The 8th Brigade joined the newly raised 5th Australian Division in Egypt and proceeded to France, destined for the Western Front, in June 1916. The 29th Battalion fought its first major battle at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. The nature of this battle was summed up as:

"the novelty of being a soldier wore off in about five seconds, it was like a bloody butcher's shop".

Although it still spent periods in the front line, the 29th played no major offensive role for the rest of the year.

Source: Australian War Memorial

The Battle of Fromelles

The 29th’s role was to be a ‘fourth’ battalion on the left flank of the attack. With the 30th they were to provide support for the attacking 31st and 32nd Battalions by digging trenches, carrying supplies/ammunition and to be called in as reserves if needed for the fighting.

The original attack was planned for the 17th, but bad weather caused it to be postponed.

On 19 July the 29th were in the rear trenches, ready for the attack.

The 32nd’s charge over the parapet began at 5.53 PM and the 31st’s at 5.58 PM. There were machine guns emplacements to their left and directly ahead at Delrangre Farm and there was heavy artillery fire in No-Man’s-Land. The initial assaults were successful and by 6.30 PM the Aussies were in control of the German’s 1st line system, which was described as:

`“practically a ditch with from 1 to 2 feet of mud and slush at the bottom”. `

[[Source: AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 11]]

By 8 PM, A & D Companies began to carry bombs and supplies to the front trenches.

The Australians’ left flank had also come under heavy bombardment with high explosives and shrapnel. Return bombardment support was provided and the 32nd was told:

`“the trenches were to be held at all costs”. `

[[Source: AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 12]]

At 10 PM, additional support was being requested and C and D Companies joined in. Unfortunately, they found that a number of the grenades they were carrying had no fuses.

The Germans counter attacked and at 2 AM and A and D Companies were drawn into the fighting. B and C Companies were also engaged, continuing to carry supplies and providing cover for soldiers who were retiring from the battle:

` “After a struggle in No-Man’s Land, the Germans were content to stop at their own trench.”` [[Source: AWM4 23/46/12, 29th Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 7]]

Fighting continued through the night. At 4 AM the Germans began an attack from the Australian’s left flank, bombing and advancing into the communications trench. Given the Australian advances that had been made earlier, portions of the rearward trench had been left almost empty, which then enabled the Germans to be in a position to surround the advanced soldiers.

As the Australian attack had been halted, they became exposed in a salient jutting into the German lines and were quickly enfiladed by German machine guns. “In the end, they basically had to fight their way back to their own lines, 'run for it', or be killed wounded or captured.” [[Source: 29th Battalion VWMA https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/111]]

In the morning the battle was over. The 29th were left to hold the front line and, even though a cease fire was not in effect, were busily bringing back a large number of wounded during the day and night. The nature of this battle was summed up by Private Jim Cleworth (784) from the 29th:

`"The novelty of being a soldier wore off in about five seconds, it was like a bloody butcher's shop".` [[Source: AWM, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51469]]

For a battalion supposed to be in a support role, the initial figures of the impact of the battle on the 29th was 17 soldiers died, 161 were wounded and 68 were missing.

To get some perspective of the battle, when Charles Bean, Australia’s official war historian, attended the battlefield two and half years later, he observed a large amount of bones, torn uniforms and Australian kit still on the battlefield.

Ultimately, 65 soldiers of the 29th Battalion were killed in action or died of wounds from the battle and 37 of them were unable to be identified.