Whose Name We Share

14 One has to consider what this war diary now considers as light. The absolute barrages the Brigade had seen over the course of their stay in the area must make one desensitised to the sights and sounds of counter battery fire. Had these men not shown such grit and determination during each of their rotations to the front line, then perhaps one may have considered any kind of counter battery fire to be rather disastrous. And, of course, the question answers itself: If this is what the writer considered light, then what on earth did they consider to be heavy? During November the Battery would remain at Eles, firing registration at pre-determined targets, only deviating from this plan if operational orders were given. On the 14 th Brigade would order all Batteries to fire in support of an attack lead by the 5 th Australian Infantry Brigade. It is written that the left objective was achieved whilst the right only celebrated small successes. Following this, the Brigade decided that whilst the German lines were recovering from the attack they would take the opportunity to improve their own. Re-registration was in order, so the 103 rd Battery would fire to confirm zones and ranges. They would also utilise this lapse in battle to improve gun emplacements, bolster the ammunition dumps and construct new gun platforms. At the conclusion of the Battle of the Somme in November, everyone prepared to dig in for winter. According to Voices of The First World War, the winter was unbelievably cold. The absolute depths of misery were felt by all who were caught in the snow, wind and frost. The cold made the days long and the temperature drop at night was unbearable. It wasn’t just the cold that the gunners had to endure, however, it was the flooded trenches and the miles of destruction all around them. The soil, stirred up by continuous gunfire, became waterlogged and extremely muddy. Its reported that for weeks the conditions on the Somme meant its inhabitants were often up to the waist in mud and shell holes filled with the soft mud meant anyone stepping into them would drown – and there was nothing you could do about it. There would be some reprieve in the later months of the winter, however, as the ground would eventually freeze solid. At last the prayers of solid ground to walk on would be answered, but at the cost of progressively colder and colder days. December saw the firing of zoning and sweeping missions, as well as normal barrage fire. Verifying corrections made was essential as it ensured the accuracy of the guns. This would continue throughout the whole month of December, firing a high number of rounds and not receiving anything in return. For the most part it was quiet on the German lines. The Battery would fire between 151 to as much as 253 rounds in the space of one day and only on the 15 th they would receive light fire in return – a good indicator of low morale on the German side. All members of the Brigade suffered during this winter however, despite the high tempo they maintained. Australians, far from home, living in hell on earth as well as experiencing the full might of a European winter. Once the ground had frozen solid the shells became less accurate, as they would skirt or bounce off the rock hard soil. This also meant they couldn’t dig further during this time, everything was hard as bedrock.