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From Francois Somme

Private 2384 Francis Charles Saxon
22nd Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company,
6th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, AIF
 
On this summer morning, a radiant sun, through the mist, rises slowly and little by little, its golden rays, in a serene silence, spread across the old battlefields dotted with millions of poppies, eternal witnesses of the history and the past of thousands of young men who here, on these sacred grounds of the Somme, alongside their friends and brothers in arms, fought and gave their lives during the battles which, like those of Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, were among the deadliest and most costly in human lives for the Australians and the Australian Imperial Force who here, like lions, with determination, with bravery and loyalty, sacrificed their youth and their innocence for the name of peace and freedom for their country and France but also for their loved ones and our children who live today in a world filled with the echoes of thousands of smiles while between July 1916 and November 1918, the Diggers had as their only universe, as their only life, the turmoil of the battlefields on which could be heard the mournful roar of the artillery and the cries of agony of men who, in the barbed wire, in blood and flesh, awaited death following heroic charges which ended in terrible hand-to-hand combats during which friends and friends killed each other in the fury and madness of a war which led the world and thousands of families into mourning and into the darkest century in the history of humanity. Young forever, united forever in mateship, thousands of young cobbers rest today in peace behind the countless rows of their white graves and, in the marble their story is read, the story of lives too short shattered by war.

Today, more than Never, with my little boy I am proud to watch over these young men, to keep their memory alive but also to share and make their stories known so that they are never forgotten. Here in the Somme, the souls of these heroes and the ANZAC spirit will live forever.

On this day, it is with the utmost respect and with the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who, for Australia and France, for each of us and future generations, our children, gave his life. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2384 Francis Charles Saxon who fought courageously in the 22nd Australian Infantry Battalion,B Company, 6th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division of the Australian Imperial Force and who died of his wounds 109 years ago, on July 27, 1916 at the age of 34 during the Battle of the Somme.

Francis Charles Saxon was born in 1882 in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia, and was the son of Joseph and Caroline Saxon, of Park Street, Coburg, Victoria. After graduating, he settled at 13 Spencer Street, Croxton, Victoria, and worked as a miner until the outbreak of the war.

The First World War would break out in the second half of 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The assassination did not directly cause the war however, it acted as a spark that ignited existing tensions between European countries. These tensions existed due to imperialistic, nationalistic and militaristic ideologies.

Australians read about the political assassination of Franz Ferdinand in the newspapers published at the end of June, 1914 and would continue to read about the existing tensions and series of events that ultimately led to the outbreak of war. After German troops entered Belgium on 4 August, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany.

Australia, a dominion of the British Empire, willingly joined the war to aid the mother country. Australia pledged an immediate force of 20,000 troops, with more to follow.

The government formed a new army to serve in the war: The Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was also placed under the command of the British Admiralty and Australian ships, submarines and sailors were ready to serve in war overseas. However, they would also need to recruit personnel for active duty.

In mid-1914, Australia's population was just above 4.9 million, of which 52% were men. Each man of military age (19-38 years old) had to decide whether they would volunteer to join the armed forces and go to war. The recruiting offices opened at army barracks throughout Australia on 10 August, only six days after war was officially declared.

Thousands of men joined the AIF in the first few months, willing and keen to support the British Empire.

Enlistment standards existed for those volunteering for service. At first, the government only accepted the tallest and fittest of volunteers, with standards being very strict. For example, some men were rejected for having crooked or bad teeth.

This would soon change as the war progressed. The AIF needed more men and were required to be less strict.

Once men had been recruited, they received a free railway ticket to the closest city to begin basic military training. After the first four months, 50,000 men joined the AIF and another 4,000 joined the navy. Between April and October 1915, an additional 100,000 men enlisted in the AIF.

Deeply desirous of doing his bit and probably driven by the hope of a great adventure, Francis decided in turn to answer the call of duty and enlisted on July 12, 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria, in the 22nd Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 5th Reinforcement then, after a training period of a little over two months at Broadmeadows Camp, north of Melbourne, during which he learned to hold, reload and fire with a Lee-Enfield No 1 Mark 3 rifle but also bayonet fighting, Francis embarked with his unit from Melbourne, on board RMS Osterley on September 29, 1915 and sailed for Egypt, arrived in Cairo in early 1916 then marched to Zeitoun and to Moascar, in order, from March 14, to receive further training which, in the desert heat, was particularly difficult and testing for all the men of the 22nd Battalion. Once their training was completed, they moved to Alexandria on March 19 where, alongside troops of the BEF (British Expeditionary Forces), they proceeded overseas to France on the troop transport ship HMHS Llandovery Castle.

On March 26, 1916, after a week-long voyage on the peaceful waters of the Mediterranean Sea, Francis and his comrades finally arrived in France and were disembarked in Marseilles where they discovered the kindness of the French people and the beauty of the landscapes of a country that was unknown to them but which charmed them with the sweet scent of the orchards and the flowering fields but also by the charms of the young French ladies. From there, the troops of the 22nd Battalion (27 officers, 921 men), took a train to Aire, in the north of France and marched into billets at Roquetoire which they reached on March 29. Two days later, on March 31, they were reviewed by Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener (British secretary of state for war) before enjoying a short period of rest of a few days.

On 4 April 1916, Francis and the men of the 22nd Battalion left Roquetoire and marched through Haverskerque, Sailly-sur-la-Lys and arrived at their new billets at Fleurbaix where they relieved the 11th Suffolk Regiment. Here, a further period of training was undertaken, including musketry drills and trench attack practice before joining the firing line in the northern sector of Fleurbaix on 13 April where they came under fire from German snipers and artillery fire causing the first casualties within the battalion, among them were some of Francis's friends who were killed or seriously wounded. This was his terrible encounter with the reality and appalling brutality of war but Francis showed great courage. From the following day, numerous night patrols were conducted on the battlefield to observe enemy movements and to try to capture Germans for intelligence before finally being relieved on April 19 by the 21st Australian Infantry Battalion and marched for a period of rest to a farm called "Chapel Farm" can be so called because it is noted that many religious services for Australian troops were held in this building. Less than a week later, on April 25, during the first commemoration of the AIF landing at Gallipoli, the 22nd Battalion moved back to the trenches they previously occupied and noted German behavior becoming very aggressive, machine-gunning the parapets held by Francis and his comrades day and night but an amusing anecdote took place on April 27 at 8:30pm which was recorded in the war diary of the 22nd. Indeed, on this occasion, the battalion played two gramophones, to which the Germans in front of them responded "Bravo, encore, again," a rare moment of peace in a horribly murderous war.

On 1 May 1916, Francis and the troops of the 22nd Australian Battalion left the trenches at Fleurbaix and marched into billets at Erquinghem, precisely located on "Rue Dormoire" and were employed in the construction of defensive positions at "Rue Fleurie" with the support of engineer troops. On 12 May, they were reviewed by General William Riddell Birdwood who commanded the Australian Corps for much of the war. Birdwood was greatly liked by the men under his command and was described as "short and dapper in figure, a vigorous, brave, upright and understanding leader of fighting men" by Charles Bean. From 16 May the battalion was employed in the construction of trenches to protect the men from possible enemy artillery fire and then, from 21 May, a period of training followed which included numerous exercises of musketry, gas drills, bayonet combat, physical exercises, leading the men of the 22nd to a high level of professionalism and efficiency.

On June 10, 1916, the time had come for Francis and his comrades to return to the front line. With the 22nd Battalion, they left Erquinghem and took the trenches at Bois-Grenier and were employed in the improvement of their positions as well as in the laying of telephone cables under the fire of the German artillery whose shots were more and more brutal and which caused heavy material damage, pulverizing strong positions and portions of parapets which had to be repaired day and night. In addition, numerous enemy airplanes regularly flew over the positions of the 22nd and sent small bombs on them but were also in contact with the German artillery whose fire they guided but apart from that, no major action took place on either side of the front line which, little by little became calm again then on July 3, the 22nd was relieved by the 1st Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade.

Two days earlier, before the 22nd was relieved, on July 1, 1916, the British launched the most deadly offensive in the history of the British Army into the Somme, but the Battle of the Somme was also the most deadly battle of the entire war, which brought all nations to fight there at the cost of absolutely appalling losses.

The Battle of the Somme was originally planned as a joint French-British offensive which was part of a wider strategy of attacking Germany simultaneously on the Western and Eastern Fronts, with the aim of destroying Germany’s reserves of manpower. The massive German attack launched on the French fortress of Verdun on 21 February 1916 significantly reduced the French contribution to the Somme campaign, which was also being launched, in part, to divert the Germans’ attention from Verdun. Britain’s "new army’",a volunteer force similar to the AIF,was required to step up.

At the start of 1916, the French called on the British to play a bigger role on the ground, which they agree to do at the Somme.But these were not professional forces, or large conscript ones such as the German and French armies were, these were men from all walks of life who joined up in their communities. Hundreds of men from communities large and small would join up together, give their units nicknames such as "Pals", and die together, leaving their towns and villages devastated.

Britain’s generals lacked confidence in the abilities of their men, which meant there was a distinct lack of imagination or innovation in the tactics employed.
The application of artillery was still rather simple in 1916: to bombard the enemy’s position, then send in the infantry and charge through after with the cavalry. The British and French were always looking for the breakthrough, to fracture the enemy and drive them out. They wanted to see the Germans in disarray, to make a wild retreat.

The Germans, however, were deeply entrenched on the Somme. They had been honing their defences and their war weapons since the trench line zig-zagged its way across France and Belgium in the autumn of 1914. The Germans had built an impregnable and sophisticated wall of barbed wire, deep dugouts and machine-gun posts on favourable locations in difficult country. They had a formidable position on the Somme, and the British underestimated their preparedness.

Despite days of shelling immediately before the assault on 1 July, the British were unable to smash the German dugouts, and belts of wire remained uncut. The Germans also had many guns that outranged those of the British, or were kept silent and well hidden until the offensive began.

In his memoir The old front line, British poet laureate John Masefield, who spent months at the front, includes a German’s account of the start of the assault, at 7.30 am on July 1:
"They came on at a steady easy pace as if expecting to find nothing alive in our front trenches ... a few minutes later, when the leading British line was within 100 yards, the rattle of machine-guns and rifle fire broke out from along the whole line of craters.
The advance rapidly crumpled under this hail of shells and bullets. All along the line men could be seen throwing their arms into the air and collapsing never to move again. Badly wounded rolled about in their agony, and others less severely injured crawled to the nearest shell-hole. The noise of battle became indescribable. Again and again the extended lines of British infantry broke against the German defence like waves against a cliff, only to be beaten back. It was an amazing spectacle of un-exampled gallantry, courage and bull-dog determination on both sides".

All along the 30-kilometre front, the same annihilation was taking place. In his book, "The first day on the Somme", Martin Middlebrook records the experience of Private W. Slater, 18th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (known as the 2nd Bradford Pals):
"For some reason nothing seemed to happen to us at first; we strolled along as though walking in a park. Then, suddenly, we were in the midst of a storm of machine-gun bullets and I saw men beginning to twirl round and fall in all kinds of curious ways as they were hit,quite unlike the way actors do it in films".

Within 24 hours, the British army would suffer almost 60,000 casualties, a third of whom were killed, and record the most costly day in its history.

Despite the enormous losses of that first battle at the Somme, the offensive continued through summer and a particularly wet autumn until the first snow fell on 18 November 1916. The Australian Imperial Force, consisting of men who had fought at Gallipoli and fresh volunteers from home, arrived at the Somme in late July.

Suffering appalling losses at a hellish pace in the Somme, the British called on the Australians to reinforce them as quickly as possible.On July 4, 1916, Francis and the 22nd Battalion left the trenches at Bois-Grenier and then marched to "Blanche-Maison", near Steenwerck, for a well-deserved period of rest. A few days later, on July 9, they moved to Renescure before heading to the railway station at St-Omer from where they proceeded to the Somme where they arrived on July 11 in the small town of Longueau, 10 minutes from Amiens and its majestic cathedral whose spire pointing to the sky could be seen by the Diggers. From here, the men of the 22nd marched to Breilly which they reached the following day and there underwent a particularly intensive period of training including trench attacks, a sign perceptible to all that a major offensive was in preparation in which the 22nd would participate without knowing what hell awaited them. On July 17th the road resumed and Francis, alongside his friends, crossed the villages of Rainneville, Puchevillers and arrived in their new billets at Lealvillers for a last period of rest but on July 25th, the officers of the battalion read the orders received in front of all the men present and this time there was no longer any doubt, Francis and the men of the 22nd were going to take part in the battle of Pozieres, a battle marked by the courage and sacrifices of the Australians, a hell on earth which became the deadliest battle for the AIF in the Somme.
The attack on Pozieres was launched on the July 23,1916. The battle saw the Australians fight hard for an area that comprised a first rate observation pHistory Pozieres 2ost over the surrounding countryside. The area also offered an alternative approach to the rear of the Thiepval defences.

The Australian divisions of the 1 Anzac Corps were given the task of capturing the Pozieres Ridge, which had in fact been intended for capture on the first day of the offensive. The Australians succeeded in doing this by 4 August, having launched their offensive almost two weeks earlier at 1.30am on 23 July, two days following their arrival on the Somme. They were assisted in the attack by the British 48th Division attacking from Ovillers towards the German left flank.
The Australians succeeded in capturing Pozieres village within an hour and then rushed across the main road towards Gibraltar, a German strongpoint. A mere 200 yards separated the Australians from Pozieres Ridge, the attack’s main objective, heavily defended by the securely entrenched German troops. Two lines of trenches needed to be overcome before the ridge could be completely claimed.

Later on that first day, 23 July, the Australians were joined to the north-west of Pozieres village by the British 17th Warwickshire Regiment. Still the ridge remained firmly in German hands and the 2nd Australian Division subsequently relieved their comrades and continued the attack on the ridge for a further four days before they too were relieved. Allied casualties at this stage were running at a costly 3,500.
The ridge finally fell on 4 August after almost two weeks of bitter fighting. However, Mouquet Farm and Thiepval remained in German hands. Failed attempts, directed by Hubert Gough, to push further north-west from the height towards Mouquet Farm and Thiepval were repulsed by German artillery fire, with the loss of some 23,000 Australian troops.

Gough came under heavy Australian criticism for his persistence in pushing the advance for five weeks; their growing scepticism of the quality of British leadership was already low following the notable failure of an earlier diversionary attack at Fromelles on the 19-20 July by the Australian 5th Division. Australians suffered 5,708 casualties at Fromelles of which total 4,000 were fatalities; a further 400 were captured and marched through Lille as prisoners of war.

On July 26, 1916, Francis and the 22nd Battalion left their billets of Lealvillers and began their march towards the line of fire and as there was no time to prepare breakfast the men had to march on empty stomachs. The route passed through the ruined town of Albert, and the leaning statue of the Virgin hanging precariously from the steeple of the church. All packs were dumped, and fighting order was assumed.

Circular tin discs, unpopular with the men, were issued to each man to be worn on their backs to facilitate spotting by observers and aircraft. In the fields around Albert, some of the AIF 1st Division’s battalions were sleeping. They had just emerged from the capture of Pozieres village, and their appearance recalled memories of a previous meeting on Gallipoli when again the 2nd had relieved the 1st Division. Moving on through the notorious Sausage Valley with the deafening roar of the guns massed wheel to wheel, care had to be taken in passing to avoid injury from their "flash". Here the men were issued with picks and shovels, two Mills Bombs each and two sandbags. Three gas alarms were sounded on account of gas shells in the Valley. They passed the Chalk Pit into hastily constructed trenches beyond the village of Pozieres. Late that evening the Battalion started to relieve the 6th Battalion.

By 4.30am on the 27th July the relief of 6th Battalion at Pozieres was complete. C and D Companies occupied the front-line and A and B Companies were in K Trench.B Company supported in total by 8 machine guns. To the left of the 22nd were the 24th Battalion (6th Brigade) and the 19th Battalion to the right. Enemy shelling commenced at 6.30am in response to Australian artillery fire, and although intense, was falling about 100 yards to the rear of the Firing Line. At 9.15am a small party was observed behind the enemy front line directly in front of C Company,the party was dispensed with rifle fire. During the afternoon in front of the whole Battalion sector the enemy were seen moving along the trench.

In the support trenches B Company was being heavily shelled and experiencing heavy casualties, including all of its officers. Running south to north on the west side of Pozieres, K Trench received both frontal and enfilade fire and had no fire step. High explosive shells continually blew in the crowded trenches, and when one barrage lifted, another commenced. Gas shells added to the horror and for four days none slept. The ranging of the enemy artillery was also improving on the front line. At 9pm orders were received from Brigade to reconnoitre lines of approach for an attack and the condition of wire, which upon inspection had been cut in places and in rather poor condition.

Casualties on that first day into the front line on the Somme were the heaviest endured by the Battalion since the start of the war and their arrival in Gallipoli: Second Lieutenant Hart was killed, plus 19 other ranks; 5 officers were wounded, including Captain Wiltshire, along with 129 other ranks (including Francis). 19 other ranks were also missing.

Unfortunately, during the attack of July 27, 1916, Francis met his fate and was mortally wounded by shrapnel to the abdomen and chest. He was immediately evacuated and admitted to the 6th Australian Field Ambulance where he died a few hours later. He was 34 years old.

Today, Francis Charles Saxon rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Becourt Military Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt, Somme.
Francis, on this day, it is with infinite respect in our hearts that we stand humbly and respectfully before your grave to honor your memory and to remember the man you were but also all that you did for us more than a hundred years ago alongside your brothers in arms on the battlefields of the Somme which saw so much blood and tears flow during the deadliest battles of the Great War which took place in the middle of the barbed wire which forever scarred these sacred grounds on which lived, fought and fell so many sons of the great Australian nation who, side by side, did their duty with loyalty and served in the finest spirit of mateship, of brotherhood which united them, which brought them together and gave them the strength to advance under fire and to hold the front line during four hellish years which set the world ablaze. From Gallipoli to Fromelles then from Passchendaeles to Messines, the Diggers showed exceptional bravery that nothing could break, that nothing could bend even when they crossed the hell of the Somme, from Pozieres to Flers then from Villers-Bretonneux to Amiens, they crossed the deadliest battles that the AIF had known on the Western Front. Brave among the bravest, they fought with conviction and determination despite their very young age.

When they left Australia, they all had in their hearts a childlike innocence, they only thought of living, of seeing the promises of their lives come true, of loving and being loved but when the bells of war rang, without hesitation, with pride and honor they all took a step forward to do their bit in the name of all that was beautiful and good in their lives and together, joined the ranks of the brand new Australian Imperial Force. All volunteered because through their eyes it was the best thing to do but in their hearts hoped to be back soon or to find a form of glory that was spoken to them about during their training then, proudly, their heads held high under their slouch hats, after a last embrace, after a last heartbreaking farewell in the arms of their mothers, their fiancées, crying one last time together in this solemn moment, they left the sunny banks of their cities aboard steamers, ocean liners, giants of the seas and sailed alongside their brothers, their best friends in the silence of the foam and the waves which, in lapping, crashed against the steel hulls leading a whole generation, all the hopes of a nation and the world towards the battlefields of which they ignored the violence but in April 1915, at Gallipoli, they experienced their baptism of fire, the ultimate test of which Many never returned, but it was in the warm sand that their legend was born.

It was at Lone Pine that the first pages of the ANZAC spirit were written, a spirit of brotherhood, gallantry and common effort in the face of the worst trials, and which continued to be written through the battles they subsequently fought in the Somme.However, in the Somme, these brave heroes were no longer children and had long since lost their innocence, they were forever changed by what they experienced and endured, the furious artillery bombardments, the bayonet charges and the hand-to-hand combat of appalling brutality which only resulted in bloodbaths, massacres taking place in open-air cemeteries dotted with shell holes which were once fields, green valleys but which here, were nothing other than fields of death, of suffering which broke bodies and spirits in chaos and madness.

Under shrapnel and poison gas, they never stopped fighting and advancing but at the cost of catastrophic losses which, in Australia, also swept away thousands of families who anxiously awaited the return of their sons and husbands whose last lines of life they read on tear-stained telegrams that mothers and fathers shed with trembling hands. "We regret to inform you that your son is dead." That was all that remained of such precious lives which, in a few months, in the mud of the Somme, were destroyed by machine guns and shells, but the war never had the last word because today, more than a hundred years later, these young men continue to live with us, in our hearts and thoughts.

The shells, the bullets, the machine guns and the grenades became rust and the roar of the artillery gave way to the smiles of the children who today, at our side, with the greatest respect, walk alongside us in the military cemeteries of our villages and the battlefields of the Somme to keep alive the memory of the young Diggers and of Australia to whom we owe so much, to make their story known and to make people understand what their lives were like and what the war was so that the sacrifices endured between 1914 and 1918 never happen again and that is why my little boy and I will always watch over the graves of Australian soldiers and their brothers in arms with love, so that their memory lives on forever, so that they are never forgotten.

Thank you so much Francis, for everything you did for France, whose love and respect will forever be yours.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.