Thanks Steven. Visited Fromelles last year doing a tour of the western front battlefields. My great grandfather and great uncle served with the AIF, but luckily for them not with the fifth Division at Fromelles. Great uncle Fred was a Gallipoli veteran. Both survived the war but Fred never fully recovered from being gassed and died relatively young in his sixties. Great grandfather Harry was awarded the Military Medal but was captured in front of the Hindenburg line in April 1917 when his outpost was surrounded in a German night attack and two of his mates killed before the other three ran out of ammunition and surrendered. From a very good description and maps in the Australian official history and google earth I was able to pretty accurately locate the position of his post, in front of a sunken road where the Germans got in behind him and his mates. Stood pretty much on the spot in what is now a potato field. He actually escaped the prison camp and got to the Baltic coast. After a few days he figured that was a far as he was going to get so walked back to the camp. Missing Third Ypres and the 1918 battles no doubt did his chances of surviving the war a lot of good.

The more of Steven's videos I watch of the first WW, the more I respect his effort. I have only recently discovered what unit my Great Grandfather was in, after searching for more than 35 years, and the more I learn of the individual struggles these men endured, the more respect I gain for them, and those, like Steven, who strive to bring them back to us in a documentary. Thank you Steven. Well done, as usual.

What a sobering thought, 7000 dead or wounded in what was only a diversionary action. A very well informed thoughtful narrative honoring the memories of those who served. Thank you for sharing your work.

I keep coming back to this one. Unreal. Thanks Steven.

I’m really enjoying your presentations, thank you for this. New Zealand born Australian so this one really resonates with me, cheers.

Thank you for posting another excellent video and for keeping history alive too!

Steven, your presentations get better all the time, many thanks yet again.

Living in NY, the chance to see this is wonderful. Thank you

Only discovered your site by accident yesterday and been going through what I can find. As I emigrated to Australia at age 2.5 I’ve been brought up more on the Australian WW1 History and the attack at Fromelles is entrenched in Australian Military History. It was when I saw the battlefield maps at the museum that I thought to ask the question. It is good to see someone who has an interest in this history showing those of us on the opposite side of the world these sites. Thank you.

Thanks so much once again Steven, I've been very I tested in the Grands Guere for over 15 years now as a result of a motorcycle trip, every post you make reveals lots that I had no idea about, I'm very grateful for your work. My own great grandfather was at rage battle of Jutland but dies way before I was of age to be interested, how I wish I had been able to talk to him about it.

Thank you for providing these wonderful videos Steven, particularly those from the air, as they give a great sense of proportion & perspective not achievable from ground level. As for the 1916 battle of Fromelles : It should be remembered that only one year before, the British had attacked the same German front line from the self same trenches at Fromelles on 9th May 1915 during the Battle of Aubers Ridge. Results were about the same as in June 1916 with 2nd Rifle Brigade reaching into and holding the German lines at Rouge Bancs before being driven back later in the day through a lack of follow up support.

A very well presented talk and delivered without the usual triumphalism that often is shown when Aussie battles are discussed. You have an English accent.

Steven, I’ve only just discovered your postings - they’re great! Two small points though, if I may. 1. The Australian Memorial Park lies over the German FRONT line, in fact there was no discernible Second Line which caused some of the problems as the 2 Anzac battalions penetrated too deeply behind the front line looking for the second line, with their flanks “ up in the air”’, a tactical error quickly exploited by the Germans. The bunkers standing were shelters built into the rear wall of the breastworks and not MG posts as suggested. 2. VC Corner cemetery is unique in being the only CWGC cemetery without headstones. Many also claim it to be the only all-Australian cemetery on the Western Front, but since all 410 bodies weren’t identified I’m not sure how this claim can be justified. Keep up the good work! Be Na

Another superb presentation Steven, many thanks.

haha, right where you started is where I parked and sent up my drone last year. I wasn't paying attention and sent it straight up into the power lines. I could see in the display that it flipped around a few times then I lost the feed. "Well, it was fun while it lasted!" I said to myself - then noticed it was hovering a few feet above the ground! It somehow regained control of itself. I landed it and powered it off, and the gimbal did it's self-test and it was working again.

Great work! My son and I will make it to France to see all these sacred areas. Love the way you present all.

Fantastic video again Steven. This is another museum on my list to visit. Thank you

I continue to be impressed with your videos and knowledge of WWI. Thank you for sharing !! Excellent

So glad I found this. Good info on Fromelles is hard to find. My hubbies Grandfather and Great Uncle were both in the 5th Division. They were not related. Grandfather was badly wounded, Great Uncle was killed. They are still in the process of trying to identifying him as I type this, using hubbies DNA, he's the last male of his Great Uncles family line. Grandfathers son married Great Uncles niece! Thank you for posting an awesome narrative of events.

Thankyou for this, as an Australian this will always be a field of horrific memory, together with the recent finds at Pheasant Wood. I’ve walked every inch of these fields over 6 trips, stood right on the sugarloaf strongpoint. Fromelles has some interesting bunkers too.

My grandfather hector alfred richards fought at fromelles. He was in the 56th battalion held in reserve, which is lucky otherwise i wouldnt exist. However when the germans counter attacked the australians were surrounded and had to attack back toward their own lines. The engineers were sent in the dig a trench between their lines and the surrounded Australians. When the engineers were dead, my grandfathers battalion went in to dig the trenches under machine gun fire from 3 sides. The last man out along the trench was a very famous fighter (forgot his name) when he neared the safety of the Australian front line he couldnt get along the trench because it was full of dead bodies, so he got out of the trench and was killed. My grandads section leader was capt smyth

Another superb video Steve. I wish i had seen your videos before our trip!. We visited Pheasant Wood cemetery in 2019 because a soldier from our town was one of the soldiers identified in the mass grave. Without naming him, his epitaph reads "A farmer from Gilgandra who gave his all Never forgotten by his family".

Thanks so much for this. Would you happen to know why the memorial for many British soldiers in in Belgium?

You make really wonderful video's. Thanks so much. My son and I are also very much interested in WW1. We visited as much places as we can. Tip: as soon as this Covid-19 situation is lifted could you pay some attention to the forts of Liège, in particular Fort de Loncin? They give excellent opportunity for drone shots. Liège was the true opening salvo of the First World War. Many, many stories there. Liège was also where the Schlieffen plan started falling apart, they should have taken Liège in 3 to 4 days maximum, instead they lost 12 to 14 days. By that time the BEF and the French army were full in preparation mode and the German advantage was lost, ending of course in the first battle of the Marne and the subsequent trench warfare stalemate.

I just moved to Rue du Petillon. It is impressive to see what all those people did so that I can live my life peacefully. I did a walk today and found multiple shells and grenades.... 104 years later.... R.I.P. to all the fallen soldiers

Excellent. Thanks Steve, an amazing video.

Is it possible for you to do one of these on the first battle of Ypres. My great grand father who was in the Royal Horse Artillery lost his life there and his body wasn’t found till 2018 by the family. I’d be interested to find out where his unit was stationed during the battle. Edit: Change of date from 2014 to 2018.

Steven, I know everyone has suggestions about what you should cover next, but is there any chance please of covering the BEF’s largely forgotten 1915 battles, i.e. 2nd Ypres, Neuve-Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos?

Beautifully described, Steven. Thank you so much. I know the nearby Rue Petillon Cemetery very well and a little about the much earlier diversionary attack on Rouge Bancs in 1916.

Thank You, Steven, Very much apprciated.

Thanks to your work many more will remember them as well.

It is so hard to understand the number of lives lost in ww1 for what they believed in. Let's not forget any of them.

Thank you for sharing the history of the Australian stories in France. All I have previously known was about the Canadian battles and Verdun.

very clear narration, thank you

Another thought - inspired by this I’ve started re-reading the Peter Barton book; apparently Fromelles was also the scene of a 1914 Christmas truce. He doesn’t say they played football here though!

I am from Armentieres just à few miles away. I uses to bicycling in this countryside. Fromelles is on a very low ridge maybe 10 to 15 meters high. The same that the brits tried to take at Auvers en 1915. The landscape is so flat you understand the Germans in Fromelles could see what happened on the british and aussies trenches and why it was so important to take the highground. My two pence.

We both share the some passion for history, and served a long term soldiering on highly professional level, so we are naturally endet up with military history. While you chose the great war, to investigate in depth, I started with WW2. Again for the same reason as you chose the great war. Familie ties! My grandfather was heavily involved in WW2 on company up to divisionlevel , ended up as Divisioncommander . he told me about his expieriences thru my child and youthhood, and left many items attached with history behind. So I started to investigate WW2, besides those storys , at the age of 10. now , at the age of 60, there is a lot more variety of conflicts, wich drew my attention to study in detail. Namely 30 years war, US civil war, English civil war, napoleonic wars, war of the roses, you name it! :-) Now I am in the midst of WW1, and your channel came along as a godsent, because I am tracking one of my antsesters thru the great war on regimental level. He was a Sturmbattallionleader along the whole western front, as these troops were transferred to the those areas, where the Spearhead of Attack was planned and werent attached to a certain sector of the frontlines. So, in some of those places you shown me, so far I came thru your videos, my grandgrand-father actually fought, as close as I can connect his records with the landscape shown in your videos. Thats damned close. ;-) Thanks for your work, and see you soon.

The battle of Fromelles was a disaster from the start. It was a way for Haig to welcome us "colonials" to the western front. This is what the Australian War Memorial has to say about it. "The worst 24 hours in Australian history occurred 90 years ago at Fromelles. Not the worst in Australian military history, the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history. The Australians suffered 5,533 casualties in one night. The Australian toll at Fromelles was equivalent to the total Australian casualties in the Boer War, Korean War and Vietnam War put together. It was a staggering disaster. And this catastrophic attack at Fromelles - advocated and orchestrated by a British corps commander - had no redeeming tactical justification whatsoever. It was, in the words of a senior participant, Brigadier General H.E. "Pompey" Elliott, a "tactical abortion". One-third of the Australian casualties at Fromelles were in Elliott's 15th Brigade." Interestingly Adolf Hitler was in the opposing trenches and visited the area during WW2.

I visited Fromelles today with my motorcycle. VC corner cemetery and memorial, fromelle memorial park, and especially fromelle (pheasant wood) military cemetery are very impressive to visit.

My Great Great Grandad, Private Harold Bates, (Royal 2/7 Warwickshire Regiment was killed in this battle and his body was never found. It's most likely, thanks to my father's investigations, that he is in an unmarked grave, at Cabaret Rouge. RIP Harold.

Lets We Forget. Great video. From Sydney Australia.

Just found this video - Brilliant, BUT This is the second big attack over the same Battlefield ie The Battle of Aubers Ridge ( 9th May 1915 )of which you do not mention, This battle was covered up due to the Munitions scandal (lack of Shells with over 60% being defective) with a lot more British and Indian soldiers lost, There is a memorial to the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade ( who lost over 2 Thirds of its strength in this battle), at there objective which was the bend in the road behind the German Lines, other Battalion including the Irish Rifles, The London Brigade and 4 or five other Brigades lost just as many Soldiers, this Battle was a Northern pincer movement. as at the same time there was southern Attack exactly at same time with possibly even worse casualties, It is a pity this Battle is not mentioned in History, or your video

There was a documentary on TV a while ago about this and they featured a man by the name of Green who buried here. They traced his history from England to Australia including some of his family members and girl friend.

Excellent video.

Very good presentation Steven, much appreciated. That number of soldiers killed at 5,000+ Aussies is really heartbreaking when one considers the total population of Australia at that time was just on 5 million. Not only that but the 5th. had gone to Fromelles after fighting for almost a year at Gallipoli where Aussies lost over 8,500 brave men. We would go on to lose a massive number of good men creating issues within the population for decades Same goes for other nations. It was interesting to hear your statement about identification of the fallen buried in mass graves. Several years ago we did a trip of the Somme Fields. As we went to park the minibus in a memorial car park part was closed down because the work to extend dug up some relics. The lady driver of our tour explained some of the process for identification as she also worked as a volunteer.

A good drone film would be The Woods. Mametz, Bernafay, Trones, Delville and High Wood.

My grandfather was a sergeant in the 2/7 Royal Warwickshire- he was taken POW then, otherwise we wouldn't be having this exchange. I have the details - contact me and I will respond! Facebook Sandy Moncrieff. I'd like to say thank you for the salute to RWS, I was on the line for the 100th anniversary and I totally respect Aussies but it's good to see an acknowledgment we stood together that day. Good on 'yer mates!

Steven have you ever been to the passchendaele museum in zonnebeke ? It´s well worth a visit.

I can recommend 2 books "fromelles " by fitzsimons and the rare "the gallant company" which is written about my grandfathers company in the 56th includes fromelles. the company was lead by capt Smyth after the original capt was killed

Wonderful tribute at the end of the video

My grandmother Emma always said that one of her brothers had sailed out to live and work in Australia, and came back with the Aussies to fight in WW1, I have to wonder if he was one of these men (I believe he survived the war) I must continue to research him!

beautifully done . .. Thank you

Excellent video. For anyone who wants to know more about this battle, they should read 'The Lost Legions of Fromelles' by Peter Barton. An outstanding book, which also looks in depth at the German side of the battle and has some remarkable extracts from German records. Good maps as well. Recommended.

Great work! Best wishes from Germany!

Brilliant.Thank you.

Proud to be Australian, my two great uncles (brothers) were killed in 1917 & 1918, so died that family name line.

Lovely. Interesting. Thank you.

It simply staggers the imagination at how pathetically bad the Allied leadership was and how gullible those young men were to march right off the line to their deaths. Your articles on these WW I sites are really well done and more than a little noteworthy.

Read the comments. People should realize that in war events rarely go as planned and tragedy frequently ensues. I myself am familiar with the dangers that test pilots face.

Great stuff man

Cyril Leslie Dix No 919, 32nd Battalion, 8th Brigade, 5th Division AIF. Colour Patch: white and yellow. West Australian from Perth. First Action in Europe. Survived the War.

Those words they are repeated at RSL Returned and services league clubs here in Australia at 6PM every night .

War, what is good for? absolutely nothing but it is our history and it very important to never forget and try to never repeat. It's hard not to think of all the good men that died in that war that could have made a difference in the world. Many great distinguished intellectuals I'm sure of it ...what could have been and what should have never been. it's just sad virgins with rifles weren't they really it's just wasn't right what happened to that generation. After the war in most towns, there was like 1 male to every 20 females that's what I've heard more than once. Living in Europe between 1914-18 they must have thought the world was ending.

fantastic

I am an American. I am interested in German military history. It is all so sad.

Nice one brummy

Very nice!

I was there for the 100th Centenary in 2016

We will remember them.

I keep hearing that horrible " Daaaa Daaaa!" Audio Combat Clip in that 80's Series Anzacs. That ruined the show for me lol. As well as the Prime Minister clips.

The greatest disaster in Australian military history. Are there any traces of the Sugarloaf left today?

lest we forget.

Just another British grand plan that went horribly wrong and wasted lives. Orchestrated by butcher Haig and co. The sugar loaf was the responsibility of the British attack, which they found too difficult. The Aussies did learn from this, to never trust the British on their flanks, they preferred Canadians. However the same mistakes were made many times again until mid 1918 when the Aussies and Canadians showed the British how to advance without ridiculous losses.