Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/253/1 - 1918 - 1939 - Part 15

AUSTRALIA'S GREATEST WAR TROPHY

It is probably not generally known that the finest trophy captured
by any nation participating in the Great War is the Il inch high velocity railway
gun taken from the Germans by the Australians near Harbonnieres on 8th August 1918.
This magnificent weapon was greatly coveted as a war trophy by the French, who
claimed it by reason of the fact that it was captured on French soil and for the
further reason that it had done very material damage to Albert, Amiens, and other
towns in the forward areas.
The Royal Air Force also put in a claim owing to the part played by
British airmen in bombing the railway track on which it was running and the
ammunition trucks attached, thus more or less immobilizing the gun and mounting.
British cavalry, though they passed through considerably after the
Australian infantry, considered they had a right to it.
The R.E. thought they should be credited with the capture as some
Engineers attached to the 3lst Battalion A.I.F. had repaired the damaged railway
track, had raised steam on the towing engine, and had drawn the gun and mounting
out of enemy range to a position within our lines.
It was subsequently decided after much discussion that the 3lst
Battalion should be awarded the trophy, the C.O. (Lt.-Col. Neil Freeman) having
conclusively proved that the gun while still firing had come under the machine gun
and rifle fire of his unit and kept under fire after the Battalion had passed through.
Attempts were made by interested parties to bring back to Australia,
in preference to the 11 inch gun, another gun, vis the 15 inch German weapon
from Arcy Wood, near Chuignes. It was wisely decided however, that while the
11 inch weapon itself was smaller than the 15 inch gun, the railway gun with its
mounting was in actual fact a larger trophy and was moreover a genuine capture,
made while it was still firing during the Australian attack. The 15 inch gun on
the other hand had been blown up by the Germans themselves two days prior to our
attack and took no part in the battle itself. (This gun and mounting were formally
presented to the people of Amiens by Cen. Sir Wm. Birdwood). The weapon and
mounting had been rendered quite useless the breech end being completely shattered
and strewn in all directions and the gun thrown out of its mounting, which was of
the circular turn-table fixed type.
Furthermore, the broad-gauge railway line by means of which ammunition
and supplies had been brought up to the gun had been pulled up for about three
quarters of a mile.
To restore this line to permit the damaged gun only being moved to the
 

-2
main line would have entailed much labour and expense; apart from material more
urgently required elsewhere.
The railway gun on the other hand was capable of being moved by its own power
and on its own mounting on the existing railway line to the coast.
Another factor influencing the decision was that about this time the
Americans and other Nations were favouring the railway type of gun for coast defence;
and it was considered that this weapon would be of interest to artillery students
in Australia.
The British Army in France towards the end of the War had several 14 inch
railway guns and also an 18 inch weapon on railway mounting.
After capture the trophy was removed to Paris and exhibited in the Champs
de Mars where it attracted much attention.
It had been in the first instance inscribed 'Captured by the 3lst
Battalion A.I.F." but this was altered to "Captured by the British IVth Army",
which inscription it bore until its arrival in Australia.
In October 1918 it was moved to Calais and thence in February 1919 by
train ferry across the Channel to Richborough the famous "Hush" port and base near
Deal in England.
From Richborough it was subsequently moved to Woolwich for detailed
examination and test by British naval and military experts and finally to Chatham
Dockyard.
Owing to the top loading gauge being too great with the gun mounted on
its carriage to pass under the tunnels of the S.E. and Chatham railway it was
arranged for the gun to travel separately from the mounting to Woolwich. The
Woolwich tests being completed arrangements were made to transport the prize to
Australia by one of several vessels of the Commonwealth line. Amongst these were
the Gilgai, Araluen, etc.
On several occasions after full preparations had been made to ship the
gun, at the last moment arrangements were cancelled and it looked as though the
trophy would never reach Australia.
The masters of several vessels made no secret of the fact that it was a risky
job to stow such a bulky, awkward and weighty cargo in any ship likely to encounter
rough seas.
Eventually, however, Capt. Waldron, a wellknown sea captain who in pre-war days had commanded the S.S. "Ferret" between Albany and Esperance, W.A and
at this time captain of S.S. "Dongarra" was approached. He readily assented and
stated that he regarded the task as a great privilege.
 

Admiral Goodenough, son of a wellknown naval officer who took a prominent part
in the survey of the Australian coast in the early days, was at this period Admiral
Superintendent at Chatham.
He also entered most enthusiastically into the scheme and made all
arrangements to load the trophy into the "Dongarra" at Chatham Dockyard, provided
the Woolwich Arsenal authorities placed it under the big crane at The Basin. He
had the Basin cleared of all shipping to facilitate the movement of the "Dongarra"
and permit of loading being effected at flood tide.
A model in wood had been made of the undercarriage and of the hatch of
the "Dongarra" to test whether this huge structure would dip correctly into the
hatch; and in due course the whole of the parts of the actual trophy totalling
185 tons were safely loaded without mishap. In London two important factors had
to be considered prior to finalizing arrangements; firstly the question of railway
gauge at the port of disembarkation and secondly the availability of a suitable
crane to take the huge weights from ship to rail.
It was obvious that the port of disembarkation must be in N.S.W.
The General Manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary (Mr. Delprat) happened
to be in London at the time and offered to place all the Company's facilities and
skilled personnel at Newcastle at our disposal.
Mr. Shellshear, Consulting Engineer of the N.S.W. Railways in London, gave
valuable advice on the matter of axle loads on the Hawkesbury Bridge. The axle
load of the whole trophy complete was 18 tons, which would have exceeded the safe
load for the bridge.
With the gun removed the axle load was 1l tons only and it was therefore
arranged for the gun to travel on two flat trucks as a separate unit. Just at
this time however, information was received in London that the naval floating
crane "Titan" was available in Sydney and was capable of handling weights up
to 200 tons. This solved the problem and a cable was despatched to Cockatoo
Dock, Sydney, asking for the bogeys, central pivot, undercarriage and gun to be
unloaded from the "Dongarra" in Sydney direct on to the rails. This was done
at Jones Bay, Darling Harbour, but as three (3) reserve guns of H.M.A.S. Australia
had been loaded into the "Dongarra" on top of the German gun these were first
unloaded by the "Titan" at Garden Island.
The N.S.W. railway workshops at Everleigh with the assistance of
Lt. Pockett, A.A.O.C. assembled all fittings and parts.
The Premier (Mr. Holman) had been asked from London to have an existing
railway track at Central Station extended to Eddy Avenue and to have a ramp
 

constructed for the trophy to rest on. This the Premier agreed to do and when the
parts had been assembled at the Workshops the complete trophy was pushed down by
an engine onto the ramp. Owing to the great weight the lines sank slightly
immediately under the two bogeys and the gun and mounting were drawn back by
engine to allow two plates to be inserted under the lines to strengthen them.
When pushing the trophy back to its new strengthened bed the brakes failed to act
and one bogey ran over the end of the ramp, portion of the undercarriage being in
mid-air for come days. By the use of powerful jacks railway engineers skilfully
replaced the trophy in its correct position.
Arrangements were made with the Australian General Electric Coy. to
flood-light the trophy by night for some weeks prior to and during the visit of
H.R.H. The Prince of Wales who inspected and greatly admired it. Thousands of
people passing by day and night viewed the trophy until it was eventually moved
to its present and final resting place at Canberra where it will remain as a
magnificent monument to the 3lst Battalion A.I.F., to the victory of the 6th
August and to the work of the whole of the A.I.F.
The following facts in connection with the trophy may be of interest:-
Weight of gun (only) - 45 tons.
Length of gun (only) - 36 ft. 9 inches.
Greatest diameter  - -  45.5 inches.
Diameter of bore (at muggle) - 11.2 inches.
Maximum range -  26,000 yards.
Undercarriage  -      80 tons.
Bogeys (2) -   - each 15 tons.
Central pivot -  10 tons.
Total weight of gun, mounting, parts, fittings etc. - 185 tons.
Length of carriage - 72 ft. (overall).
Length of carriage - 55 ft. (stripped).
Width of carriage -  8 ft. 8 in.
Width of carriage (stripped) - 6 ft. 6 in.
Height of gun above rails -  13 ft. 8 in.
28 c.m. (11.2 inch) Naval Shell.
Shell complete - 665.8 lbs.

GE Manchester

Lt Col

Australian Staff Corps
 

REVEILLE
July 1, 1934.
GREATEST WAR TROPHY
31st Battalion's Capture on France
see article - original document ( transcribed in pages 1-2)
 

669.

of some of the Black Line  staffs and commanders, and a dangerous degree of
inaccuracy in the barrage were responsible - the whole of the
final objective between the Blauwepoortbeek valley and the Douve
had by 9 p.m. been left open to the enemy.
[*(8-point)*]
German narratives imply that the whole
of the line thus left empty was reoccupied
by German troops, but this is almost
certainly wrong. The counter-attacking
German troops, whom the 47th had in part
repulsed, belonged to the 1st Guard
Reserve and 5th Bavarian R.I. Regiments,
whichchad been coming up throughout the
afternoon. The 18th Bavarian I.R. was
relieved that night by the III/1stGuard
Reserve Regiment, which ^ which thereafter under bxxx took over the Oostaverne line in
the Blauwepoortbeek valley.
Space line  → diagram -see original
As a result of  the same ^ similar causes^ to those , that forced the retirement
near Huns' Walk, the northern section of/ the II Anzac troops was
[*II Anzac. plunged into almost equal difficulties. Here the
Northern
front*] 
plunged into almost equal difficulties. Here the 
position had been strengthened since 5 p.m. After
the capture of Van Hove Farm Captain Maxwell had asked the two
unengaged tanks to move forward towards Joye Farm. While working
down the Wambeek valley both became ditched, but, as they were
(TAKE IN SKETCH No. 262 251)
in a position to serve as forts opposing any attack up the
valley, their crews stayed and manned them throughout the night.
Fragments of the 33rd Brigade, which came up and asked their way,
were directed by Maxwell to fill the gaps. While seeking for
such troops on his left flank, he obtained touch with some on
the Black Dotted Line of the IX Corps. Although these could not
come forward, they would were a  safeguard ^to the left. ¹⁴
_________________________________________________________________
14 # The intelligence officer of the 33rd Brigade had told him ^Maxwell that
there were troops back along the railway line in the Wambeek
valley. The 6th Border afterwards obtained touch here with the
12th Royal Irish Rifles holding the 36th Division's Black Dotted
Line. These were forbidden by their orders from reinforcing in
the Oosttaverne Line.
_________________________________________________________________
Since 5 p.m. the 13th Brigade's advanced line on the
Wambeek had been troubled by the short-shooting of a heavy
battery on its left and of eighteen-pounders on its right.
Several messages had been sent asking for range to be lengthened,

773
 

paper extract - see original ( transcribed in pages 3 &4) 

 

668A.
immediately brought back. Major Story, who had not wished the
barrage to be shortened, asked his brigadier (McNicoll) first,
that it should be lengthened to the afternoon's objective, and,
later, that it should be still further lengthened so that the
37th might go back to the advanced line.
Thus, owing to the action of its own artillery - for which
defects in the maps, over-eagerness of the infantry, over-anxiety
772
 

November, 1929.

9
VICTORIAN POSTAL INSTITUTE MAGAZINE.
The Battle of Amiens
WTHTHE FIFTEENTH BRIGADE ON Sth AUGUST,
1918.
By J. J. McKenna.

printed page  and sketch- see original.

 

10
VICTORIAN POSTAL INSTITUTE MAGAZINE.
November, 1929.

printed page  - see original.