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Clip description
The German spring offensive of 1918 has pushed the Western Front back across a large area, reversing the British gains since mid-1916. Australian troops have retaken the town of Villers-Bretonneux, south of the Somme River, after the Germans held it briefly on 24 April. The streets seen here give a striking sense of how much of the town has been destroyed in the fighting. Australian gunners uncover camouflaged trench mortars and continue to pound the enemy positions, 300 yards (275 metres) away.
Curator’s notes
One of the many mysteries about the series of films made by Australian cinematographers on the Western Front is that there are so few of them. This one covers the last year of the war in the sketchiest detail, from just after the Third Battle of Ypres in late 1917, to near the end of hostilities in November 1918. The Australian troops were involved in a series of major actions during this time, but we see almost none of them. There are several possible explanations.
The first is that Hubert Wilkins, the only official Australian photographer working on the Western Front for most of that time, shot more than we see here, but most of his footage does not survive. Or that he concentrated more on still photographs of record, at the direction of the official historian and war correspondent, Charles Bean. There is no clear evidence of this, but it would be logical, given that Bean was increasingly concerned with ensuring that a complete record was secured, especially in still photographs. It is clear from published sources that Wilkins was filming in many of these battles, including in Villers-Bretonneux on 25 April, just after the Australians had retaken the village. Even so, there’s little in this film of the action in that battle, or many others from the last six months of the war. Simon Nasht’s biography of Wilkins, The Last Explorer (2006, Hachette, ISBN 978 07336 22427), makes clear that he was in the middle of most of these fights filming and taking photographs and dodging shells. Wilkins was blown up on several occasions, destroying a number of cameras, and sustaining several wounds and considerable damage to his hearing. His reputation among the troops was legendary, as was that of Frank Hurley.
Another possible explanation – at least in the case of this film – is that material has been cut from a more complete film. Some of the titles here make it seem likely that material is missing. This film was shown around Australia in a series of lectures in the early 1920s, accompanied by talks from the official historians and various generals who were involved, but we don’t know how long the original film was, so it’s difficult to know how much is missing.
The damage to the town gives an indication of how fiercely it was fought over, but it is perhaps misleading. In other places, such as Pozières, where the Australians fought in 1916, there was literally nothing left standing. Pozières became a smouldering pile of brick, dust and timber (see Australia in France, Part One, c1918, clip two). The people of Villers-Bretonneux certainly thought things could have been worse. They thanked the Australians for ‘saving’ their town. In fact, they continue to thank Australia in ceremonies every year, partly because Australian donations after the war helped them to rebuild. The primary school in Villers-Bretonneux carries a famous message painted on the roof of a playground shelter in English, ‘Do not forget Australia’.
