The Australian Government issued an update on Day 16 of the archaeological dig at Pheasant Wood near Fromelles in northern France. The report states that “………Of significance, remains have now been discovered at the end of a sixth pit………………It is now confirmed that a small part of the pit was used to bury remains. Remains are not present in the remaining two pits.” Read the complete update by clicking here. Department of Defence photos of the dig can be viewed by clicking here. More news links after the letter from Sgt Crewes.
The excavation will conclude on Friday 13 June. At 11am on Friday morning there will be a short memorial service for the soldiers who have lain buried at Pheasant Wood for nearly 92 years.
The photo above, supplied by FFFAIF member Andrew Pittaway, shows Private Thomas Clift Cartwright from Fremantle, Western Australia who died at The Battle of Fromelles and is listed as one of the missing Diggers buried at Pheasant Wood.
Sergeant Arthur Crewes, pictured above, fought and survived the Battle of Fromelles. In the following article written by Yves Fohlen in 2006 and published in DIGGER 16, the magazine of The Families and Friends of the First AIF, you can read a first hand account of the Battle of Fromelles.
A letter following Fromelles by Yves Fohlen, France
The following letter was written after the battle of Fromelles by Private 4755 Arthur Norton Crewes, 53rd Battalion. This document was sent to Yves about 10 years ago by a relative of Crewes who knew of Yves’deep interest in the unit. In June 2006 Yves unearthed it from his 53rd Battalion archives and sent photocopies of it to Martial Delebarre, curator of the Fromelles museum. This year marks the 90th anniversary of Fromelles, and Crewes’ letter is published as a reminder of the sacrifices made by the men of the 5th Division AIF and the courage they showed on one evening and night in July 1916.
Northenden
Red Cross Hospital, Cheshire, England
Tuesday, August 1st, 1916
My dear Father, Sisters and Brothers,
Long before this reaches you, you will for sure have heard of my being wounded. But as to how this come about you are no doubt still in the dark, as the cable you would receive from the Military Authorities and my cable which I sent while in Hospital in Manchester about 27th July would not tell you a great deal. In this letter I intend to describe fully what took place from the time I wrote home last (about July 14th) to the present day.
First I would like to assure you that I am in the best of health and am eating well, a good sign, I think, also that the wound is not serious. Well, to commence from the beginning. When I wrote last we were under shell fire in the reserve trenches about 1000 yards from the firing line. That day about 30 shells burst near us but did no damage. On the Sunday my platoon were put on fatigue work, carrying ammunition up though the communication trench to the firing line. We had not got far along the trench before we were spotted by the Germans and then things began to get warm. They poured in shell after shell which burst very close to us and made us beat a hasty retreat behind some dugouts, dropping cases of bombs as we ran. That little experience did shake our nerves, seeing that the shells burst unpleasantly close and that the majority of us were new hands under fire. Luckily no one was hit and as soon as the firing ceased off we stacked the ammunition in the trench ready to be carried to the firing line tonight. That same night we went into the firing-line – Sunday 16th July – and when I had a look round in day-light I could plainly see that it was not the safest of places, as in some places the Germans had blown down our parapets. Another thing that made it dangerous was the fact that the point of the firing line where we were stationed, was so advanced to other parts that it enabled the Germans to enfilade us with machine gun and shell fire. This part of the firing line is rightly termed the horse-shoe and to give you an idea of the position I have drawn a rough sketch on the back of page 2.
All day Monday we were shelled by the Germans, some bursting very close to me. Two men in my section – five yards from me, were hit by shrapnel, one in the back and the other in the leg. That was only after the bombardment had been going 5 minutes. During the day men were being constantly hit from A and B Companies of my battalion and also men of other battalions. That day I had a very lucky escape. I was detailed to carry dixies of tea from the Cook’s dugout to my platoon lines. While away 2 large German shells burst just above where I had been crouching and a great piece of shrapnel buried itself in the trench. One of the boys when I returned told me that I would certainly have been hit had I been there. Lucky am I not? Or is it that I have had a guardian angel watching over me during my short stay in the trenches and through that great charge which the Australians made on the Wednesday 18th July [sic].
Tuesday things were more quiet although at night machine gun fire was pretty brisk, and while on sentry post we took a risk each time we looked over the top of the trench, which we had to do as the loophole is not sufficient at night. To describe that charge, how I became wounded, my experiences and lucky escapes while lying wounded for 1 day and 2 nights on No-man’s land, of my removal from one hospital to another in France and thence on to England would need page after page, so you see I will have to be brief.
Before going into action Sunday night we knew that we had to make a charge so that we had plenty of time to think things over. All day Wednesday our Artillery kept up a heavy bombardment on the German trenches and the Germans reply to it was none too pleasant. Before going over the parapet we had two drinks of rum to brace our nerves. While waiting for the charge a piece of shrapnel from a high explosive shell whizzed past my face and buried itself in a sandbag. Lucky miss wasn’t it?
At 5.43 pm the Signal for the charge sounded and over the top we went into the face of death, shells bursting, machine guns rattling and rifles crackling. Each man, besides his equipment and rifle, carried either a spade, pick, rolls of matting or scaling ladder. I, with one of my section, had to carry a large wooden scaling ladder, about 8 feet in length and fairly heavy. We could only carry it about 10 yards and then rest. Added to our difficulties was the barbed wire and ditches we had to rush over. About 50 yards from the German trenches I was hit, I felt a numbing sensation and my rifle went spinning. The left hand is what stopped a few bullets from a machine gun, one through the thumb and one through the wrist, both coming out I think underneath the thumb, the fleshy part. Besides these holes there are some gashes, three on thumb and one across the hand. All is going on splendidly with the hand now, no bones smashed at all. Hope to have full use of hand again in a month or two.
When I was hit, I yelled out to my chum at the other end of the ladder. Before he got to me I went down on my knees and then he tied his handkerchief tightly round my wrist to stop the bleeding. He then rushed on alone dragging, the heavy ladder after him. I crawled into a large shell hole close by and lay there. I managed to pull my field dressing out of my tunic pocket and then began a struggle to get the bandages out from the covering with right hand and teeth. After 10 minutes painful struggle at last I got the bandages out and then wrapped them round my wounds. All this time bullets were whizzing by and shells bursting, great pieces of shrapnel coming close to me. From my shelter I could see our lads rushing on in the face of death. It was a fine though terrible sight. All Wednesday night, all day Thursday and through the same night I lay between the two lines of trenches, too much afraid to move on account of snipers and machine guns which kept playing over the ground. At last, knowing I was getting weak and as my water bottle was now empty, I decided to try and get back to our lines on Thursday night.
When it was quite dark, about 11 pm, I started and ran for my life, not knowing whether I was making for our own trench or the Germans. Each minute I had to lie low for fire shells would light up the ground, showing up objects very clearly. I had gone about 100 yards when I came upon two men sleeping and in a trench and I, thinking they were German snipers, was too afraid to move after I spotted them and there I lay till just at dawn when I discovered they were two wounded Australians lads unable to move and they’re not 100 yards away from our trench. I spoke to one of these lads and told him I would mention the fact of them being there. Just as dawn was breaking I made a dash for the trench and I hopped it lively too, through barbed wire and all.
What a sigh of relief I breathed when I dropped from the top of the parapet into our own trench. As I sit in safety and security in an easy chair outside the hospital in a typical English country road, I cannot help thinking of those awful nights and day I spent on No-man’s land. For companions I had 2 yards from me a dead comrade and 5 yards behind me a Sergeant with a smashed hip unable to move. All through the nights and day the cries of the wounded for water and food were awful to listen to and each time they were heard the zip-zip and ping of bullets would come in the direction of the cries – an example of German brutality.”
Digger profile: Sergeant 4755 Arthur Crewes, 53rd Battalion
Athur Crewes enlisted on 8th September 1915. He had previous military service in the Militia from 1913-1915 and was a warehouseman from Dulwich Hill when he enlisted. Attched to the 15th Reinforcments for the 1st Battalion, he left Australia on 8th March 1916 aboard HMAT A15 Star of England. He was transferred to the 53rd Infantry Battalion on 20th April 1916. Following his wounding at Fromelles and treatment in the UK, Arthur rejoined the 53rd Battalion in France on 18th December 1916. Arthur became a sergeant on 26th December 1917 and was wounded a second time at Peronne on 1st September 1918, with a shrapnel wound to the right thigh. He was in England at the time of the Armistice and returned to Australia aboard the Ascanius. Whilst at sea, he was found not guilty for leaving his sentry post without permission. Discharged in 1919, he passed away in 1966, fifty years after the Fromelles’ bloodbath.
This article appeared in DIGGER Issue 16. Each edition of DIGGER contains many articles and photos, the majority of which are published for the first time and are provided by members. Details of the contents of past DIGGER magazines can be viewed by clicking on the DIGGER tab at the top of this page.
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All website information (i.e. the images, graphics, text etc) on our website are copyright © Families and Friends of the First AIF Incorporated (FFFAIF Inc.) or its individual Members.The Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, The Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, in a press release today confirmed that “British soldiers buried beside Diggers in Fromelles. Read the complete press release here.
NEWS UPDATES:
The Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, The Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, in a press release today confirmed that “British soldiers buried beside Diggers in Fromelles”. Read the complete press release here.
Media interest has hightened as the Fromelles dig draws to a close.
The Maitland Mercury: Fromelles discovery offers new hope of finding Hunter men. Click here.
The West Australian: British artefacts seen at Fromelles site. Click here.
Yahoo!7 News: Buttons prove British soldiers buried with Diggers. Click here.
The Telegraph (UK): British war grave found in northern France. Click here.
ABC News: Buttons prove British soldiers buried with Diggers: Defence. Click here.
The Australian: Howard visits Diggers’ mass grave. Click here.
The Herald Sun: Laser will tell Fromelles war graves tale for Diggers. Click here.
7th Space interactive: British artefacts found at Fromelles war grave site. Click here.
Author of FROMELLES Patrick Lindsay also reports from Pheasant Wood. Click here to read Patrick’s comments.
Check back TOMORROW for News updates and to see more of the Diggers who fought at Fromelles.
FROMELLES is NOT honoured on The Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney. FFFAIF supports the recognition of FROMELLES on all state memorials.