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Australia

From Francois Somme

Pte 2367 George Hereward Dench,
28th Australian Infantry Battalion, A Company,
7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, AIF
 
On the fields of the Somme, so green and silent, grow with the seasons, under the caresses of the breeze, tirelessly and so magnificently, millions of poppies which, through their scarlet blood-red petals, carry memory and souls of thousands of young men who, here, more than a hundred years ago, in the mud of the trenches, in the barbed wire of the battlefields, under fire and bullets, fought with bravery and determination alongside their friends to make to triumph over peace, to give a new breath of freedom to the world which, between 1914 and 1918, sank into the madness and chaos of a terrible war which pushed so many young boys to kill each other in bloodbaths, in terrible hand-to-hand combats which took place under storms of shells beneath which howls of courage and agony could be heard. They were Australians, French, British, Canadians, but behind their uniforms, they were above all men with a story who deserve and who must be told so that they are never forgotten, so that what they endured for us never happens again.

Together, on these sacred fields of northern France they fought and fell but today, they rise again behind their white graves and extend their hands to us to pass on the torch of remembrance, a flame that I will always carry high and proud while watching over them so that their names and their faces can live forever.
On this day, it is with the deepest gratitude and with the utmost respect that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme, who, for Australia and France, for his loved ones and for us, gave his life.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2367 George Hereward Dench who fought bravely in the 28th Australian Infantry Battalion, A Company, 7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division of the Australian Imperial Force, and who was killed in action 108 years ago, on July 29, 1916 at the age of 33 during the Battle of the Somme.

George Hereward Dench was born on June 28, 1883 in Hindmarsh, South Australia, and was the son of Thomas Dench (1848-1928) and Elizabeth Ann Dench (née Jaques,1848-1928),of 83 Wittenoom Street, Boulder, Western Australia.He was educated at Pulteney Street Adelaide, South Australia,then after graduation,worked as a plumber until the outbreak of the war.

Following the outbreak of World War One in August 1914 Australia pledged full support for Britain.This initially took the form of an offer by the Australian government for a force of 20,000 men to be placed at Britain’s disposal and a Government Order-in-Council placing all Commonwealth naval forces under British admiralty control, for the duration of the war.

Driven forward by the hope of a great adventure as well as the deep desire to do his duty, George answered the call and attempted to enlist for the first time at the end of 1914 but was rejected due to a problem of vision but that did not stop him and he finally succeeded in enlisting on July 19, 1915 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, as a Private in the 28th Australian Infantry Battalion, A Company, 5th Reinforcement. The 28th Battalion was raised on April 16, 1915 at Blackboy Hill Camp, near Perth, Western Australia, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Collett. After an initial period of training of just over two months during which George learned to load, reload a rifle, fire at a high rate (the SMLE "Short Magazine Lee-Enfield No 1 Mk3" being the main rifle of the Australian army but also one of the most effective of the war) then, on straw targets, learned to fight with the bayonet. Finally ready for the front, he embarked with his unit from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A32 Themistocles on October 13, 1915 and sailed for Egypt, arriving at Tel-El-Kebir on January 19, 1916, was taken on strength and with his battalion, was deployed in the defense of the Suez Canal against the Ottoman forces in the suffocating heat of an arid desert without shade while also suffering from lack of water then proceeded for France on March 16, 1916 from Alexandria.

After an uneventful voyage of a little less than a week under the blue skies of the Mediterranean Sea, George and his unit finally arrived in sight of the French coast and were disembarked on March 21, 1916 in Marseilles then, later the same day, were sent by train to Thiennes which they reached on March 24 and from there marched to a camp at Steenbecque where the men of the 28th were reviewed by General Sir Douglas Haig on March 28 who told the young Diggers that he expected a lot from them in France after their exploits at Gallipoli and, in silence, in the ranks of the battalion, many thought "we are not here for nothing and we are ready to fight". Shortly after, on April 7, they moved to Fort-Rompu and the next day, joined the trenches for the first time at Bois-Grenier, a relatively calm sector of the front in which Australian troops with no combat experience could acclimatize to the very difficult conditions of trench warfare and, here , George discovered, under heavy German bombardments, all the brutality and horror of the war through the death of many of his comrades who, before his eyes, were reduced to pieces or seriously mutilated before being relieved by the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion on April 13 and marched into billets at Rue-Marle, near Erquinghem-Lys where they were employed in working parties then on April 18, moved back into the trenches they previously occupied and remained there until April 26, holding their positions with difficulty but with courage under heavy shelling which nevertheless caused relatively light losses (11 wounded, 3 killed). After that, on April 26, the battalion returned to Rue-Marle for a few days of rest.
On May 3, 1916, once again, the troops of the 28th Battalion received the order to return to the trenches of Bois-Grenier from where they relieved the 26th Battalion of the AIF and were again shelled, not only by artillery ( with mainly heavy 5.9" shells and shrapnel) but also by German airplanes which launched aerial torpedoes but this time, the Australian artillery responded with intensity and precision, reducing to silence several enemy batteries but every day, around 150 to 300 shells fell near the positions held by George and his comrades who, apart from their steel helmets and rudimentary shelters, had no effective protection against artillery and on May 16, were relieved and moved back to rest at Rue -Marle before returning to the front line less than a fortnight later, on May 28 under increasingly violent and constant fire from enemy artillery which shelled the front line held by the troops of the 28th but also their support lines, causing heavy damage which had to be quickly repaired and improved then on June 6, George and several units of the 28th launched a successful raid against the German trenches which resulted in the death of 12 and the capture of 3 soldiers of the Kaiser , including one seriously injured against the death of 3 Australian soldiers as well as 18 wounded.

On June 11, 1916, George and the men of the 28th Battalion marched to Rue Dormoire then to "Red Lodge Camp" where they remained from June 18 to 26 and followed a period of training including exercises with gas masks, bayonet fights then, on the night of June 26 to 27, returned to the front line at Bois-Grenier and were placed in support of the 26th and 27th Australian Infantry Battalion which, during that night, also supported by artillery, led a courageous and succesful raid on the German trenches killing 18 enemy soldiers and capturing 4 who were brought back to the Australian lines for interrogation but on June 29, in response to this raid, the Germans shelled and machine-gunned the Australian positions with heightened intensity but these machine guns were by subsequently destroyed by intense barrage fire from the Australian Field Artillery which was increasingly effective and particularly feared by the Germans whose attitude during the following days was described as "less active".

On July 1, 1916, while 57,470 British soldiers fell during the first day of the Battle of the Somme (19,240 of whom were killed for this single day of hell), George and the men of the 28th Battalion this time entered the trenches of Messines , in Belgium, once again fighting under heavy artillery fire then, on July 6, moved into billets between Neuve-Eglise and Dranoutre for a period of well-deserved rest. Less than a week later, on July 12, new orders received by battalion HQ informed them that the British desperately needed help to continue the offensive on the Somme and General Sir Douglas Haig (then called "the Butcher of the Somme" by his own troops), called the Australians for reinforcements then, on July 12 in the afternoon, the men of the 28th marched to the Wizernes railway station and proceeded for the battlefields of the Somme and without knowing it, towards a hell on earth from which many never came back.

On July 14, 1916, the young Diggers of the 28th finally arrived, and with apprehension, in the Somme, in the small village of Saleux, near Amiens, where they could already see the spire of the cathedral in the distance. With surprise but joy, the French welcomed them very warmly, handing them bottles of wine and telling them, with a very hesitant English accent "it's national day, we are happy to see the Australians" and the Australians, with a very surprising French they had learned earlier replied "thank you very much, don't be afraid, we are going to win, we are going to liberate France".In the Somme, the young Diggers were very moved by such a friendly welcome, so warm, even after all the suffering endured by the people of France who very quickly adopted, loved and admired the young cobbers. It is here, in these first moments of union that the friendship between our two countries was born. A friendship of which we are still so proud today. However, the war was not over and after Saleux, the 28th Battalion marched to Bertangles where they bivouacked until July 19 then marched through Herissart, Warloy-Baillon then, under a horizon torn by the thunder of the artillery, came closer to the front line, crossing the corpses of disembowelled horses, wooden crosses standing in the mud, seeing lifeless men riddled with bullets who had not yet been buried and, in silence, George and his comrades, feeling death in the distance, began to wonder if they would still be alive the next day but what they did not know was that on July 23, in Pozieres, a hell of fire and steel was about to break loose, dragging not only the 28th but also the entire Australian Imperial Force into a hell never before endured, in a murderous battle which forever marked the history of the Australian nation.

In late July 1916, the Australians fought their first action in the Battle of the Somme. At this point the British strategy focused on the seizure of the ridge east of Pozières village from where an attack could be mounted on German strongholds further north at Thiepval which had not fallen to British attack on the opening day of the battle, 1 July 1916. By the time the Australians entered the Somme battle the operation had become a series of attacks aimed not so much at a break-through of the German lines as the capture of key positions and the wearing down of the enemy.
Between 23 July and 5 August 1916, the Australian 1st and 2nd Divisions captured Pozières village and Pozières heights, a ridge 500 metres east of the village. The initial attack began at 12.30 am on Sunday 23 July when the 1st Division seized the German front line and in the following hour reached the main road through Pozières. At dawn the Germans counter-attacked but the Australians held on. The rest of Pozières fell on the night of 23-24 July and further gains were made on the night of 24-25 July. The Germans reacted to the seizure of Pozières by concentrating the bulk of their artillery on the Australians. Constant barrages were directed onto the village and the narrow approaches creating a nightmarish situation for troops forming up and attacking in the dark. By 27 July, the 2nd Division had taken over in Pozières.

The 2nd Division was ordered to take Pozières heights. The attack commenced at 12.15 am on 29 July but the Germans were ready and the attack failed at a cost of 3,500 Australian casualties. The Australian commander of the 2nd Division asked that his men might attack again rather than be withdrawn after failure. Following an intense bombardment on 4 August 1916, the Australian seized Pozières heights. The exhausted 2nd Division was now rested and the 4th Division took up positions on the Pozières Heights. Attacking north along the ridge, the Australians in ten days of continuous action reached Mouquet Farm. The 4th Division was now relieved. The farm resisted capture until 26 September 1916, the day after the commenced of a major British offensive.

In less than seven weeks in the fighting at Pozières and Mouquet Farm three Australian divisions suffered 23,000 casualties. Of these, 6,800 men were killed or died of wounds. It was a loss comparable with the casualties sustained by the Australians over eight months at Gallipoli in 1915.

On 28 July 1916, George and the 28th Australian Infantry Battalion entered the Sausage Valley trenches and deployed for the next day's planned attack on two German trenches known as OG1 and OG2. On July 29 at 12:10 a.m., bayonet forward, in four waves, the attack began but the Germans unleashed a heavy and brutal barrage then, under a hail of bullets, the machine guns came into action, causing terrible losses among the men of the 28th who despite everything, continued to advance now supported by Australian artillery and the Diggers quickly found themselves in front of lines of German barbed wire and deployed superhuman efforts to break them in the face of machine gun fire causing catastrophic losses. At 2:05am it was obvious that the attack was a failure and the Australians had to withdraw. Unfortunately, during this attack, the 28th Battalion suffered 471 casualties including 63 killed, 151 wounded and 257 missing. Sadly George did not survive in this assault and was killed in action. He was 33 years old.

Today, George Hereward Dench rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Courcelette British Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "A gallant gentleman beloved by all."

George Hereward Dench had a brother who also fought bravely in the Great War. He was Private number 3050 Allen (Alan Hopeful) Dench who served in the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion. Allen survived the war and returned to Australia on July 23, 1919. He died peacefully of natural causes on January 15, 1961 at the age of 87 in Perth, Western Australia, and today rests in peace at Karrakatta Cemetery And Crematorium, Western Australia.

George Hereward Dench also had a relative who, like him and his brother, served his country but this time, during the Vietnam War. He was Corporal number 55159 Michael Allen Dench and served in the 6th Battalion of The Royal Australian Regiment. For his bravery on the battlefield, he was awarded the Military Medal with the following citation:

"Corporal Michael Dench enlisted in the Australian Regular Army in January, 1966. During 1966/67 he served with 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment in South Vietnam. He was posted to 5th Battalion in December 1967 and arrived in South Vietnam in February 1969 as a Section Commander with 3 Platoon A Company. On the 8th August 1969, 3 Platoon was part of a half company group in heavy contact with an enemy company, entrenched in bunkers.During the initial assault against the enemy position, Corporal Dench's section was pinned down by accurate rocket, claymore and machine gun fire. Corporal Dench at great personal risk, deliberately exposed himself several times to draw the fire away from other members of his section then calmly directed the section's fire. When ordered to pull back, Corporal Dench remained forward covering the withdrawal of all of his men and would not leave his position until his men were safe despite the appearance of snipers in trees and the movement of enemy troops forward in counter attack. On 21st August, Corporal Dench was commanding his section when the same small A Company force attacked what proved to be an enemy battalion bunker system. 3 Platoon took heavy casualties. After covering by fire the evacuation of his wounded, Corporal Dench took over temporary command of his platoon. Under accurate and intense mortar, rocket and sniper fire he continued to move around the platoon, reorganising defences and instilling confidence amongst his men. Corporal Dench displayed personal courage of the highest order, devotion to duty and professional competence that reflects great credit on himself and The Royal Australian Regiment."

Michael Allen Dench died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones on January 20, 2023 at the age of 84.
George, young and full of courage, it was with the strongest conviction and invincible determination that you responded to the call to do your part, to do your duty because through your eyes it was the right thing to do, the good fight to lead to offer your country, your loved ones and future generations a tomorrow of peace, of children's smiles, of the happiness of a tomorrow of hope and promise and for all that, you resolutely and valiantly took a step forward in order to offer your today for great causes alongside your comrades, your brothers who, with you, at your side, walked in the name of the most beautiful, of the highest values ​​through which they united and gathered together and which, in this solemn moment, linked them forever in the strongest bond of camaraderie, a bond which became, in Gallipoli, an unfailing spirit of brotherhood, a spirit which became a legend and shoulder shoulder to shoulder, in efforts, in solidarity, on the battlefields, in the sand, in mud and blood, the young Diggers wrote the history of the ANZAC spirit, the history of the Australian nation that the daughters and sons served with faith and courage beyond their limits, a country which was proud of each of its children who, so young but already so brave, left their homes to fight at Lone Pine, Fromelles, Pozieres, Villers -Bretonneux and Amiens, in the darkness of the trenches above which the artillery endlessly played its eulogy of death and with their friends, proud under their slouch hats, proud to stand alongside men they admired and for whom they gave everything, held the front line,and fought like lions. Together, they shared the weight of the war, the weight of the horrors they endured, the weight of the sadness they went through when their comrades died alongside them , living with them in these quagmires of desolation and despair that were the fields of the great war. Together, despite everything they saw, despite everything they heard through screams of agony, of men who were still children and who, in the mud, stained with blood, called out to their mothers whom they loved so much and whom they hoped to see again one last time for a last embrace before closing their eyes and leaving their innocent souls to God. Despite this endless nightmare, the Australian soldiers never retreated and remained united in the camaraderie which was their salvation, their strength and from which they drew exceptional courage which allowed them, despite their trembling legs, despite the constant fear of being hit , to be killed and die alone in the barbed wire, to go over the top with unfailing resolve because they knew that on no man's land, under the bullets, through the fire, shrapnel and grenades , they were not alone and that a few meters away, near them, a brother, a true friend was watching over them and would be there whatever might happen in the heart of this maelstrom of fury, fire and steel that rained death at an implacable pace, sending ever more souls, sons and fathers towards death but despite everything, once again, stronger than all, the Australians still moved forward until the final peace but the road was long, paved with guts and blood, with tears, with unspeakable and sometimes invisible suffering that they kept in their hearts well after the war and when they returned to Australia, passed once again, heads bowed, harassed by the loss of so many of their mates, through silent fields, filled with dead comrades through the poppies who did not have the chance to live long and who here, in France found after so much chaos, the peace of an eternal tomb bearing their stories and their names.For these young men there existed a fear even more horrible than death itself. It was the fear of being forever forgotten, that their names would fall into oblivion, erased little by little by the weight of the years but very quickly after the war,French children went to decorate the graves of Australian soldiers with flowers and wrote in gold letters on the walls of Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux "Never forget Australia. Never forget the Australians" .More than a hundred years have passed and this promise of remembrance was passed down generation after generation and today, more than ever, we remember our adopted Diggers, our sons over whom I am proud to watch and over whom I hope one day, my little boy will ensure that here, in the Somme, the ANZAC spirit and the memory of these heroes who came from the ends of the world, can live forever.

Thank you so much George, for everything you did and gave alongside your comrades for my country whose gratitude, deep love and eternal respect will belong to you forever. At the going down of the sun and in the Morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.