You would scarcely realise it from what the world has heard, but I think
that the hardest battle ever fought by Australians was probably the
battle of Pozières Ridge.

There have been four distinct battles fought by the Australian troops on
the Somme since they made their first charge from the British trenches
near Pozières. The first was the heavy three days' fight by which they
took Pozières village. The second was the fight in which they tried to
rush the German second line along the hill-crest behind Pozières. The
third was the attack in which this second line was broken by them along
a front of a mile and a half. The fourth has been the long fight which
immediately began along the German second line northwards from the new
position, along the ridge towards Mouquet Farm. It has been hard
fighting all the way, and what was three weeks ago a German salient
into the British line is now a big Australian salient into the German
line. But I think that the hardest fight of all was that of the second
and third phases--the battle for Pozières Ridge.

Pozières village itself was not on the crest of the hill. It was on the
British side of it, where the German was naturally hanging on because it
was almost the highest point in his position and gave him a view over
miles of our territory. On the other hand, the German main second line
behind Pozières was practically on the summit; in some parts farther
north it was actually on or just over the summit. It was from two to
seven hundred yards beyond the village itself.

The German line on the hill-crest was attacked as soon as ever the
village was properly cleared. The Australians went at it in the night
across a wide strip of waste hill-top. The thistles there, and the brown