Guest Koba Posted 4 May , 2003 Share Posted 4 May , 2003 I'm off to the Salient next week and have just finished reading Leon Wolff's book to get me up to speed. I read about a bunch of Aussies who went into Celtic Wood and "disappeared". I see there's a book about it by Tony Spagnoly but I haven't read it - hope to after my return home. Can anyone tell me what happened to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 4 May , 2003 Share Posted 4 May , 2003 A group from ? 11 AIF raided Celtic Wood and were never seen again; or so the book claims. A Lieutenant Scott being among them - now on the Menin Gate. Some recent research seems to cast doubts on aspects of this story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 4 May , 2003 Share Posted 4 May , 2003 Did anyone check the German sources? Could you give me the date etc of the raid, I'd have a look then. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 4 May , 2003 Share Posted 4 May , 2003 Answer is no, to my knowledge. The raid was around 11.10.17 - but I am away from my books etc. at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Mackenzie Posted 4 May , 2003 Share Posted 4 May , 2003 According to Bean the raid on the wood was by the 1st Australian Div. Of 85 officers and men, only 14 returned unwounded and the missing were never heard of again. Their names not on any list of prisoners and none of their bodies found after the war. Stretcher bearers tried the next day to enter the wood and recover the wounded but were shot down - there had been shooting of stretcher bearers by both sides in a neighbouring trench shortly before. Bean states that " as far as has been ascertained, the records of the 448th I.R., the German regiment which held the sector, contain no mention of the attack." I think the attack was on 9th October but it may have been a bit later. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 5 May , 2003 Share Posted 5 May , 2003 I haven't read Tony Spagnoly's book, but I seem to recall from Bean that the attack was made by the 10th Battalion AIF. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 5 May , 2003 Share Posted 5 May , 2003 The attack was made by 84 officers and men of C Company led by Lt. F. J. Scott, 10th AIF on 9th October. The confusion over battalions has probably arisen because 11th and 12th Battalions had made a successful raid on the wood on 6th October. The Smith/Spagnoly book is very interesting but contains a mish-mash of material about the Aussies at Passchendaele a lot of which does not concern the actual raid. I found it very useful for researching a battlefield walk near Tyne Cot for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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