#8/3504 Sergeant Donald Forrester Brown VC
2ND OTAGO REGIMENT
DESPITE THE APPROACH OF WINTER there was no question of abandoning the offensive. With the capture of the Thiepval Ridge almost completed to the north and the villages of Morval, Lesboeufs and Gueudecourt in British hands, as far as Haig was concerned progress was being made and the Germans were consuming vast resources. All of the preceding work might be about to pay off. The enemy was weakened and, in spite of what it may be doing to Haig’s own force, he believed they must persist. The British strategy at this point was not complicated. Rawlinson’s Fourth Army would continue to press the enemy in the direction of the Le Transloy Ridge and, as the direction of its advance was slightly muddled at this juncture, attempt to swing the line of attack around to a definitive north-easterly or eastern approach.
Sergeant Donald Brown VC. (Authors’ collection)
Among the troops that were to be used in October’s endeavours were the New Zealand Division and within its ranks was a farmer who had already shown notable bravery on the Somme. Donald Forrester Brown was from Dunedin, on South Island. Twenty-six years old, in October 1915 he sold his farm at Totara, near Oamaru, and joined his local outfit, the Otago Regiment. Going abroad in January 1916, Donald arrived in Egypt in March and then embarked for France on 9th April.
New Zealanders pose for the camera in their trenches. (Authors’ collection)
Donald had attracted attention for his efforts on 15th September as the New Zealanders had gone forward bravely in between Flers and High Wood. His company had suffered heavy casualties at the hands of a particularly menacing machine gun. Together with another soldier, Donald got to within 30 yards of it. They killed four of the crew and seized the weapon. The company continued on until the same scenario developed again. For a second time, Donald and his companion rushed the offending machine gun, killed the crew and silenced the offending weapon. For the rest of the day, the Otago men sat under heavy shellfire, ‘and the utter contempt for danger and coolness under fire of this NCO did much to keep up the spirit of his men’.
On 1st October, Donald and his compatriots were to attack to the right of Eaucourt l’Abbaye and towards Le Sars to the north-west of Flers, although the weather threatened to dampen the offensive spirit. Nevertheless, the troops on the Somme were about to embark on two more weeks of relentless, small-scale and largely ineffective attacks. ‘The Commander in Chief considered that, in normal autumn weather, the above tasks were well within the capacity of the armies.’ By this point though, the New Zealand battalions were many men short. As they prepared for the attack the weather was foggy with drizzle, and on the night before the men were heavily shelled. As the 2nd Otago Regiment lined up in a trench facing north-west towards their objectives, they numbered only 314 men, a scenario of reduced numbers in the aftermath of weeks of bloody fighting that battalions were facing up and down the Somme front. From 7am a deliberate and steady bombardment was flung on to the enemy positions, with no increase in the run up to zero hour that might give away the intentions of the waiting infantry. Suddenly, at 3:14pm forty oil projectors were discharged in the direction of the Germans and a minute later an intense barrage opened up on no-man’s-land. Four waves of Otago men launched themselves at the enemy as thirty drums burst ‘and enveloped the greater part of the New Zealand objectives in red flame and heavy black smoke’.
Wave followed wave as the New Zealanders struggled forward, many of the men coming under immediate enemy machine-gun fire. Donald’s company suffered fewer casualties, but it was a complicated advance. Two companies had a difficult manoeuvre to carry out, changing direction as they went forward, but they managed it and reached the crest of the ridge. By this time though, they had experienced relentless machine-gun fire and a high percentage of officers had become casualties, and many of the men with them. The situation rapidly became confusing. On Donald’s front, his company were now advancing north-east and encountered no opposition until they came upon a trench blocking the way to their objective. They were also held up by a machine-gun barrage coming out of another trench next to them, which was still partly filled with Germans. The determined Otago men shot down the enemy troops in their way or watched them flee.
By this time, thick smoke had enveloped the battlefield and, with thinning ranks and no visibility, troops began to lose touch with each other. Donald and his company were hell bent on their objective: a German strong point known as The Circus to the north-east of Eaucourt l’Abbaye. The problem was that the whole area was so smashed up that it was hard to define what piece of mashed terrain this strong point may have been. The Otagos had actually strayed too far north towards Le Barque, and the company commanders began a discussion as to where they might find The Circus.
In the meantime, German machine gunners were still wreaking havoc. It was here that Donald took it upon himself to silence yet another one of them. Singlehandedly he launched himself at it, killed five of the gunners at the point of his bayonet and caused the others to run away. Having put their weapon out of action, Donald was sniping at the fleeing troops when he was killed by an arc of machine-gun fire coming from some distance away.
It took until 10pm for the New Zealanders making the attack to organise themselves and make a solid attempt at consolidating their newfound positions. ‘It was regrettable that half my battalion over-stepped the mark,’ noted the Otago commander. ‘The enemy had abandoned The Circus.’ His already much-depleted battalion had suffered 55 per cent casualties. The New Zealand Division had been in action for sixteen consecutive days and when it was relieved on 3rd October, by which time British troops had managed to clear Eaucourt l’Abbaye, it had suffered almost 7,000 losses.
Donald had been recommended for a Distinguished Conduct Medal, but this was upgraded to a Victoria Cross posthumously, New Zealand’s first on the Western Front. It was presented to his father at Oamaru in August 1917. Twenty-six-year-old Donald was originally buried where he fell, until 1920 when the area was cleared and he was finally laid to rest at Warlencourt British Cemetery, plot III.F.1.