Ted Harris
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Discipline?...no comment needed
Major General John F O'Ryan, commanding the US 27th Division responsible for that the northern sector of the front and the initial attack over the St Quentin Canal Hump, wrote of the Australian soldier:
"This chapter on the Hindenburg Line Battle is an appropriate place to make some observations concerning the Australian soldiers, with whom we fought on that occasion".
The Australian soldier was a distinctive type. . . The Australian army was solely a volunteer force. Not a man in it was present except by his voluntary action. This naturally affected his physical fitness and its morale. There were no troops in the war which equalled the physical standards of the Australians.
The American army had thousands, perhaps some hundreds of thousands, of men who measured up to the very best physical specimens to be found among the Australians, but we also had many thousands of men drafted into the army who were not fighting men, and who knew they were not. The Australians had none of this class.
It is true that the Australian soldier was lacking in 'smartness' of appearance and manner, and good humouredly [sic] took a seeming pride in the cold astonishment he created among others by his indifference to formality and his blunt attitude towards superior officers. But if by discipline we mean experienced and skilled team work in battle, then it must be said that the Australian troops were highly disciplined.
Their platoons and companies possessed, as did ours, a highly developed gang spirit which prompted the members of 'the gang' to work together in mutual support, but in addition to this, and by virtue of their long experience in the war, they had come to realize the essential importance of military technique.
They knew, from harsh lessons they had received in earlier battles from the harsh enemy instructor, that the shooting and bombing of the individual man at the front may be fruitless unless his group maintains contact with other groups on right and left, and at the same time sends a constant and reliable stream of information to the rear, so that the great auxiliary power of the division may be intelligently employed to aid them.
The operations and the supply technique of the Australian divisions were of the very best, and so it was that the rough-and-ready fighting spirit of the Australians had become refined by an experienced battle technique supported by staff work of the highest order.
Their record demonstrated, that for Australian troops at least, the refinements of peace-time precision in drill and military courtesy and formality were unnecessary in the attainment of battle efficiency. The Australians were probably the most effective troops employed in the war on either side."
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1/25/2005, 7:57 pm
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Paddy8
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Re: Discipline?...no comment needed
G'day Ted
O'Ryan's opinion of the AIF was conveyed by his boss Pershing in the latter's overall report to the Secretary for War. Given that this single report covered the full range of administrative & operational details of the AEF,and given Pershing's intense Nationalism, the following extract is particularly 'pleasing'.
"Co-operation with Other Units.
Other divisions attached to the Allied Armies were doing their part. It was the fortune of our 2d Corps, composed of the 27th [O'Ryan..PG] & 30th Division, which had remained with the British, to have a place of honor in co-operation with the Australian Corps on September 29 & October 1 in the assault on the Hindenburg Line where the St Quentin Canal passes through a tunnel under the ridge."
The AIF experience is also 'enshrined' in the British Parliament's Hansard. A [the?] major rationale for retaining the Death Penalty for Cowardice/Desertion is recorded as having been 'disproved' by the Australian WW1 volunteers.
ooRoo
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1/28/2005, 11:02 am
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