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Backgrounder
Battles of Bullecourt
Battles of Bullecourt
Background
» First World War on Western Front
» The first attacks on the Hindenburg
Line – more than 10,000 Australian
casualties
First Battle of Bullecourt
» 11 April 1917
» 4th and 12th Brigade of the 4th
Australian Division
» Some 3,330 Australian casualties of
which 1,170 were taken prisoner –
largest number captured in single
battle during WW1
» 774 British casualties
Second Battle of Bullecourt
» 3-17 May 1917
» 1st, 2nd and 5th Australian
Divisions
» Some 7,000 Australian casualties
» 8,119 British casualties
Medals
» Two Victoria Crosses awarded:
• First on 6 May 1917 to Corporal
George ‘Snowy’ Howell VC MM
of Enfield NSW
• Second on 12 May to Lieutenant
Rupert Vance ‘Mick’ Moon VC of
Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
» Major Henry William ‘Harry’
Murray VC, CMG, DSO & Bar,
DCM of Evandale Tasmania
received a bar to his Distinguished
Service Order for his actions on
11 April 1917
Commemoration
» Names of Australian soldiers
declared missing during both
battles are inscribed on the
Australian National Memorial,
Villers-Bretonneux.
» Those killed are buried in
cemeteries around Bullecourt and
commemorated at the Bullecourt
Australian Memorial Park
More information
P02284
» www.ww1westernfront.gov.au
In early 1917, following heavy losses
in the previous year’s fighting, the
Germans withdrew their forces
between Arras and Soissons to between
15 and 50 kilometres from the line they
held when the Somme battles of
1916 drew to a close. In so doing they
were able to shorten their front and
occupy stronger defensive positions
known as the Hindenburg Line.
The main withdrawal occurred
between mid March and early April
with the 2nd and 5th Australian
Divisions initially pressing the
German rearguards and capturing
villages that formed the outposts
of the Hindenburg Line, a task that
was completed by the 1st and 4th
Divisions by 9 April 1917.
First Battle of Bullecourt
To support the offensive in the north,
the British 5th Army was ordered to
attack the Hindenburg line south of
Arras at Bullecourt, a heavily fortified
village that had been incorporated
into the German defences. The 5th
Army planned the attack using the
62nd British Division from V Corps,
and the 4th Australian Division from
1 Anzac Corps.
The 4th and 12th Brigades of the
4th Division were to carry out the
assault east of Bullecourt supported
by 12 British tanks which would take
the place of an artillery barrage in
breaking down the German wire.
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The Australians were fighting without
support and were cut off from
reinforcements. Allied artillery was
prevented from firing to disrupt
German counter-attacks due to a
mistaken belief that the Australians
had reached deep into the Germans’
rear. By midday, almost eight
hours after the attack began, the
Australians were forced to withdraw.
Second Bullecourt
On that day, the British launched the
Battle of Arras, an offensive designed
to support a major French assault a
few days later on German positions
further south along the famous
Chemin des Dames. This attack failed
but the great success of the British
attack was the capture of Vimy Ridge,
to the north of the town of Arras, by
the Canadian Corps.
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The attack took place on 11 April
1917 and was led by the tanks, all
of which were soon burning wrecks.
The Australians, however, seized
part of the German first and second
line of trenches, achieving what
many thought was impossible to do
without a protective artillery barrage.
A second attempt to seize the
Hindenburg line at Bullecourt began
on 3 May 1917. The attack coincided
with a renewed British offensive
around Arras, and a proposed French
offensive, which never got off the
ground, to the south.
The Australian 2nd Division and the
British troops of the 62nd Division on
their left managed to take part of the
German line. Several hundred metres
of line in the Australian area were
held, but any attempts to take more
were fiercely resisted.
German attacks to dislodge the
Australians the following morning
resulted in some of the bloodiest
trench fighting of the war. Australian
reinforcements, firstly from the
1st Division and later from the 5th
Division, fought off counter attacks
while British troops managed to seize
the eastern side of Bullecourt and
link up with the Australians.
A final German counter attack on 15
May was defeated after which the
Germans withdrew from the ruins of
the town.
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