The 54th Battalion was raised in Egypt on 16 February 1916 as part of the "doubling" of the AIF. Half of its recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 2nd Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 2nd, the 54th was predominantly composed of men from New South Wales. The battalion became part of the 14th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division.

Moving to France in June 1916, the 54th fought its first major battle on the Western Front at Fromelles, on 19 July. It was a disaster. The 54th was part of the initial assault and suffered casualties equivalent to 65 per cent of its fighting strength. Casualty rates among the rest of the 5th Division were similarly high, but despite these losses it continued to man the front in the Fromelles sector for a further two months.

Source: Australian War Memorial

The Battle of Fromelles

The call to the Western Front to join with the British Expeditionary Force came on 20 June and the 982 soldiers of the 54th Battalion left Egypt. They sailed on the Caledonian for the 10 day trip to Marseilles via Malta. After disembarking in France there was a three-day train trip to Hazebrouck, 30 km west of Fleurbaix.

By July the Battalion was billeted in barns, stables and private houses in nearby Thiennes for a week. Training now included the use of gas masks and exposure to the effects of the artillery shelling. It was hoped that these tests would “inspire the men with great confidence”.

Source AWM4 23/71/6 54th Bn War Diaries July 1916 page 2

On 10 July they moved to Sailly sur la Lys and on the 11th Harold was into the trenches for the first time. The health and spirit of the troops at that time was reported as good.

After a few days getting exposed to the trenches, they moved back to billets in Bac-St-Maur. Major Roy Harrison wrote home on July 15th. With his Gallipoli experience, the tone in this letter was certainly circumspect for the upcoming battle:

“The men don’t know yet what is before them, but some suspect that there is something in the wind. It is a most pitiful thing to see them all, going about, happy and ignorant of the fact, that a matter of hours will see many of them dead; but as the French say ‘C’est la guerre’.”

FFFAIF Digger 52, The horrors of Lone Pine, Pte Reginald Cole, 3rd Bn, and Major Roy Harrison, 2nd Bn, pages 17-20 https://fffaif.org.au/

An attack was planned on the 17th, but it was delayed due to the weather. The weather soon improved and by 2.00 PM on 19 July Harold was back in the trenches, ready for the Germans. The main objective for the 54th was to take the trenches to the left of a heavily armed, elevated German defensive position, the ‘Sugar Loaf’, which dominated the front lines. If the Sugar Loaf could not be taken, the 54th and the other battalions would be subjected to murderous enfiladed fire from the machine guns and counterattacks from that direction.

As they advanced, they were to link up with the 31st and 53rd Battalions. They began to leave their trenches at 5.50 PM, moving forward in four waves – half of A & B Companies in each of the first two waves and half of C & D in the third and fourth. The first waves did not immediately charge the German lines; they went out into No-Man’s-Land and lay down, waiting for the British bombardment to lift.

At 6.00 PM, the German lines were rushed. The 54th were under heavy artillery, machine gun and rifle fire, but were able to advance rapidly. The 14th Brigade War Diary notes that the artillery had been successful and ‘very few living Germans were found in the first and second line trenches’.

Source AWM4 23/14/4, 14th Brigade War Diary July 1916 page 100

Some of the advanced trenches were just water filled ditches which needed to be fortified to be able to hold their advanced position against future attacks. There was heavy artillery, machine gun and rifle fire, but they were able to advance and link up with the 53rd on their right and, with the 31st and 32nd, occupying a line from Rouges Bancs to near Delangre Farm.

However, the 60th on their far right had been unable to advance due to the devastation from the machine gun emplacement at the Sugar Loaf, which left their right flank exposed. As the battle raged on, reinforcements and supplies were key needs for support the fighting, but Lieutenant Harris also noted the importance of ‘creature comforts’ for morale.

They held their lines through the night. However, with heavy losses and the German counterattacks, the Australians were eventually forced to retreat. This was complicated by the fact that the exposed right flank of the 54th had allowed the Germans access to the first line trench BEHIND the 54th/53rd and the German advances in the rear trenches had to repelled as they retreated.

By 7.30 AM on the 20th the 54th were pulled all the way back to Bac-St-Maur, 5 km from the front. In this very short period of time, of the 982 soldiers of the 54th that left Egypt, initial roll call counts were 73 killed, 288 wounded and 173 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, 172 soldiers from the 54th were killed in action or died from their wounds. Of this, 102 were missing.