Army Service Corps

[andnella]

My Grandad was a corporal in the 521st /61st division and from the PRO records which were difficult to decifer looked like ''Hd 2rs(res) CO ASC. Does anyone know how close these guys in the Army Service Corps would have got to the shelling and the killing in the summer of 1916?

[delta]

I'll check the Corps history tomorrow and see if there are any clues

[delta]

There is no mention of 521 Coy ASC in the Corps History, other than confirmation that they formed part of the Divisional train for 61st (South Midland) Div. They were formed in Sep/Oct1914 as a Territorial Force unit and disbanded between Jun and Aug 1919.

According to the mother site (long Long Trail) 61st Div entrained for the Western Front on 21st May 1916. It then took part in the attack on Fromelles (a subsidiary action to the Battle of the Somme). The Division suffered heavy casualties during this first action and the resultant loss of command confidence meant that it was not used for the remainder of the 1916 campaign.

In 1916, the village of Fromelles (south of Armentières) lay behind the German lines. A feature of the line, three kilometres north west of Fromelles, was a bulge known as the Sugar Loaf. This salient, held by the 6th Bavarian Reserve Div, pointed north-west, and being small it provided an advantage to the occupiers, by allowing them to survey and cover the stretches of no man's land on either flank. Because the Germans were withdrawing divisions from the Lille area to reinforce their Somme positions, it was suggested that an artillery "demonstration" be staged at the Sugar Loaf to make the Germans think a major offensive was imminent there and so make them nervous about any further troop withdrawals.

The original plan was enlarged into a broader plan to mount an infantry attack on the Sugar Loaf salient, advance to Fromelles and capture the heights of the Aubers Ridge. The 5th Division AIF was assigned the left flank of the Sugar Loaf, and the British 61st Division, the right. From 11.00 hrs on 19 July an artillery bombardment was laid down on the German lines as the troops made their way through communication trenches to their jumping off positions. In the bright sunshine and clear visibility, the Germans saw them coming and began their own counter barrage of the communication trenches. In a replay of events on 1st Jul on the Somme, many Allied troops were killed or wounded before they even reached the front line.

At 1800 hrs the men of the 5th Div AIF and the British 61st Div attacked the Sugar Loaf. The left flank brigades of the 5th Div quickly reached the German lines and went through them into the open countryside beyond. The central Australian brigade, the 15th, was pinned down by intense enemy machinegun fire as it attempted to cross no man’s land at its widest point. On the right of Sugar Loaf the 61st Div was halted by uncut wire. At 2100 hrs 61st Div asked the 15th Brigade to join in a renewed assault at 9pm, but quickly cancelled its attack without informing the Australians. Consequently half of the Australian 58th Battalion made another futile attempt to capture the salient. That night, as the 8th and 14th Brigades tried to consolidate their positions, the Germans counter attacked fiercely and worked their way behind the Australians.

The Germans succeeded in driving a wedge between the 14th and 15th Brigades, splitting the Allied forces. Increasingly isolated and out-flanked, the 8th and 14th Brigades were forced to withdraw the following morning. The Germans by this time had set up machine gun enfilades, and the resulting crossfire inflicted devastating casualties on the retreating Australians. The attack completely failed as a diversion, when its limited nature became obvious to the German defenders.

Military historians do not mince words about Fromelles - the attack is considered to have been a fiasco. The failure was however played down by the Chain of Command at the time, which( naturally) infuriated the Australian Forces. As for the ASC, the role of the Divisional Train would have been to bring forward ammunition and stores to the attacking troops prior to the battle (see Long Long Trail info on the ASC). It was not unknown for ASC troops to go forward to assist in the recovery of casualties; they were also the target of harrassing fire by the Germans. He certainly would have been more than familiar with killing, although it is unlikely that he actually saw action himself.

As an afternote, it is believed that one of the German soldiers involved in the battle was Adolf Hitler, then a 27 year old corporal and a message runner in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regt which was defending the Sugar Loaf salient itself. Hitler served on the Aubers-Fromelles sector from Mar 1915 until Sep 1916.