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Australian troops
parading at the Somme trenches 1916.
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Australian
troops cheering the king.
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For Australia,
as for many nations, the First World War remains the most costly conflict
ever in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than
five million, 300,000 men enlisted, of which over 60,000 were killed
and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner.
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The outbreak
of war was greeted in Australia, as in many other places, with great
public enthusiasm. In response to the overwhelming number of volunteers,
the authorities set exacting physical standards for recruits. Yet most
of the men accepted into the army in August 1914 were sent first to
Egypt, not Europe, to meet the threat which the Ottoman Empire (Turkey),
posed to British interests in the Middle East and the Suez Canal.
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After Gallipoli
the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was reorganised and expanded from
two to five infantry divisions, all of which were progressively transferred
to France, beginning in March 1916. The AIF mounted division that had
served as additional infantry during the campaign remained in the Middle
East. When the other AIF divisions arrived in France, the war on the
Western Front had long been settled in a stalemate, with the opposing
armies facing each other from trench systems that extended across Belgium
and north-east France from the English Channel to the Swiss border.
The development of machine-guns and artillery favoured defence over
attack and compounded the impasse, which lasted until the final months
of the war.
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While the overall
hostile stasis continued throughout 1916 and 1917, the Australians and
other allied armies repeatedly attempted attacks preceded by massive
artillery bombardments intended to cut barbed wire and destroy enemy
defences. After these bombardments, waves of attacking infantry emerged
from the trenches into no man's land and advanced towards the enemy's
positions. The surviving Germans, protected by deep and heavily reinforced
bunkers, were usually able to repel the attackers with machine-gun fire
and artillery support from the rear. These attacks often resulted in
only limited territorial gains which were followed in turn by German
counter-attacks; although this style of warfare favoured the defence,
both sides sustained heavy losses.
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Australian
infantry were introduced to this type of combat at Fromelles on the
Somme, in July 1916, where they suffered 5,533 casualties in 24 hours.
By the end of the year 42,270 Australians had been killed or wounded
on the Western Front. In 1917 a further 76,836 Australians became casualties
in battles such as those at Bullecourt, Messines and the four-month
long campaign around Ypres, known as the battle of Passchendaele.
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The enlistment
paper for the Australian Imperial Force, and the Army Record showing
that Frederick William Alan Earthy received the 'Star' 'Victory' and
'British War' medals.
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The Star,
Victory and British War medals popularly known as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred
after characters in a Daily Mail cartoon of the period.
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The 1914 Star.
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This medal was awarded
to all officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and all
men of the British and Indian Forces, including civilian medical practitioners,
nursing sisters, nurses and others employed with military hospitals;
as well as men of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Naval Reserve
and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve who served with on the establishment
of their unit in France and Belgium between August 5th 1914, and midnight
of November 22/23rd, 1914.
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The 1914-15 Star.
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A Star similar to
the 1914 Star was issued to all personnel mentioned above, with certain
exceptions, who served in a theatre of war before December 31st 1915
and who did not qualify for the earlier star.
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The British War
Medal, 1914-16.
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It is impossible
to set out all the details of qualification for this medal, but briefly,
the requirement was that a member of the fighting forces had to leave
his native shore in any part of the British Empire while on service.
It did not matter whether he/she entered a theatre of war or not.
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The Victory Medal,
1914-1918.
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This medal was awarded
to all those who entered a theatre of war (and presumably took part
in the fighting, logistics or medical services). It follows that every
recipient of the Victory Medal also qualified for the British War Medal,
but not the other way round. 300,000 fewer Victory Medals were required
than British War Medals. All three services were eligible. It is not
generally known that Victory Medals continued to be awarded after the
Armistice, for the British forces who saw action in North Russia (up
to October 12th, 1919) and Trans-Caspia (up to April 17th, 1919) also
qualified.
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| Source for some of the photographs/medal & general information Imperial War Museum Australian War Memorial The British Army in the Great War British Military Campaign Medals The National Archives of Australia. | |||
| & Research by Mary Marshall, December 2000, Mark Earthy January 2002, Rikk Earthy January 2005. | |||
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