World War 1 (WW1) Overview 1914-1918

Collie Boys in WW1

The Australian Imperial Force

The information provided herein is on servicemen from Collie, it is sourced from the soldier’s service records held by the Australian National Archives and from the records of the Australian War Memorial (AWM). Not all servicemen listed were born in Collie. At the time of WW1, Australia’s workforce was itinerant. Men from all over Australia came to Collie and surrounding districts seeking work in the coalmining and timber industries. However, those servicemen not born in Collie, who are listed here, either; worked and lived in the Collie District, at the time of their enlistment or their next of kin lived in the Collie District. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the detail provided. At all times the source reference has been records held by the AWM and the personal service records of soldiers, held by the Australian Archives.

The Killing Field of the First World War                                                                              

Fromelles

July 1916 - In a battle of at times unspeakable horror Australia experienced its worst day in history with 5,533 casualties (including around 2000 dead) in just 24 hours.                                                                                                                                                                                   

Pozieres

Just days later Australia suffers 23,000 battle casualties (7,000 Killed) and the ‘father’ of the Australian War Memorial Charles Bean reports that Pozieres Ridge “is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth”.                            

Mouquet Farm

1st Anzac Corps fails to capture its objective. Bean writes “The reader must take for granted many of the conditions;  the flayed land, shell hole bordering shell hole, corpses of young men lying against the trench walls or in shell holes; some except for the dust settling on them, seeming to sleep; others torn in half; others rotting, swollen and discoloured”.

From a population of just 4.9 million 416,809 Australians volunteered and more than 60,000 died and 156,000 were wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner in the so called ‘War to end all Wars’.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

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Overview of Conflict, 1914-1918

The First World War, also known as the Great War, was to be a terrible experience for the newly federated nation of Australia. A war that became a baptism of fire, killing tens of thousands of young men creating the foundation for new traditions of patriotism, and an increasingly distinct national identity. When Britain declared war against Germany in August 1914, Australia with its ties to the British Empire was also at war. At the outbreak of WW1, the population of Australia was around 5 million, 400,000 men and women volunteered for service, almost ten per cent of Australia’s entire population. Soldiers embarked for the battlefields of Gallipoli, the Middle East and the Western Front. Of this number, around one Australian serviceman in every seven would die.

Initially the war was greeted with great enthusiasm, men and boys rushed to join the great adventure. The enthusiasm however was short lived. By 1917, as the casualty rate continued to rise, reinforcements from volunteer enlistments became more difficult to find. Mothers refused to send more of their sons to the killing fields of the Western Front. The Government of the day twice attempted to introduce conscription but was defeated on both occasions. Almost every Australian family had a connection with casualties of war, for every one of those young men who struggled, suffered and died in France, there was waiting at home, a weeping mother, father, perhaps a wife and children, or a sweetheart, brother or sister.

Gallipoli

Australian forces underwent their baptism of fire in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. After four months of training in Egypt, elements of the AIF went ashore on the 25 April 1915. The Turkish defenders held the high ground and the ANZACS (The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) were forced to dig in on the steep slopes. What followed was a stalemate with heavy loss of life on both sides. The disaster continued for the remainder of 1915. The Australians eventually evacuated without loss of life, in what was the only successful operation of the campaign.

The Western Front

After Gallipoli the AIF was reorganised and expanded from two to five infantry divisions, all of which were progressively sent to France, beginning in March 1916. The light horse Regiments, which had served as Infantry during the Gallipoli campaign remained in the Middle East. When the Australians arrived in France the war on the Western Front had become one of defensive operations. Trench systems now extended from Belgium to the Northern border of France. The war became one of attack and counter attack on heavily fortified trench positions, both side suffered horrific loss of life.

The Final Push

In March 1918 Germany launched ‘Operation Michael’, a massive attack along the whole of the Western front hoping for victory before the might of the United States Army entered the war. The allied trenches were overrun in many places and the German Army advanced further into France. However the allies regrouped and counter attacked. The war was no longer one of defensive operations but had turned to offensive tactics. The Australian Divisions now came into their own, with this style of warfare, and they spearheaded the counter attacks driving the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line. The war was over for Germany and they signed the Armistice on 11 November 1918.

The Light Horse

In the Middle East the Australian Light Horse troops fought a mobile offensive war against the Ottoman Empire in conditions entirely different to the Western Front. The troops endured extreme heat, desert and water shortage but as in the Boer war, the Australian horsemen excelled. The desert campaign began in 1916 and lasted three years during which time the Australian Light Horsemen charged into the history books. Turkey sued for peace in October 1918, the war over. In comparison to France, casualties were considered light.

The Cost

For Australia, WW1 remains the most costly conflict in terms of deaths and wounded. From a population of fewer than five million, around 500,000 enlisted, of whom more than 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded. Over 4,000 Australians were taken prisoner by German and Ottoman forces during the First World War. More than 3,800 were captured by the Germans on the Western Front and some 217 became prisoners of the Ottoman forces. A total of 395 Australians died in captivity.

When the war ended the soldiers still suffered, many were severely disabled whilst others carried mental scars to their deathbeds. Many could not resume a normal life, many committed suicide, the exact numbers will never be known.

565 Collie Boys embarked for overseas service during WW1, and 133, around one in five, were killed in action or died of wounds (see Nominal and Honour Rolls).

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