Returned ANZACs,
Territory ANZACs,
First World War, 1914-1918,
Place of birth
Port Augusta (S. Aust.),
Place of enlistment
Darwin,
Date of enlistment
1915-12-09,
Age
34,
Occupation
Pastoralist's manager,
Service
Australian Imperial Force,
Unit
41st Battalion, A Company,
Rank
Lance Corporal,
Service number
223,
Next of kin
Alfred Martin - Father ; North Fremantle, Western Australia.,
Date of death
1970-02-16,
Place of death
Perth (W.A.),
History
Served in the Boer War 2883 4th Battalion Commonwealth Horse. Unit embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A64 "Demosthenes" on 18 May 1916 Returned to Australia 31 January 1918.
He "Enlisted with a party from Wave Hill and Victoria River Downs" (Geddes p.51)
No. 223, Lance Corporal A. Martin 41st Battalion A Company, writes from Flanders to a friend under date 13th June, as follows:
Just a few lines to show that I am still on top. My division has passed through the greatest battle the world has ever seen. The eager dawn of the 7th June saw the start of the titanic struggle. The terrible bombardment was heard in England, 100 miles away, so you can guess what it was like to be in it. The Australians advanced far better than they ever did on parade which proves they are soldiers and fighting men nothing on earth can beat. I stood and watched the first wave go over. You could see the long line of khaki colour advancing on the dark grey line of German infantry. There was a sudden lurch of our front line and in the early sunlight you could see the flash of bayonets; then a slight pause, and once more that awful wave moved on, and backed by our perfect artillery fire, nothing on earth could stop it. It was now our turn to go over. I had led my section across No Man Land. and was getting on well, when all of a sudden I thought I had struck the centre of Hell. From the front, the right, and from the sky came showers of steel and lead. A great shell passed through our ranks and tore the ground from under us. Machine gun bullets and schrapnel tore the flesh and clothes to threads, But on we went. Blinded by tear shell, and checked by fumes and dust, we got through somehow, at least, those that were living, and went to the place we were told to go. The German dead, in places, lay in heaps; the expression of horror plainly written on the faces of the dead told how terrible must have been our barrage. German strong holds, which Hindenburg said nothing on earth could take were swept away as though they had never been. The Prussian Guard was hurled against us only too be broken and hurled back. Within a few hours. They tried all kinds of counter attacks, all 'kinds of liquid fire, and even a base barrage on our front line, but it was of no use. What the Australians had they held, and still moved on. The Germans in the end ran like sheep, and I don't blame them. A few days before the attack the Kaiser, in a speech to the Prussian Guard, told them to take no prisoners on this part of the front. I think it was a case of the chickens coming home to roost. But we gave them a square deal; that is the Saxons. They treat our wounded well, also any prisoners they take; but we are mostly up against the Prussian Guard, and the fighting between, us is to a finish, and very bitter. They cannot stand being beaten by what they call "The Convict Army of Australia. France 27.6.17. NTTG 8 November 1917.,
Subject
Australia. Army. Australian and New Zealand Army Corps,
History,
World War, 1914-1918,
Northern Territory,
ANZAC,
Related links
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=2017138,
http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/AWM8/23_58_1/PDF/0208.pdf,
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/war_diaries/first_world_war/subclass.asp?levelID=1802,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9877020,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3286317,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38686275,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38686275 [Darwin Returned Servicemens' League (RSL) : a concise history of its conception and development by Clive Francis (Frank) Geddes. Darwin : Clive Francis Geddes, 2011: p. 51.],
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1067791/RCDIG1067791--208-.JPG [Embarkation Roll],
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=2017138 [Service Record],
http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/nominal_rolls/first_world_war/page/R1556659/ [Nominal Roll],
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3286317 ["Our boys at the Front - Some graphic letters", Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 8 November 1917: p.21.],
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/war_diaries/first_world_war/subclass.asp?levelID=1802 [Unit War Diary],
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9877020 [The Forty First, compiled by members of the Intelligence Staff. Perth, W.A. : John Burridge, 1992.],