THE
Simpson
PRIZE
A COMPETITION FOR
YEAR 9 AND 10 STUDENTS
2017 Winner
Tasmania
Sasha Massey
St Patrick's College
"The experience of Australian soldiers on the Western Front in 1916 has
been largely overlooked in accounts of the First World War."
To what extent would you argue that battles such as Fromelles and
Pozières should feature more prominently in accounts of the First
World War?
It has been engraved into our national identity to commemorate the sacrifice of those who have participated
in conflict, but perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of how we remember World War 1 is that details of
battles on the Western Front have eluded the Australian public. Gallipoli, ANZAC Cove and Lone Pine
usually dominate the national conversation on ANZAC Day, but the Western Front deserves greater
recognition. The loss of a loved one on the Western Front is not an uncommon story, with approximately
45,000 Australian’s being killed.1 The Australian soldiers faced a monumental struggle in France and
Belgium, with an immense death toll and unspeakable conditions. It is not only the conditions that were
faced that justify the need for a more prominent commemoration of the battles on the Western Front, but they
are also very important in the formation of the ANZAC spirit. When Australians think of the ANZACs, we
think of tremendous courage, mateship and heroism, qualities that were displayed in abundance on the
Western Front, especially at Fromelles and Pozieres. By preserving the legacy of those who served at
Pozieres and Fromelles we can remember the lessons they taught us and strive for the qualities they
demonstrated.
World War 1 began as a result of lingering international tension and was triggered by the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian heir. Australian men from all over the country volunteered to be part
of this great adventure and to represent King and Country. The landing at ANZAC Cove and assaults at
Gallipoli are a very important aspect of the Australian Imperial Force’s involvement in World War 1 and a
great deal of casualties ensued. Private Sidney Stanfield believes that despite their importance, “by lionising
Gallipoli…they do overlook the severity of fighting and the extent of suffering on the Western Front.”2 While
these conflicts attract greater attention in todays society, the fighting at The Western Front led to notably
more Australian deaths and therefore should be thought of with the same level of significance. 5,482 were
killed in action at Gallipoli between April 1915 and January 1916, a figure largely overshadowed by the
9,186 killed in action on the Western Front between July and November 1916.3 Gallipoli may have marked
the beginning of a very important chapter in Australian history, but it did not possess the extremities of the
fighting and losses that were seen on the Western Front.
On the 19th and 20th of July 1916, the Australian troops made their first impressions on the Western Front.
The overnight tragedy of Fromelles resulted in 5,533 Australian casualties4 and is remembered as "the worst
24 hours in Australia's entire history”5. It was a failed attempt to distract and deceive German forces, and by
8am on the 20th the Australians were forced to withdraw after intense shell fire and a vast amount of deaths.
Corporal Hugh Knyvett described the scene at Fromelles, stating that;
1 Australian
Government. Australians on the Western Front. http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/australianson-the-western-front [Retrieved 7/11/16]
2 Davidson,
L. Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front. The Text Publishing Company, Victoria, 2010, p 3.
3 3 A.
G Butler,Official History of the Australian Medical Services in the Great War, Melbourne, 3 Vols, 1930-43, vol II, p.864:
https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070025--1-.pdf. [Retrieved 7/11/16] Retrieved from: https://
www.awm.gov.au/education/simpson-prize/
4 Australian
5 Viney,
War Memorial. Battle of Fromelles. https://www.awm.gov.au/military-event/E159/ [Retrieved 30/10/16]
S. (2016). Fromelles and Pozieres: A look back at two of Australia's bloodiest WWI offensives. http://www.abc.net.au/news/ 2016-07-19/thebattles-of-fromelles-and-pozieres-100-years-on/7627170 [Retrieved 30/10/16]
“The sight of our trenches that next morning is burned into my brain. Here and there a man
could stand upright, but in most places if you did not wish to be exposed to a sniper’s bullet you had
to progress on hands and knees. If you had gathered the stock of a thousand butcher-shops, cut it
into small pieces and strewn it about, it would give you a faint conception of the shambles those
trenches were.”6
Pozieres was an area of great military importance during World War 1, considered by General Sir Henry
Rawlinson as “the key to the area”7. The battle took place from July 23rd to August 7th and saw the
Australians working to destroy Germany’s manpower. The soldiers of Pozieres were described as being;
… like men who had been in hell. Almost without exception each man looked drawn and
haggard, and so dazed that they appeared to be walking in a dream, and their eyes looked glassy and
starey. 8
One in eight Australian soldiers who fought in World War 1 were killed during the six week campaign at
Pozieres.9 Those who did survive were likely to be effected psychologically by what they saw at Pozieres,
with July and August 1916 seeing a large number of soldiers ‘wounded’ by shell shock. A total of 386 men
were effected by this mental injury in these months10. It is difficult to imagine what was seen on the
battlefields in France. Some men were blown to pieces, others buried by the shellfire, some not to be seen
again until many years later.
For Private Russell Bosisto, this was to be his fate. Bosisto came from a close and loving family in South
Australia and wrote to them weekly during the war. He survived Gallipoli, but he was to send his final letter
at Pozieres. He was killed by a shell on August 4th, 1916 and his body was not recovered. Private Bosisto
had no marked resting place and his family was left wondering for decades what had happened to him. There
was no resolution to this tragic tale until 1998, when a French farmer found the Private’s remains while
plowing near the Pozieres windmill. In July of the same year, Private Bosisto was finally laid to rest in a
named grave during a ceremony watched on by his two weeping nieces. His immediate family never got the
closure of knowing his fate or if he would ever return, their only son had gone and there was no grave for
them to visit and remember him. This is just one of the stories of family being left hoping and hopeless due
to the fighting on the Western Front. A story like this surely deserves to be looked upon and commemorated
with significance.
6 McMullin,
R. Pompey Elliott, Scribe, Melbourne, (2002). p. 222-23. [Retrieved 7/11/16] Retrieved from: https://www.awm.gov.au/
education/simpson-prize/
7
Pedersen, P. ANZACs on the Western Front. John Wiley & Sons Australia, Queensland, (2012).
8 Bean,
C.E.W. 'The AIF in France', Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18, vol III. Angus & Robertson, Sydney. (1935)
p 599. [Retrieved 7/11/16] Retrieved from: https://www.awm.gov.au/education/simpson-prize/
9 Pozieres
Remembered. Poppies and crosses arrived safely in Pozieres. http://www.pozieresremembered.com.au/poppies-crossesarrived-safely-in-pozieres/ [Retrieved 7/11/16]
10 A.
G Butler,Official History of the Australian Medical Services in the Great War, Melbourne, 3 Vols, 1930-43, vol II, p.864: https://
www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070025--1-.pdf. [Retrieved 7/11/16] Retrieved from: https://www.awm.gov.au/
education/simpson-prize/
The family of Private Russell Bosisto experienced a feeling all to common to those involved with men
serving on the Western Front. This grief was not only felt at home, but on the front as well. A member of the
Australian Army Nursing Service, Sister Alice Ross King was left feeling distraught after her intended,
Lieutenant Harry Lowry Moffitt of the 53rd Battalion, was killed at Fromelles. She detailed her emotions
relating to his death in her diary, stating that;
I expect I must pick up life again and go on. I do not know how to face the lifeless future
though. I feel Harry’s presence constantly with me and my love is growing stronger and deeper ever
since his death. I cannot really believe the news yet and each day I long for a letter telling me he is
only wounded. How am I to bear life?11
As of 2015, the body of Lieutenant Moffitt still has not been identified.12 It is almost unimaginable the pain
she must have felt losing her beloved in such a horrific way. Private Bosisto and Lieutenant Moffitt are just
two of the 45,000 killed on the Western Front. Often we are presented with statistics that represent those
killed during conflict and we become desensitised to this cruelty. The incredible death toll at Fromelles and
Pozieres is significant in many ways, especially because of the immense sadness of those who were left
grieving for them. It is only when we begin to learn about the individuals who served on the Western Front
that we can comprehend that each one had their own story.
Victorian Lance Corporal Albert Jacka is remembered as a man with outstanding ANZAC spirit. At Pozieres,
Jacka was responsible for returning Australian soldiers captured by Germans and was awarded the Military
Cross. Charles Bean described his efforts as; “the most dramatic and effective act of an individual in the
history of the AIF”13. Because of Jacka’s courage and leadership, the 14th Battalion became widely known as
“Jacka’s Mob”. Historian and Sergeant, Edgar J. Rule, said that “the 14th Battalion never ceased to be
thrilled when we heard ourselves referred to in the estaminet [French public house] or by passing units on the
march as ‘some of Jacka’s mob’”.14 Jacka showed characteristics paramount to the ANZAC spirit in his
bravery and sacrifice. A story like his is a true representation of what it means to be Australian. If we
overlook the Western Front in our accounts of World War 1, we will be neglecting stories such as this that
give us an insight into what it meant to be an ANZAC and an Australian.
It is important when reflecting on battles, such as the Western Front, that we don’t only remember the
brutality, but understand the lessons that can be learnt. The Australian soldiers faced horrific conditions and
suffered tremendously at Fromelles and Pozieres, but out of these tales of sacrifice and devastation we can
find many characteristics attributed to the ANZAC spirit. Every year on ANZAC Day we hear stories of
mateship, courage and of servicemen and women putting others needs above their own. These characteristics
are now associated with and define the ANZACs. Captain Albert Jacka is just one example of someone who
11 Australian
War Memorial. Diary of Alice Ross-King, 1916. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG0000974/?image=94
[Retrieved 7/11/16] Retrieved from https://www.awm.gov.au/education/simpson-prize/
Department of Veterans Affairs. (2015). Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery – Stories of the dead. http://
www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/fromelles/pheasant-wood/stories-of-the-dead.php [Retrieved 7/11/16]
13
Macklin, R. Bravest, Allen & Unwin, New South Wales, 2008, p 51.
14 DVA
and BOSTES NSW. (2016). Bravery awards at Gallipoli. http://www.gallipoli.gov.au/bravery-awards-at-gallipoli/albertjacka-vc.php [Retrieved 1/7/16]
showed these iconic characteristics on the Western Front. The ANZAC spirit is something which is now seen
to be a very important aspect of Australian culture. The importance of these attributes to the ANZAC identity
is another example of why we should be remembering the Western Front with more prominence.
On the passing of their centenary, I hope that Fromelles and Pozieres attract greater attention. We must
remember what we lost on the Western Front and the sacrifice of some of the most courageous ANZACs.
Private Russell Bosisto, Sister Alice Ross King, Lieutenant Harry Lowry Moffitt and Lance Corporal Albert
Jacka’s stories are not to be forgotten as they taught us so much about about what was lost on the Western
Front and the ANZAC spirit. The acts of heroism, the vast death toll and the battle’s significance in the
formation of the ANZAC legend justify why we should be speaking of the Western Front, especially
Fromelles and Pozieres, with greater significance.
Lest We Forget.
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