12/27/2023 0 Comments Way to the woods polygonThe ground was dry, and the shell-bursts raised a wall of dust and smoke which appeared almost to be solid. It seemed to break out … with a single crash. … the most perfect that ever protected Australian troops. The British artillery barrage, which commenced at 5.50 on 26 September, just as the Polygon plateau became visible, was described by Charles Bean as: Australians, scheduled to attack the next morning, helped to fend off the Germans, but there was some concern about the possible weakness of this flank during the upcoming operation. The planned attack was almost derailed by a German attack 24 hours earlier on British troops holding the line to the south of the Fifth Division. Shelling had reduced the wood to little more than stumps and broken timber. The name Polygon Wood derived from a plantation forest that lay along the axis of the Australian advance on 26 September 1917. The unostentatious efficiency and self-discipline of these steadfast men was as fine as any achievement of Australians in the war.Ĭharles Bean, The AIF in France:1917, The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Volume 4, Sydney, 1941, pp.794–795 No shell-fire could drive them from their horses. They waited steadily until the break was repaired or some shattered wagon or horses dragged from the road, and then continued their vital work. They belonged to the finest class their nation produced, unassuming, country-bred men. ![]() Charles Bean, Australia’s official historian, wrote of these men: While a cratered road was repaired, drivers had to sit and wait, controlling their horses as the shells fell around them. All essential war material had to be brought forward by wagons along roads and tracks exposed to heavy shelling. Building supply routes was essential work for the success of the ‘bite and hold’ operations.Īustralian forces involved in the Polygon Wood battle were the Fourth and Fifth Divisions, which as well as the infantry included artillery, engineers, medical personnel and the hundreds of men involved in supply and transport. Plank roads for heavy traffic, light railways, mule-tracks, and even a short experimental length of monorail, were quickly constructed. ![]() The area captured on 20 September 1917 at the Battle of Menin Road had been churned up by the shells of both sides and, before massed artillery and other supplies could be moved forward, roads had to be built.
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