The Second Battle of Bullecourt

May 1917

Following the debacle of April, the British Fifth Army set about properly planning and training for a second attempt on Bullecourt. With the Australian's 4th Division out of action, the task fell to their 2nd Division.

The First Battle for Bullecourt

The initial attack would be similar to that previously with the Australians attacking the eastern side of Bullecourt and the 62nd (West Riding) Division the attacking the village itself. This time though the tanks would accompany the Yorkshiremen, the Australians wanted nothing to do with them.

Something that the new plans did not take into account was the prolific amount of machine gun fire that had been directed at the flanks of the attacking forces in April. This was going to cost lives.

Throughout the weeks all of the villages in the area had been subjected to bombardments and very little was now left apart from the shattered remnants of buildings.

3 May 1917

To the east of Bullecourt a track runs out into the fields towards the Central Road. Like many similar roads in northern France it cuts its way through the fields in places sometimes to a depth of well over a metre. This sunken section of the road afforded a reasonable amount of cover for the preparing Australians.

Zero was set for 03:45 hours and by this time five battalions of 4 and 5 Brigades had moved out in front of the Sunken Road with the other three remaining in or near it.

The artillery barrage on the German front line was intensified as the men went over the top accompanied by a creeping barrage moving in front of them.

5 Brigade

As during the First Battle the dividing line between the two attacking Brigades was the Central Road. On the right, 5 Brigade was stopped in its tracks at the first line of wire hit from front and sides by machine gun fire. Their position became untenable and the men began to retreat back towards the Sunken Road. They were rallied and made a second attempt on the German front line, but as soon as they approached the wire they were again struck down by murderous machine gun fire. The same gunfire that should have been taken into account by the Australian's Artillery bombardment, but wasn't.

An attempt by the 28th Battalion to force its way down the two German trenches eastwards of the Central Road met with some success but the Germans launched counter-attacks and the positions changed hands numerous times during the day.

The Brigade never made the German front line.

6 Brigade

With the lie of the land working in their favour 24th Battalion attacking on 5 Brigade's left flank made good progress and were on the Germans before they had, had time to ready themselves.

Moving swiftly on and into the second line of the German trenches 24th and 23rd Battalions could find no sign of 5 Brigade on their right. To their left, 22nd and 21st Battalions were badly held up by firing from the defenders in the village. Some made it to the German second line but casualties had been high.

Throughout the morning the 24th and 23rd tried to hang on to their position at Six Cross Road but as the day wore on it became evident that with the failure of the attacks on their flanks they could not sustain the position and they were ordered to pull back.

The attack on the village