By 1.30 p.m., news had come through that the 47th Battalion and elements of the 48th had left the front line, some making their way to Pioneer Trench. The situation as understood by Sinclair-MacLagan was that the 4th Division’s two flanks were holding their part of the line. On the left at the farm beside the Amiens road, the flank platoon of ‘B’ Company of the 48th still resisted all attacks, with the badly wounded Lieutenant Shepherdson commanding his men. The right flank covered by the 52nd Battalion was still holding the south-western part of the line, with its left flank bent back at a right angle up the hill.1

Captain Kennedy’s company of the 52nd Battalion was holding three widely distributed posts forming the flank on the hillside just in front of the casualty clearing station. The Germans were pushing their way up the gullies that extended beyond his front and northern flank – if they captured the hilltop behind and above him, his position would be untenable. Lieutenant Colonel Whitham now ordered the attached ‘C’ Company of the 51st Battalion, commanded by Captain Kelly, to move up onto Kennedy’s left, but through some misunderstanding Kelly took up a position on the reverse side of the slope, out of sight of Kennedy. On hearing of this, Whitham sent all the men he could collect at his headquarters. These men, including three Lewis-gun teams led by Lieutenant Ernest Wicks, a 25-year-old civil servant from West Guildford in Western Australia, soon reinforced Kennedy’s position. Wicks reported seeing men from the 12th Brigade on his left: these were the remnants of Lieutenant Perry’s platoon of ‘C’ Company (45th Battalion), who had earlier taken up a position near a number of former sheep pens. It was now around 2 p.m.2

Perry was down to just 14 men. Soon, Captain William Adams leading ‘C’ Company arrived and took over command of the small party. It would not be long before Perry himself became a casualty. The amount of machine-gun fire tearing into their position was alarming. Adams moved to a small mount and, using his field glasses, saw a number of Australians below with their hands above their heads, being corralled by Germans. Now Germans begun to advance higher up the slopes towards Adams’ position. The Australians opened fire, with Lance Corporal William Bannister (a 24-year-old labourer from Darlington in New South Wales) standing up and firing his Lewis gun with the barrel resting on the shoulder of Lance Corporal Alfred Squires (a 22-year-old belt maker from Alexandria in New South Wales). The Germans were forced to ground, although it didn’t stop the two men from continuing to fire intermittently to keep the enemy at bay while standing fully exposed. Eventually, however, Adams’ party was targeted by a German heavy machine gun that poured fire into their right flank. Adams ordered his men to retire, sending them back one at a time to join the rest of the battalion in Pioneer Trench. Adams with a Lewis gunner remained to cover the withdrawal.3

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Meanwhile, the 50th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Salisbury (a 33-year-old area officer from Sandgate in Queensland), was approaching Hénencourt, about 2 kilometres north of Laviéville. Major Murray Fowler, a 22-year-old student from Norwood in South Australia, later told how he was approached by an officer on horseback:

The mounted officer turned out to be [Lieutenant] John Hill, the battalion Intelligence Officer, who rode up to us at the head of the column, saluted and said something like this (mind you I knew absolutely nothing of the situation of where the Boche were): ‘The Boche is attacking strong down the Ancre Valley. We’re going in. Your right flank is that line of trees (pointing [to Bresle Wood]) and your left that copse. CO wants all four Companies in line with two platoons in the front line and one in support. Get the Battalion off the road in artillery formation as soon as possible, as you’re under observation.’4

Salisbury got the battalion moving as ordered, and advanced to the sound of the fighting. He wrote: ‘All mounted Officers rode into action. I can’t describe the sensation of riding amongst the lads under shellfire and galloping up and down giving instructions.’5 They were soon digging defensive positions on the upper slopes of the plateau around Bresle Wood. This would be vacated by the 49th Battalion, which was to launch its counterattack to retake the railway line and embankment.6

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Along the left flank, another strong German force of two battalions was advancing north-eastwards, its objective likely being to smash what remained of the 48th Battalion. Indeed, at 3.30 p.m. the Australian flank here was still held by the badly wounded Lieutenant Shepherdson and his men. Shepherdson was ordered by his commander, Captain Cumming, to retire from the position. The young lieutenant ‘was one of the most reluctant to leave a position where “we had the Huns stone cold”.’7 They retired northwards towards the lines held by the British 7th Suffolk Battalion (12th Division), and from there eventually made their way to Pioneer Trench.8

Just before retiring, Shepherdson tried to warn the British further north who were helping to cover the Australian extreme left flank that they were going to fall back from their position. However, the ‘signaller could attract no attention [and] a digger [Private Frederick Tregoweth] volunteered to run across the valley and take a message’, recalled Captain Cutlack. ‘He went out in full view of the enemy, carrying a signal flag. The ground was swept by German machine-gun fire and snipers plugged hard at him. He twice fell hit, and twice staggered up again; a third time he fell when a hundred yards from the British line, and lay there unable to rise. His comrades saw him lift the signal-flag and wave it feebly. Next minute two men ran out from the British trenches and carried him in.’9 Captain David Twining, a 23-year-old student from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia who had been promoted through the ranks, also recalled that it was almost ‘certain death to attempt it but Private Tregoweth went through a perfect hail of bullets towards the English positions on the left. Several times he fell evidently badly wounded, but still struggled on till finally he could only drag himself along. When about fifty yards away bearers rushed out and carried him in, whereby he delivered his message.’10

Private Frederick Tregoweth, a 20-year-old teacher from Norwood in South Australia, was recommended for the VC but was instead awarded the DCM. He would survive the war and return to Australia as Sergeant Tregoweth.

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By 3.40 p.m., on the opposite side of the line, Williams reported that he was suffering heavy casualties from accurate German artillery fire and was losing men rapidly. He believed he would soon have to retire from his exposed position. At 4 p.m. the Germans began to assault in force south-westwards along the railway, enfilading it with machine guns. Lieutenant Wilson, who commanded Kennedy’s No. 9 Platoon of ‘C’ Company, which was covering the now-southern flank of Kennedy’s position, had hours earlier been seriously wounded. His men were being attacked by a strong force of Germans and were soon dislodged from their position and driven back 300 metres along the railway line together with the left of Williams’ company. Lieutenant Rowe, commanding No. 11 Platoon, which was holding the centre of Kennedy’s line located near the casualty clearing station, and his men were targeted by these same Germans with enfilade from the south. Lieutenant Rogers and his men of No. 12 Platoon, covering No. 11 Platoon’s northern flank located further up the hill, were driven from their position and retired towards Kennedy’s headquarters. Here the Lewis gunners, at great personal risk, managed to pin down the Germans to their front but could not hold out for long as the German numbers were telling and other elements were advancing along the sunken road higher up the hill. Kennedy’s position was becoming untenable. The final straw seemed to be when the Germans to his front brought up a 77mm field gun (whiz-bang) and opened fire against his position at near point-blank range. Germans were seen moving through the old casualty clearing station in an attempt to isolate and decimate what remained of the gallant garrison.11 Kennedy’s report in the battalion war diary states:

About 4.30 p.m., enemy movement was observed North of the CCS apparently directed to envelope me and getting a footing on the [central] high ground . . . I had a most anxious time during this period. I switched three Lewis Guns and about 20 rifles onto the northern movement but could not check their advance to the terrace under the crest of the hill. Enemy appeared to be carrying what I took to be a Light Trench Mortar on a square frame and pushed it well up to his advanced troops. He developed a strong machine-gun and rifle fire against me from his new position, but he did not bring the Light Trench Mortar into action against me . . . I developed as much fire as possible and all the men and Lewis Guns I had under my own control [were now] directed against the Northern movement and left No 11 Platoon to stand the direct attack to their immediate front.12

Meanwhile, down on the railway, ‘A’ and ‘D’ companies of the 52nd Battalion were still holding their position but found themselves under intense machine-gun and rifle fire from the rear. Captain Williams was wounded and Lieutenant George Travers, a 36-year-old farmer from Brisbane, took command of ‘D’ Company. However, not surprisingly some of the men began to panic as they saw masses of Germans to their front, left and rear, and they were taking appalling casualties.13 Troops from ‘D’ Company began to fall back from the embankment towards their northern support trenches further up the slope. ‘As the men came streaming back to the support line,’ recalls the history of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, ‘the enemy opened upon them savagely, at practically point-blank range, from light guns in Dernancourt.’14

Meanwhile, ‘A’ Company, representing the right flank of the 52nd Battalion and commanded by Captain Claude Stubbings (a 26-year-old clerk from Zeehan in Tasmania), managed to hold its part of the line. Just to its rear at the village of Buire, which represented the extreme right flank of the Australian 4th Division, was a company of the 4th Pioneer Battalion, who had the night before been brought up to drive dugouts into the railway bank. These men came in to support ‘A’ Company, firing into Germans as they crossed the railway line advancing north towards the clearing station. They were assisted by the gunners of General Monash’s 3rd Division, who were positioned south-west of Buire across the other side of the Ancre. The majority of the frontline position previously held by the 52nd Battalion was now being held by the Germans, with Kennedy desperately clinging to his position as the enemy bypassed his left flank and moved north of him on the hill above. He sent an urgent message to Whitham requesting that reinforcements be sent or he would have to fall back. It was now approaching 5 p.m.15

On getting Kennedy’s message, Whitham immediately sent a second company of the 51st Battalion – ‘A’ Company, commanded by Captain Norman Owen, a 41-year-old farmer from Subiaco in Western Australia. They were to come in on Kennedy’s left, but as they rounded the hill they came across elements of ‘A’ Company of the 52nd Battalion who were launching an attack against the position just north of the railway line. Owen’s company, rather than reinforcing Kennedy, joined this attack, leaving Kennedy still in dire straits. Shells from their own artillery began to explode close to Kennedy’s position. It was approaching 5.20 p.m. when he and his small garrison saw what they feared most: a line of men appearing over the hilltop and directly charging down upon them.16

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Orders had come through from Sinclair-MacLagan to the remnants of the 45th, 47th and 48th battalions reorganising in Pioneer Trench that a counterattack by a battalion of the 13th Brigade was in preparation. This attack was to drive the Germans down the hill, with the flanks to support the advance and conform to its movement. The artillery would provide a concentrated barrage before the infantry went in.17

The 49th Battalion of the 13th Brigade had earlier been sent forward from Laviéville, and Sinclair-MacLagan planned that they would drive the Germans off the lower slopes, back across the railway tracks and the Ancre – a big ask for just one battalion. Sinclair-MacLagan also wanted the attack supported by tanks, but previous experience with these cumbersome behemoths in 1917 had been far from successful, and his subordinate officers were greatly concerned that they might slow down the attack. It was settled that when the infantry had advanced, the tanks would move forward to help surround the Germans and protect the troops as they consolidated their newly recaptured positions. The brigadiers also disagreed with Sinclair-MacLagan’s final objective, stating that it would be impossible for one battalion, even with support from other elements of the brigade, to reach the railway, but the general insisted the embankment was to be retaken. Lieutenant Colonel Leane, who was in charge of the forward troops of the 12th Brigade, instead directed his officers that they were to oust the Germans from the sunken road below the crest and reoccupy their former support line and go no further.18

The 49th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Denton, had moved towards the valley north-east of Whitham’s headquarters. To the left of them, the men of the 51st Battalion were getting ready to advance down the slope to reinforce Kennedy’s beleaguered garrison, as recalled by Private Sutcliffe:

We came under some heavy machine-gun fire going over some hills. The 49th Battalion was in extended order behind a hill, and my company was a little on the right, ready to make a counter attack. Evidently Jerry knew we were there, and he shelled us heavy with instantaneous fuse shells. They burst as soon as they touch the ground and pieces fly level with the ground, with the result that they are very deadly. Our job was to start off with the 49th and move half-right to reinforce the 52nd Battalion in a cutting alongside the railway leading from Buire to Dernancourt. It seemed a strange thing that we should be fighting on the very same hill on which a year before we used to practise attacks making ready for [the battle of ] Bullecourt.19

Zero hour for the launch of the counterattack was slated for 5.15 p.m. Right on zero hour, a mixture of Australian and British batteries opened up with an intense bombardment against the old support line, which was to last for six minutes and then move 500 metres further down the hill towards the railway line. As the guns opened fire, the infantry went forward. At first they were largely protected by the plateau, but as they continued their advance south they came into view and received intense fire. Indeed, the survivors of the 45th Battalion as they left Pioneer Trench in support of the 49th Battalion were shattered with machine-gun and rifle fire, and many fell back into the trench. Private Lynch described the scene:

Men start dropping everywhere. Still we advance. Still perfect parade formation is kept despite flying bullets and falling mates, kept when each man knows each step may be his last, kept without an order or a direction given. Yet they say the Australians lack discipline – the biggest lie of jealous lying criticism. We’re near Fritz. We can see the steel helmets above the rifle-lined trench. On we go. The man next to me spins and gives a surprised gasp. The poor wretch staggers in front of me. I go cold and sick as I see the shuddering convulsion of death’s shiver. He’s down – I’m stepping over him like a man in a dream. Another few yards. My foot strikes on something soft. I stumble over a man just fallen. He rolls over dead. I recognise him as the men begin to yell and shout.20

The Germans in the former Australian support line were supposed to be experiencing their own hell with exploding shells, but as the Australians came over the plateau, they strongly held these trenches and fired unhindered as the barrage was falling behind them. Back at Pioneer Trench, two of the eight survivors from Adams’ company were killed by a hail of small-arms fire as they left the trench. The forward line charged over the crest and was quickly lost from view by those watching from the rear, but the machine-gun fire continued. A note received by the 49th Battalion headquarters at the time and placed within the battalion’s war diary states that as the men advanced ‘a short distance, reports from wounded men show that very heavy MG fire was encountered causing a large number of casualties’.21

It was now that the main attacking force, represented by the men of the 49th Battalion, came over the crest of the plateau into view of Kennedy and his men of the 52nd Battalion. They at first feared this was the final German attack to take their position, and were extremely relieved to see that those advancing towards them were Australians. With this, the Germans who had been focusing on Kennedy’s men turned their rifle and machine-gun fire against the advancing Australians. Given the intense fire, the Australian advance towards Kennedy’s flank was slow in reaching him, but they were eventually reinforced and became part of the Australian defensive line. Sutcliffe recalled his advance down the slope just to the right of the 49th Battalion:

As soon as they got on the skyline the machine guns began to open up on them. We also started off, and we crossed one gully that was being swept by machine-gun fire and we got up near a bank. We followed that for a way, but Jerry evidently knew we were there and he followed us up with shrapnel until he got us in full view on a hillside going down towards the railway. The machine guns opened up from Edgehill Clearing Station, which was on our flank, and he was also firing point blank at us with his artillery. The bullets were whistling past you in all directions and chipping the earth up all around you, whilst shells were bursting just in front of us all the way.

Through making it in rushes of a few men at a time and taking advantage of cover so that we had very few casualties, we at last got to where the 52nd were in the cutting. What a sight met us there! Men were lying dead all over the place, and the Germans seemed to be all around us. If you got up on the railway line they would fire into you from behind, from the other side of the railway. We soon found out which side the heaviest fire was coming from, so we settled down facing the casualty clearing station and blazed away at all the windows we could see in the huts. We hadn’t been there long when word came that the 49th could not connect up with the 52nd owing to casualties, so my company again had another little job of going out just after dusk to clear them out of the clearing station and to dig in front of it to establish a connection between the 49th and 52nd Battalions. We did this with nothing more than a bit of rifle fire.22

By 6.30 p.m. the Germans were in full flight, abandoning the casualty clearing station. Many were killed as they withdrew towards the railway line. The earlier attack by two companies of the 51st Battalion, which partially recaptured parts of the 52nd’s position along the railway line, meant they were well positioned to pour enfilade into the retreating Germans. With dusk, a report from the 13th Brigade headquarters was sent to Sinclair-MacLagan informing him that the 49th Battalion had ‘just failed’ to reach the railway.23 Captain Stubbings and his men from ‘A’ Company of the 52nd Battalion, who still held the original right flank of the division along the railway line, were now ordered to take up a position further north next to ‘C’ Company.24

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Meanwhile, Jäger Herbert Schröter, who had been wounded in the first attack that morning, was still out on the battlefield. When he finally regained consciousness, it was night. He cried out for help and luckily for him a soldier from his company, Gefreiter Fehlau, had earlier withdrawn to the railway embankment. He heard Schröter’s cries for help and carefully made his way to him. At great personal risk he carried Schröter to the embankment, where he dressed his friend’s wounds by the light of the moon with his own first-aid dressing. Throwing him over his back, Fehlau carried him through Albert.25

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Sinclair-MacLagan decided that his reserves were insufficient to justify any further attempt to recapture the original front line. Indeed, the position as now defined was a far better defensive one for the Australians, as they were able to look down on the Germans who still clung to the lower slopes. The tanks, which were to protect the infantry while they dug in, failed to make a timely appearance. General Congreve realised that the attack upon Laviéville was only part of the German offensive to carry Amiens, although it was a significant part, and the Germans had failed.26

The Australians and Germans suffered around 1100 casualties each. All agreed that it had been the strongest attack made by the Germans against an Australian position up to this point in the war. Indeed, the 47th and 52nd battalions basically ceased to exist; within the month, along with the 36th Battalion (9th Brigade, 3rd Division), they would be broken up and the survivors of each spread among other battalions in their respective brigades. The tired and battered battalions of the Australian 4th Division were looking forward to being relieved by the men of the Australian 2nd Division, who were just arriving from Messines further north.27

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Australian sapper Frederick Klingner, a 19-year-old assistant plumber from Mackay in Queensland, who was with the 47th Battalion, had been captured along with a number of others. Before long his captors discovered his German ethnicity:

I was taken separate from the others, to a cellar in Dernancourt. Being questioned there, I was threatened to be shot for refusing to tell them anything. By this time I was feeling the worse after being blown up once by a shell, and then lying in water for about 10 hours. I received my first introduction by a knock on the head with a rifle, which just about killed me altogether. From there I was taken along the railway line to Albert. In our own barrage. From there I was taken to Maricourt [sic]. Once a field dressing station of ours. But now under different control. But not being wounded I was shifted to Perrone [sic] and there I indulged in my first taste of German bread and soup.28

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Just after the Germans had captured the railway line in the vicinity of the 48th Battalion during the early afternoon of 5 April, they buried two Australians who had occupied an outpost along this part of the line. They marked the graves with rough crosses, on which they wrote: ‘Here lies a brave English [sic] warrior’.29 One of the crosses is today housed at the Australian War Memorial.