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Frederick Lewis LOSEBY #1945 41st Battalion

Frederick Loseby was born at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane to Arthur and Emma Loseby. When he enlisted in Brisbane on 15th January 1916, he stated his age as 32 and occupation as labourer. His father when completeing the Roll of Honour Circular stated his son’s occupation as scrub clearing and timber felling and it is quite possible he was performing this kind of work around Kilcoy prior to his enlistment.

Fred presented himself for enlistment in the company of his brother Ernest. Ernest was ten years older than Fred and was a Boer War veteran. The brothers were both placed into a depot battalion before being allocated as reinforcements for the 49th Battalion. The embarkation roll for the 3rd reinforcements of the 49th Battalion shows Fred and Ernie Loseby boarded the “Clan MacGillivray” in Brisbane on 1st May 1916. They transited through camps in Egypt for four months before landing in England in September.

While in camp at Rolleston, Fred transferred to the 41st Battalion. The 41st Battalion, as part of the 3rd Division AIF crossed into France in November 1916 and took up position in the line close to the French /Belgian border for the duration of the winter.

After a less than successful campaign on the Somme during 1916, the British commander Haig decided to attempt a breakthrough in the spring and summer of 1917 centered on the Ypres salient in Belgium. The campaign would begin with the Battle of Messines which was planned to commence on 7th June 1917. The 41st battalion would play only a minor role at Messines although Fred managed to sustain a leg injury which required treatment in the Australian general Hospital at Camiers. Fred returned to his unit in time to be involved in the attack on Broodseinde Ridge on 4th October and an ill-fated attempt to take Passchendaele which floundered in the Flemish mud.
The 3rd Division remained in Belgium during the winter of 1917/18 before being rushed to meet a German advance (Operation Michael) in front of the strategic city of Amiens on the Somme. During the last week of March, the German storm troopers broke the British 5th Army and threatened to drive the British armies back to the Channel Ports. The advance was halted by two brigades of Australian infantry at Villers Bretonneux on 25th April 1918.

The 41st Battalion took part in the Battle of Hamel on 4th July 1918. Hamel was a small but significant action planned to perfection by the newly promoted Lieutenant General John Monash. So successful were Monash’s tactics that he was given an even bigger task; a counterattack along almost the whole German front on the Somme.

The battle of Amiens took place on the 8th August. The order of battle included all five Australian Divisions as well as three Canadian Divisions and two British Divisions. The outcome of the battle was outstanding with the advancing troops capturing huge numbers of prisoners and equipment; and breaking through all three defensive lines into open country. The German Commander called the 8th August “Der Schwarze Tag” (The Black Day).

After Amiens, the whole strategy on the Western Front changed. In early 1918, it seemed the war would drag on into 1919 or even 1920 but with the wholesale routing of the German armies in the field, the war could be over by Christmas; but to do so would come at a cost.

The AIF in France and Belgium had always suffered from a lack of reinforcements. By 1918 the situation was acute and casualties sustained at Dernacourt, Villers Bretonneux, Hamel and Amiens could not be made good. Battalions such as the 41st were down to less than half strength and as Monash pushed his exhausted brigades ever eastward to dislodge the enemy, the casualties continued to rise. By September of 1918, the British Forces on the Somme had pursued the Germans back to their starting point of March. It would require one last concerted effort to break through the Hindenburg Line and the war would be over.

On 29th September 1918, the 41st battalion was preparing to attack the Hindenburg Line at a point where the St Quentin Canal entered a tunnel. The Battalion had been reduced in size from four companies to three, with a total strength of just under 500. The normal size of a battalion was 950. During the advance, Fred Loseby was killed.

There are no details surrounding his death, save for the fact that he was buried in the Templeux-le-Guerard Communal Cemetery Extension. On the day that Fred was killed, the 41st Battalion was withdrawn from the line. The whole of the AIF had fought themselves to a standstill and would not go into action again. Forty days later the war would be over.