After three days the 1st Division had lost 5285 men and the rest were exhausted. The Division was withdrawn and replaced by the 2nd Division. German continued on relentless and after 10 days the 2nd Division had lost 6848 officers and men. It too was withdrawn and replaced by the 4th Division. This cycle continued until September 3rd - each Division fought until exhausted and was then replaced. When the replacement Division was itself exhausted, the original Division was rotated back into the line. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th Divisions were used as a battering ram against the German strong points at Pozieres until they were almost destroyed.
More than 50% of the Australians who fought at Pozieres were killed, wounded or captured. Five Victoria Crosses were won by Australians during the relentless fighting.
The 1st Division on the site of K' Trench, one of the first trenches it captured at Pozieres. They chose this site because the Division lost more soldiers in the Pozieres fighting than any other action.
Battle honours for the 1st Division as noted on the memorial are Pozieres, Mouquet Farm, Le Barque, Tilloy, Boursies, Demicourt, Hermies, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt, 3rd Battle of Ypres, Menin Road, Broodseinde Ridge, Passchendale, Battle of the Lys, 2nd Battle of the Somme, Lihons, Chuignolles, Hindenburg Line.
This rough mound is all that remains of the windmill that stood here for centuries until 1916, and marks the highest point of the entire Somme battlefield. The Germans converted the ruins of the windmill to a machine gun post. Two major German trench lines, crossed the field in front of the windmill site - thousands of Australians were killed and wounded in the surrounding fields whilst attempting to capture these formidable defensive positions. After the war the windmill site was acquired by the Australian government and now stands as a memorial to the 23,000 Australians who were killed or wounded in the Pozieres battle. The stone bench in front of the mound bears the following inscription:
THE RUIN OF POZIERES WINDMILL
WHICH LIES HERE WAS THE CENTRE
OF THE STRUGGLE IN THIS PART OF
THE SOMME BATTLEFIELD IN JULY
AND AUGUST 1916. IT WAS CAPTURED
ON AUGUST 4TH BY AUSTRALIAN
TROOPS WHO FELL MORE THICKLY ON
THIS RIDGE THAN ON ANY OTHER
BATTLEFIELD OF THE WAR.
This cemetery bears the names of more than 14,000 British and Dominion troops of the British Fifth Army killed (and never found) in fighting that followed the German attack in March 1918. The cemetery contains 2733 graves including those of 690 Australians, almost all of whom were killed in the fighting at Pozieres. 250 of the Australians are unidentified.
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