I got this set in a trade with Chris Boonzaier a while back,
I had a Militärpass that interested him and offered me this set for the Militärpass I had.
He told me the main turning point of his life which is very unusual, I begun to research the unit, battles and the life of Heinrich Becker. An amazing story.
Not everyone returns from the dead... Becker did.
This is the story of Heinrich Becker's first World War.
Heinrich Becker (born 2.6.1898)
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 230, III Battallion, 8 Kompagnie (50.Reserve. Infanterie. Division)
Becker was thrown into action for the first time on 2 Septmber 1917, at Passchendaele,
one of the most horrific battles of the war.
A battle that was described afterwards by many combat hardened veterans as something you couldn't find fitting words for...
Rain, fog and rain. The mud was up to the waist, and several wounded and able bodied men drowned in the shell holes due to the rain and mud. They weren't able to crawl up from the shellholes and drowned.
Artillery fire, day and night, attacks ending up in pure massacres,
as the men stuck in the mud were being reaped down by the enemy machine gun fire.
Misery and hell are too light words to describe what happened in Passchendaele.
These lines were something a few survivors of the battle did tell.
Becker had now been fighting for 3 weeks in Passchendaele,
specifically the action of 25 September 1917 (polygon wood) Becker participated is interesting. War consumes life faster in some places than in other places.
During the third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), the 50th Reserve Division had been the Eingreif division for Gruppe Dixmude from 10 August until 19 September 1917.
The Division was moved South to Menin as reserve by the orders of the Crown Prince Rupprecht to make a Gegenangriff south of Menin to Polygon Wood against the British flank (Between the Menin Road and Polygon Wood, the south-east side of the Gheluvelt Plateau).
Group Wytschaete was to attack with the 50th Reserve Division,
which had relieved the Bavarian Ersatz Division,
to recapture 1,600 m of the Wilhelmstellung from the Menin road to Polygon Wood
and then establish a position 91–137 m further on, in order to stabilze the front
after the German defeat at Menin Road earlier on 20th of September.
Two regiments (RIR 229 & RIR 230) of the German 50th Reserve Division attacked either side of the Reutelbeek stream,
The Gegenangriff was supported by aircraft and 44 field and 20 heavy batteries of artillery,
four times the usual amount of artillery for a German division.
RIR 229 was tasked to attack on the North side and RIR 230 on the southern side.
Command of the attack was transferred to Major Litzmann, the commander of Reserve Infantry Regiment 230.
The force of the German artillery that was in support of the 50 Reserve Division's counter attack of 25 September,
was according to an intelligence report the greatest concentration of artillery on a German divisional sector ever known!
The exceptionally large amount of supporting field and heavy artillery began a bombardment at 5:15 a.m.
The German infantry immediately fired red flares, signalling that the bombardment was falling short into them, especially the III Battalion, RIR 230, south of the Reutelbeek (Heinrich's Battalion and regiment).
The troops retired until the bombardment began to creep forward at 5:30 a.m.,
then advanced behind it with the objective to recapture the Wilhelmstellung in opposite of Group Wytschaete,
about 460 m to the west from the Menin road northwards to the Reutel road south of Polygon Wood
RIR 230 (Colonel Litzmann), advanced to attack from the Reutelbeek northwards to Polygon Wood.
The enourmous amount of fired Shells in the area and destroyed all roads
and made the ground into a quagmire, shaped like the moons surface. Each hole filled with mud and water.
South of the Reutelbeek, the III Battalion of RIR 230 had advanced into the muddy ground against the front that was held by the 4th King’s. No ground was gained thus the heavy attacks and the intense shelling.
This due to the harsh terrain and the intense firing of the enemy.
One survivor of the Passchendaele campaign said
"The wounded were falling down in the mud,
unable to crawl up the edges of the muddy craters and slowly drowning in the deep mud"
The next day, 26 September 1917, RIR 230 managed to counter-attack the British near Jut Farm at about 2:00 p.m.
Troops of the RIR 230 on the Polderhoek spur, saw the British advancing behind a creeping barrage,
pushing to the south-east, towards their positions!
At a range of 1,000–1,800 m, every machine-gun and rifle opened fire, including Beckers rifle.
the British artillery being unable fully to suppress the Machine Guns of RIR 230.
Just only seven machine-guns of the 1st Company of RIR 230 fired more than 20,000 rounds at the British.
Around 8:30 p.m. the German counter-attacks against the British stopped due to the horrible casualties,
and a lull lasted for the rest of the night.
The Germans had managed to stablize the front and the battle was a German success, but at a high cost.
RIR 230 and RIR 229 had suffered a total of 1850 casualties in Polygon Wood and became one of the regiments' most bloody days.
The effect of the British attack on 26 September inflicted such casualties on the ground holding 50. Reserve Division and the Eingreif divisions in its path, that all German units in Polygon were relieved urgently and sent to rest.
The German infantry managed to advance on the flanks,
about 100 yards (91 m) near the Menin road and 600 yards (550 m) north of the Reutelbeek, close to Black Watch Corner.
This was done with the help of a number of observation and ground-attack aircraft and a box-barrage,
which obstructed the supply of ammunition to the British defenders.
The enemy had to fall back and the southern edge of Polygon wood (after recapturing some of the Wilhelm Line pillboxes near Black Watch Corner), fell into German hands.
The Allied casualties were however sewere, The 33rd Division lost 2,905 casualties
and the 5th Australian Division had 3,723 losses from 25–26 September,
the 15th Australian Brigade total being 1,203 men...
After their costly effort in the battle of Passchendaele,
they were pulled out of the line and sent to rest at a "quieter" section in Flanders
from 30 september to 30 November 1917.
This was followed by "Stellungskämpfe" in Artois from the 1. December .1917- 4. December 1917.
From 5 December 1917 until 31 January 1918 they partcipated in fights along the "Siegfriedstellung".
What followed was the " Vorbereitung für die Große Schlacht in Frankreich",
in English, Preperations for the big battle in France.
Zwischen Gozeaucourt und Vermand (Operation Michael) 21.3.1918
RIR 230 (50. Res. Inf. Div.) participated as a subordinate to the (Gruppe Kathen) XXIII Reserve Korps,
in Operation Michael the "Grosse Schlacht in Frankreich".
6.30 in the morning, 21 March 1918,
1751 German artillery pieces open fire at the enemy position in a massive three-hour long barrage,
spewing horror and death in the terrible "trommelfeuer". The sound of the guns can be heard far away as the Kaiserschlacht´s
opening moment had begun, a moment that Germany had waited for was finally here.
The armsitance of Russia meant that hundreds of thousands German battle hardened troops could be transported to
the "Westfront".
At 9.40 in the morning, the canons silenced and the German armies charged and smashed through the enemy lines
as the Sturmtruppen went over the top, followed by waves after waves of infantery.
The 2.Armee (including the 50. Res. Inf. Div.) had as objective to attack the enemy positions north of Péronne on the front line of Vendhuille - Hargicourt.
The "Gruppe Kathen" (XXIII Res. Korps) was tasked to make the actual big breakthrough in the battle.
The Korps, had a concentration on the left flank they gained a foothold
on the heights west of Nurlu and north of Aizecourt-le-Haut.
Not long after they carried on with the attack, by advancing towards the Tortille stream.
Breakthrough! By the end of the day "Gruppe Kathen" had managed to reach their objectives
via breaking through the enemy positions! It now seems like Germany is beginning to win the war!
The very next day, 22 March 1918 the 2. Armee was continuing the offensive and made a tactical breakthrough by breaking through the lines between Gouzeaucourt-Vermand, the center of the whole offensive.
The attack continued on the 23rd March with the goal of Bouchavesnes.
The next objective was to reach the Ancre river, and the
right flank of the 2. Armee (where the 50. Res. Div. was located) met aggressive resistance while striving to reach the Ancre...
The 24th March, the 2. Armee had fought it's way through and now stood in front of the gates of Péronne
and managed to recapture the lands that had been lost and been annihilated and desolated during the battle of the Somme the previous year.
On the night of the 24th to the 25th of March, the English front was ripped open
and the Germans swarmed in through the whole in the line that had been made.
The advance of the 50. Res. Inf. Div. had been stopped by the Australians
who were supported by British Tanks in the counter attacks!
In battles of persecution (Verfolgungskämpfen), the troops of the 3rd Marine Division, the 9th, 50th,
and 54th Reserve Division at Contalmaison, managed to cross the Ancre and to invade the city of Albert on March 27th.
The villages of Framerville, Proyart, and Morcourt fell into German hands aswell.
Parts of the British 1st Cavalry Division had crossed the river and occupied Bouzencourt.
The ANZAC units advanced on the Albert-Amiens road and on both sides of the Römerstrasse to Villers-Bretonneux,
leading hundreds of tanks to counter-attack.
March 28th, the Germans made a large effort to push forward in the north,
but a bit more south between Hebuterne and Dernancourt, only local attacks were made by the Germans with minor success.
By the end of March, the allied had realised how much was threatened by the German offensive so they begun a large counterattack. it was now the Germans were on the defensive and counter-attacked as well the British attacks
The battles raged in a number of areas, the following Allied forces were around the area of 50. Res. Inf. Div.:
the 4th Brigade at Hebuterne – 10th and 11th Brigades at Morlancour,
with the 9th Brigade stopping the Germans around Villers –Bretonneux.
However the hardest fighting involved the 12th and 13th Brigades on the railway embankment at Dernancourt – this was one of the strongest attacks by the Germans against the Australians forces ever.
It was here at Dernancourt the fate of Operation Micheael would be decided, and perhaps even the course of the war, would the Germans manage to get the allies on their knees in France.
the 50. Res.Inf.Div. stationed at Dernancourt would now be ready to give it all to make a breakthrough,
and the Australians would be equally motivated to make the line hold against the superior enemy force.
April 5. 1918, Dernancourt
The 50. Reserve Division was stationed to fight in Dernancourt in early April.
A German victory at Dernancourt would penetrate the British front line and rip the line open for them and give access to them for an unopposed approach to the vital railway centre of Amiens.
This made the railway line through Dernancourt a very important part of the Battle.
On the Allied side of Dernancourt:
On the 28th March the day Gough was relieved by the
the 4th Australian Division under the command of Maj Gen Ewen Sinclair-MacLagan. They had moved into the battle area north of the river Ancre at Dernancourt.
Outside the village of Dernancourt was a railway line and embankment running North and South,
to the East was the river Ancre.
The Germans occupied the village and were dug into the railway embankment on its eastern side just outside of the village.
By the 5th April 1918 a dense mist which restricted visibility to 180 metres over the railway embankment which would cause trouble to the Germans.
The Bombardment on the Australians begun early in the moring and
three German Divisions attacked in a line through the thick fog in the desolated field.
After the German bombardment had ended at 7.am. the German attack begun with Heinrich Becker among them in the first line.
He must have felt fear and pride simultaneously while running towards the enemy lines as he had been the previous day (4.4.1918) awarded the Iron Cross 2.Class.
Most likely for his actions in late March and early April during the capture of Dernancourt and while repulsing the fierce counter attacks of the Allied forces.
A German Division attacking each of the Australian Battalions.
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 230 and Becker along with his regiment attacked the 47th Australian Battalion (Qeenslanders & Tasmanian)
Due to the density of the fog, the Australian signal flares could not be seen
and the artillery fire which could have broken up the attack was never launched.
The Germans broke through, causing heavy casualties for the Australians.
This allowed the Germans to infiltrate the lines of the other battalions,
the Australians had to withdraw to avoid captivity or death from the attack of the German war machine.
The assault by the Germans against the two brigades of the 4th Australian Division at Dernancour was the strongest ever met by Australian troops and it was very difficult to resist.
Yet the Aussie forces held the line and the Germans were left bitterly frustrated that their main offensive against Amiens was on the edge to fail.
At (5.15pm) a counter attack was launched by the Australian 45th Battalion (NSW) and the 49th Battalion (Qld)
supported by the other battalions- the 4th Australian Division knew that it was now fighting with its back to the wall.
The Germans knew they had to breakthrough once more and withstand the counter attacks.
Many Australians were killed while leaving their trenches and most were killed by machine gun fire which has also been described as the heaviest encountered by the Australians (Heavy and dark days for the Australians it seems).
The battle ended in a fierce bayonet charge and hand to hand fighting,
By 6.30pm the Germans were in full retreat. Germany had lost the battle and the end was drawing close.
Only 7 months later would the First World War end.
At the end of the battle thousands had been killed or wounded and the battle was lost for the Germans.
Heinrich Becker was one of the casualties as he had been lightly wounded. As stated in his Militärpass
"Leicht Verwundet bei Dernancourt 5.4.1918"
An Australian Historian describes the Australian counter attack as “one of the finest ever carried out by Australian troops”.
By the end of the offensive the Australians were responsible for halting the German advance between Albert and Dernancourt.
The Australians not only held their positions but counter attacked and the Germans were stopped.
It is recorded in a German Regimental History that
“The enemy’s defence was so strong that a further advance was not to be thought of”.
Ludendorf called off the offensive and Operation Michael after the events at Dernancourt!
Whilst the Australians were victorious, they suffered 1,233 casualties:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribute to the Australian 47th battalion who faced RIR 230 in Dernancourt 5 April 1918:
They were to be called into some of the Allies most bloody campaigns,
chance often found them in the worst places within those battles.
Finally, at the Battle of Dernancourt they fought in the 4th Division’s titanic struggle to save Amiens
from the great German offensive of 1918. It was at Dernancourt that the 47th Battalion found itself squarely in the path of the heaviest attack ever faced by Australians in this or any war.
Fatally weakened by their losses, and under a cloud after the formal inquiry into the battle, the 47th Battalion was broken up. For the Queenslanders and Tasmanians of the 47th Battalion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Becker - Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse, awarded on the 4.4.1918 during fights of Dernancourt
Verwundung 5.4.1918 bei Dernancourt
After making a recovery from the wounds he sustained at Dernancourt,
Becker returned as a rifle man to his new regiment 31. May 1918, the 73. Füsilier Regiment.
Just a month later (28.6.1918) he was sent to be trained with a Machine Gun and become a Machine Gunner.
13th of July he returned to his original Division (50. Res. Div.) as a Machine Gunner.
The end of the German empire was drawing near as he returned to the front,
only to take part in the battle of Soissons where
almost all ground he had been fighting for in the Spring Offensive 1918 along with thousands of others was lost.
Only to be thrown in to the Abwehrschlachten in Marne and retreating to the Vesle river from 26 July to 3rd of August.
During the battles and the retreat towards Reims, the worn out German army had to make several frustrating defensive battles in August and September, and retreat.
Exactly two months had passed since Becker returned to the front, 19th of September 1918,
Heinrich Becker was killed by a direct hit by an Artillery shell which was written in his Militärpass.
His superiors were kind enough to inform his family with a letter where it was informed he had fallen in battle,
due to a "Volltreffer" of an artillery shell and there was no body to recover.
The newspapers ran death announcements of him, another son of Germany had fallen while protecting Germany.
Entry from his Militärpass where he is listed as KIA from a direct hit of an Artillery grenade.
Letter to his father which informs he has been killed.
A pair of his death cards.
The story of most people end when they've died, but not Becker's.
Roughly a year and a half later in mid February 1920, he returns home, ALIVE!
He wasn't killed by the direct Artillery hit, perhaps wounded, but not killed. He had been captured alive by the advancing enemy who took him as a prisoner.
His "Entlassungsschein" where it says he has been released from a POW camp.
As well an entry in his Militärpass he's been released from being a prisoner of war (on the same page where he is listed as dead).
It's an amazing story of a dead man once again walking, he returned officially from the dead.
Heinrich Becker from Göttingen can aswell be found in the official Verlustlisten as earlier wounded (the Dernancourt wound)
and later listed as Gefallen, "dead".
Allied intelligence rated the division and it's regiments as second class,
and noted its tough fighting in numerous battles during the War.
Losses during the war were staggering of the 230 Reserve Infanterie Regiment:
79 Offiziere, 3842 Unteroffiziere und Mannschaften
Thank you for reading and looking!
His drivers license from 1928 with a picture of him.
I had a Militärpass that interested him and offered me this set for the Militärpass I had.
He told me the main turning point of his life which is very unusual, I begun to research the unit, battles and the life of Heinrich Becker. An amazing story.
Not everyone returns from the dead... Becker did.
This is the story of Heinrich Becker's first World War.
Heinrich Becker (born 2.6.1898)
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 230, III Battallion, 8 Kompagnie (50.Reserve. Infanterie. Division)
Becker was thrown into action for the first time on 2 Septmber 1917, at Passchendaele,
one of the most horrific battles of the war.
A battle that was described afterwards by many combat hardened veterans as something you couldn't find fitting words for...
Rain, fog and rain. The mud was up to the waist, and several wounded and able bodied men drowned in the shell holes due to the rain and mud. They weren't able to crawl up from the shellholes and drowned.
Artillery fire, day and night, attacks ending up in pure massacres,
as the men stuck in the mud were being reaped down by the enemy machine gun fire.
Misery and hell are too light words to describe what happened in Passchendaele.
These lines were something a few survivors of the battle did tell.
Becker had now been fighting for 3 weeks in Passchendaele,
specifically the action of 25 September 1917 (polygon wood) Becker participated is interesting. War consumes life faster in some places than in other places.
During the third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), the 50th Reserve Division had been the Eingreif division for Gruppe Dixmude from 10 August until 19 September 1917.
The Division was moved South to Menin as reserve by the orders of the Crown Prince Rupprecht to make a Gegenangriff south of Menin to Polygon Wood against the British flank (Between the Menin Road and Polygon Wood, the south-east side of the Gheluvelt Plateau).
Group Wytschaete was to attack with the 50th Reserve Division,
which had relieved the Bavarian Ersatz Division,
to recapture 1,600 m of the Wilhelmstellung from the Menin road to Polygon Wood
and then establish a position 91–137 m further on, in order to stabilze the front
after the German defeat at Menin Road earlier on 20th of September.
Two regiments (RIR 229 & RIR 230) of the German 50th Reserve Division attacked either side of the Reutelbeek stream,
The Gegenangriff was supported by aircraft and 44 field and 20 heavy batteries of artillery,
four times the usual amount of artillery for a German division.
RIR 229 was tasked to attack on the North side and RIR 230 on the southern side.
Command of the attack was transferred to Major Litzmann, the commander of Reserve Infantry Regiment 230.
The force of the German artillery that was in support of the 50 Reserve Division's counter attack of 25 September,
was according to an intelligence report the greatest concentration of artillery on a German divisional sector ever known!
The exceptionally large amount of supporting field and heavy artillery began a bombardment at 5:15 a.m.
The German infantry immediately fired red flares, signalling that the bombardment was falling short into them, especially the III Battalion, RIR 230, south of the Reutelbeek (Heinrich's Battalion and regiment).
The troops retired until the bombardment began to creep forward at 5:30 a.m.,
then advanced behind it with the objective to recapture the Wilhelmstellung in opposite of Group Wytschaete,
about 460 m to the west from the Menin road northwards to the Reutel road south of Polygon Wood
RIR 230 (Colonel Litzmann), advanced to attack from the Reutelbeek northwards to Polygon Wood.
The enourmous amount of fired Shells in the area and destroyed all roads
and made the ground into a quagmire, shaped like the moons surface. Each hole filled with mud and water.
South of the Reutelbeek, the III Battalion of RIR 230 had advanced into the muddy ground against the front that was held by the 4th King’s. No ground was gained thus the heavy attacks and the intense shelling.
This due to the harsh terrain and the intense firing of the enemy.
One survivor of the Passchendaele campaign said
"The wounded were falling down in the mud,
unable to crawl up the edges of the muddy craters and slowly drowning in the deep mud"
The next day, 26 September 1917, RIR 230 managed to counter-attack the British near Jut Farm at about 2:00 p.m.
Troops of the RIR 230 on the Polderhoek spur, saw the British advancing behind a creeping barrage,
pushing to the south-east, towards their positions!
At a range of 1,000–1,800 m, every machine-gun and rifle opened fire, including Beckers rifle.
the British artillery being unable fully to suppress the Machine Guns of RIR 230.
Just only seven machine-guns of the 1st Company of RIR 230 fired more than 20,000 rounds at the British.
Around 8:30 p.m. the German counter-attacks against the British stopped due to the horrible casualties,
and a lull lasted for the rest of the night.
The Germans had managed to stablize the front and the battle was a German success, but at a high cost.
RIR 230 and RIR 229 had suffered a total of 1850 casualties in Polygon Wood and became one of the regiments' most bloody days.
The effect of the British attack on 26 September inflicted such casualties on the ground holding 50. Reserve Division and the Eingreif divisions in its path, that all German units in Polygon were relieved urgently and sent to rest.
The German infantry managed to advance on the flanks,
about 100 yards (91 m) near the Menin road and 600 yards (550 m) north of the Reutelbeek, close to Black Watch Corner.
This was done with the help of a number of observation and ground-attack aircraft and a box-barrage,
which obstructed the supply of ammunition to the British defenders.
The enemy had to fall back and the southern edge of Polygon wood (after recapturing some of the Wilhelm Line pillboxes near Black Watch Corner), fell into German hands.
The Allied casualties were however sewere, The 33rd Division lost 2,905 casualties
and the 5th Australian Division had 3,723 losses from 25–26 September,
the 15th Australian Brigade total being 1,203 men...
After their costly effort in the battle of Passchendaele,
they were pulled out of the line and sent to rest at a "quieter" section in Flanders
from 30 september to 30 November 1917.
This was followed by "Stellungskämpfe" in Artois from the 1. December .1917- 4. December 1917.
From 5 December 1917 until 31 January 1918 they partcipated in fights along the "Siegfriedstellung".
What followed was the " Vorbereitung für die Große Schlacht in Frankreich",
in English, Preperations for the big battle in France.
Zwischen Gozeaucourt und Vermand (Operation Michael) 21.3.1918
RIR 230 (50. Res. Inf. Div.) participated as a subordinate to the (Gruppe Kathen) XXIII Reserve Korps,
in Operation Michael the "Grosse Schlacht in Frankreich".
6.30 in the morning, 21 March 1918,
1751 German artillery pieces open fire at the enemy position in a massive three-hour long barrage,
spewing horror and death in the terrible "trommelfeuer". The sound of the guns can be heard far away as the Kaiserschlacht´s
opening moment had begun, a moment that Germany had waited for was finally here.
The armsitance of Russia meant that hundreds of thousands German battle hardened troops could be transported to
the "Westfront".
At 9.40 in the morning, the canons silenced and the German armies charged and smashed through the enemy lines
as the Sturmtruppen went over the top, followed by waves after waves of infantery.
The 2.Armee (including the 50. Res. Inf. Div.) had as objective to attack the enemy positions north of Péronne on the front line of Vendhuille - Hargicourt.
The "Gruppe Kathen" (XXIII Res. Korps) was tasked to make the actual big breakthrough in the battle.
The Korps, had a concentration on the left flank they gained a foothold
on the heights west of Nurlu and north of Aizecourt-le-Haut.
Not long after they carried on with the attack, by advancing towards the Tortille stream.
Breakthrough! By the end of the day "Gruppe Kathen" had managed to reach their objectives
via breaking through the enemy positions! It now seems like Germany is beginning to win the war!
The very next day, 22 March 1918 the 2. Armee was continuing the offensive and made a tactical breakthrough by breaking through the lines between Gouzeaucourt-Vermand, the center of the whole offensive.
The attack continued on the 23rd March with the goal of Bouchavesnes.
The next objective was to reach the Ancre river, and the
right flank of the 2. Armee (where the 50. Res. Div. was located) met aggressive resistance while striving to reach the Ancre...
The 24th March, the 2. Armee had fought it's way through and now stood in front of the gates of Péronne
and managed to recapture the lands that had been lost and been annihilated and desolated during the battle of the Somme the previous year.
On the night of the 24th to the 25th of March, the English front was ripped open
and the Germans swarmed in through the whole in the line that had been made.
The advance of the 50. Res. Inf. Div. had been stopped by the Australians
who were supported by British Tanks in the counter attacks!
In battles of persecution (Verfolgungskämpfen), the troops of the 3rd Marine Division, the 9th, 50th,
and 54th Reserve Division at Contalmaison, managed to cross the Ancre and to invade the city of Albert on March 27th.
The villages of Framerville, Proyart, and Morcourt fell into German hands aswell.
Parts of the British 1st Cavalry Division had crossed the river and occupied Bouzencourt.
The ANZAC units advanced on the Albert-Amiens road and on both sides of the Römerstrasse to Villers-Bretonneux,
leading hundreds of tanks to counter-attack.
March 28th, the Germans made a large effort to push forward in the north,
but a bit more south between Hebuterne and Dernancourt, only local attacks were made by the Germans with minor success.
By the end of March, the allied had realised how much was threatened by the German offensive so they begun a large counterattack. it was now the Germans were on the defensive and counter-attacked as well the British attacks
The battles raged in a number of areas, the following Allied forces were around the area of 50. Res. Inf. Div.:
the 4th Brigade at Hebuterne – 10th and 11th Brigades at Morlancour,
with the 9th Brigade stopping the Germans around Villers –Bretonneux.
However the hardest fighting involved the 12th and 13th Brigades on the railway embankment at Dernancourt – this was one of the strongest attacks by the Germans against the Australians forces ever.
It was here at Dernancourt the fate of Operation Micheael would be decided, and perhaps even the course of the war, would the Germans manage to get the allies on their knees in France.
the 50. Res.Inf.Div. stationed at Dernancourt would now be ready to give it all to make a breakthrough,
and the Australians would be equally motivated to make the line hold against the superior enemy force.
April 5. 1918, Dernancourt
The 50. Reserve Division was stationed to fight in Dernancourt in early April.
A German victory at Dernancourt would penetrate the British front line and rip the line open for them and give access to them for an unopposed approach to the vital railway centre of Amiens.
This made the railway line through Dernancourt a very important part of the Battle.
On the Allied side of Dernancourt:
On the 28th March the day Gough was relieved by the
the 4th Australian Division under the command of Maj Gen Ewen Sinclair-MacLagan. They had moved into the battle area north of the river Ancre at Dernancourt.
Outside the village of Dernancourt was a railway line and embankment running North and South,
to the East was the river Ancre.
The Germans occupied the village and were dug into the railway embankment on its eastern side just outside of the village.
By the 5th April 1918 a dense mist which restricted visibility to 180 metres over the railway embankment which would cause trouble to the Germans.
The Bombardment on the Australians begun early in the moring and
three German Divisions attacked in a line through the thick fog in the desolated field.
After the German bombardment had ended at 7.am. the German attack begun with Heinrich Becker among them in the first line.
He must have felt fear and pride simultaneously while running towards the enemy lines as he had been the previous day (4.4.1918) awarded the Iron Cross 2.Class.
Most likely for his actions in late March and early April during the capture of Dernancourt and while repulsing the fierce counter attacks of the Allied forces.
A German Division attacking each of the Australian Battalions.
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 230 and Becker along with his regiment attacked the 47th Australian Battalion (Qeenslanders & Tasmanian)
Due to the density of the fog, the Australian signal flares could not be seen
and the artillery fire which could have broken up the attack was never launched.
The Germans broke through, causing heavy casualties for the Australians.
This allowed the Germans to infiltrate the lines of the other battalions,
the Australians had to withdraw to avoid captivity or death from the attack of the German war machine.
The assault by the Germans against the two brigades of the 4th Australian Division at Dernancour was the strongest ever met by Australian troops and it was very difficult to resist.
Yet the Aussie forces held the line and the Germans were left bitterly frustrated that their main offensive against Amiens was on the edge to fail.
At (5.15pm) a counter attack was launched by the Australian 45th Battalion (NSW) and the 49th Battalion (Qld)
supported by the other battalions- the 4th Australian Division knew that it was now fighting with its back to the wall.
The Germans knew they had to breakthrough once more and withstand the counter attacks.
Many Australians were killed while leaving their trenches and most were killed by machine gun fire which has also been described as the heaviest encountered by the Australians (Heavy and dark days for the Australians it seems).
The battle ended in a fierce bayonet charge and hand to hand fighting,
By 6.30pm the Germans were in full retreat. Germany had lost the battle and the end was drawing close.
Only 7 months later would the First World War end.
At the end of the battle thousands had been killed or wounded and the battle was lost for the Germans.
Heinrich Becker was one of the casualties as he had been lightly wounded. As stated in his Militärpass
"Leicht Verwundet bei Dernancourt 5.4.1918"
An Australian Historian describes the Australian counter attack as “one of the finest ever carried out by Australian troops”.
By the end of the offensive the Australians were responsible for halting the German advance between Albert and Dernancourt.
The Australians not only held their positions but counter attacked and the Germans were stopped.
It is recorded in a German Regimental History that
“The enemy’s defence was so strong that a further advance was not to be thought of”.
Ludendorf called off the offensive and Operation Michael after the events at Dernancourt!
Whilst the Australians were victorious, they suffered 1,233 casualties:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribute to the Australian 47th battalion who faced RIR 230 in Dernancourt 5 April 1918:
They were to be called into some of the Allies most bloody campaigns,
chance often found them in the worst places within those battles.
Finally, at the Battle of Dernancourt they fought in the 4th Division’s titanic struggle to save Amiens
from the great German offensive of 1918. It was at Dernancourt that the 47th Battalion found itself squarely in the path of the heaviest attack ever faced by Australians in this or any war.
Fatally weakened by their losses, and under a cloud after the formal inquiry into the battle, the 47th Battalion was broken up. For the Queenslanders and Tasmanians of the 47th Battalion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Becker - Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse, awarded on the 4.4.1918 during fights of Dernancourt
Verwundung 5.4.1918 bei Dernancourt
After making a recovery from the wounds he sustained at Dernancourt,
Becker returned as a rifle man to his new regiment 31. May 1918, the 73. Füsilier Regiment.
Just a month later (28.6.1918) he was sent to be trained with a Machine Gun and become a Machine Gunner.
13th of July he returned to his original Division (50. Res. Div.) as a Machine Gunner.
The end of the German empire was drawing near as he returned to the front,
only to take part in the battle of Soissons where
almost all ground he had been fighting for in the Spring Offensive 1918 along with thousands of others was lost.
Only to be thrown in to the Abwehrschlachten in Marne and retreating to the Vesle river from 26 July to 3rd of August.
During the battles and the retreat towards Reims, the worn out German army had to make several frustrating defensive battles in August and September, and retreat.
Exactly two months had passed since Becker returned to the front, 19th of September 1918,
Heinrich Becker was killed by a direct hit by an Artillery shell which was written in his Militärpass.
His superiors were kind enough to inform his family with a letter where it was informed he had fallen in battle,
due to a "Volltreffer" of an artillery shell and there was no body to recover.
The newspapers ran death announcements of him, another son of Germany had fallen while protecting Germany.
Entry from his Militärpass where he is listed as KIA from a direct hit of an Artillery grenade.
Letter to his father which informs he has been killed.
A pair of his death cards.
The story of most people end when they've died, but not Becker's.
Roughly a year and a half later in mid February 1920, he returns home, ALIVE!
He wasn't killed by the direct Artillery hit, perhaps wounded, but not killed. He had been captured alive by the advancing enemy who took him as a prisoner.
His "Entlassungsschein" where it says he has been released from a POW camp.
As well an entry in his Militärpass he's been released from being a prisoner of war (on the same page where he is listed as dead).
It's an amazing story of a dead man once again walking, he returned officially from the dead.
Heinrich Becker from Göttingen can aswell be found in the official Verlustlisten as earlier wounded (the Dernancourt wound)
and later listed as Gefallen, "dead".
Allied intelligence rated the division and it's regiments as second class,
and noted its tough fighting in numerous battles during the War.
Losses during the war were staggering of the 230 Reserve Infanterie Regiment:
79 Offiziere, 3842 Unteroffiziere und Mannschaften
Thank you for reading and looking!
His drivers license from 1928 with a picture of him.
(joke)
Comment