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John Fredriksen #30086 5th Brigade Field Artillery 105th Battery

John Fredriksen enlisted at the recruiting depot at Adelaide Street in Brisbane on 17th April 1916. He was 27 years old at the time. His attestation papers record a height of 5’9” and a weight of 11 stone. John named his father, Peter Fredriksen of Ten Mile, Kilcoy as his next of kin. He gave his occupation as farmer and stated he was single.

After being placed in a depot battalion at Enoggera, John was allocated as a driver for the field artillery, probably on the strength of his ability with horse teams. Artillery were being trained in New South Wales so after a period of home leave, during which he may well have had his portrait photograph taken, John joined the 22nd reinforcements of the 3rd Brigade Field Artillery at Marrickville on 1st September 1916.

The reinforcements boarded the ‘Benalla’ in Sydney on 9th November 1916. The embarkation roll shows John had allocated 4/- of his daily pay to either his father or a bank account in his name at Kilcoy. When John landed at Devonport (UK) on 9th January 1917, he and the rest of the artillery reinforcements marched out to Larkhill camp.

Larkhill had been the training base for the 3rd Division AIF for most of 1916. The 3rd Division had vacated the camp in November 1916 and Larkhill became a transit camp for reinforcements. John spent three months attached to the Reserve Brigade Artillery Dump before being assigned to the 5th Brigade Field Artillery on 3rd April 1917. John was assigned as a driver to the 105th Light Howitzer Battery

A typical Field artillery brigade consisted of three batteries of 18 pounder field guns(18 guns in total) and one battery of 4.5” light howitzers (6 guns in total). The field guns were attached to an ammunition limber which in turn was pulled by a team of six horses. The howitzers, which fired a heavier shell at a higher angle than the field guns, were heavier than the 18 pounders and in the case of the 105th battery were pulled by mules.

When John joined his unit in France the brigade was engaged in preliminary bombardment work of the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt. The howitzers were given the task of destroying barbed wire entanglements, which at Bullecourt met with limited success.

When the attacks on the Hindenburg Line were abandoned, the 5th FAB withdrew to camps and billets around Albert for a program of training and sports. On 7th June 1917, a new offensive campaign was opened in Belgian Flanders around the ancient city of Ypres. By July the 5th FAB were on the road for 8 days from the Somme north to the Ypres salient where they went straight into the gun lines at Dickebusch. In August, the 5th FAB were engaged in bombardments of communication lines and troop concentrations behind the German lines. On 3rd August, the battalion war diary records the first gas attack on the batteries of the 5th FAB.

In September, the 5th was supporting an attack by two Australian Infantry Divisions along the line of the Menin Road which ran roughly east from the Menin Gate at Ypres. Artillery was proving to be a most effective and destructive weapon but the number of shells being fired required a whole support unit referred to as the Divisional Ammunition Column, whose task was to unload the thousands of shells from light railway into GS Wagons which would then haul the shells to a brigade or battery dump. At Menin Road the roads had been churned into a quagmire and the gun teams could not negotiate the mud to reach the ammunition dump. The mud also created another problem for the gunners. For the heavy guns like the howitzers, the recoil from a number of firings would drive the gun into the mud so that subsequent shots would be out of line and in some cases would fall short on their own infantry.

With the closing down of the front for the winter, the Australian divisions went into winter quarters. The 5th FAB were resting in the rear areas near Armentieres. The war diary for December 1917 records that several Nissen Huts were assembled which pleased the men immensely. On 12th December, the men voted in the second conscription referendum and the diary predicted a close result.

As Christmas approached, each man received a Christmas billy can sent by various comfort funds back in Australia. The billies carried an assortment of sweets, tobacco, socks and mittens as well as a note from the person who packed the billy.

During January and February, the brigade continued to rotate in and out of the line relieving other artillery units. When not in the gun lines, a variety of sports and other entertainments were offered. In March 1918, John was granted three week’s leave in England. By the time he returned to his unit, the Germans had launched a much awaited spring offensive concentrating on the boundary between the French and British Armies; the Somme River.

By April, the 5th FAB were on the road again, this time to hastily prepared positions in front of the vital city of Amiens. The German offensive, codenamed Operation Michael, had advanced as far as the village of Villers Bretonneux, from which the German big guns could shell Amiens. On 25th April 1918, two brigades of Australian infantry retook Villers Bretonneux and halted the advance.

During May and June, the Australians now operating under their new corps commander, Lieutenant General John Monash, kept up a program of harassment while resources were assembled for a big counter attack. In a limited engagement at Hamel on 4th July, Australian infantry supported by artillery firing smoke shells, and tanks operating as supply vehicles for water and ammunition took just three minutes more than planned to capture the objective. So successful was this coordinated strategy that Monash would use it again on much grander scale in the battle of Amiens on the 8th August 1918.

The Battle of Amiens involved all five AIF Divisions supported by three Canadian Divisions and two British Divisions. Preparations for the attack were carried out with utmost secrecy. Men and equipment moved up to the start lines at night and artillery and tanks were hidden in woods and haystacks. The German defenders were completely overrun as the whole army progressed at least five miles into open country. The 5th FAB diary records the successes of the brigade and includes a rather scathing assessment of the English soldiers and their officers, which was a common sentiment amongst the AIF at the time.

By the beginning of September, the advance along the valley of the Somme, spearheaded by the AIF had reached the fortress town of Peronne on the northern bank of the Somme. Peronne was protected by the heavily fortified Mont St Quentin. The 5th FAB was heavily engaged in the Mont St Quentin action. The war diary records that after being withdrawn after the Mont was secured, the brigades horses and mules were in desperate need of a rest as they had been constantly in harness for six weeks or more and were only relying on pasture for sustenance as the brigade had outrun its supply lines of oats and chaff.

On 5th September the war diary records that the men of the brigade enjoyed a swim in the Somme. Also, that month, officers from the remount’s unit came to inspect the animals and planned to replace the mule teams with horses. The diary comments that the mules were much preferred by the howitzer drivers as they would work harder, were less prone to sickness and had a calmer temperament. Apparently, the replacement horses were not very good and the diary writer observed that having inferior animals would damage the brigade’s reputation.

In October 1918, the 5th FAB were back in action at what would prove to be the final act by the AIF in the war. The Hindenburg Line was marked for some of its length by the St Quentin Canal. At Montbrehain, the canal passed through a 3 kilometre tunnel, creating a bridge across which Australian and American Infantry attacked, supported by artillery. After Montbrehain and Beaurevoir further north, all German resistance collapsed. All Australian units were withdrawn for a prolonged rest. Some Australians who had enlisted in 1914 were being sent home. John was promoted to Temporary Bombardier (equivalent to the rank of corporal) on 17th October.

The rest period was spent cleaning and repairing harness. Some of the guns with worn barrels were towed out by Ammunition Column teams to divisional artillery workshops for refurbishment. The announcement of the armistice to end the war was greeted with mild celebrations according to the war diary. The writer seemed more concerned about the number of the brigade’s mules and horses being taken to be sold. For Christmas 1918 the men of the 5th FAB enjoyed 3 turkeys, 6 geese, a pig and mutton all washed down with 15 kegs of beer.

The end of the war created a huge logistical problem for the AIF. There were almost 300,000 men and woman in uniform in Europe and the Middle East, and almost all of them were entitled to be discharged in the port from which they had embarked. The problem was that there were insufficient transports available to meet the demand with any speed.

Most units that had been in France and Belgium at the end of hostilities had to remain there. The Australian Government had been adamant that no Australian units would be included in any occupation force. They men had been away from Australia for years and they were going to be going home. To keep men occupied, sports programs and other entertainments were organised. The artillery brigade organised a series of race meetings to be held on a neighbouring farm. A totaliser operated, and various men took on tasks such as stewards and clerk of the course. An issue of pay was organised so that the punters had money to wager; and of course, those horses who had so gallantly hauled the guns were now brushed and curried, feed on bran and backed to the hilt. The war diary unashamedly boasted that the 5th FAB race meetings were superior to other events.

During 1919, drafts of men were taken from the camps in France to England in order of their enlistment date. John had to wait for all the 1914 and 1915 men to be repatriated before his turn would come. While in England, John was granted leave, and finally boarded the “Mahia” at Southampton on 5th June 1919. He docked in Melbourne on 21st July where he went before a medical board. John declared that he had no wounds or disability and he signed a certificate to verify his statement. John was formally discharged in Brisbane on 28th August 1919. He had been in uniform for over three and a half years and had spent more than two and half years overseas. Upon discharge, John was entitled to collect his deferred pay of 1/- a day. He may also have had a sizable balance in his bank account.

The last entry in John’s file relates to a letter dated 1967 from Legacy regarding an application by John’s widow, Katherine Fredriksen of Roysten Street, Kilcoy. Legacy wished to confirm John’s service before granting financial support.