Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Carl and Jane Blank; husband of Minnie Blank of Wellington Street, Coorparoo, Brisbane, QLD. Father of Lionel Robert Blank

18 November 1916 - to hospital with a cut finger

24 August 1917 - charged with conduct prejudice to military order and discipline in that he disregarded censorship regulations by signing with a false signature on an Issue Green Envelope and disclosing matters of military importance. Found guilty and fined 28 days full pay

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

# 4378 BLANK Norman                                              25th Battalion
 
Norman Blank was born at Hattonvale. His father, Carl Blank, was a well known and respected business man in the Esk district with interests in grazing, sawmilling and property. Norman was one of eight children born to Carl and Jane Blank. A number of Carl’s brothers also lived in the Esk district and Norman had a number of cousins living nearby. Norman attended the Esk school and then worked in a number of family businesses. By the outbreak of the First World War, Norman was married with a young son. He was at that time the proprietor of a sawmilling business in Esk.
 
Norman attended the Brisbane Recruiting Depot at Adelaide Street on 29th September 1915. He stated his age as 32 but strangely stated his occupation as labourer. He also did not name his wife, Minnie as his next of kin; instead naming his mother. Norman made his way to Enoggera where he went into the Rifle Range Camp for initial training before being allocated to the 11th reinforcements of the 25th Battalion, part of the 2ndDivision AIF, on 10th January 1916. The reinforcements took a train to Sydney where they embarked on the “Star of Victoria” on 3rd March 1916 bound for Egypt. Probably at this time, Norman changed his NOK designation to his wife, Minnie whose address was given as the Metrople Hotel. The Metropole was one of Carl Blank’s many interests and the building still stands in Esk’s main street, though not as licenced premises.
 
By the time that the reinforcements landed in Egypt, the 25th Battalion, already at full strength had departed Egypt and was on its way to the Western Front. The reinforcements spent almost a month in the Australian Depot at Tel el Kabir before it was determined that there was no need for any infantry reinforcements in Egypt and those in camp were to be sent to France. Norman and what remained of the 11th reinforcements boarded a ship in Alexandria for the voyage to Marseilles; arriving in France on 15th May. From Marseilles, the reinforcements boarded a train which took then to the large British Training Camp and Depot at Etaples, where they remained until required.
 
General Haig, Supreme British commander on the Western Front planned a major attack in the south of the British sector through the Somme River valley for the summer of 1916. It was 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 4thAustralian 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 26th 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). Once the 25th Battalion survivors were withdrawn from the front line, 160 reinforcements, Norman Blank among them, were called up from Etaples to make up the numbers. The 25th was put back into the attack on the 5th August. This must surely have been a terrifying experience. Survivors of Pozieres described the artillery barrage which rained down as the worst they experienced during the entire war. Norman came out of the battle on the 7th August unharmed, but was no doubt affected by the losses. During the 25th’s ten days at Pozieres, casualties amounted to 685 killed, wounded or missing.
 
The 25th Battalion and the rest of the 2nd Division was in urgent need of a rest and the division shifted north to Belgium where the process of rebuilding could begin. At the beginning of November, the 2nd Division was shipped back to the Somme where the front line had progressed only a few kilometres from Pozieres heights. The 25th Battalion was ordered into an attack at Flers with the hope of gaining higher ground before winter set in. The trenches were knee deep in mud which was just above freezing. A series of attacks were planned using various battalions but any gains made were quickly retaken in the German counterattack. Rations were slow getting up to the men who had to stand in the freezing conditions, often risking trench foot and amputation. The attacks at Flers were eventually called off and recriminations were meted out to battalion commanders with both the 25th and 26th Battalion commanders relieved of their command. When a battalion roll call was held after coming out of the line, only 250 men of the 25th answered their name. Norman’s luck still held.
 
On 14th November, Norman presented himself to a casualty clearing station with a cut finger. The wound must have been quite serious and he spent a week at the CCS before returning to his battalion. During the winter, the Germans constructed a 150 kilometre long defensive barrier, which they named the Seigfreid Position but the British labelled the Hindenburg Line, some distance to the east of their previous positions astride the Somme. With the arrival of spring in 1917, the German forces on the Somme began a strategic withdrawal to this new position. The British forces cautiously followed, taking the towns of Bapaume and Noreuil along the way. By the first week in April, elements of the 5th British Army under General Gough, which included two Australian divisions, came up against the Hindenburg defences at Bullecourt. General Gough, commander of the 5th Army, threw his forces, often recklessly, against the Hindenburg Line for most of April. The 25th Battalion had only a minor role and for once the battalion casualty figures were relatively low. The failures at Bullecourt convinced General Haig to turn his attention elsewhere.
 
After Pozieres, Flers, Bapaume, Bullecourt and a fearful winter, the men of the 2nd Division were in need of a prolonged period of rest. The 25th spent three months during spring and summer in rest camps around Bapaume and Renescure. Reinforcements brought the battalion strength up to over a thousand and there was a great deal of time spent on sharpening skills with rifle grenades, Lewis guns and trench mortars. Uniforms were cleaned and new underwear issued at the divisional baths. The men enjoyed swimming in the Somme and assisted local farmers with the harvest. General Birdwood came to inspect the battalion and to the old hands, this was a certain prelude to a return to the front in the Ypres Salient in Belgian Flanders.
 
The plan for the 3rd Battle of Ypres called for a strategy of “Bite and Hold” in which small strategic gains, supported by overwhelming firepower, would provide a series of stepping stones along the line of the Ypres to Menin Road. The first phase involved driving the enemy off the Messines Ridge, which the Germans had occupied since 1914. This was achieved after heavy fighting and the firing of nineteen underground mines on 7th June 1917. The 2nd Division of the AIF was not part of the Messines battle but their turn would come soon.
 
On the 9th September, the men of the 2nd Division moved up to positions at Steenvoorde in preparation for an assault on Westhoek Ridge, the high ground that overlooked the main route east from the ruined city of Ypres; the Menin Road. A detailed model of the ground had been constructed with planks suspended over the sand so that officers and NCOs could familiarize themselves with the battlefield and the objectives they were expected to take. The 25th Battalion, in conjunction with the other three battalions of the 7th Brigade were in position at the jumping off tapes by midnight of the 19th and at 5:40am on the 20th September, a massive artillery barrage crashed down on the German positions. As the barrage crept forward, the infantry kept pace, dealing with isolated pill boxes and gun emplacements whose occupants quickly surrendered. The Battle of Menin Road was, by the terms of the time, a great success. The battalions of the two AIF divisions that had taken part at Menin Road were relieved and two other divisions took advantage of the result to push the line even further into Polygon Wood and the approaches to the high ground of Broodseinde Ridge and the villages of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele. By this stage of the war, Norman had been involved in several major battles and given his age, was no doubt looked up to by new reinforcements.
 
On 4th October, twelve British Divisions (which included three AIF Divisions, one of which was the 2ndDivision, and the NZ Division) attacked Broodseinde Ridge along a thirteen-kilometre front. As the 25thBattalion men rose up to follow the creeping barrage up the slope towards Zonnebeke, they encountered German infantry advancing towards them up the reverse slope. Both the British and the Germans had made plans to attack on the same day, and at the same time. The Australians got the better of the encounter. During the advance at Broodseinde, it was reported that Norman had been wounded by a high explosive shell blast. He was taken out by stretcher bearers and placed on a light railway truck for transport to a casualty clearing station at Lijssenthoek. Norman Blank died of his wounds at the 10th Casualty Clearing Station on 6th October 1917. He was 34 years old. As was the normal practice, he was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the CCS with a padre in attendance.
 
Minnie Blank was granted a pension of £2 per fortnight and an additional £1 for her son Lionel. Minnie left Esk and moved to Brisbane where she and Lionel lived for a time at Rosalie, then Coorparoo and Stones Corner. When permanent headstones were being erected by the Imperial War Graves Commission, the following was added to Norman’s headstone: “TILL WE KNEEL AT JESU’S FEET” INSCRIBED BY HIS LOVING WIFE MINNIE.