Whose Name We Share

9 Fleurbaix, France, 1916 Initially, the gunners found a pleasant land in France, a welcome sight from constant sea voyages or arid landscapes like Egypt, but now for the first time the AIF was in the main theatre of war. Four divisions of around 20,000 men arrived in France and this Battery was amongst them. This area had been fought over by the British in 1915, but Australian Divisions were called in to help ease the pressure the Germans had on the region. The brand new Howitzer Brigades would have a short existence, because when the A.I.F. arrived in France they were disbanded once more. The newly organised brigades would be absorbed into the pre- existing Field Brigades during the Battery’s time in France for “tactical purposes”. The 103 rd Battery would join the 3 rd Field Brigade on the 15 th May 1916, replacing 24 Battery (who moved to 21 Field Brigade) and they would then become a part of the line at Feurbaix, a quaint village 4 miles from the Belgian Border. Within its first week the 103 rd battery would engage targets with mixed results, totalling 833 rounds being fired, however the fuzes were reportedly erratic and non-effective at times. One mission conducted on the 9 th of May was a total of 57 rounds on a group of houses where they had done considerable damage and this was following a report of engine noises being heard in the area. The following day, however, only one in every eight rounds would detonate. The tempo at Fleurbaix would put any modern gunner to the test. The battery had fired countless missions day in and out- as well as moving constantly through awful conditions. All missions were tests of endurance, firing as many as 60 rounds in one mission before moving again and firing another 22. According to the battery’s war diaries, however, they had a reputation for a spirit that could not be killed, despite all the horrid conditions and the demanding tempo the battery continued to display high morale in all facets of their deployment. The ammo states throughout the period the battery were present in Fleurbaix are a stark confirmation of the intense effort and tempo of the missions fired. Within the first week the battery hard fired 89 rounds of shrapnel as well as 350 rounds of HE and that number was set to rise as they outperformed themselves again and again. The following week they’d fired 120 Shrapnel and 758 HE. Throughout the entire time the battery’s total would be 164 Shrapnel and 20,342 HE. This puts an average of 124 rounds fired per day, 31 rounds per gun between April and August. The Battery’s invincible spirit would be put to the test on the 11 th June, as they faced their first deaths. No.1 Gun received incoming counter battery fire, killing four members of the detachment instantly with a 4.2in Shell. GNR J.F. Berry, BDR H. Mille, CPL A.D. Fletcher and DVR H.S. Arthur would all perish. The Battery would then move to a new gun position between Fleurbaix and Laventie. Another death would follow later that month on the 28 th June, where Sergeant D. Fraser would be killed by rifle fire.