POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Notes

Out of respect, and to humanise the otherwise depersonalised experience of distant death and burial, official efforts were made to recognise and honour the sacrifice of the soldiers and those they left behind. Medals, scrolls and commemorative plaques didn't return the Boddington sons, but they remain as important symbols of their courage, and premature deaths. They also survive as reminders of the social cost and loss Australia sustained back on the home front. It is very unusual for such a complete group of objects to survive, since they were often split between successive generations of descendants. This archive is particularly special with its supporting documentation of family photographs, letters, and postcards. Before their deaths at Bullecourt, the Boddington brothers were at Gallipoli, landing at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915 as part of the Infantry Battalion, AIF - the famous 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade which was first ashore at ANZAC Cove. A letter from Frederick to his parents describes in vivid detail the occasion of his wounding when accidentally running at night into a Turkish trench. Formation of the Division in which the Boddington brothers fought: In January 1916, Major General A.J. Godley, then commanding the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, put forward a proposal to use Australian reinforcements, then training in Egypt, to form two new divisions. The Australian government concurred and the Fifth Division began forming in Egypt in February 1916. The new division included some existing units: the 8th Infantry Brigade. 8th Field Company, 8th Field Ambulance and 10th Army Service Corps Company but only the 8th Field Company had fought at Gallipoli. The 14th and 15th Infantry Brigades were formed by taking half the personnel of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades. Initially, the division was stationed on the Suez Canal. In June 1916 it moved to France, taking over part of the 'nursery' sector near Armentieres. There it became involved in the disastrous attack at Fromelles in July. In October it joined the First, Second and Fourth Divisions on the Somme around Flers. In March 1917, leading up to the First Battle of Bullecourt on April 11, a flying column of the Fifth Division pursued the Germans to the Hindenburg Line, capturing Bapaume. In May the Division relieved the First Division in the Second Battle of Bullecourt, holding the breach thus gained against furious counterattacks. In September it managed to turn an allied defeat into a major victory at the Battle of Polygon Wood. In March 1918 the Fifth Division was rushed to the Somme region to help stem the German Offensive. There it guarded the vital Somme River bridges. In April it counterattacked at Villers Bretonneux, recovering the town. The Fifth Division fought in the Battles of Hamel in July and Amiens in August. In September it forced the Somme River at Peronne and fought on to the Hindenburg Line. Dateline for Bullecourt, 1917. 11 April. First Battle of Bullecourt begins on the Hindenberg Line on Western Front in which 3000 Australians are killed, including FE Boddington - on the first day, 11 April 1917. 3 May. Second Battle of Bullecourt begins in which there are 7000 Australian casualties, and during which time GK Boddington dies on 12 May of wounds sustained on 10 May. 12 May. Australian and British troops capture Bullecourt and repulse a German counterattack.