Next day, 18 April, the Merris–Méteren front was quiet. Further north, several German attacks were launched in the vicinity of Mont Kemmel, and the British Second Army remained concerned that the Germans might at any moment launch an offensive against Flanders. Foch promised the British that he would add three more French divisions to the one already promised, to help reinforce British forces there. The French force in Flanders would be organised as the Army Detachment of the North, under General Antoine de Mitry. General Plumer ordered three French divisions to relieve the British IX Corps between 18 and 21 April. The right wing of this army detachment would be held by the French 133rd Division just north of Méteren, which was now a minor north-west salient into the Australian line. The French would ‘side-slip’ to the northeast, while the Australian 1st Division with its 3rd Brigade would relieve parts of the French division and the British 33rd Division opposite Méteren.1

Captain Eric Wren, a 30-year-old clerk from Berry in New South Wales who would later write the 3rd Battalion’s history, recorded: ‘Among the retiring troops was an elderly English colonel, accompanied by two privates carrying a box of ammunition. Lieutenant Desbois ordered these men to drop the ammunition, as it was required for the firing line. The old colonel objected very strongly. He threatened Desbois with all sorts of penalties, but Desbois was not the type to stand on ceremony. Whipping out his revolver, he stated very definitely, “That ammunition stops here.” And so it did.’2

It was planned that as part of this manoeuvre, the Australian 3rd Brigade would retake Méteren to remove the troublesome salient. The poor showing of the German infantry provided confidence that their morale was close to collapsing, and it was assessed that the village could be taken with few casualties, particularly if the attack came as a surprise – no preliminary artillery bombardment would be conducted during the first phase of the operation.3

__________

A two-pronged attack would be launched in two phases. First, on the night of 22–23 April, the 12th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Elliott, a 34-year-old cashier from Hobart, and the 11th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Rafferty, a 42-year-old schoolmaster from Hobart, would advance to cover the southern and northern flanks respectively, while a central force covering the western approach to the town would advance and dig in just short of the town. The second phase, to be conducted the next night, was to capture the town with the remaining two battalions of the brigade: the 9th, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Newman, a 38-year-old agent from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and the 10th, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ross Jacob, a 33-year-old telegraphist from Kadina in South Australia. Both of these battalions, each with three of its four companies, would bypass the northern and southern flanks of the village. At 1.30 a.m. the planned shelling against the village would cease, which was the signal for two ‘mopping-up’ parties – one each from the 11th and 12th battalions – to enter the village and clear out the Germans. The firing of green flares would signify that these troops had accomplished their objective. At 2 a.m., the remaining (fourth) companies from the 9th and 10th battalions would move through the village and establish a line of posts beyond its eastern outskirts.4

__________

The first phase of the operation was relatively successful. To the north of Méteren, the 11th Battalion advanced with little opposition; the German outpost line, however, was not reached and as dawn approached the Australians began to dig in. Even so, the war diary of the battalion states: ‘At 2:30 a.m. the whole line advanced with very little opposition and a new defensive line was dug. Battalion less “C” Company relieved the 10th Battalion and became reserve battalion. Relief completed without incident.’5

To their south, the men of the 12th Battalion moved out as planned during the early-morning hours of 23 April. On the flanks, independent parties advanced across the hedges and fields. The main attacking force consisted of three companies: just north of the main road leading into Méteren was ‘D’ Company led by Captain Basil Andrew, a 24-year-old professional soldier from Launceston in Tasmania; in the centre approaching across the road was ‘C’ Company commanded by Captain William Jorgensen, a 24-year-old clerk from Adelaide; and covering the right flank just below the village was ‘B’ Company led by Captain Ivan Holyman, a 23-year-old ship’s clerk from Launceston in Tasmania. They advanced under the cover of trench-mortar fire and in quick succession rushed several houses and entrenched German posts.6

The left flank here, covered by Andrew’s company, moved out and met with little opposition and suffered few casualties. They gained their objective, advancing the line by 200 metres and taking 14 prisoners in the process, and occupied a number of farmhouses. Meanwhile, the right flank of the same advance, commanded by Holyman, had dispersed into several small detachments and was moving through the hedges near the Becque, where they soon successfully rushed two German posts.7

In the centre, Jorgensen’s company ‘had the least to do, and yet, unfortunately met with the greatest opposition. The enemy in front of them was thoroughly aroused, and, therefore, when an attempt was made to conform to the advance on either flank, heavy machine-gun fire was encountered from a hedge in front, which entirely prevented any movement.’8 Even so, a platoon led by Lieutenant William Sayer, a 41-year-old South African War veteran who was an accountant from Wynyard in Tasmania, quickly advanced with a bombing party along a trench south of the road. They were targeted by machine-gun enfilade that forced them to ground, and just before dawn, Sayer and his survivors directly in front of the village were forced to retire, with Sayer being killed by a sniper. Meanwhile, Lieutenant George Hart, a 37-year-old pearler from Fremantle in Western Australia, led his men out to support Sayer, but he was mortally wounded and his men were driven back. Hart was brought in by two stretcher-bearers who volunteered to go out under a white flag at first light – the Germans held their fire and Hart was brought in to the Australian lines. When taken to the regimental aid post he was ‘still cheerful, in spite of two badly fractured legs, and the RMO endeavoured to restore some warmth in his body by the careful use of a Primus stove. The result was only of a temporary nature, and he afterwards died of wounds owing to the terrific shock to his system.’9

Throughout the next day, 23 April, parties of Germans unsuccessfully attempted to push back the newly established outposts of the 12th Battalion by crawling along the ditches north of the main road. Others tried to do the same under the cover of darkness against the men of the 11th Battalion south of Méteren, but they too were beaten back. On the Australian side during the day the company commanders of the 9th and 10th battalions went forward to confer with the officers of the 11th and 12th battalions and to acquaint themselves with the position.10

__________

All did not go to plan. At midnight, north of the village, the 10th Battalion moved out and found that the position occupied by the 11th Battalion during the previous night was not where it should be. Captain Hector Heming, a 30-year-old self-described ‘gentleman’ from Adelaide, commanding ‘A’ Company on the left, was warned that the Germans strongly held a farm on his right and could target any advance with enfilade. He planned to use a Stokes mortar to provided covering fire while two platoons attacked the strongpoint. News arrived that part of the ‘B’ Company to Heming’s right, commanded by Major Clarence Rumball, a 26-year-old clerk from Thebarton in South Australia, would be 20 minutes late. As such, the commander of Heming’s right-flank platoon was ordered to delay his advance in order to conform to Rumball’s imminent advance.11

With the 10th Battalion launching its assault against the farm, it was discovered that the Germans were also entrenched behind other nearby hedges, and the attacking companies, on advancing 50 metres, came under intense fire not only from this position but also from machine guns on both flanks. The flank companies were stopped in their tracks.12 Rumball in his advance suffered from terrible crossfire between this farm and another on his right front. The major ordered his men into extended order and they rushed forward 100 metres, but were soon pinned down.

Meanwhile, Heming and his men of ‘A’ Company on the left ordered his Stokes mortars to bombard the farm and hedges, but the German machine guns could not be silenced. Some of Heming’s men attempted to advance under this covering fire, but lieutenants Charles Fenn, a 23-year-old librarian from Adelaide, and Ferdinand Schneider, a 23-year-old student from Glenelg in South Australia, along with about 40 others were hit. Heming sent Lieutenant Michael Gatliff, a 23-year-old salesman from Camberwell in Victoria, to take charge of the survivors and telephoned the battalion commander for artillery support – but for whatever reason, very few shells were fired, perhaps from fear of hitting their own men.13

To the south, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies of the 9th Battalion had moved out in bright moonlight, and they were quickly seen by the Germans. As ‘C’ Company, representing the centre of the battalion’s advance, approached the village from the south-west, German flares went up from all along the line. Machine guns opened fire at the western end of the village from a large house known as the ‘chateau’ and from its hedges. As described in the battalion’s war diary, ‘C’ Company was ‘unable to . . . gain their objective on account of the great number of Machine Guns posted in houses, hedges etc., where it was difficult to dislodge them’.14 The flank companies of the battalion pushed forward, but the centre could not dislodge the Germans from their strongpoints in the chateau and along the hedge. The advance came to a halt. Australian gunners, while informed of the enemy positions, could not fire from fear of hitting their own men. Stokes mortars were used to some effect but failed to silence the machine guns. The men tried again to advance, but ‘C’ Company was forced to push up its flanks trying to communicate with its other companies, and the centre of the company was forced to fall back.15

__________

At 1.30 a.m. the two ‘mopping-up’ parties of the 11th and 12th battalions moved out, and the Germans were waiting for them. Numerous enemy soldiers remained entrenched in posts around the outskirts of the village. Rather than ‘mopping up’ German opposition, the Australians had to conduct a frontal assault against the entrenched German positions. As described in the 12th Battalion’s published history, its ‘A’ Company to the north was assigned as one of the mopping-up parties but ‘did not carry out their “mopping up” duties, but in reality attempted to make a frontal attempt, unaided, on a strongly fortified position held by an enemy who was literally waiting for them to come. It was a forlorn hope from the very onset . . .’16

Lieutenant Eric Heurtley-Reed, a 28-year-old wool classer from Brisbane, was leading his men of the 12th Battalion and they were immediately targeted by German machine-gun and trench-mortar fire. The Australians tried to rush the machine-gun position but failed; Heurtley-Reed was killed, with 28 of his men also becoming casualties. As recalled in the battalion’s published history, the lieutenant ‘showed more than his usual amount of fearlessness in urging and leading the men forward, until the buildings on the outskirts of the town were reached . . . Heurtley-Reed was last seen rushing in between two sheds with his revolver in his hand, when suddenly he was seen to reel backwards. His body was recovered three months later after the town was captured.’17 The war diary of the battalion states that ‘there was close fighting in [and] around the outbuildings on the edge of the village but the party was forced to come back. Lt P.F.H. Reed wounded – missing.’18 The headquarters of this attacking company was in a neighbouring farm, which was shelled and was soon burning to the ground. The attack here was brought to a halt.19

Meanwhile to the south, Lieutenant Henry Davison (a 32-year-old salesman from Perth) and his men of ‘C’ Company of the 11th Battalion tried to enter the village just before 2 a.m. Davison organised bombing teams commanded by Lieutenant Sim Wood (a 34-year-old civil servant from Perth) and Sergeant John Ferguson (a 29-year-old carpenter from Geraldton in Western Australia) to take out two machine-gun positions that were blocking their advance, but Wood and Ferguson, along with two of their men, were killed, while Lieutenant Frederick Stahl, a 24-year-old linotypist from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and ten others were wounded – this attack too came to nothing.20 Private Richard Bastian, a 35-year-old musician from Perth, was assigned to the ‘mopping up’ party and recalled:

It was supposed to be a surprise attack, but there was a full moon and we were observed and came under heavy machine-gun fire. Some of us hopped into a small trench for protection. Some dead Tommies were lying in the trench, having been shot previously while digging the trench. Some of us had to stand on their bodies. We lay there three hours and then had to bolt back in twos to safety, as the machine-gun fire and shelling were very heavy. It was a marvel how we escaped. Lieut. Stahl stalked a machine gun and silenced it with a bomb. It was a very brave act. Lieut. Wood, two sergeants and a number of men were killed. My diary says: ‘A poorly-arranged affair; quite idiotic.’ And that we advertised our intention by digging of jumping-off trenches the previous night. It was a needless waste of valuable lives in a stupidly arranged affair.21

__________

Both mopping-up parties, along with the assault parties of the 9th and 10th battalions, were now engaged in an all-out slinging match with the Germans defending the village, who were not going to be pushed out without a hard and bitter fight. To the north, the 10th Battalion was still being held up by stiff German resistance. ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies tried to advance again but were quickly brought to a halt, with their right flanks subject to enfilade from Méteren and a nest of machine guns in a nearby farmhouse on their left. Captain Harold Partridge, a 33-year-old clerk from Adelaide, led his men of ‘C’ Company in their part in the planned pincer movement to encircle the village, but they soon came across their sister companies lying in the open, short of their original object, with ‘a constant illumination of flares rising from the German posts’.22 Partridge’s leading platoon, under Lieutenant Desmond Du Rieu, a 27-year-old clerk from Maylands in Western Australia, pushed forward to the front line and found that around half of the men here were casualties. Du Rieu moved forward to reconnoitre the ground in front but was quickly wounded. Now the second platoon of Partridge’s company moved to the front line. However, this advance resulted in a third of its men being hit. Finally ‘D’ Company was sent into the battle, but it too could make no headway against the German interlocking machinegun fire. There was no way the men could achieve their objective. Major Rumball at 3.30 a.m. decided to withdraw his men back to the old outpost line.23 Indeed, the German garrison holding the northern side of Méteren consisted of five companies of the 94th IR, 38th Division whose historian wrote ‘the attack was most vigorous against its right, but was held up forty metres from the front-line posts.’24

To the south, ‘D’ Company of the 9th Battalion captured one German outpost while ‘A’ Company to its right advanced past Méteren from the south-west. As these men advanced, they were met with devastating machine-gun fire from the ‘chateau’. The commander of ‘A’ Company, Major Arthur Ross, a 37-year-old professional soldier, found an unoccupied trench running towards the German positions that seemed like a way forward, but, as noted in the published history of the battalion, ‘when the leading section of Lieutenant Avery’s platoon jumped out of the trench it was immediately shot down, several men being killed . . . the other sections, hesitating at the heavy machine-gun fire, blocked the trench and . . . prevented the remaining platoons from moving forward’.25 Sandwiched in between ‘D’ and ‘A’ companies were Lieutenant Arthur Wheatley, a 29-year-old college tutor from Brisbane, and his men of ‘C’ Company. He led an attack against a German machinegun position but was forced to ground, unable to advance. He tried to make contact with ‘D’ Company to his left but was killed in the attempt – his men could go no further. The southern pincer movement had also come to a halt.26

__________

All knew that with daylight the Australian positions around Méteren would be untenable, as the Germans overlooked them from a number of farmhouses. At about 3 a.m. the centre company of the 10th Battalion saw its flanks retiring. They soon got word that they too were to withdraw, and by sunrise the northern approach to the village was clear of Australians. South of the village, the 9th Battalion maintained its position. However, Wheatley’s ‘C’ Company, tasked with the encirclement of the village, withdrew behind the front line before dawn. The attack to take Méteren had failed, and had resulted in around 200 Australian casualties.27

As recalled in the published history of the 9th Battalion, ‘On this day, the third anniversary of the landings at Anzac, a message was received from 1st Division Headquarters conveying greetings to all comrades of Peninsula days, and to this a suitable reply was sent.’28

__________

The German offensive to the north was grinding to a halt. Hazebrouck was secure. Ludendorff had days earlier turned his attention back to the Somme and Amiens in what would be his final roll of the dice. If Ludendorff felt compelled to extinguish the lives of his men in an insane attempt to salvage his already broken-down offensive, his men were under no such illusions – including Colonel Albrecht von Thaer, who was actually one of Ludendorff’s staff officers:

How goes it at the front? By no means ‘well’, and this is due in the first instance to the condition of our troops, particularly our infantry. They are more or less fought-out (abgekämpft)! If our Armentières offensive . . . collapsed so quickly, then certainly the unfavourable terrain (completely open land, no cover, poor lines of communication from the rear) played a major part. But this was not the clincher. Unfortunately, this was the condition of the troops . . . The greater number of divisions that took part in Georgette, at least those divisions committed after the first two days of the offensive, came from the great March offensive and had lost the best third of their officers and troops. While these had, in the meantime, been to some extent refreshed, the replacements, officers and troops, were of very middling quality. Amongst the men are many former munitions workers, who had taken part in the strikes of the previous months; therefore less reinforcement and more a poison for the units.29