the Australians for initiative. The French are next, but they lack the dash of the Australians'.

The significance of this victory to the Australian forces was recalled in 1919 by Captain William Joseph 'Bill' Denny of the 5th Division:

There is no doubt that the whole system of the enemy's defences on the British front was rudely shaken by this important tactical success.

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Victoria Cross recipients

Four soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross medal for their actions during the battle. They were all Australians.

Lieutenant Edgar Thomas Towner, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, 2nd Division, was from Blackall, Queensland. He skillfully handled his own and also captured enemy guns to secure positions, take prisoners and keep his own men safe.

Sergeant Albert David Lowerson, 21st Battalion, 2nd Division, was from Myrtleford, Victoria. He led his men to their objective and then helped capture another post, making it safer for others despite being wounded himself.

Private Robert MacTier, 23rd Battalion, 2nd Division, was from Tatura, Victoria. When bombing patrols failed, he singlehandedly disabled enemy strongpoints close to the Australians' jumping-off point so the operation could proceed. He was killed in the action.

Corporal Lawrence Carthage Weathers, 43rd Battalion, 3rd Division, was from Adelaide, South Australia. As part of an advanced bombing party, he made brave bombing attacks on enemy strongpoints to clear the line and capture prisoners ahead of the attack. Lawrence survived the battle but died from wounds received in the Battle of St Quentin Canal on 29 September.

Private Percy Morris of 20th Battalion received a Military Medal for his actions on the day too.

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Commemoration

Many of the Australians killed in the Battle of Mont St Quentin are buried at the Péronne Communal Cemetery Extension.

The 2nd Australian Division Memorial stands at Mont St Quentin.

It was unveiled on the morning of 30 August 1925. Marshal Ferdinand Foch, who had been the supreme commander of all Allied forces in France in 1918, faced a large crowd gathered before a newly completed monument. Foch spoke of what would rank as one of the 'finest feats of arms in a time rich in innumerable deeds of heroism', the seizure of Mont St Quentin and Péronne by the AIF between 31 August and 3 September 1918.

After saluting, Foch pulled away a large Australian flag to reveal a statue of an infantryman of the AIF in full battle dress powerfully thrusting down with his bayonet into the belly of an eagle that lay on its back.

Seven years after the end of World War I, the meaning of this memorial was clear. Here were the men of the AIF defeating the Imperial German Army, symbolised by the dying bird of prey. The memorial was blessed by Canon Stacy Waddy, an ex-chaplain with the AIF, the Last Post was sounded, there was a 2-minute silence, and the ceremony was brought to a close by a French military band playing the 'Marseillaise' and 'God Save the King'.

Around the base of the monument were 4 brass plaques. The one facing east, towards the Somme, dedicates the monument:

To the officers, non–commissioned officers, and men of the 2nd Australian Division, who fought in France and Belgium in the Great War, 1916, 1917, and 1918.

Australian artist Miss May Butler-George made the plaques facing north and south. Arranged by the 2nd Division, she visited the battle site in February 1919. Her bas-relief plaques depicted Australian artillery going into action and infantry bombing their way down a trench. She designed them in a St Kilda Road, Melbourne, studio, using photographs of male models carrying out the battle actions. One model, shown straining on a rope pulling an 18-pounder field gun, she declared had 'too much flesh on'!

The bronze statue was designed by Lieutenant Web Gilbert and cast in Paris.

The original statue and base reliefs were removed by the occupying German Army in 1940. They were later replaced with a new statue and new reliefs.

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