Royal Australian Navy Bridging Train
Encyclopedia
The Royal Australian Navy Bridging Train was an Australian military unit active during World War I
, composed of Royal Australian Naval Reservists
who served in the Gallipoli Campaign
. Despite often serving in close proximity with ANZAC Forces, the RANBT seldom operated in conjunction with them, usually supporting the British IX Corps. The Train was the most decorated RAN Unit of World War I, with more than 20 decorations awarded to its sailors for their work in Gallipoli and Palestine.
where trench warfare
was just beginning. Hints had even come from the Imperial War Council that a navy unit would be acceptable, possibly to be attached to the Royal Naval Division.
On 8 February, the Navy Board sent a proposal to the Minister of Defence suggesting that they offer to the Imperial War Council the use of two Naval Bridging Teams from the ranks of the Navy Reserve. These units, the Board suggested, would keep their naval ranks, but be paid, trained, supervised, equipped and deployed by the Army
. Four days later, the Commonwealth cabled this offer to the Imperial War Cabinet
. The Council accepted the Australian offer on 18 February.
Command of the Train was given to Lieutenant Commander
, later Rear Admiral
Sir, Leighton Bracegirdle
KCVO
DSO
RAN
, who took up his commission on the 24th and immediately, with his Second-in-command
, Lieutenant
, later Commander, Thomas Bond DSO VD
RANR, began to enlist and train the Train. By 12 March, they had 115 men encamped at the Melbourne Domain
, and had found out that as no one in the Australian Army or Navy knew anything useful about Bridging Trains, they would have to build their equipment before training with it, and that almost all of their sailors had to learn to ride, with a very limited number of horses.
By 3 June, the Train embarked upon HMAT Port Macquarie with 7 officers, 348 Petty Officer
s and other ranks
, 26 reinforcements, 412 horses, 56-horse pontoons and tressle waggons, and 8 other vehicles. By the time they reached India, the train had new orders. The original plan of serving with the Royal Naval Division on the Western Front, like many in the early days of the First World War, was abandoned. Instead, they were go to the Dardanelles
and were being transferred from the Admiralty
to the British Army
who were in turn attaching them to Lt. General Stopford
's IX Army Corps who were to land at Suvla Bay
on 7 August. The Sailors (and their Officers) still had not had any training in their primary task, building pontoons.
The Train began to disembark from Port Macquarie on 27 July, and with great difficulty transferred their stores and equipment to the smaller transport Itria and from there to land. By 6 August, they had been given all the instruction they would receive, unpacked and repacked their supplies and were back on the Itria.
Of course, the RANBT still had to keep up all its regular activities, as well. To accomplish this new task, the Train acquired three fire engines and some hose from the warships standing off the coast, which meant they were now able to pump water straight into the tanks the Train had set up on the shore. Initially the hose had to be guarded from soldiers who would puncture it to get at the water, but it was soon replaced with an iron pipe.
Their next new job was to assist the Royal Engineer
detachments with entrenching ground that was expected to be taken in an advance. Bond was sent with a detachment of 34 sailors, but the attack failed and they were not called in.
According to Commander Bracegirdle
The Train also provided wireless operators for various forward wireless stations, and Lt. Commander Bracegirdle was the "Beachmaster" of Kangaroo Beach, in charge of its day-to-day operation.
Occasionally, the Train had to call in extra manpower from the British troops they were supplying. But due to the constant shelling encountered the soldiers all looked forward to returning to the front-line trenches, where if nothing else, they could at least shoot back at their attackers.
And their Commander, General Bland of the Royal Engineers
These men were convinced that the Royal Australian Navy won their share of the honour at Galipoli with this unit.
On 18 December, the 60 remaining sailors destroyed what they couldn't take with them and rowed out to HMT El Kahira, the night before the final evaluation of Suvla by the British. The base was heavily shelled after their withdrawal. General Bland had this to say about their actions leading up to the evacuation.
The RANBT was the last Australian unit to leave Gallipoli, a party of 50 men under Sub-Lieutenant Charles Hicks was left behind to oversee the evacuation of British forces, leaving at 0430, 20 minutes after the last troops at Anzac Cove
.
's ANZAC Corps
, where they took charge of bridges, tugs and supplies at No. 2 section, Suez Canal
. However no less than three other officers tried to take command of the Train. Admiral Wemyss
wanted to take it to Mesopotania, to join his naval forces by working the rivers there and manning gunboats. General Sir Julian Byng
, now in command of the IX Corps which had 'owned' the Train at Suvla, wanted to move south to his part of the Suez. General Birdwood wanted to keep them for himself. In the end the IX Corps won out and the RANBT moved south. At this time also, Lt Bond was transferred to Naval Intelligence in Cairo
and Lt C.H. Read took his place as Second-in-Command.
The IX Corps really knew what the Train was capable of, and it was spread wide over seven posts and their responsibilities in No. 2 section were joined by construction of piers, warves, pumping machinery and bridges, manning several tugs and lightboats as well as the Quarantine Station outside the Canal, control of the machinery of the canal and of all military traffic in their sector. During this time they also were occasionally called upon to provide logistical assistance to Allied efforts in the Canal Zone.
They played a major part in the El Arish offensive, landing while under fire and then building two piers through a minefield. With the light railway the Royal Engineers were building still 25 miles short, it was up to the Train to fully supply the attackers. Little action was actually seen as the Turks slipped out of El Arish, apparently getting wind of the attack, a day before the Train landed. But it was one of the few times that the Train supported other Australian forces, in this case, the Imperial Camel Corps
and Australian Light Horse, under General Sir Harry Chauvel. However, this was the last real action that the Train was involved in.
, the Canal defences were downgraded. Following the recommendation of General Chauvel to the Australian Parliament, Lt Commander Bracegirdle was informed that his command would be disbanded on 27 March 1917 and the men would be either returned to Australia for discharge or transferred to other units. 120 men chose that option, while 194 others embarked on the troopship Bulla and were returned to Melbourne on 10 July and discharged on the 22nd of that month.
Bean's Official History states that this came about through a series of miscommunications between the War Office
, Department of Defence
, Commonwealth Naval Board
and the Train itself, and that several months later, in July 1917, it was decided to reform the Train, but its members had dispersed too far to be recalled.
During its five months of existence, the Train had made two amphibious landings (Gallipoli
and El Arish,) Lt Commander Bracegirdle was Mentioned in Dispatches
three times and awarded the Distinguished Service Order
. 16 others were also Mentioned in Dispatches. 25 Sailors lost their lives.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, composed of Royal Australian Naval Reservists
Royal Australian Naval Reserve
The Royal Australian Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia.The current Royal Australian Naval Reserve was formed in June 1973 by merging the former RANR and the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve....
who served in the Gallipoli Campaign
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
. Despite often serving in close proximity with ANZAC Forces, the RANBT seldom operated in conjunction with them, usually supporting the British IX Corps. The Train was the most decorated RAN Unit of World War I, with more than 20 decorations awarded to its sailors for their work in Gallipoli and Palestine.
Recruitment
After the outbreak of World War I, it became apparent to the Navy Board, that there would be very little for the Royal Australian Naval Brigade to do. They had also heard that there was a great demand for engineering units on the Western FrontWestern Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
where trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
was just beginning. Hints had even come from the Imperial War Council that a navy unit would be acceptable, possibly to be attached to the Royal Naval Division.
On 8 February, the Navy Board sent a proposal to the Minister of Defence suggesting that they offer to the Imperial War Council the use of two Naval Bridging Teams from the ranks of the Navy Reserve. These units, the Board suggested, would keep their naval ranks, but be paid, trained, supervised, equipped and deployed by the Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
. Four days later, the Commonwealth cabled this offer to the Imperial War Cabinet
Imperial War Cabinet
The Imperial War Cabinet was created by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in the spring of 1917 as a means of co-ordinating the British Empire's military policy during the First World War...
. The Council accepted the Australian offer on 18 February.
Command of the Train was given to Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
, later Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Sir, Leighton Bracegirdle
Leighton Seymour Bracegirdle
Rear Admiral Sir Leighton Seymour Bracegirdle KCVO, CMG, DSO was an Australian military commander and an Official Secretary to four Australian governors-general: Sir Isaac Isaacs, Lord Gowrie, the Duke of Gloucester, and William McKell.-Early life:He was born in Balmain, Sydney, on 31 May 1881. In...
KCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
RAN
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
, who took up his commission on the 24th and immediately, with his Second-in-command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
, Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, later Commander, Thomas Bond DSO VD
Volunteer Decoration
The Volunteer Officers' Decoration was created by Royal Warrant under command of Queen Victoria on 25 July 1892 to reward 'efficient and capable' officers of the Volunteer Force who had served for twenty years...
RANR, began to enlist and train the Train. By 12 March, they had 115 men encamped at the Melbourne Domain
King's Domain, Melbourne
Kings Domain is an area of parklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It surrounds Government House Reserve, the home of the Governors of Victoria, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and the Shrine Reserve incorporating the Shrine of Remembrance....
, and had found out that as no one in the Australian Army or Navy knew anything useful about Bridging Trains, they would have to build their equipment before training with it, and that almost all of their sailors had to learn to ride, with a very limited number of horses.
By 3 June, the Train embarked upon HMAT Port Macquarie with 7 officers, 348 Petty Officer
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
s and other ranks
Other Ranks
Other Ranks in the British Army, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force are those personnel who are not commissioned officers. In the Royal Navy, these personnel are called ratings...
, 26 reinforcements, 412 horses, 56-horse pontoons and tressle waggons, and 8 other vehicles. By the time they reached India, the train had new orders. The original plan of serving with the Royal Naval Division on the Western Front, like many in the early days of the First World War, was abandoned. Instead, they were go to the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
and were being transferred from the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
to the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
who were in turn attaching them to Lt. General Stopford
Frederick Stopford
Lieutenant General Sir Frederick William Stopford, KCB, KCMG, KCVO was a British Army officer.-Military career:...
's IX Army Corps who were to land at Suvla Bay
Landing at Suvla Bay
The landing at Suvla Bay was an amphibious landing made at Suvla on the Aegean coast of Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part of the August Offensive, the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipoli...
on 7 August. The Sailors (and their Officers) still had not had any training in their primary task, building pontoons.
The Train began to disembark from Port Macquarie on 27 July, and with great difficulty transferred their stores and equipment to the smaller transport Itria and from there to land. By 6 August, they had been given all the instruction they would receive, unpacked and repacked their supplies and were back on the Itria.
Suvla Bay
The Train's first job was to set up the pier at A Beach which had been landed by another ship, but no working party had been left to assemble it. These were the only orders that the train received on the first hectic day, but the sailors were happy for the break. The next day, they moved the pier twice to avoid enemy fire. The next two days were filled with similar construction tasks, landing troops and artillery, shifting their own camp to Kangaroo Beach, when the Train took on a new responsibility: the beach head's water supply. All water had to be brought in by ship, and in the hectic days since the landing, it had been a "common sight" to see whole platoons of soldiers clustered around small tins of water, providing easy targets for the Turkish gunners.Of course, the RANBT still had to keep up all its regular activities, as well. To accomplish this new task, the Train acquired three fire engines and some hose from the warships standing off the coast, which meant they were now able to pump water straight into the tanks the Train had set up on the shore. Initially the hose had to be guarded from soldiers who would puncture it to get at the water, but it was soon replaced with an iron pipe.
Their next new job was to assist the Royal Engineer
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
detachments with entrenching ground that was expected to be taken in an advance. Bond was sent with a detachment of 34 sailors, but the attack failed and they were not called in.
According to Commander Bracegirdle
The Train also provided wireless operators for various forward wireless stations, and Lt. Commander Bracegirdle was the "Beachmaster" of Kangaroo Beach, in charge of its day-to-day operation.
Occasionally, the Train had to call in extra manpower from the British troops they were supplying. But due to the constant shelling encountered the soldiers all looked forward to returning to the front-line trenches, where if nothing else, they could at least shoot back at their attackers.
Commendation
The little-known unit won high praise from Official War Correspondent Charles BeanCharles Bean
Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean , usually identified as C.E.W. Bean, was an Australian schoolmaster, judge's associate, barrister journalist, war correspondent and historian....
And their Commander, General Bland of the Royal Engineers
These men were convinced that the Royal Australian Navy won their share of the honour at Galipoli with this unit.
Evacuation
In preparation for the evacuation, the Train worked day and night for weeks, setting up buildings while other detachments pulled other buildings down. Other sections built piers for the soldiers to depart from. They cleared out "Royal Engineers Park" and packed their own supplies for transport.On 18 December, the 60 remaining sailors destroyed what they couldn't take with them and rowed out to HMT El Kahira, the night before the final evaluation of Suvla by the British. The base was heavily shelled after their withdrawal. General Bland had this to say about their actions leading up to the evacuation.
The RANBT was the last Australian unit to leave Gallipoli, a party of 50 men under Sub-Lieutenant Charles Hicks was left behind to oversee the evacuation of British forces, leaving at 0430, 20 minutes after the last troops at Anzac Cove
Anzac Cove
Anzac Cove is a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It became famous as the site of World War I landing of the ANZAC on April 25, 1915. The cove is a mere long, bounded by the headlands of Ari Burnu to the north and Little Ari Burnu, known as Hell Spit, to the south...
.
Suez Canal
After recuperating at Mudros, the Train was transferred from the 11th Division to General BirdwoodWilliam Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, CIE, DSO was a First World War British general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.- Youth and early career :Birdwood was born...
's ANZAC Corps
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. General William Birdwood commanded the corps, which comprised troops from the First Australian Imperial...
, where they took charge of bridges, tugs and supplies at No. 2 section, Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
. However no less than three other officers tried to take command of the Train. Admiral Wemyss
Rosslyn Erskine-Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss
Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss GCB, CMG, MVO , known as Sir Rosslyn Wemyss between 1916 and 1919, was a British naval commander...
wanted to take it to Mesopotania, to join his naval forces by working the rivers there and manning gunboats. General Sir Julian Byng
Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy
Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since Canadian Confederation....
, now in command of the IX Corps which had 'owned' the Train at Suvla, wanted to move south to his part of the Suez. General Birdwood wanted to keep them for himself. In the end the IX Corps won out and the RANBT moved south. At this time also, Lt Bond was transferred to Naval Intelligence in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and Lt C.H. Read took his place as Second-in-Command.
They played a major part in the El Arish offensive, landing while under fire and then building two piers through a minefield. With the light railway the Royal Engineers were building still 25 miles short, it was up to the Train to fully supply the attackers. Little action was actually seen as the Turks slipped out of El Arish, apparently getting wind of the attack, a day before the Train landed. But it was one of the few times that the Train supported other Australian forces, in this case, the Imperial Camel Corps
Imperial Camel Corps
The Imperial Camel Corps was a brigade-sized military formation which fought for the Allies in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. Its personnel were infantry mounted on camels for movement across desert....
and Australian Light Horse, under General Sir Harry Chauvel. However, this was the last real action that the Train was involved in.
De-Establishment
As the Allied forces worked their way further into PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, the Canal defences were downgraded. Following the recommendation of General Chauvel to the Australian Parliament, Lt Commander Bracegirdle was informed that his command would be disbanded on 27 March 1917 and the men would be either returned to Australia for discharge or transferred to other units. 120 men chose that option, while 194 others embarked on the troopship Bulla and were returned to Melbourne on 10 July and discharged on the 22nd of that month.
Bean's Official History states that this came about through a series of miscommunications between the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
, Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Australia)
The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...
, Commonwealth Naval Board
Australian Commonwealth Naval Board
The Australian Commonwealth Naval Board was the governing authority over the Royal Australian Navy from its inception and through World Wars I and II. The board was established on 1 March 1911 and consisted of civilian members of the Australian government as well as naval flag officers....
and the Train itself, and that several months later, in July 1917, it was decided to reform the Train, but its members had dispersed too far to be recalled.
During its five months of existence, the Train had made two amphibious landings (Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
and El Arish,) Lt Commander Bracegirdle was Mentioned in Dispatches
Mentioned in Dispatches
A soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
three times and awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
. 16 others were also Mentioned in Dispatches. 25 Sailors lost their lives.
See also
- Royal Naval Division
- Naval BrigadeNaval BrigadeA Naval Brigade is a body of sailors serving in a ground combat role to augment land forces.-Royal Navy:Within the Royal Navy, a Naval Brigade is a large temporary detachment of Royal Marines and of seamen from the Royal Navy formed to undertake operations on shore, particularly during the mid- to...
- Australian Imperial ForceAustralian Imperial ForceThe Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
- Military history of Australia during World War IMilitary history of Australia during World War IIn Australia, the outbreak of World War I was greeted with considerable enthusiasm. Even before Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, the nation pledged its support for the Empire alongside other Commonwealth nations and almost immediately began preparations to send forces overseas to...