The Somme offensive

Some 16 kilometres east of the French town of Amiens, just south of the River Somme, lies the small village of Villers-Bretonneux, set in the middle of extensive green fields and empty spaces. Like all other French country villages it was a beautiful, quiet spot where time stood still, until the cruel events of World War I caught up with it.

Charles Bartolo in his Australian Imperial Force uniform.

When in March 1918 the German Commander Erich von Ludendorff saw that the German positions had withdrawn too far and were in a weak state, he decided to open up an offensive to break through the British lines. Operation ‘Michelle’ was launched on March 21, 1918, and at 4.40am, 10,000 German weapons opened fire along a front line of about 70km. These bombardments on the British positions consisted mostly of gas and high-explosive shells and they continued relentlessly up to 9.35am. The final creeping barrage brought gas-masked German infantry behind it and the British forward line collapsed.

That day the British had lost a fourth of the ground they had held, about 38,500 men, 500 guns and four tanks, while the Germans suffered about 40,000 casualties.

The German pressure continued the following day, and on March 23 Ludendorff broke the German spearhead into three separate attacks – southwards, along the Somme, and south of Arras – thus hoping to split the British from the French and eventually encircle and round up their armies. However, it soon became clear that this action was to end up in failure for the British were retreating fast. The speed of the German offensive had left Ludendorff’s men without much-needed supplies, apart from a high number of casualties, especially among the storm troopers.

This was the first tank battle in the history of warfare

On March 26, a Franco-British conference was held in Doullens and a defensive line was organised around Amiens, which had become Ludendorff’s last hope. The British forces had to retreat at Moreuil on the Somme on March 30.

On April 4, 1918, the German 228th Division attacked relentlessly towards the village of Villers-Bretonneux and the Allied 14th Division had to withdraw. The Germans were less than two kilometres away from the village and fear of its immiment downfall was widespread. However, a strong counter-attack by 600 Australian and 400 British troops pushed the enemy back and two German divisions had to retreat. There were further attacks to the north and south of the village on April 5 but nothing important happened to change the general situation. Thus Villers-Bretonneux was saved.

Private Bartolo’s letter to his mother Maria.

The fall of the village would have jeopardised the city of Amiens, for the Germans would have used it to bombard and shell the city’s strategic centre. The attack on Villers-Bretonneux was the last German attack of any significance in the Somme campaign and, as a result, Ludendorff had to admit that Allied resistance in the Somme area could not be overcome.

This tiny village came under attack again and was briefly captured by the Germans on April 23. The following day, the Germans attacked Amiens using four tanks. However, they were met by three British Mark IV tanks and there was an exchange of fire. This was the first tank battle in the history of warfare.

The Germans had to retreat to Villers-Bretonneux, and that night two Australian brigades were given the job of retaking the village. By midday on April 25, the Germans had been pushed out of Villers-Bretonneux and the city of Amiens was safe again.

The Mellieħa connection

Charles Bartolo was born in Mellieħa on March 5, 1893. His parents were Maria and John-Mary Bartolo and they lived at 20, Strada Reale, now Ġorġ Borġ Olivier Street, Mellieħa. He emigrated to Australia around 1910. He resided at 77, Stanley Street, East Sydney, New South Wales, and for the next seven years he worked as a labourer.

Bartolo was seriously wounded in his head and face in a bomb explosion during the battle near the village of Villers- Bretonneux on April 6, 1918

On September 4, 1916, at the peak of World War I in Europe, when he was 23-and-a-half years old, he enrolled in the Australian Imperial Force and was registered with 17th Battalion, ex-‘Wiltshire’, number 6402. On November 11, 1916, he left Sydney on the troopship Suevic and arrived in Davenport, England, on January 30, 1917, from where, together with his regiment, he was transferred to the front in France on April 25, 1917. In March 1918 he was on sick leave in London, England, but returned to France on March 28, 1918.

Bartolo was seriously wounded in his head and face in a bomb explosion during the battle near the village of Villers-Bretonneux on April 6, 1918. His left temple was fractured, destroying his left eye in the process, and he suffered a considerable loss of skull. He suffered other injuries in his left shoulder and leg.

Bartolo’s enrollment form.

He was immediately taken to a station hospital nearby and later transferred to Norfolk War Hospital in England. Eventually he was fitted with an artificial upper left jaw. By August 27, 1919, he was back in Australia because of the serious wounds he had suffered and he was put in a home for wounded soldiers and sailors in Sydney.

In a letter sent to his mother Maria on May 28, 1920, from the Australian Jockey Club, Home for Sailors and Soldiers, in Darling Point, Sydney, Bartolo wrote that he was keeping well and that his brother had sent him a photo dressed up as a soldier as well.

With this letter, the first one since his recovery from his wounds, Bartolo also enclosed a photo of himself and an Australian friend who had been in hospital with him. He also said he was very happy where he was, at the Jockey Club, where he had free lodging and meals and also a weekly pension of £1.10 shillings. He ended his short letter by sending his best regards to all his relatives and friends in Mellieħa.

It must have been a great relief for his mother to receive this long-awaited communication from her beloved son, about whom all she knew until then was that two years earlier he had been seriously wounded in France.