Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

2342 Ernest Delaney was my maternal grandfather. All of his grand kids called him 'Charlie' hence the title. In 1917 he was a 22 year old New Zealander working as a strapper at Caulfield Racecourse. Rather than go home he signed up with the AIF to do his bit. After travelling to England he was mustered into the Australian artillery first as a gunner and then at his own request a driver (ammunition trains). He travelled to France on 11th November 1917 where he joined the 49th Battery, 13th Field Artillery Brigade (18 pounders), 5 Division, AIF in the Armentieres area. He remained in this unit through to the armistice. The 5 Div was rushed along with others to the Amiens area in 1918 in response to the German March offensive. The 49th Battery fought at Villers Brettonoux and many other battles during the 100 day advance to victory including Hamel, the Somme bend, Beaurevir Reservoir and breaching the Hindenburg line. These battles were all tactical advances with fast moving infantry, tanks and of course field artillery firing over open sights. 'Charlie' would have been, along with his mates, furiously delivering ammo to the guns all the while under fire from the enemy who of course were also shooting back under open sights from both artillery and rifle/machine gun. The 49th Battery is one of the few individual artillery units to be specifically mentioned in C W Bean's official history of the AIF. First is the battery's performance at the Somme River bend battle. An observing British Royal Artillery officer much praises the unit. Bean (in the volume about the 100 day advance) quotes this officer and credits the 49th with one of the highest recorded rates of fire for Australian field artillery in the Great War. Ernest Delaney hardly ever spoke about the war but did mention to me personally (I was 15) one incident where smoke they were in suddenly cleared to reveal. to his horror, nearby German infantry. He said he was thrown from his horse although unwounded and managed to evade the enemy back to his own side. Interestingly the second mention by Bean of the 49th Battery was of riders in what he describes as 'fog' suddenly finding themselves virtually face to face with the enemy when the fog briefly dispersed. In the subsequent enemy fire Bean lists one Aussie soldier as wounded and one horse shot down and killed. The rest of the diggers escaped. I wonder if these two events, my Grandfather's lived experience as related to me and Bean's official history entry are one and the same? 'Charlie' went onto survive the war and returned in late 1919 to NZ via Melbourne where he was discharged from the AIF. He passed away in 1972.