The Western Front

The Western Front, during World War One became a battle scene of a series of trenches that ran 700 kilometres from the Belgian coast to the Swiss Border. War began when Germany invaded Luxembourg and Belgium, and for over four years that the war endured (1914-1918), battles were fought up and down these trenches. The location was the main area of many intense battles (Llewellyn, 2014); although an accurate number of deaths will never be determined, it is believed that at least four million soldiers were killed on The Western Front (Llewellyn, 2014). Conditions were brutal and soldiers became wary of shrapnel from bombs exploding at any time. The trenches were constantly wet and muddy; a major reason many of the men caught diseases such as foot rot(Anderson, 2014).

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After the Gallipoli campaign the Australians were redeployed and became heavily involved in fighting on the Western Front. Australia’s first encounter with the Germans was in July, 1916, when the 5th Division engaged them at Fromelles; the encounter was small but bloody. Soon after the 1st, 2nd and 4th Divisions became engaged in deep conflict with the Germans in the Somme attack at Pozières and Mouquet Farm (Army, 2016).

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Within six weeks of operations, the Australian Imperial Forces had lost 28,000 soldiers. During 1917, Australia forces were once again heavily attacked; in March at Bapaume, at Bullecourt and Messines in May and June, and in the great battle of the Ypres attack from September to November (Army, 2016). Eventually in November 1917 depleted divisions were joined together to form the Australian Corps, and in March and April 1918, the Australian Corps played a big part in defending Amiens, Hazebrouck and Villers-Bretonneux, during a major attack from the Germans in France and Belgium, now known as the Kaiserschacht or the Spring Offensive (Army, 2016).

 

Between 1916 and 1918 the trench warfare Australia’s casualty count numbered over 181 000 men; with more than 46,000 men dying and 114 000 men wounded, 16 000 gassed and almost 4000 taken prisoner (Army, 2016).

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Reference List

Anderson, M (2016) “The Western Front” ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATION COMMITTEE < https://anzacday.org.au/ww1-the-western-front > (Accessed 7/09/2017)

Llewellyn, J (2014) “The Western Front” Alpha History < http://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/western-front/ > (Accessed 1/09/2017)

N/A (2016) “WWI The Western Front” Army < https://www.army.gov.au/our-history/history-in-focus/wwi-the-western-front > (Accessed 15/09/2017)