Polygon Wood, Belgium

Polygon Wood, near Ypres in Belgium, before 1914 the Ypres Military Riding School – the Polygon- was situated here and also the Belgian Army’s old firing range which ceased to be used in 1870.

The wood was captured by the Australian 5th Division on September 26, 1917 during the Battle of Menin Road. The wood had changed hands several times during the early stages of the war and had been devastated by shell fire. In 1917 shelling had reduced the wood to a forest of shattered tree stumps and saplings “no more than waist high”, according to one soldier.

The 5th Division Memorial today.

Australian War Memorial Negative Number C04777

This Photograph from 1919 shows the 'Pimple' where the memorial now stands

Source - Australian War Museum

The attack on Polygon Wood was the 5th Division’s first major battle since it was savaged at the disastrous attack at Fromelles in July 1916 (although parts of the Division had been present at Bullecourt in April 1917). It would attack with the Australian 4th Division on its left and five British Divisions also taking part.

The troops advanced in the early hours of September 26, close behind a creeping artillery barrage. The barrage was, in the words of C. E. W. Bean, Australia’s Official War Historian, “the most perfect that ever protected Australian troops”. Under the protection of this barrage, the Australians advanced in several stages. The concrete pillboxes were manned by German machine gun teams who resisted fiercely and almost all had to be captured by acts of individual bravery. The Australians captured the pillboxes in what later became the classic style: a Lewis gun would fire on the pillbox, supported by fire from rifle grenades, while an assault team would manoeuvre around to the back of the pillbox, rather than attacking it head on. The technique worked effectively in most cases, but attacking pillboxes was never an easy task and casualties were seldom small.

By nightfall on September 26 the 5th Division occupied the wood. The final objective, beyond the wood, was secured by the afternoon of the 27th.

5th Division Memorial

After the war the 5th Division placed their memorial obelisk on the summit of the Buttes and many of the men who fell in the battle are buried in Buttes New British Cemetery.

Buttes New British Cemetry - View from the 5th Division Memorial.

Polygon Wood Cemetery

This is a battlefield cemetery and there is a sense of urgency about the burials, with the headstones laid out irregularly. The cemetery was begun during 1917 and used by the New Zealanders during their occupation of this sector until early 1918. It was briefly reused in September 1918.