19th July 1916. Wednesday evening, nearing 5pm.

After enduring long hours of a continuing heavy artillery barrage and machine guns firing from both sides, the Australian and British troops prepared for their charge to take the German’s trenches.

Unbeknownst to the awaiting first waves of Allied soldiers, these next few moments will be their last, as the crucial objectives set to pave the way for their attack, aren’t achieved.

Deadly obstacles, such as the German’s Sugarloaf salient and its devastatingly effective machine gun crews, are still operational and the enemy’s barbed-wire entanglement defences are, for the most part, intact.

Receiving warnings from Allied observers about the enemy’s unbroken defences afront his Brigade’s position, Brigadier General Harold “Pompey” Elliott’s pre-emptive fears of the battle are beginning to solidify into reality.

Horrifyingly for Elliott’s troops, it’s identified that three emplacements of German machine gun crews have been left unscathed from the barrage and are intact overlooking his position.

Despite ordering Allied bombardment to readjust their targets on the German line to destroy the standing defences in time before the infantry commences their charge across "no man’s land", it is ultimately too late…

As the Australian and British troops anxiously stand by for the charge that they’ve been preparing for the last six hours, many men peeked over the top of the parapets to see what’s awaiting them. This view was detailed in the following recollection from an unnamed officer of the 14th Brigade:

“The first thing that struck you, was that the shells were bursting everywhere, mostly high-explosive. You would see machine guns knocking bits off the trees in front of the reserve line and sparking against the wire... When men looked over the top, they saw no man’s land leaping up everywhere in showers of dust and sand... rather confirming our fears that the Germans knew something.”

Before the Australians made their push into no man’s land, British troops had already begun leaving the relative safety of the Allied trenches via Sally Ports. These small, narrow doorways have gone on to be considered death traps and the worst method for soldiers exiting trenches under fire.

This is due to the design of the Sally Ports and the congested stream of charging British troops funneling out towards the German line, making them ideal targets for enemy machine gunners. Immediately, the British were cut down by a rain of bullets as they tried to fan-out from their trenches. Bodies quickly piled up and around the Sally Port exit in what was an absolute slaughter that the Australians witnessed from their starting points.

What follows is described as “the fog of war”, where military planning and orders being sent out through the ranks are overtaken by the chaos and brutality of warfare.

This term derives from the dilapidation of communications and lack of accurate, clear intelligence during the heat of battle, resulting in confusion and uncertainty among fighting soldiers and the coordinating superior officers orchestrating the troops.

The term “fog” also describes what the men on the frontlines were subjectively experiencing.

Escalating Brigadier General Elliott’s dilemma further was the fact that an amount of his fighting force was not in position due to congestion in several trenches behind their frontline and had, therefore become stuck.

Left with no other option, Elliott’s men had to climb up out of the congested trenches and over into open ground to reach their starting point. Enemy machine gunners and artillery targeted them as they traversed towards the front.

Firing relentlessly, they evaded incoming fire, as they jumped back into the trenches, their starting point.

It would be another anxious 40-minutes for the troops standing by, until the order is given for the Australian’s first wave to attack, “Alright men, hold the line… over the bags.”

Men of the 53rd Battalion just before the attack at Fromelles.

As the Australian’s climb out over the parapets, this would signify their first engagement of war on the Western Front, however, little would they know it would become the bloodiest and costliest in our military history.

The infantry attack charged straight into a blistering storm of enemy machine-gun fire and artillery shelling.

On the advance, countless men fell like dominos, one after the other, across no man’s land; either killed or wounded.

Regardless of the immediate decimation inflicted on the first wave of infantry, their line kept pushing on towards the German trenches, inching their way closer and closer towards their ordered objective.

Thousands of bullets from both opposing sides zipped through the air, hitting bodies, earth, defences. Whistling shells echoed from afar and growing nearer, exploding with deafening, deadly effect.

Countless more Australian and British troops fell down lifeless on the battlefield and, yet the line continued relentlessly.

Where groups of soldiers were cut down in a blink of an eye, more followed suit.

Shells impacted near and atop of advancing troops, in an eruption of light, earth, and shrapnel… the men were blown to pieces or simply vaporised by the sheer force of the explosions.

About 20 minutes into the battle, the Allied troops began breaching the German frontline. Despite the magnitude of their losses, it was difficult to imagine a sense of progress for the British and Australians.

To be continued in Part 4…

Battle at Fromelles Part 3: Over the Parapets and into the Killzone