Messines Raid

On the 4th June 1917, the 44th Battalion received sudden orders to launch a daring raid against the enemy trenches in front of Messines. Nine men were selected from each company, creating a raiding party of 36 men under Lieutenant Lintott and 2nd Lieutenant Gaze. For the preceding Nine days the British had been constantly bombarding the German trenches with artillery fire. This was timed to stop at 2 p.m. and restart again at 2:20 p.m. which gave the raiding party 20 minutes to complete their mission which was to capture at least one prisoner and any important military information.

The men went over in two waves of 18. They took the enemy by surprise, killed many Germans as well capturing useful information and five prisoners. However, the small party met stiff, determined resistance and suffered heavily. The West Australians withdrew after only seven minutes having completed all their objectives. The Germans brought up field artillery and fired on the retreat, causing extensive casualties. Many men had to hide in shell holes until they could escape at night under the cover of darkness.

One of the heavily wounded prisoners was executed by an officer as he could not cross no man’s land. One Prisoner was captured by Gaze and the other three by Lintott.

Lieutenant Lintott (C Company) had a narrow escape when a bullet hit his helmet, knocking him unconscious for five minutes. He made it safely back to friendly lines.

Private A.R. Barley was wounded during the retreat after coming under fire from German artillery. His brother, Private A.E. Barley immediately attended to him. He ripped off his clothes to use as bandages, however despite all efforts, his brother died. He returned to friendly lines at night almost clotheless and in a demented state of grief.

Out of the 38 men that took part in the raid, 13 were killed and 13 more were wounded. This gave a casualty rate of nearly 70%. The raid resulted in the awarding of One Military Cross, One Distinguished Conduct Medal and Five Military Medals.

This was the first part of the Messines campaign which the battalion would be involved in until early August. Eventually costing the lives of nearly 120 men from the battalion.

Acts of Bravery

Lieutenant Gaze (D Company) was wounded in the arm whilst leading his men into the enemy trench. For his leadership during the raid he was awarded the Military Cross.

Lance Corporal R.B. Roy (Lintott’s Party) led his section in throwing Mills bombs through a broken door cavity which killed and wounded several of the enemy. The remaining Germans who were wounded and deafened were captured. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

Sgt W. Quayle (B Company): During the initial assault after 2Lt Gaze had been wounded, Sgt Quayle rallied his men in a bombing attack. He personally killed several soldiers and forced the others to flee. Later, he managed to get safely back to his own line but upon realizing that one of his mates was stuck in the enemy wire, went back into no man’s land to rescue him. A sniper shot him in the neck and he fell alongside his friend. They were both rescued and survived, though seriously wounded. For these gallant actions he was awarded the Military Medal.

Private W.J. O’Brien (Lintott’s Party) witnessed an enemy machine gun post firing on his mates. He proceeded to kill all of them with accurate rifle fire. For this gallant action he was awarded the Military Medal.

Private L O’Donnell (Lintott’s Party) was the first man into the enemy trench. Charging with his bayonet he personally killed 10 germans with both rifle fire and thrusts of his bayonet. The last terrified German soldier surrendered. For this very gallant action he was awarded the Military Medal.

Private C.B. Pearson (Stretcher-Bearer) was attacked by two German soldiers whilst carrying his stretcher into the enemy trench. He killed both of them with his revolver and immediately began attending to two casualties and later carried a wounded man on his back over no man’s land to safety, this was all despite heavy enemy fire. For these gallant actions he was awarded the Military Medal.

Private H. N. Silverlock (Gaze’s Party) encountered a group of five German soldiers raining down fire on Gaze’s party from inside a fortified shell hole. He accurately lobbed multiple Mills bombs into the shell hole, killing all five of the enemy. Another group of Germans then tried to launch a bayonet charge but three of them were killed by Silverlock with hip fire, which forced the enemy to retreat. For these gallant actions he was mentioned in Divisional Orders.

Sources

Eggs-A-Cook: The story of the Forty-Fourth; War as the digger fought it, Chapter VIII, Page 41-42 by Capt C. Longmore.

The Westralian Battalion: The Unit History Of The 44th Battalion AIF, Chapter VI, Pages 116, 119-121 by Neville Browning OAM