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[page 85]
167
(4).
3/400 yards.
On the morning of 17th March the Australians entered Bapaume on the heels of the German rear guard. A few snipers remained but their toll was small and they were soon cleared out. But what a mess the town was in! Every building had been systematically destroyed not by gun fire byt by internal explosions so that the roofs were blown off and the walls caved in. The roads were lined with smouldering heaps of brickwork where once stood fine buildings. The day following our occupation of Bapaume, the town presented a busy appearance. Whilst our Brass Band played in the streets, hundreds of men were set to work clearing up the rubbish, pushing down dangerous walls, repairing roads and where possible repairing buildings sufficiently to provide at least some shelter for troops who would be required to billet there. My own Battalion had occupied the pretty little village of Biefvillers on a hill on the outshirts of the town and we were put to work to set the place in order. Whilst we were entrenched near Grevillers this village of Biefvillers was right in front of us, only about 1,000 yards away and we had admired some of the buildings therein, particularly a few better class chateaux which we had looked forward to occupying. Alas, our hopes were shattered on our arrival in the village for the Hun had been careful to leave us no such comfortable shelter. But still Biefvillers was not as badly destroyed as most villages and we set to work with a will to effect repairs. First the roads had to be repaired where Fritz had blown holes in them, then after deciding which buildings could be made inhabitable, parties of men were put on to this work which progressed in great style.
An Australian Battalion possesses experts in all