Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

 
 
#393 HIGGINS Brian    25th Battalion
 
Brian Higgins reported at his enlistment that he was born in Mount Perry. When he reported to the Adelaide Street recruiting depot on 3rd February 1915, he was 30 years old. Brian stated his address as Cooran, a locality on the main North Coast Rail Line just south of Gympie but this was most likely not his permanent address but that of his parents and sister. Brian stated his occupation as labourer and it is probable that he travelled extensively in the South Burnett and Mary Valley working in timber and sleeper cutting, scrub clearing and perhaps even railway contract work.
 
Brian was drafted as an original member of “B” Company 25th Battalion, which would form part of the 7th Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Division AIF. The battalion was raised at Enoggera from recruits primarily from regional Queensland. The training provided at Enoggera was at first very basic as there were insufficient supplies of military equipment and the battalion spent a lot of time constructing the camp itself. Men were issued with a pair of boots, a pair of dungarees (overalls) and a white floppy hat. Eventually a more military order was established with uniforms issued, close order drill, musketry and route marches. On 29th May, the 25th Battalion and its sister battalion the 26th as well as a squadron of Light Horse took part in a march from Enoggera to the city, down Queen Street to Brunswick Street. Home leave was granted and many of the men had studio photographs taken in their new uniforms, as depicted in the photograph of Brian on this website
 
On 29th June 1915 the battalion was loaded onto trains at Enoggera Station headed for Pinkenba Wharf where they boarded the “Aeneas”. After a brief stop in Sydney, the transport headed across the Great Australian Bight and into the Indian Ocean bound for Egypt, arriving in Suez on 4th August. Whilst in camp at Abbassia, the men were issued with battalion colour patches; a black over blue diamond, to replace the copper “25” on the shoulders.
 
The Gallipoli campaign which had begun with such high expectation in late April had developed into a stalemate after the failed Anzac Attacks in August. The men of the 1st Division and the Light Horsemen who had been holding the Anzac position for almost five months were in need of a period of rest.
 
On 11th September 1915, the 25th disembarked at Gallipoli. This operation was carried out at night and the battalion suffered only one casualty during the landing. By this time the Gallipoli campaign had ground to a halt with neither side willing to incur the shocking casualties that had occurred in May and August. The 25thspent much of its time on Gallipoli manning positions at Steele’s and Courtney’s Posts. November 1916 saw the arrival of severe storms to the peninsula as well as snow. After an inspection by Lord Kitchener; the British command decided to abandon Gallipoli. Brian was evacuated by hospital ship from Gallipoli with jaundice on 19th November. Those members of the 25th still manning the trenches on Gallipoli were withdrawn with the rest of the ANZAC force in December.
 
By January 1916, the 25th were back in Egypt taking on reinforcements. On 13th March, the battalion was visited by General Birdwood who informed the men that they would be going to France and he urged them to “play the game.” The 25th Battalion was the first Australian infantry unit into France, arriving in Marseilles on 19th March 1916. The Battalion was transported by train north to the Armentieres sector of the front. This part of the frontline was considered to be suitable for educating newly arrived troops into the routines of trench warfare, even though there were not actually any trenches as the ground was too boggy. Instead, earthen breastworks had been constructed with timber walls and duckboard floors; and even piped running water; a far cry from the conditions on Gallipoli. The battalion spent several months rotating in and out of the line before being called south to the Somme in July.
 
General Haig, Supreme British commander on the Western Front was planning a big push in the south of the British sector through the Somme River valley for the summer of 1916. It was to be the largest battle of the war so far, and was timed to commence on the 1st of July. The attack was a disaster, with the British suffering 60,000 casualties on the first day. In spite of this, Haig was determined to push on and the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions were moved south from the Armentieres sector to Albert to take part in the Somme offensive. 
 
The village of Pozieres half way between Albert and Bapaume, sat on the highest point of that part of the battlefield. Pozieres was taken by the 1st Division on 20th July. The second division’s objective was to take a blockhouse which had been built on the site of a windmill in the village of Pozieres. The windmill was behind two lines of trenches, and provided a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. The attack, the first major offensive by the 25th Battalion since arriving in France, was to begin just after midnight on the 29thJuly. The attack was a failure, with the 25th Battalion suffering 343 casualties (from a strength of a little less than 1000 men). One of these casualties was Brian Higgins. He was originally posted as Missing. The Military authorities in Melbourne (then the temporary national capital) and the Australian public at large were not prepared for the scale of casualties in July and August of 1916. Families were provided with scant information by base records in Melbourne, which itself was relying on cable traffic which was often garbled.
 
No one could imagine that as a result of overwhelming artillery barrages, men were simply blown to pieces or disappeared without a trace. It appears that Brian’s sister, Miss M. Higgins of Cooran had received news that her brother had in fact been wounded and taken prisoner. Such rumours were not unheard of and base records requested that she forward the letter so that it could be checked for accuracy. It is assumed she did so but Brian’s file contains no further information regarding the outcome.
 
Eventually, a full 12 months after Pozieres, and with sufficient time to have elapsed to receive prisoner of war lists, a Court of Inquiry determined that #393 Pte Brian Higgins had been killed in action on 29th July 1916. There was no known grave.
 
In the 1920s, Brian’s father received his son’s service medals, 14/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. In 1938, some 20 years after the end of the First World War, the Australian Government constructed the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. The memorial was dedicated by the newly crowned King George VI. The memorial records the names of over 10,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in France and have no known grave; Brian Higgins among them.
 
On the site of the Pozieres windmill today is a commemorative stone which reads:
“The ruin of the Pozieres windmill which lies here was the centre of the struggle on this part of the Somme Battlefield in July and August 1916. It was captured by Australian troops who fell more thickly on this ridge than on any other battlefields of the war.”