The battle of Pozières: taking the ridge (Photo Blog)

 Pozières British Cemetery and its Memorial.

Nothing but the silent memories of the fallen

Sometimes you visit a place that grabs you by the throat and really doesn’t let go. 

I was on my way to Fricourt and Longueval when I spotted a sign pointing me to the Pozières British Cemetery en its Memorial. It happened to be a very cloudy day, and I was unexpectedly being faced with this deeply moving place. 

 The entrance of the Pozières British Cemetery.

I walked through the impressing gate and opened the heavy iron doors. The walls blocked every sight from the landscape. They seemed to be raised to keep every bit of sadness insight. 

Thousands of dead laid before me, and I had a strange, claustrophobic experience. 
It felt like I was entering some old Greek temple,  a dark tribute to forgotten warriors. There was nothing but graves, names and the silent memories of the fallen. 
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At Pozières, thousands of Australians, Tasmanians and men from Torres Strait Island lost their lives. ​
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The Australian official historian and a war correspondent Charles Bean once wrote during his stay at the front:

The emblem of the Australian imperial forces.

"Pozières ridge is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth."

Taking the village

3 weeks after the start of the Somme Offensive, Pozières was still not taken. It was a strong fortified village held by the German 117th division. A plan was made to capture Pozières in order to push forward to the village Thiepval, which was situated on the left side of Pozières and also still strongly defended by the Germans.

On the 23th of that month, around noon, Australian forces attacked the village Pozières and managed to capture and hold it. During the days and weeks following the attack, the Australian defenders were constantly shelled and attacked by the Germans, who were determined to recapture their lost positions.
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Charles Bean, Diairy, 29 July 1916

"Pozières has been a terrible sight all day …
​The men were simply turned in there as into some ghastly giant mincing machine. They have to stay there while shell after huge shell descends with a shriek close beside them … each shrieking tearing crash bringing a promise to each man – instantaneous – I will tear you into ghastly wounds – I will rend your flesh and pulp an arm or a leg – fling you half a gaping quivering man (like those that you see smashed around you one by one) to lie there rotting and blackening like all the things you saw by the awful roadside, or in that sickening dusty crater.”

Source: Australian War Memorial
http://www.awm.gov.au

After the village itself was taken, other important strongholds were to be captured in order to make the final push to Thiepval . 
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Source: http://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/node/1196/

The highest point on the ridge

The first strongpoint was the windmill, just outside the centre of the village. It was attacked on the 4th of August and captured the same day. 
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​Pozières, before the First World War. The windmill is on the left side in the distance, between the houses and the trees.
Source: https://www.awm.gov.au

This is the spot where the windmill stood and which marked the highest point of the bitterly contested Pozières Ridge.
​Source: https://www.awm.gov.au

The memorial on the site erected after the war states that the Australian troops "fell more thickly on this ridge than on any other battlefield on the war”.

Mouquet Farm

Between Pozières and Thiepval was an other strongpoint called Mouquet farm.
Many attacks were undertaken by the Australians but failed due to the strong German resistance. 
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Near Pozières, Mouquet farm, before the war. 
​Source: https://www.awm.gov.au

Moquet farm after the war.
​On the left: the destroyed area after the capture. On the right: the remains of the cellars under Mouquet farm. 
​Source: https://www.awm.gov.au

The Canadian troops, who relieved their Australian comrades, captured the stronghold on the 16th of September but were repulsed by a counter-attack. At the beginning of the battle of Thiepval, on the 26th of September, the last dug outs under Mouqet farm were totally cleared.

The 2nd Canadian Cemetery at Contalmaison, near Pozières,. All the 46 soldiers buried here were men of the 2nd Canadian Battalion who fell during the attacks on Mouquet farm and Thiepval (September and October 1916).

Pozières British Cemetery and the Memorial

There are 2,760 Commonwealth soldiers buried or commemorated in this cemetery, most of them died during the battles of 1916.

Pozières British Cemetery.

Stone of Remembrance and the cross of sacrifice at Pozières British Cemetery

The grave of Private John Francis Nugent, 59th A.I.F.
Killed in action on 25/3/17,  aged 20 

Part of the Memorial Wall at Pozières British Cemetery

The cemetery is enclosed within a boundary wall incorporating the Pozières Memorial to the Missing of 1918. It commemorates 14.655 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who died in France between the 21th of March and August the 7th 1918. 
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These numbers give you an idea of the intensity of the war during these months.

Part of the Memorial Wall at Pozières British Cemetery

Sunken Road Cemetery

Sunken Road Cemetery contains 213 soldiers, 60 of them being Australian. Across these fields at 12.30 am on 23th of July 1916 the Australian soldiers attacked the German lines at Poziéres. 'Sunken Road Trench' ran along the road leading to the cemetery.

Sunken Road Cemetery at Contalmaison, near Pozières.

Buried at Sunken Road Cemetery is private Frank  Maynard, one of the more then 1000 Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders who enlisted during the war.  
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At the time, they were not allowed to vote, marry a non-Aboriginal or non-Torres Strait Islander person, drink alcohol, own property, receive award wages or move freely around the country. Many of them who tried to enlist were rejected on the grounds of race.
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Private Frank Manyard, enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force and was assigned to the  26th Battalion. Source: http://www.centenaryofanzac.tas.gov.au/history/tasmanian_aboriginal_soldiers/frank_maynard

Frank Manyard and two of his brothers were found capable and joined the army. 

Franks himself saw action at Gallipoli before he arrived in France in June 1916. His battalion took part on the battle of Pozières. Frank was killed near the sunken road on the 30th of August. He is now buried not far from where he fell.
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Frank died 10.368 miles from were he was born. From the three brothers who left their far away coast, only one returned.

After his death a small text was published in The Examiner newspaper written by his cousin, Clarence W. Brown :

MAYNARD — Killed in action on September 30, 1916, Private Frank Maynard, son of Mrs. John Maynard, sen., Flinders Island.

He sleeps not in his native land,
But under foreign skies;
Far from those who love him
In a Hero's grave he lies

Join us in remembering the men who fought and died

Like so many other villages, Pozierés was rebuild after the war and the village reclaimed his presence amongst the gold colored fields. Today the scars of the war have fade away with only the cemeteries and memorials as silent reminders of what happened here.
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Remember the soldiers who fought here while visiting Pozières and its surrounding fields. 
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Please reply and let us know if you have any relatives who fought during this battle.
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​Thank you for sharing our blogpost!

Sources
Pozières (Graham Keech)
Before endeavours fade (Rose E.B.Coombs)
http://www.pozieresremembered.com.au                                                        http://www.centenaryofanzac.tas.gov.au
www.cwgc.org
https://www.awm.gov.au                                   

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About our blog

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We take you along our photographic journey through the World War battlefields in Belgium and France. 
​In remembrance of these World Wars, we will highlight every month a specific event, battle, region or regiment. ​​

July 2017

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In July, we honor the men who fought and died during the battle of the Somme. Follow our page on Facebook and discover how we tell the stories behind our pictures of Beaumont-Hamel, Mametz wood, Delville wood and Pozières.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme  (map edited)