11 The ammo states throughout the period the battery were present in Fleurbaix are a stark confirmation of the intense effort and tempo of the missions fired. Within the first week the battery hard fired 89 rounds of shrapnel as well as 350 rounds of HE and that number was set to rise as they outperformed themselves again and again. The following week they’d fired 120 Shrapnel and 758 HE. Throughout the entire time the battery’s total would be 164 Shrapnel and 20,342 HE. This puts an average of 124 rounds fired per day, 31 rounds per gun between April and August. The Battery’s invincible spirit would be put to the test on the 11th June, as they faced their first deaths. No.1 Gun received incoming counter battery fire, killing four members of the detachment instantly with a 4.2in Shell. GNR J.F. Berry, BDR H. Mille, CPL A.D. Fletcher and DVR H.S. Arthur would all perish. The Battery would then move to a new gun position between Fleurbaix and Laventie. Another death would follow later that month on the 28th June, where Sergeant D. Fraser would be killed by rifle fire. In the beginning weeks of July, the Battery would move on to a new area of operations to the south. They marched by foot on the 11th July to Balleul, a 48km journey which would put them just 3km from the Belgian border. On the 19th of July, after a gruelling march they would finally arrive at a place called Becourt. Within this same day they engaged what they suspected to be enemy trenches near Pozieres. The tempo was only rising, after spending a week marching they immediately picked up again and began firing missions. According to their ammo state from the 20th – 31st July they’d fire 4093 rounds of HE, in support of the British and Australian Infantry for the Battle of Pozieres. The operations conducted around the Somme and Pozieres lasted until September. It was once said by historian Charles Bean that there was no other place on earth that is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice. The Battery would continue to support the various elements amongst the area of operations, firing a further 2213 HE into the muddy, dreadful terrain. From the 19th of July to August the 12th
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