Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sgt John Richards SN 3593

John Richards said he was a ‘Labourer’ even though he had completed an apprenticeship and worked as a ‘bottle maker’ at the Bendigo pottery for 8 years when he enlisted on July 7, 1915. He would pass his medical a week later and be admitted to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on July 14, 1915.

He was 24 years of age, single and lived with his mother on St.Killian’s Rd, White Hills. He had prior military training stating he had served in the local Citizen Force of the 8th ALR Australian Light Horse.

He would go into training at the 16th Depot Battalion in Bendigo from July 14. In early December (3rd) he is transferred to and ‘Taken on Strength’ into the 8th Reinforcements of the 21st Battalion. Most likely training now was at the Broadmeadows camp the home of the 21st Battalion as they prepared for a passage to the front.

John and fellow recruits would have been expecting to be joining the 21st Battalion in the Dardanelles fighting the Ottoman forces, however, by the time they would leave Australia the surviving AIF troops had been withdrawn from the disaster on the Gallipoli peninsula to regroup and rebuild in the sands of Egypt.

A few days after Christmas 1915 on December 29, the reinforcements would embark from the Port of Melbourne on board HMAT Demosthenes for sea voyage. The long voyage to Egypt usually involved calling at the ports of Albany, Colombo, Suez, Port Said and finally Alexandria. Very hot weather was experienced, resulting in a good deal of sickness on board.

When they arrive in Egypt, the severely depleted AIF forces were regrouping and re-establishing battalion numbers with the thousands of fresh recruits arriving daily. Based at the AIF camp at Tel-er-Kebir John would be transferred to the newly established 60th Battalion on February 26 and then a few weeks later on March 15, he is finally appointed to another new battalion, the 57th battalion.

The 57th Battalion was raised in Egypt on 18 February 1916 as part of the "doubling" of the AIF. Half of its recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 5th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia which included John. Reflecting the composition of the 5th, the 57th was predominantly composed of men from the suburbs of Melbourne. The battalion became part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division.  (Source AWM - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51497/ )

After nearly 4 months training and camped in the searing sands of Egypt the battalion would travel again from the port of Alexandria on June 17 on board the HT Transylvania bound for France. Arriving in Marseilles on June 22.    

From Marseilles the Australians journeyed by troop train up the Rhone valley heading for Calais, then eastwards to the western front in French Flanders, 200 km north of Paris. Estaples, the British and Commonwealth staging depot in Northern France was their destination close to the Belgium border.

Having only arrived in France in late June, 1916, the 57th became embroiled in its first major battle on the Western Front on 19 July, without the benefit of an introduction to the trenches in a "quiet" sector. The battle of Fromelles was a disaster. Fortunately for the 57th it was allocated a supporting role and suffered relatively light casualties compared to its sister battalions. This, however, meant that 57th carried the burden of holding the line in ensuing days for the battalion. Despite its grievous losses, the 5th Division continued to man the front in the Fromelles sector for a further two months. (Source - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51497/ )

John survives more fierce fighting over the winter of 1916/17 with no sickness or injury.  On May 22, 1917 he is appointed Lance Corporal, however, the good run in the health comes abruptly to an end and he is admitted to hospital just four days after being promoted suffering Influenza. He would rejoin his unit three weeks later on June 15th. He is again hospitalised just six days later suffering a relapse. He would not rejoin his unit till late August. He would given 4 days leave to England in September and rejoin his battalion in time for the 57th's major battle here was at Polygon Wood on 26 September.

Scheduled to begin on 26 September 1917, the attack was almost derailed by a German attack on the British X Corps to the south of the ANZACs. A day earlier, Australian troops of the 15th Brigade, preparing for their attack, took part in fending off the Germans; however, their advance the next day began with continuing uncertainty as to the security of their flank. 

The infantry advanced behind a heavy artillery barrage - the noise of this was compared to a roaring bushfire - and they secured most of their objectives without difficulty. To the south, the 15th Brigade, including the 57th which after its efforts the previous day had been reinforced by two battalions from the 8th, secured not only its own objectives but those allocated to the neighbouring 98th British Brigade. The Germans launched several counter-attacks but these were thwarted by the heavy defensive artillery barrages used to protect the infantry consolidating on their objectives; The battle cost 5,770 Australian casualties. (Source – https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/campaigns/19 )

Brigadier General Pompey Elliott and the men he led in the 15th Brigade had not only accomplished a superb victory amid circumstances of the gravest adversity, but they had also paved the way for the conspicuous triumph that followed at Broodseinde in the third of the AIF’s step-by-step victories east of Ypres. Pompey’s 15th Brigade had 1203 casualties at Polygon Wood, more than any other AIF brigade involved.  (Source - https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/how-pompey-prevailed-in-the-battle-of-polygon-wood/news-story/7703f2dcadd6b4b0b9848256b035a878 )

Again Lance Corporal John Richards would survive more horrific battles over the 1917/18 winter.

In late March (23) John would be involved in an incident where he is accused of allowing a fellow AIF soldier to escape whilst on Sentry duty. The Sydney soldier who escaped, a Private Bowyer (Hand) had a poor military record including charges of desertion and other misdemeanours.

John would be found guilty in a Field Court Marshall and punished severely being deprived of his Lance Stripe and forfeiture of 52 days in total.  

The timing of this incident coincided with the 1918 Spring Offensive which had commenced two days earlier.

The German Army aimed at cutting off Paris from the Channel Ports and seeking to defeat the British Commonwealth forces in detail by overwhelming them particularly along the Somme by which route they planned to seize Amiens, the principal rail head between Paris and Calais.   They needed to do this before the might of the United States commitment to the War could be fully deployed.

Known by the Germans as Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser's Battle), it comprised a series of German attacks along the Western Front and marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914. They had the temporary advantage in numbers afforded by nearly 50 divisions freed from the Eastern Front, following the Russian surrender after the Bolshevik Revolution in late 1917.

Source - RSL Virtual Memorial  https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/campaigns/80 )

John Richards would be involved in some of the most successful battles that bought the war to quicker end. The 57th as part of the 15th Brigade was involved in heroic retaking of Villers-Bretonneux in April 24/25 and then a host of battles that saw the Germans on the defensive.

The day after the very successful battle at Le Hamel, Private John Richards is promoted to Corporal. He would continue fighting right through the ‘Hundred Days’ campaign.

The "Hundred Days" is a term applied to the final major period of hostilities involving the Allies, and among them the Australian Corps, on the Western Front. It was during this period that the AIF along with the Canadians, were assigned as the shock troops of a major offensive that began with the Battle of Amiens on 8th August in what was termed by General Ludendorf, the German Commander, as "der schwarze tag" or the " Black Day" of the German Army.

Following the armistice being declared on November 11, 1918 Corporal John Richards would be promoted to Sergeant on November 18 and given two weeks leave to England from November 15 till November 29.

He would return to France for another winter of service and in January (29) be granted ‘Remission of Forfeiture’ of 24 days for the incident that had taken place back in March the prior year.

In March (7) 1919, he would proceed to England to await a return passage to Australia. He would disembark at Weymouth on the South coast of England and wait with thousands of other AIF troops for ships to become available.  

On May 8 he would leave England on the HMAT Devanha disembarking in Melbourne on June 23, 1919.

Sergeant John Richards of the 57th Battalion, a unit of the renowned 15th Brigade had served his country for over 4 years.

Sergaent John Richards is remembered by the people of White Hills. The names of the local lads who sacrificed their lives and those that were fortunate to return from the Great War are shown on the embossed copper plaques on the White Hills Arch of Triumph, at the entrance to the Botanic Gardens.