The First Battle of Morlancourt was fought over the period 28–30 March 1918, on the
Western Front during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The battle saw troops from the
Australian 3rd Division advance to fill a gap in the Allied line that had formed north of the
River Somme during the
German spring offensive. This advance towards
Morlancourt
Morlancourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Morlancourt is situated on the D42 road, some northeast of Amiens.
Population
Notable people
* Louis Friant (1758–1829), French military ...
was checked by German troops short of the Australian's objective of the
spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...
overlooking Morlancourt and the Australians were subsequently counter-attacked by elements of the German
18th Division. These attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties, as Allied forces blunted the German advance towards
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, which subsequently stabilised the Allied line north of the Somme. The fighting then largely moved south; however, in the months following, two further actions – albeit minor – were fought around Morlancourt as the Australians sought to consolidate their positions around the village prior to the start of the Allied
Hundred Days Offensive.
Background
Situated on the northern bank of the
River Somme,
Morlancourt
Morlancourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Morlancourt is situated on the D42 road, some northeast of Amiens.
Population
Notable people
* Louis Friant (1758–1829), French military ...
is about north-east of
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, in the
Somme department of northern France. The battle took place amidst the backdrop of the
German spring offensive, which saw the Germans launch a large-scale offensive on the Western Front that had rapidly gained ground through the Somme after it had commenced on 21 March. It was fought in conjunction with the
First Battle of Dernancourt
The First Battle of Dernancourt was fought on 28 March 1918 near Dernancourt in northern France during World War I. It involved a force of the German 2nd Army attacking elements of the VII Corps, which included British and Australian troops, a ...
, about to the north. With the vital railhead at Amiens under threat, on 25 March two divisions of the
Australian Corps
The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire in France. At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 10 ...
, the
3rd and
4th, were moved south from Belgium and rushed into the front line on the Somme. Major General
John Monash
General (Australia), General Sir John Monash, (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. He commanded the 13th Brigade (Australia), 13th Infantry Brigade before the war an ...
's 3rd Division was to take up position to the right of the British
35th Division and to the left of the
1st Cavalry Division, where it was deployed to fill a gap between the British
Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
and
Fifth Armies in an area between the
River Ancre
The Ancre (; ) is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. It is long. For most of its length it flows through the department of Somme. For a short stretch near Puis ...
and the River Somme. In the meantime, a small British cavalry screen was maintained in the gap, along with a composite brigade of British, Canadian and US frontline and support troops under Brigadier General (later Major General)
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
During his time as archbishop the C ...
, which had been attempting to maintain contact between the two armies since 26 March.
Arriving on 27 March, Monash's troops initially occupied a position between Mericourt and Sailley-le-Sec; however, this disposition was found to be dislocated from those of the flanking Allied units, which were about further forward. In order to tie-in with the British Fifth Army located to the south of the Australians, the following day Monash ordered an advance of towards the cross
spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...
overlooking Morlancourt, in two bounds, with the objective being to straighten the front. Two brigades – the
10th
10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The re ...
(Brigadier General
Walter McNicoll
Brigadier General Sir Walter Ramsay McNicoll, (27 May 1877 – 24 December 1947) was an Australian teacher, soldier, and colonial administrator.
Early life
McNicoll was born in the Melbourne suburb of Emerald Hill, on 27 May 1877. He was the ...
) and
11th Brigade (Brigadier General
James Cannan
Major General James Harold Cannan, (29 August 1882 – 23 May 1976) was an Australian Army brigadier general in the First World War and the Quartermaster General during the Second World War.
Cannan assumed command of the 15th Battalion in 19 ...
) – were assigned, while the division's third brigade, the
9th
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding .
Evolution of the Arabic digit
In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
(Brigadier General
Charles Rosenthal
Major General Sir Charles Rosenthal, (12 February 1875 – 11 May 1954) was an Australian architect, soldier, musician and politician. He commanded units of infantry in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, and in the 1920 ...
), which had been held back in reserve around Corbie where it held the junction of the Somme and Ancre Rivers, was sent south to
Villers-Bretonneux
Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway.
Villers-Bretonneux bord ...
to shore up the flank between the British Fifth Army and the French
First Army.
Battle
Monash ordered a general advance, for which the 10th Brigade was assigned to the north of the Bray–Corbie Road with its left flank anchored by the River Ancre, while the 11th Brigade would attack to the south of the road, with its right flank bounded by the River Somme. From the beginning, the attack went awry for the Australians. Inexperience in planning quickly in open warfare situations resulted in the two brigades largely planning in isolation, and this would prove costly. As the two brigades of field artillery – the British 189th and the Australian 7th – that were assigned to the 3rd Division were dislocated to the north of the Ancre, the assault would lack artillery support, with only limited, and largely long range, support being provided.
Commencing around 3:40 pm, the
40th Battalion, from the 10th Brigade, began to move out of its positions around Heilly station and moved towards the next crest. They were under orders to advance north of the Bray–Corbie Road in concert with the 11th Brigade's
41st Battalion, which would advance through the
43rd Battalion's position to the south of the road. Reaching their stepping off point, however, it became clear to the men of the 40th that the 41st Battalion had not been given the same timing. Nevertheless, the commanding officer of the 40th Battalion, Major Leslie Payne, was determined to carry out his orders and as a result, at around 5:00 pm, the Tasmanians of the 40th Battalion began their advance towards positions held by elements of the German
1st Division, including the 1st Grenadier Regiment and the 13th Infantry Regiment. Moving through the centre of the Australian position they advanced into open ground with no flank protection, while what little artillery support they had had largely fell short. Coming up against heavy German machine gun and artillery fire, the 40th Battalion suffered heavy casualties – about 150 killed or wounded – and the advance came to a halt after only , essentially halfway through the first planned bound. Presently, it began to rain.
![First Morlancourt attack map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/First_Morlancourt_attack_map.png)
The 11th Brigade's advanced elements subsequently stepped off around 5:45 pm, with several patrols of South Australians from the 43rd Battalion being pushed forward with a view to taking
Sailly-Laurette. Coming under intense fire, this patrol was able to slowly work its way forward over the course of just over an hour, and began establishing a line of outposts, but these were well short of the objective. The
42nd Battalion, a Queensland-recruited unit, also established several posts opposite the village. As dusk fell, the
39th Battalion moved north around the 40th and pushed the line forward on the Australian left, to conform with the 40th, and began to dig-in. Shortly afterwards, the 41st belatedly moved up on the 40th Battalion's right to join the line between the 40th Battalion and the outposts established by the 42nd and 43rd Battalions, thus establishing a contiguous line between the Ancre and the Somme.
A renewed effort was ordered by Monash and after dark, the Australians made another attack. In the centre, they were held up by a German defensive position in a copse, while the flanking force from the
44th Battalion that had been dispatched to capture Sailly-Laurette was ambushed by several machine gun posts from the 3rd Grenadier Regiment and suffered heavy losses. The Western Australians from the 44th Battalion subsequently withdrew from the village, taking as many wounded with them as possible, as Lewis gunners laid down covering fire. Despite continuing German machine gun fire, small parties were sent out throughout the night to bring wounded soldiers back to the Australian lines. Meanwhile, the Australians brought up artillery and as the rain fell on 29 March the guns began to attrite the German defences that had held up the infantry. Meanwhile, the infantrymen began digging-in along the new line that the occupied, while on the left of the 3rd Division's position, the Australians exploited a brief lull in the battle to carry out a reconnaissance of the spur that extended between the 35th Division's positions around Treux and Morlancourt. A small skirmish was fought by a patrol of Victorians from the
38th Battalion – who, along with the
37th had assisted the 35th Division the day before around Treux and Marrett Wood during the First Battle of Dernancourt – around the northern end of the spur, which resulted in up to 30 Germans being killed and five members of the 13th Infantry Regiment (
13th Division) being captured.
Following this, the Germans rotated their forces and on 30 March, troops from three German infantry regiments – the 31st, 85th and 86th – of the
18th Division launched a strong counter-attack, focused on the 11th Brigade's positions along the southern part of the Australian front. The 31st Infantry was assigned the role as the main assault unit, supported by two battalions from the 85th Infantry. The remaining battalion from the 85th Infantry concentrated against Sailly-le-Sec, with elements of the 86th, advancing across the Australians' front from Morlancourt, in support. The supporting artillery had only limited ammunition and its observation was obscured by sleet. In total, three attacks were made by the Germans throughout the day, but these were turned back by strong machine gun, rifle and artillery fire which inflicted heavy losses and repulsed the attackers before they could get within of the Australian positions. Australian casualties over the course of the battle amounted to over 450 killed or wounded, while the Australians initially estimated German casualties at around 500, with subsequent assessments rising to between 3,000 and 4,000 although the latter figures are now considered to be too high.
Aftermath
In the aftermath, the 3rd Division's remaining artillery support arrived late on 30 March, and the British 35th Division was withdrawn. Temporarily, the Australians subsequently occupied the length of the line between the Somme and Albert, with the
13th Brigade, from the 4th Division, replacing the 35th Division along the Buire railway line, and the 3rd Division taking over the British positions at Treux. Both Australian divisions were at two-thirds strength, as they had each detached one brigade to support flanking units. Nevertheless, the British and Australian forces had managed to secure the front north of the Somme, and the focus subsequently moved further south, where heavy fighting took place around
Villers-Bretonneux
Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway.
Villers-Bretonneux bord ...
in early April.
![35th Battalion near Morlancourt May 1918 (AWM photo E04819)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/35th_Battalion_near_Morlancourt_May_1918_%28AWM_photo_E04819%29.JPG)
Two further actions were fought around Morlancourt in the final stages of the Spring Offensive. A
second battle
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
was fought around Morlancourt over the period 4–9 May 1918. This battle saw the 9th Brigade launch a limited attack on the German frontline, which had been established there following the first battle. Using the
peaceful penetration tactic, the initial Australian attack captured about . A total of 170 German soldiers were taken prisoner, while the Australians lost 264 killed or wounded. In response, the Germans launched a counter-attack against the
Australian 5th Brigade on 14 May, which initially met with some success before being cut-off with another 48 soldiers being captured. Australian losses during the German counter-attack amounted to 60 men killed or wounded.
A
third action took place on 10 June 1918, during which the
Australian 7th Brigade
7th Brigade is a combined arms formation or brigade of the Australian Army. The brigade was first raised in 1912 as a Militia formation, although it was re-formed as part of the First Australian Imperial Force in early 1915 for service during W ...
launched an attack against the spur overlooking the village of Sailly-Laurette, situated to the south of Morlancourt. The attack was successful for the Australians, completing the advance that had been halted in the First Battle of Morlancourt with 325 Germans being taken prisoner for the loss of 400 Australians killed or wounded. The German Spring Offensive finally came to an end in July after the
Second Battle of Marne
The Second Battle of the Marne (french: Seconde Bataille de la Marne) (15 July – 18 July 1918) was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack failed when an Allied counterattack, supported by ...
. Following this there was a brief lull before the Allies went on the offensive. During this lull, the Australians, along with several US companies, launched a successful attack around
Hamel on 4 July. This was followed, in early August, with the
Hundred Days Offensive which ultimately brought the war to an end.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* {{cite book , last = Edmonds , first = James , author-link = James Edward Edmonds , title = Military Operations: France and Belgium 1914–1918: 1918, March–April: Continuation of the German Offensives , year = 1937 , series =
History of the Great War
The ''History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence'' (abbreviated to ''History of the Great War'' or ''British Official History'') is a series of concerning the war effort of the Britis ...
based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence , volume = II , location = London , publisher = Macmillan , oclc = 772782397
Morlancourt
Morlancourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Morlancourt is situated on the D42 road, some northeast of Amiens.
Population
Notable people
* Louis Friant (1758–1829), French military ...
1918 in France
Morlancourt
Morlancourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Morlancourt is situated on the D42 road, some northeast of Amiens.
Population
Notable people
* Louis Friant (1758–1829), French military ...
Morlancourt
Morlancourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Morlancourt is situated on the D42 road, some northeast of Amiens.
Population
Notable people
* Louis Friant (1758–1829), French military ...