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The Third Division Memorial at Sailly le Sec. |
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To the Officers, Non Commissioned Officers and men of the Third Australian Division who fought in France and Belgium in 1916 1917 1918. |
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Some photos supplied by Marco Hoveling, |
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3rd Division Memorial – on the Somme, France, above Sailly-le-Sec |
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Photos and text by Richard G Crompton |
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The memorial to the 3rd Division, AIF, rises at spot height 106 on the Picardy Plateau above the lakes adjacent to the River Somme at Sailly-le-Sec. It stands by the D1 road from Corbie to Bray-sur-Somme, between Amiens and Peronne. An appropriate site as it was here, on 27 March 1918, that 3rd Division’s Commander, Brig. Gen. Cannan, on orders from General Monash, rushed his 11th Brigade in an attempt to stem the final German push towards Amiens in their Operation Michael offensive. They were to take defensive positions on the old French line, between the Ancre and the Somme.
The leading Battalion was the 42nd (Queensland), under Lt.Col. Woolcock, who took the line, on a front of 1000m, extending from Mericourt, on the Ancre, to Sailly-le-Sec on the Somme, at right angles to the D1 road, across the position of the 3rd Division Memorial. The old French line was held by dispirited British units. Later in the day, as more battalions moved to the front, the 42nd relocated towards the valley floor, whilst the 43rd (South Australia) took position, on their left, on the plateau to the D1. The 37th and 38th Battalions of 10th Brigade manned the line from the Monument to Mericourt on the Ancre. From these defensive positions the 3rd Division moved progressively forward towards Peronne and the storming of the Hindenburg Line, the final German static defensive line, at the end of September 1918.
Despite the many battle honours across France and Belgium, recorded on the Divisional Monument, it stands in the most appropriate place. In Australian Victories in France in 1918, page 26, Monash recalls his meeting of 26 March 1918 with British Corps Commander General Congreave who Monash reports as saying ‘Thank Heavens – the Australians at last. … At four o’clock today my Corps was holding a line from Albert to Bray, when the line gave way. The enemy is now pushing westward and if not stopped tomorrow will certainly secure the heights overlooking Amiens.’ It is possible to argue that the German army, though at the end of extended supply line, was 20km from driving a mortal gap between the British and French armies opening the way to the coast and to victory. |
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