20 replies to this topic

[17107BM]

Hello all.

I may have the chance to tour my GF's Battle sites in June. On the salient, His first Battle was Messines Ridge 7.6.17. with his Battalion the 47th.A.I.F.  I,m trying to track there path across the ridge As close as possible. He was in D company and there seems to be conflicting information on the way they took. Some have them crossing at about the Irish peace Tower, other's further South but above the river/stream.



Are there any WWI Australian sites that members know of that i may of missed.

Any help welcome.

Cheers

[LeoMc]

17107BM

1. the War Diary for the 47th, which includes a vast amount of detail for the attack on Messines Ridge - for example
2. There is also Bean's Official history which is on-line from the AWM, together with his diaries and notes
3. The Battalion history
4. Red Cross files for men of his Company who were killed/missing during the action

Cheers
Paul

Attached Images

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[Crunchy]

Go onto the AWM site.
Hit Collection in the top bar, then Records in the grey bar, then First World War diaries, then Class 23 Infantry, then 12th Australian Infantry Brigade. Go to the  June 1917 diary and open it. Scroll down to Operation Memo  No 105 Preliminary Instructions No 3. This states the 47th Battalion used X route to get to the FUP. Below the instruction is the overlay marking out X route. You will need to match this to the relevant trench map and that  will give you the route they took.

I cannot work out how to copy the overlay to post it here, sorry. If anyone knows how to do it, can they let me know?

Cheers
Chris

[LeoMc]

Chris

Until someone comes along who actually knows how to do this efficiently, this is my tortuous route -  
- copy the image and print it
- scan as jpg and save
- email it to myself, which allows me to adjust the size below 100 whatsits
- save the smaller version
- attach the file here

Cheers
Paul

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[Blackblue]

PM Craig Deayton mate, he is a member of the Forum and may be able to help.

He wrote the history of the 47th called 'Battle Scarred'. Great book and provides a very honest account of their actions.

Rgds

Tim D

[skipman]

I stumbled on a Forum the other day, that might be useful Desert Column

Mike

[skipman]

" Are there any WWI Australian sites that members know of that i may of missed. "

Just in case you've missed these?

Mapping Our Anzacs

AIF War Diaries

Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918

Mike

[Crunchy]

LeoMc, on 05 May 2012 - 12:45 AM, said:

Chris
Until someone comes along who actually knows how to do this efficiently, this is my tortuous route -  
Cheers
Paul

Thank you Paul.

Cheers
Chris

[WhiteStarLine]

Chris and Paul,

This took 3 minutes.  Assuming you have Windows,

1   Open the page in Adobe PDF.
2   Scale to the largest size your monitor supports (ie so you see the whole page).
3   Click 'View-Full Screen Mode'
4   Capture this screen to the clipboard with the <Alt> + <Print Screen> keys.
5   Open Microsoft's Paint tool (yes, there are better options, but I assume standard PC tools!)
6   Paste the image with Ctrl + V.
7   Save as a JPEG with 'File Save As'.

That's it!  Now, to adhere to the 100 KB GWF limit, consider free tools such as GIMP or the wonderful Paint.NET.  However, sticking with MS Paint, find where it has saved the file and see what size it is.  Supposing it is 200 KB.  Open the file in Paint and click 'Resize'.  In my example, halve the dimensions, so the 1920 x 1200 pixel image becomes 910 by 600.  Save it and you are ready to upload.  It took me longer to type than to download the file from AWM and produce this:

Bill, Canberra
PS   I have a copy of Anzacs on the Western Front next to my keyboard ready for my September trip.

[WhiteStarLine]

Overlay over trench map showing Messines, Ploegsteert and Neuve Eglise.  Minor discrepancies with grid lines but you get the picture:

[WhiteStarLine]

And finally, a 'quick and dirty' overlay over modern-day Google Earth.

[Crunchy]

Bill.

That's great Thank you. Looks like it's the route to the Assembly Area, not to the FUP.

Enjoy your trip and I hope the book is useful.

Cheers
Chris

[17107BM]

Blackblue, on 05 May 2012 - 01:15 AM, said:

PM Craig Deayton mate, he is a member of the Forum and may be able to help.

He wrote the history of the 47th called 'Battle Scarred'. Great book and provides a very honest account of their actions.

Rgds

Tim D

  Many thanks to all for your help. I am now well on my way with all this information and i'm looking forward to the trip in June. Hope to take in the Somme area at Dernancourt later in the summer.


Blackblue.

    I have Craig Deayton's exellent book in which my grandfather gets a mention on page 183, in the second paragragh. It came as some surprise i can tell you!

2668 John Patrick Keenan.

  Thanks to all.

  Cheers

[Crunchy]

The Battalion war diary has an instruction which says they were to move to the FUP in artillery formation. This would indicate they moved in a dispersed formation over the ridge.  
Regards
Chris

[17107BM]

Crunchy, on 06 May 2012 - 08:30 AM, said:

The Battalion war diary has an instruction which says they were to move to the FUP in artillery formation. This would indicate they moved in a dispersed formation over the ridge.  
Regards
Chris

Thanks Crunchy. Think iv'e got enough information for the trip. Anyone wanting photo's from the Area just shout. This trip will be mainly Australian biased. So let me know, and if possible will do.

  Cheers

[Crunchy]

Anzacs on the Western Front:The Australian War Memorial Guide  includes the action of the 47th Battalion at Messines including a modern photo taken from their objective back up the slope to Messines. p199-200

Cheers
Chris

[Paul67]

Crunchy, on 07 May 2012 - 11:58 PM, said:

Anzacs on the Western Front:The Australian War Memorial Guide  includes the action of the 47th Battalion at Messines including a modern photo taken from their objective back up the slope to Messines. p199-200

Cheers
Chris

[Paul67]

Oops- that blank post was the result of typing on an iPhone- please excuse.
I recently spent a few weeks on the battlefields with "ANZACs on the western front" grasped firmly in my hands.  It was an excellent source to use and also a great way to meet people -  i was approached by a number of people while standing in fields with my bino's and compass  while orienting myself to the wonderfully clear directions in the book  by many who had heard about it and were waiting to get their own copy.  

Cheers, Paul

[17107BM]

Hello all.
I'm after some more usefull information.

Being based in Ypres for my trip, can any members reccomend any Bars or eating outlets. Nothing over the top (if you'll pardon the pun) money wise. Just a decent bar and eatery

One with a WWI theme would be a plus.

Cheers all.

[Neil Mackenzie]

There have been a few discussions on the Forum on how to refuel in Ypres try this one

Have a great trip

Neil

[Mick Martin]

Craig's book on the 47th Battalion is one of the best written unit history books IMHO - it's called "Battle Scarred - The 47th Battalion in the First World War".

Mick