Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From Francois Berthout

Pte 6384 Ernest Dennis Polglaze,
28th Australian Infantry Battalion,
7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, AIF
 
On the now serene and flowery fields of the Somme, stand in the light, eternal, the solemn graves of thousands of young men, of a whole generation of young boys who, for peace and freedom, for our tomorrow, for France and future generations, without hesitation, with conviction and faith, came from the other side of the world to do their duty, to do their part alongside their friends, their brothers and fathers in the trenches of the great war, on the battlefields of northern France where, in Pozieres, in Amiens, in Villers-Bretonneux, Morlancourt, so many of them found their death through barbed wire and under the bullets which mowed them down in the fury of a world that sank into madness but these heroes, then in the prime of their lives, brought hope and after so much pain, suffering, liberated our old country which will be forever grateful to them.On these sacred grounds,11 000 Australian soldiers and 72,000 British soldiers have no known graves and patiently wait to be found.

Together they stand still young and proud through the poppies and watch over each other forever in the most sacred of camaraderie. More than a hundred years have passed but we remember them. More than names forever engraved in the stone of Villers-Bretonneux and Thiepval, they were men with lives that deserve and must be told so that in the light, in our thoughts and in our hearts they may live forever.

Today, 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, of one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 6384 Ernest Dennis Polglaze who fought in the 28th Australian Infantry Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division of the Australian Imperial Force, and who was killed in action 105 years ago, on June 10, 1918 at the age of 20 on the Somme front.

Ernest Dennis Polglaze was born in 1896 in Fremantle, Western Australia, and was the son of Alexander Polglaze and Sarah Polglaze (née Baldwin). He had a sister, Jane Polglaze, of 49 Hubble Street, East Fremantle and lived with his aunt, Mary Baldwin, of Luken Road, North Fremantle. Before the outbreak of the war, he worked as a store hand and had his first military experience by serving for four years in the Naval Cadets on board SS Boorara.
Ernest enlisted on September 6, 1916 at Fremantle, in the 28th Australian Infantry Battalion, 18th Reinforcement. The 28th was raised on April 16, 1915 at Blackboy Hill, near Perth, Victoria and was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Collett.After a training period of just over three months at Blackboy Hill Camp, Ernest embarked with his unit from Fremantle, on board HMAT A34 Persic on December 29, 1916 and sailed for England.

On March 3, 1917, Ernest arrived in England and was disembarked at Devonport then marched for Rollestone the same day and joined the 7th Training Battalion here with which he completed a difficult period of training on Salisbury Plain including bayonet fights, musketry, and charges against trenches which were to prepare men for the brutal modern warfare of the battlefields of northern France and finally, four months later, on July 9, 1917, proceeded overseas from Southampton.

On July 10, 1917, after a short trip without inconvenience on the English Channel, Ernest arrived in France and was disembarked in Le Havre where he joined the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, proceeded to join unit on July 30 and was taken on strength in the 28th Battalion the following day in Cassels, in the Somme, where the battalion followed a period of training,then on September 12, marched into billets at Halifax Camp, in Steenvoorde (Hauts-De-France) where they remained until September 22.
On September 23, 1917, Ernest and the men of the 28th Battalion left Halifax Camp and marched into a tent camp between Reninghelst and Poperinghe, near Ypres, Belgium, for reorganization and training before joining the front line then,shortly after, were involved in the Battle of Menin Road which was Ernest's first glimpse of the carnage of the battlefields and the horrors of war.

The Battle of Menin Road was the third of seven major British attacks during the Third Battle of Ypres. It was the first one to involve the Australian infantry, although Australian artillery had been firing in support of British attacks since the campaign began on 31 July.
On September 20, 1917, the Australian 1st and 2nd Divisions moved forward on a 3km front, with Menin road on their right, capturing the western half of Polygon Wood.

Three British Corps advanced on both flanks of the Anzacs. The infantry had to overcome formidable entrenched German positions, including concrete pillbox strongpoints.

When the battle began at 5:40am, the battalions of the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions lay spread out along a 1.8km line. Protected by an intensive artillery screen, they were to advance about 1.3km in three stages to seize the German defensive positions. These were mainly concrete pillboxes where the enemy machine gunners and bombers took shelter during the British bombardments. By 10.15am, the Australians had seized all their objectives along the entire front
The Australians had been helped by the covering artillery barrage, and the softening up bombardments on the days leading up to the attack. The artillery also crushed German counterattacks when their soldiers were seen assembling later that day beyond the captured Australian positions.

During the battle,the 28th Battalion went on to attack as part of the third phase at the battle of Menin Road, capturing its objectives in seven minutes.

Despite what was a success, The Anzacs sustained 5013 casualties and the Germans reported 4200 soldiers either killed, wounded or captured.

Less than two weeks later, on October 4, 1917, this time in reserve positions, Ernest and the 28th took part in the Battle of Broodseine Ridge.

Broodseinde Ridge was part of the Passchendaele Offensive.The attack consisted of 12 Allied divisions (three Australian, one New Zealand and eight British) against 10 German divisions.

It was a chilly 16°C that morning, with a misty drizzle falling from the grey sky. It had been raining for several days and the ground was a sodden, muddy quagmire. Another 5mm of rain would fall on the day of the battle.The Germans had the high ground and had prepared and planned an attack for the same time and place as the Allies. Correspondents Charles Bean and Keith Murdoch were also present to watch the attack.

Using the cover of darkness, the Australians moved to their hop-off trench and were in position in no-man’s land by about midnight. Here they waited.The German artillery barrage began at about 5.20am and by 5.30am it had intensified to become a heavy bombardment. What the Allied army did not know was that the Germans were about to attack Zonnebeke, where the Australian 2nd Division were positioned.
Most of the German barrage fell onto the 1st and 2nd Divisions. At this point, Bean guessed they lost a seventh of the men, including those killed or wounded. The barrage lasted about 15 minutes.By 5.45am there were lines of Germans advancing towards the Allied positions. One Australian officer wrote that the Australian losses were so great from the German artillery that they were glad they could get going.
When the sun rose at 6am, the Allies followed behind their artillery,slipping and sliding in the mud and bomb craters,as the barrage crept forward towards the German lines.hey walked about 90 metres before lines of Germans emerged out of the chilly mist, walking towards them with fixed bayonets. The Germans shot and then retreated, with the Allies in hot pursuit, following them back to their positions.

They reached the first objective,c alled the red line positions, between 6.45am and 7.20am. They were supposed to wait there until 8.10am, but they kept up the momentum and moved forward to the final blue line objective, not wanting to give the Germans time to set up their defensive positions. As the Australians approached, the Germans opened fire with their whizzbang 77mm artillery rounds. They did so from atop defensive positions on multiple pill boxes, machine gun posts and barbed wired entanglements still in place from the Allied bombardment.

With the cover of darkness now gone, it was about teamwork, brains, speed and probably some bloody mindedness. The Lewis machine gunners fired at the German machine gunners to make them duck their heads down, allowing other men to get close enough to put grenades into the German pillboxes and flush them out. The Australians achieved their final objectives by mid-morning, when they consolidated their new positions. During the day, the Germans counter attacked fiercely with men and artillery, but the Australians held on.

As a result of the battle, although it was a success, the Australians suffered a total of 6,432 casualties,1,279 killed and 5,153 wounded.

What is not widely known, however, is that numerically the battle for Broodseinde Ridge is the single worst day in Australia’s military history. To compare it to other notable battles, 751 Diggers died at ANZAC Cove and almost 2,000 died as a result of the battle of Fromelles,both on the day and in the days that followed,making Fromelles the deadliest battle in Australian history.

Despite the horrors suffered during the battle of Menin Road and Broodseinde Ridge, the war continued with an unrelenting pace and on October 9, 1917, once again in lines of support, Ernest and the 28th Battalion took part in the battle of Poelcapelle.

On 9 October, following the success of the fighting at Broodseinde on the 4th October, the British 49th and 66th Divisions of Lieutenant General Godley’s 2nd ANZAC Corps, attacked Passchendaele, supported on the right by 2nd Australian Division of Lieutenant General Birdwood’s 1st ANZAC Corps.This preliminary operation became known as the Battle of Poelcapelle.
Due to the continual rain since Broodseinde (4 October), the impassability of the ground meant that only part of the artillery had been brought forward in the four days between the battles. There was insufficient time to prepare gun positions, and many guns sank in the mud and were therefore unusable. Likewise, adequate ammunition could not be brought forward to the gun line. Transport from the duckboards to the gun positions was by pack animals, many of which sank into the quagmire, and often neither they nor their loads could be recovered. Ammunition which did make it to the gun line had to be cleaned of mire before it could be used.

In these conditions neither the preparatory bombardment nor the protective barrage could be fired effectively. The enemy front line and artillery positions were therefore not effectively suppressed either before or during the attack. Charles Bean wrote: "I suspect that they are making a great, bloody experiment,a huge gamble."

The Infantry were exhausted by their tortuous approach marches through the mud, and then had to drag themselves forward through the quagmire to assault the unsuppressed German machine-guns. 66th Division in the centre and 2nd Division on the right took their first objectives in the face of feeble front line enemy resistance and pressed on to their second objectives, but then had insufficient strength to hold them in the face of determined German counter-strokes.

It was this German tactic of absorbing the first wave of an attack and then vigorous counter attacking that General Plumers "bite and hold" tactics had been developed to counter. The aim was to be in position to smash the inevitable counter attacks.But with the foundations awry there was not enough "bite" to enable consolidation and "hold" anything of consequence.

49th Division on the left failed in its attack, due to wire which was not cut and pillboxes which were not suppressed by the ineffective preparatory bombardment. Heavy artillery rather than the 18 pounder field guns of the Field Artillery, were required for this work.66th Division, being enfiladed by machine gun fire from Bellevue Spur, had to withdraw to its start line, and likewise 2nd Division had to abandon the Keiberg Spur (near Celtic Wood).During the battle, the 2nd Australian Division lost 1250 men.
On October 11, 1917, exhausted and almost annihilated by terrible fighting, the 28th Battalion moved back into billets at Steenvoorde for reorganization and rest, then after having received reinforcements, followed a period of training alternated with sports exercises and rest and were able to also enjoy hot baths and clean uniforms giving a little comfort to Ernest and his comrades after so much suffering in the mud and the cold then on October 27, returned to Ypres and again occupied the positions they had previously occupied at Broodseinde and fought there in support with the 12th/13th Battalion of the Northumberland Rifles on their left flank and the 21st Australian Infantry Battalion on their right flank and on 26 October were in support of the Canadians who attacked Passchendaele and captured the village in ruins on november 10.

On November 10, 1917, Ernest and the 28th Battalion moved back to Steenvoorde for training and were also able to enjoy quieter times such as football matches organized between the companies of the battalion then on November 16, they marched into billets at Aldershot Camp, Fletre , where they remained until December 14.

On December 15, 1917, the 28th Battalion moved back to the Ypres salient and took up positions at Ploegsteert where they fought until January 2, 1918, then the next day marched to Romarin Camp before returning to the trenches between Warneton and Ploegsteert on the 8th January. Less than a week later, on January 13, they were sent to Kortepyp Camp and then to Kemmel Huts Camp on January 26 before embarking by train for Le Wast (Pas-De-Calais) on January 29 for a period training and rest and stayed here until March 7.

Two weeks later, on March 21, 1918, while the 28th Battalion was resting, the German army launched its spring offensive also called "Kaiserschlacht".

Even though the withdrawal of Russia from the fight gave German forces a huge boost, Ludendorff felt that their fighting forces were running on their last legs. He perception was partially evident in the "Defense in Depth" doctrine that he had ordered in 1917. But Ludendorff also felt that the Entente, especially the French, were ready to collapse as well. Consequently, he came up with the "Kaiserschlacht", the Kaiser’s Battle, otherwise known as Ludendorff’s Offensive, or even more commonly as the Spring Offensive. This strategy, calling for four different thrusts against the western Entente defenses, was designed to pierce enemy lines using elite units of "Sturmtruppen". The plan, if successful, would likely cause the French to surrender. Then the British would surely have to submit.

The key for the Germans was to end the war before too many American soldiers could be slotted into the Western Front. Of the 5 German thrusts, "Operation Michael" was the largest and was aimed towards Amiens in the Somme sector. On March 21, 1918, using Stormtrooper and artillery support tactics, the attack started and within four days, the German forces were halfway to Amiens. Both sides suffered large losses and within another week the momentum of Ludendorff’s "Michael" was slowed to a fighting crawl. The same was observed of the four other operations over the next three months; the German offensives were exhibiting diminishing returns for Ludendorff. He could not break the Entente.

On April 6, 1918, Ernest and the 28th Battalion were rushed into the Somme to stop the German army and arrived at Rainneville then marched for Corbie and entered the front line south west of Dernancourt then on April 28, three days after the decisive victory of the Australians at Villers-Bretonneux, were relieved and marched into billets at St Lawrence Farm, near Bresle.

On May 1, 1918, the 28th Battalion left St Lawrence Farm and marched into billets in the current park of the Château de Querrieu which, in July 1916, was the headquarters of General Rawlinson's 4th British Army then, in 1918, was the headquarters of General John Monash. Two days later, on May 3, Ernest and his unit moved to Camon, near Amiens, then on May 20, marched to the front line at Ville-Sur-Ancre and then into the trenches of Morlancourt on June 6 and where unfortunately, on June 10, Ernest met his fate.
An attack was carried out on 10 June 1918 by the 7th Brigade of the 2nd Australian against the southern portion of the Morlancourt spur which overlooked the village of Sailly-Laurette on the Somme. Launched at dusk under cover of an accurate barrage, the operation was a success and resulted in the taking of 325 German prisoners at a cost of 400 Australian casualties.

Sadly, it was during this attack that Ernest was killed in action and his body was never found, he was 20 years old. His name is today remembered and honored with respect and gratitude on the walls of the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, alongside the names of 11,000 Australian soldiers whose graves are not known.

Ernest, at the dawn of a life full of hopes, expectations and promises, a life filled with happiness alongside your parents, your loved ones, it is with your head held high and your shoulders straight, a Hearts filled with patriotism and pride as you answered the call of duty and stood up alongside all Australian people to do your part, to bring new hope, new light to the world through the darkness of a world at war and, as brave as a lion, determined and confident to fulfill your destiny, you marched from the other side of the world to fight in the name of peace and freedom, to do what was right, to come to the aid of the people of France and, driven forward by the ardor of youth, by the hope of being able to live the greatest adventure of a lifetime, by an unshakeable fighting spirit, by the ANZAC spirit, behind the bugles and horses, alongside your mates, in the heat and dust of the roads of northern France, you joined the trenches and showed a will that nothing could break but, in this decisive moment, in the mud, among the rats, they lost their innocence when they saw their comrades who fell by their side and had to live facing the lifeless bodies of men with whom they had grown up, with whom they shared the joys of life in the school yards and who together, united by the most beautiful bond of camaraderie, wrote their names on paper, often adding years to join the front line, to be together, to watch over each other and under the mournful howls of shells , under dark skies, in the face of uncertain days, shared joys and sorrows together but enjoyed every moment because they knew that every moment could be the last of a life too short that they gave for their country and fought the good fight with pride and dedication because they also knew that on their courage and their actions would depend the future of the world and in this darkness, facing bullets and shrapnel, they fought to preserve our humanity.

Together, on the whole front line, in Belgium then in France, in the Somme, on the red fields of poppies, the Diggers showed the highest courage and side by side, faced death straight in the eyes but in defiance, they showed their smiles and the good humor that symbolizes and characterizes Australian soldiers and showed that brotherhood prevailed over this carnage of fury and fire which transformed these once peaceful landscapes into traumatic slaughterhouses, putrid quagmires in which tanks and horses drowned, in open cemeteries on which fell brothers and friends in what was here, among the deadliest battles of the great war which sent so many young boys to death and who, face to face, killed each other implacably and riddled with bullets, mutilated, gave their last breath of life so that from this hell could be born a better world, a world made of peace for which each of them fought so hard and sacrificed everything they had leaving behind them thousands of their friends, of their brothers who did not have the chance to return home, to live old and who, in the Somme, found the tranquility and peace of their last resting places on the soils of a friendly country for which they gave their all and which, more than a hundred years later, are and will always be remembered and honored with love and respect so for them, I would give them my life to watch over them, to write their history in order to keep strong their memory so that their names, immortalized, can live forever.

Thank you so much Ernest, for all you have done for us and for my country whose respect and love will be yours forever.At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him,we will remember them.

Ernest Dennis POLGLAZE was born in 1896 in Fremantle, Western Australia

His parents were Alexander POLGLAZE and Sarah BALDWIN