Battle of Flers-Courcelette

This was the first major battle on the Western Front for the New Zealand Division and one of the worst days, in terms of deaths, in New Zealand military history. The 2nd Brigade and the Rifle Brigade, with the 1st Brigade in reserve, participated. It was the first use of tanks. The 2nd Brigade attacked at dawn [6.20am] on a kilometre wide front (1000 yards) behind a formidable artillery barrage to seize two trenches on the way to Flers. The Rifle Brigade passed through with two tanks – a startling novelty introduced to action that day – and helped to capture the village. The 1st Wellington went on next day [16 September] to gain a trench north of Flers. Then rain set in.

A New Zealand soldier writing to his family describes his experience of the attack.

“Even when we joined the first wave I could see that our ranks were pretty thin. We lay down and watched for the third and fourth wave to join us before rushing them. The four waves combined made up about as many as one of the original waves. While we were lying down waiting for the rush, Fritz was rattling away with his machine gun for all he was worth, and for a few seconds he ripped up the ground about a yard in front of me.”

“I jumped into the Hun trench and found that it was so deep that I could not climb out at the other side, so I pulled a dead Hun into a sitting position at the side of the trench, stood on his shoulders, and managed to climb out. When I think of it now, it seemed a horrible thing to do …” [Excerpt From a Letter Written by a NZ Soldier Quoted In: Col. H. Stewart. “The New Zealand Division 1916 - 1919: A Popular History Based on Official Records.” ]

Sergeant Donald Forrester Brown took part in this attack and was later posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.