Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

DUNCAN Ronald James #3283 42nd / 52nd Battalion

Ronald (Roy) Duncan was the youngest of the three Duncan brothers to enlist. He had been born at Caboolture and began his schooling there before attending Kilcoy State School when the family moved to “Dunmore” to raise cattle.

Roy presented himself initially at Kilcoy for enlistment on 14th April 1917. Since he was not yet 21, his parents accompanied him and signed the form giving their consent. Roy stated his age as 20 years and 9 months and gave his occupation as stockman. He was passed medically fit and proceeded by train to Brisbane where he was formally enlisted on 30th April 1917.

Roy’s time in the Enoggera Camp was relatively short. Six weeks after joining; which included a week of home leave, Roy and the other Queensland reinforcements took train to Sydney where they boarded the “Hororata” on 14th June. They disembarked in Liverpool on 26th August and proceeded to Larkhill Camp. Roy was hospitalized with mumps for two weeks before being posted to the 9th Training Battalion.

The situation in the AIF regarding reinforcements in the winter of 1917/18 was not as critical as it had been the year before. In spite of the failure of the conscription plebiscite for the second time in Australia, battalions were able to maintain a viable roll of effective troops. After the end of the Passchendaele campaign in October 1917, all the Australian divisions were withdrawn from the front line and spent the winter in comfortable billets around Poperinghe; with a program of light drill and musketry, sports and games and even a period in a rest camp on the French coast at Boulogne.

Under such circumstances, it was probably considered unnecessary for reinforcements for the 4th Division to be sent overseas. Consequently, Roy did not join his battalion, the 52nd which was part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Division until 7th March 1918.

With the coming of spring in 1918, the German commander Ludendorff took advantage of a numerical superiority of troops to launch a surprise offensive against the British on the Somme. So successful was this offensive that in a few days the Germans had retaken all of the ground surrendered earlier in the war during 1916 and 1917; and were even threatening the vital communication hub of Amiens.

In response, Haig ordered the 3rd and 4th Australian Divisions to be rushed south. The first units to be mobilized were battalions of the 12th and 13th Brigades; which included the 52nd Battalion. The battalion boarded buses and trucks for the journey south on 25th March but only got about half way to their destination before orders were changed and they spent 24 hours awaiting new orders.

The 12th and 13th brigades were ordered to make their way to Dernacourt, a small village on the railway line between Amiens and Albert. This deployment required a forced march of almost 30 kilometres through the night with the entire German army somewhere out on the left. There were reports that German armoured cars were on the roads but the cars proved to be French farm machinery.

Upon arrival at the assigned position, the two brigades were ordered to take up positions on a ridge facing the gathering Germans on the other side of the railway line. There were no trenches and the men had to dig shallow pits while under enemy artillery fire. Over the next four days, the men of the 12th and 13th Brigades established a forward defensive line on the railway embankment. The enemy were only a few hundred metres away, massing in large numbers for an attack. Almost opposite the village of Dernacourt was a railway underpass which had been chosen as the boundary between the two brigades with the 12th on the left of the underpass and the 13th on the right.

A massive attack by up to three German divisions began at dawn on 5th April. Witnesses reported Roy Duncan was at the top of the embankment near the underpass firing across the rail lines. The underpass proved to be the weak link in the defensive line and the German storm troops were able to pour through and quickly outflank the troops on either side. The witnesses stated that it was then that Roy received a burst of machine gun fire to the head, killing him instantly. The survivors of Roy’s section were practically surrounded and had to withdraw under fire, leaving their dead and wounded behind.

As it happened, there was another Caboolture man in the 52nd there on the embankment that day; Lieutenant Leonard Boase. Boase would be nominated for a VC for his actions that day. Boase was severely wounded and taken prisoner. He was ultimately awarded a DSO probably on the basis that you could not award a VC to a man who was a POW!

Counter attacks later in the day by other battalions of the two brigades finally thwarted the attack but it had been a close run thing. Large numbers of men were taken prisoner, killed or missing. It would not be until the German advance was finally turned in August of 1918 that investigations could be held into what had happened at Dernacourt. A court of inquiry would result in Lt Colonel Imlay, CO of the 47th Battalion which was charged with defending the line on the left of the 52nd Battalion; being dismissed. The 47th Battalion did not last much longer.

No trace of Roy’s remains were located when the Australians could finally search the battlefield. His mother wrote on several occasions inquiring if there was any news. The authorities replied that the battlefield had been scoured by search teams up to six times but there was no trace of a grave. The circumstances of his death also meant that there were no personal possessions to return to Jessie Duncan. Roy Duncan was one of the almost 11,000 Australians who gave their lives in France and have no known grave. Memorials to the missing were constructed by the British at Ypres and Tyne Cot in Belgium; and at Theipval in France. The Australian Government was slow to dedicate the Australian National Memorial at Villers Brettonneux; which was finally dedicated by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1938 (just in time for WWII). Ronald James Duncan is listed on the limestone tablets that make up the three walls of the memorial.