The Grangetown son of an Irishman, who enlisted in Australia and died in France
L/Cpl
Roderick Connors, 49th Australian Infantry Battalion 1888-1916
Early life: Roderick Connors was born in August 1888 in Grangetown,
Cardiff to Michael Connors (born in County Kilkenny, Ireland), who is variously
listed in censuses as a wagon builder, a carpenter and a shoemaker, and his
second wife, Emily J. Connors (née Turner, born in Bristol). The third child
of a large Catholic family, Roderick had around 10 brothers and sisters, although
the true number is difficult to ascertain from the census data, and for at least
a portion of his childhood he lived at 36 Thomas Street, 7 Corporation Road
and 156 Penarth Road, Grangetown. He is recorded as attending St Patrick's Catholic
School in Grangetown, Cardiff and he went on to have a naval career, although
the exact nature of his employment is unknown beyond the vague term ‘seaman’.
At least two of his brothers served in World War One: James (born 1896), who
served in the Royal Artillery, and Patrick (born 1894) who enlisted in as a
driver in the Army Service Corps in September 1914, before being invalided out
in 1915 after he broke his leg in an accident with a mule ambulance at the front
in France.
Joining up: Roderick enlisted on February 1st 1915 (then aged 26, six
months) at a recruiting office in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Presumably
his job as a seaman led him to be in Australia when the call for recruits was
issued, explaining how a young man from Grangetown ended up as an ANZAC. Roderick
is described in his enlistment papers as being 5' 7" in height, 9st 2lbs in
weight, having a 38” chest, fair skin, brown hair, blue eyes and as being a
Roman Catholic and single. He was originally assigned to the 5th reinforcement
of the 9th Battalion (Infantry), 3rd Infantry Brigade, 1st Division, Australian
Imperial Force (AIF).
Setting sail for Gallipoli: On April 16th 1915, Roderick embarked HMAT
A55 Kyarra at Brisbane, Queensland, destined to join up with his unit
in the eastern Mediterranean. The Kyarra was a cargo and passenger luxury
liner, built in Scotland in 1903 for the Australian United Steam Navigation
Company. (She was sunk in May 1918 by U-boat). After his basic training and
the lengthy voyage from Australia, Roderick eventually joined up with his unit
at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey on June 22nd. The 3rd Brigade, of which the
9th Battalion AIF was part, had been the covering force for the ANZAC landings
on the 25th of April 1915, and was the first unit ashore at around 0430 hrs.
The battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line
of the Gallipoli beachhead and it stayed at Anzac Cove until the evacuation
in December 1915. Upon his arrival, along with the rest of the reinforcements,
Roderick undertook various forms of training, although the battalion diary records
that the training was often cancelled due to incoming Ottoman shells. This was
a common occurrence as Anzac Cove was always within 1km of the front-line, well
within the range of Turkish artillery. Despite the precarious situation, the
beach at Anzac Cove became hugely important as an enormous supply dump with
jetties for the landing of stores and two field hospitals. However, Roderick’s
stay with the 9th Battalion AIF was short lived as, on September 15th 1915 he
was hospitalised with ‘neuralgia’, eventually being transferred to Malta and
then to a hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham where he would stay until October
8th 1915. Whilst still in Britain, on January 6th 1916, he was punished in Weymouth
for overstaying Christmas leave. Whilst there is no evidence for this, it is
not beyond the realms of possibility that he went home to Cardiff for the Christmas
period, despite not having leave to do so. For this indiscretion he was confined
to barracks for 10 days and fined four days pay, before eventually being shipped
back to Egypt, finally rejoining his unit on March 11th 1916.
Off to France: Major General Alexander Godley, then commanding the
1st Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (1 ANZACs), proposed the use of Australian
reinforcements, then training in Egypt, to form two new divisions. The Australian
government agreed and a new 4th Division began forming in Egypt in February
1916. The division was initially stationed on the Suez Canal and on t April
2nd, Pte Roderick Connors was transferred to the 49th Battalion (Infantry),
13th Infantry Brigade, 4th Division, Australian Imperial Force. On June 5th
1916, Roderick’s new battalion embarked from Egypt for France, setting sail
from Alexandria aboard HMS Arcadian, a Barrow-in-Furness built passenger
liner, arriving at Marseilles, France, a week later.
Promotion and training near the Somme: The Australian 4th Division
originally took over part of a "nursery" sector near Armentieres, north of Lille.
Their stay there was brief and soon the 4th Division was accompanying the 1st
and 2nd Divisions of the AIF towards the Somme. The war diary of the 49th Battalion
records that they were at ‘Rouge de Bout’ engaged in various training activities
before moving in stages to Pernois by mid of July. Here they undertook more
training, including route marching, gas mask drill and bayonet training until
the end of the month. Roderick’s unit then marched via Rubempre to Toutencourt
for yet more training, the activities listed this time being night assaults,
forest assaults and rifle exercises On August 2nd, Roderick is recorded as having
been promoted to lance corporal in the field, whether this advancement was due
to a particular action of his or the loss of an existing NCO is not recorded.
The Battle of Pozières: On August 5th 1916 the 4th Division AIF was
ordered to relieve the exhausted 2nd Division AIF on the Pozières Heights. The
German stronghold of the village of Pozières lay atop a ridge in the approximate
centre of the British sector of the Somme battlefield and the strategic importance
of Pozières was further compounded by the fact that the highest point of the
Somme battlefield lay close by the village. The initial attack on Pozières,
undertaken by the 1st Division AIF, had taken place on July 22nd-23rd as part
of larger offensive by the British 4th Army. Although, by the end of the second
day the village had been secured by the Australians, the main attack by the
4th Army, between Pozières and Guillemont, was a costly failure, leaving the
Australian position at Pozières exposed. Pozières became a focus of attention
for the Germans, forming a critical element of their defensive system, and the
German command ordered that it be retaken at all costs. With British activity
now declining elsewhere on its front, the German IV Corps, on whose sector Pozières
lay, was free to concentrate most of its artillery against the village and its
approaches. Initially the bombardment was methodical and relentless without
being intense. Known trenches and strong-points, such as the "Gibraltar" bunker,
received shell after shell. The western approach to the village, which led from
“Casualty Corner” near the head of “Sausage Valley”, received such a concentration
of shellfire that it was thereafter known as "Dead Man's Road". The German bombardment
intensified on July 25th in preparation for their next counter-attack to retake
the village.
By this stage artillery from all around was able to join in. The bombardment
reached a crescendo on July 26th and by 0500 hrs the Australians, believing
an attack was imminent, appealed for a counter-barrage. The increase in British
artillery action led the Germans to believe that the Australians were preparing
another attack and so they in turn increased their fire yet again and it was
not until midnight that the shelling subsided. At its peak, the German bombardment
of Pozières was the equal of anything yet experienced on the Western Front.
The 2nd Division AIF took over the sector on July 27th and General Hubert Gough,
commander of the British Reserve Army, pressed for an immediate attack. When
this attack was launched on July 29th in less than ideal conditions, the Australians
were met by a hail of machine gun fire. To the south the 5th Brigade remained
pinned down, unable to even get started. On their left the 7th Brigade encountered
uncut wire. On the northern flank of the sector some minor progress was made
by the 6th Brigade but everywhere else the attack was a failure, with the 2nd
Division AIF losing over 3,500 men. Following criticism from General Haig ("You're
not fighting Bashi-Bazouks now") a second attack by the Australians on August
4th delivered success and the frontline was pushed back from the Pozières ridge,
allowing the Australians a vantage point over the surrounding countryside. The
importance of this operation is demonstrated by a German order given soon after
the Australian assault: "at any price Hill 160 (Pozières Ridge) must be recovered."
Under heavy fire: It was into this situation that Roderick was thrown
as part of the 4th Division AIF relieving the 2nd Division AIF. The 4th Division
AIF began to move towards Pozières on however, whilst they could relieve the
2nd Division AIF, the Australians on the front line were subjected to a major
artillery bombardment from the Germans. The exposed location of the salient
which they occupied meant their positions could be shelled from all directions,
including from Thiepval which lay to the rear. The next morning (August 6th)
saw the Germans launching a major counterattack against the Australian lines,
but this was met by machine gun fire and the German forces were compelled to
dig in. The bombardment continued through the day, by the end of which most
of the 2nd Division AIF had been relieved. At 0400 hrs on August 7th, shortly
before dawn, the Germans launched their final counter-attack. The Germans were
able to overrun the thinly occupied AIF Lines, catching most of the Australians
in dugouts, and began to advance towards Pozières itself. At this moment, the
climax of the battle, Lt Albert Jacka, who had won the Victoria Cross at Gallipoli,
emerged from a dugout where he and seven men of his platoon had been isolated,
and charged the Germans from the rear. His example inspired other Australians
scattered across the plateau to join the action and a fierce, hand-to-hand fight
developed. Jacka, who received the military cross for his actions at Pozières,
was badly wounded but soon support arrived from the flanks and the Australians
were able to gain the advantage, taking most of the surviving Germans as prisoners.
Following the failure of this assault, the Germans made no more attempts to
retake Pozières. On August 6th, Roderick’s 49th battalion had left their training
base at Toutencourt, destined for the front line at Pozières. They spent the
night in Albert before taking position on ‘Tara Hill’ the next day, where they
were caught by some of the shelling from the front line, losing three of their
number overnight. On August 13th, the 49th battalion AIF left Tara Hill for
the front line at Pozières. They remained on the front line for four days, when
they were withdrawn back to Albert, and then away from the front for a period
of rest and training. Roderick’s unit eventually returned to the front line
on September 2nd.
The Road to Mouquet Farm: The British attack now moved to the next
phase; a drive north along the ridge towards the German strongpoint of Mouquet
Farm, in order to create a gap in the German lines, behind the salient that
had developed around the German-held fortress of Thiepval. By capturing Mouquet
Farm, the British hoped that it would destabilise the German position and enable
subsequent gains. The three Australian divisions, the 1st Division AIF, the
2nd Division AIF and Roderick’s 4th Division AIF, advanced north-west along
the Pozières ridge towards Mouquet Farm, with British divisions supporting on
the left. During the approach to the farm, however, German artillery spotters
were able to call down barrages on the attackers from three sides of the salient
that had developed in the lines. This resulted in heavy casualties amongst the
attackers before they had even reached the farm. However, over the course of
the rest of August and into September, the Australian divisions managed to reach
the farm three times, only to be forced back by the German casualties each time.
The Australians suffered around 6,300 casualties and was so depleted that they
had to be taken off the front for two months. The Canadian Corps were brought
up to take over from the Australians, who were finally withdrawn on the morning
of September 5th 1916 with the 49th Battalion AIF retiring to Albert and being
relieved by the 16th Canadians, 3rd Canadian brigade.
Relief comes too late: The Australian withdrawal did not come soon
enough for L/Cpl Roderick Connors. There was heavy fighting over the night of
September 4th-5th with the battalion diary recording heavy machine gun, rifle
fire and use of bombs during the night under the light of flares.
Roderick is recorded as having been killed in action sometime before
his unit could leave the front line, which they managed at 0700 hrs on September
5th 1916.
He was 28. Roderick’s body was never recovered, but his name is recorded on
the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France),
the Grangetown War Memorial (Grangetown, Cardiff) and on Panel 148 of
the Australian War Memorial (Campbell, ACT, Australia). Roderick was
among the 119 killed and missing from the 49th Battalion AIF operations at Mouquet
Farm (420 total casualties), out of a pre-battle strength of 1,042.
Emily Connors, his mother, was sent his effects, along with a memorial plaque
and scroll and his posthumous medals: 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and
the Victory Medal.
Aftermath: The Canadian Corps ultimately captured Mouquet Farm on
September 16th but were then pushed out by a German counter-attack. The farm
was finally captured for good by the 6th East Yorkshire Pioneers on September
26th during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge.
Dr Owain James Connors (great-great
nephew)
Roderick's enlistment paper
The landscape of Mouquet Farm after the battle
Form signed by Emily Connors acknowledging receipt of the effects of her
late son, dated June 2th 1917.