Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Neil Nelson #5437 9th Battalion

Neil Nelson was born at Milbong, a farming locality between Peak Crossing and Boonah. Neil probably spent most of his early years in the Milbong district with his three brothers. In his early twenties, Neil and his brother Frederick took up a bush block selection at Juandah near Taroom on the Dawson River.

Neil travelled to Toowoomba to enlist n 2nd September 1915. He presented as a 22year old selector of Juandah via Miles (Miles was the nearest railway station) and was accepted and went on to Enoggera where he was eventually allotted as a reinforcement for the 9th Battalion.

The 9th Battalion was the first Queensland battalion raised at the outbreak of the war and was part of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division AIF. The battalion won fame as the first battalion ashore at Gallipoli on 25th April of 1915. By the time Neil and his fellow reinforcements sailed from Brisbane on 20th April 1916, the battalion was going through the final stages of restructuring in Egypt prior to deployment to the western front in France. The reinforcements went straight to England and spent some time in the 3rd Training Battalion at Perham Downs (referred to by soldiers as Perishing Downs) on Salisbury Plain. Neil joined his battalion in the rear areas near Vignacourt on 22nd August 1916.

The entire 1st Division had taken a severe mauling in the taking of Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in July and August and was in desperate need of reinforcements, re-equipment and rest. The AIF spent the remainder of 1916 rotating in and out of the line on the Somme. The winter of 196/17, the coldest for 40 years, was particularly hard for the men who had spent the previous winter in Egypt.

Once sufficiently rested, the 9th was put back into the front line at Bazentin, just south of Pozieres in February 1917. A limited trench raid was planned which required a small scouting party to cross no mans land to ascertain enemy strength and to act as guides. A senior NCO and three other ranks, one of whom was Neil Nelson, volunteered for the task. The raid was successful and all four men were recommended for awards. The citations are in the files of the Australian War Memorial but in Neil’s case, the award of a Mentioned in Despatches was not granted.

In April, the 1st Division followed the German withdrawal to the heavily fortified Hindenburg line. In an attempt to breach the Hindenburg Line, attacks were planned at Bullecourt. The planning for the attacks was poor and relied heavily on untried and slow tanks (which all broke down or got lost). Infantry were left lying in the snow undefended by artillery. Neil, who by this time seems to have acquired the nickname of “Lordy” or “Lorry” (probably a reference to Lord Nelson), was fortunate to come through his first major engagement unscathed.

For the remainder of 1917, the 9th Battalion was moved permanently to Belgian Flanders in preparation for the big offensive of 1917; Passchendaele. In September of 1917, Neil enjoyed two weeks leave in England but he had only been back at the front for two days when he was wounded burying telephone cable at Polygon Wood. He had sustained a shrapnel wound to his nose, which was not considered serious. After a two week stay in a hospital in Boulogne, Neil was back with the battalion in time for a major offensive at Broodseinde Ridge near the village of Passchendaele. This time, Neil was not so fortunate, sustaining gun shot wounds to his left arm, left leg and back.

These wounds required specialised treatment and he was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Edmonton in the northern suburbs of London. In December Neil was discharged to a two week furlough and on his return reported to the Overseas Training Brigade at Hurdcott near Salisbury. Neil recrossed the channel in February and by the 19th of February he was back with his battalion at Poperinghe in Flanders.

The German spring offensive began on the Somme on 21st March 1918. The advance was swift and the British troops could not hold the German stormtroopers.
Four of the five Australian divisions in Belgium were rushed south into France while the 1st Division remained in Belgium tasked with holding the hard fought gains of 1917 around Ypres. It was not until the end of April that the German threat in both theatres was neutralized and the 1st Division joined the other four divisions in France to make up the Australian Corps with Lieutenant General John Monash as corps commander.

Monash planned to use his divisions to spearhead a counterattack along the valley of the Somme, first with a limited attack at Hamel on 4th July, followed by a major offensive on 8th August, which became known as the Battle of Amiens. The gains achieved on 8th August were staggering, with large numbers of prisoners and weapons captured. The 1st Division had a pivotal role on the day and contributed to the breaking of the German defences and progressing on into open country beyond. The Battle of Amiens, described by the German Field Commander as the “blackest day”, was the beginning of the end for the German armies in the field.

On 10th August, 20 men from the 9th battalion were killed when they encountered heavy enemy resistance as they pushed the attack forward. One of the 20 was Neil Nelson. The survivors of the action had a memorial board erected on the site near where they were buried, a photograph of which is in the Australian War Memorial collection. The 20 were eventually reinterred into their final resting place at Heath Cemetery near Harbonnieres.

Neil’s personal possessions and war medals were delivered to his brother Andrew, who had been named next of kin. According to the directives in Neil’s will, his share of the block at Juandah where his brother Frederick was still farming was bequeathed to Frederick. By war’s end, only one Nelson brother, George was still living in the Milbong district.