3rd COMPANY AND
GORDON COATES
Bert went to England as part of the 19th Reinforcements. The Reinforcements were organised into Companies at home for ease of dealing with them - Bert was in E Company and his early letters show a sense of pride in how his unit is coping. But once in England he found that comradeship built up in Wellington and on the ship coming over was soon gone.
The troops were reassigned where they were needed, placed into new units which more closely resembled the deployment of the army in the field. While at Sling Bert says: “E Coy is now a thing of the past, as we have all been broken up and drafted into different companies.”
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At Sling he was assigned into 1st Auckland Company, 4th Platoon. But once in France and ready to leave Etaples for the front line, he found himself reassigned again into an actual field unit. On April 20 he officially joined 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion Auckland Infantry Regiment in the 1st Brigade of the New Zealand Division attached to the British Expeditionary Force. 3rd Company was to be his permanent unit from then on. At various stages he was detached for temporary assignments while being trained as a specialist, but he always returned to 3rd Company. He felt a degree of isolation initially being placed into a strange group: “I know no one in the 3rd Auckland. As we are all split up, and mostly chaps who have seen a good deal of active service.”
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He soon found his footing, but the high number of casualties also meant faces were constantly changing, new recruits joining, so an almost uneasy sense of impermanence was in itself a constant of life in 3rd Company. His letters are a continuing parade of names of people he knew from back home who join the battalion and then at times mysteriously vanish, either killed, wounded or missing.
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Edward Pope was an acquaintance from Pokeno, a son of a farmer from nearby Maungatawhiri. He joined with the 24th reinforcements and caught up with Bert a few times, then went missing. It was never confirmed to Bert, but Pope died in one of the major Ypres attacks and his name can now be seen seven names below that of Bert on the Pokeno cenotaph.
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Each Company in 1st Auckland had its own individual badge for cap and collar. 3rd Auckland’s was a mailed arm holding a sheaf of corn above a scroll with the unit motto: Si sit prudentia (Ever prudent) and ‘3rd (Auck) Regiment N.Z. Infantry.’ The cap badge ringed the mailed arm within a wreath surmounted by a crown. The badge of the 3rd presumably includes the wheat sheath, much as the New Zealand national coat of arms does, to indicate our agricultural heritage, our intention to live peacefully. But clutched in a mailed arm it also said that when called to defend ourselves, Aucklanders would not shirk from martial duty – in heraldry the right arm embowed, meaning bent at the elbow, and encased in armour was a symbol of leadership and power.
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In March 1918 when on leave in London, Bert had his photo taken – we have several photos of Bert in uniform and can tell by the 3rd Company cap and collar badges which ones date to the March photography session.
The Structure of the NZEF
Official histories of the war trace the movements of Brigades and Battalions. To understand where Bert served and what was happening around him it is essential to know how his unit fitted into the overall structure.
The NZEF served as part of the British Imperial Forces. Our divisional structure followed British Army structure. The British had many Armies, which were broken into various Corps and then Divisions. On the Western Front the New Zealand Division was a purely New Zealand force, but it served alongside Australian Divisions as part of an Anzac Corp, designated Anzac II which was then part of a British Army. During Bert’s service in 1917 Anzac II was part of the British 2nd Army in Belgium and then in 1918, the corps was renamed and became part of the 3rd Army in France, fighting initially in the Somme.
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The NZ Division itself was broken into Brigades, which were the core units - when the troops were moved or assigned new sections of the front line to hold, they were moved as Brigades.
The NZ Division restructured the number of its Brigades and which Battalions were assigned to which Brigades at various times during World War I. It was reorganised immediately after the withdrawal from Gallipoli and then again in January 1917 just before Bert joined it on active service.
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The New Zealand Brigades were made up of four Battalions each. A Battalion was around 880 men and was made up of four Companies. A Company was headed by a Major or Captain and consisted of 220 men when at full strength. Each Company was made up of four Platoons, each around 55 men. Each Platoon had four sections each of 14 men.
Initially there were single Battalions from each of the four Military Districts in New Zealand - Auckland, Wellington, Otago and Canterbury. As casualties reduced numbers, new recruits were drafted in. But gradually as men wounded in Gallipoli and later France returned to active service and more recruits arrived, there were more men than could be accommodated in single district Battalions so a series of 2nd Battalions for each district was formed.
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During Bert’s service the New Zealand Division was divided into Four Brigades:
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1st Brigade: An Infantry Brigade made up of all North Island Battalions - the 1st Auckland and 2nd Auckland; and the 1st Wellington and 2nd Wellington. This was Bert’s brigade - he was in the 1st Auckland.
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2nd Brigade: An Infantry Brigade made up of all South Island Battalions - the 1st Otago and 2nd Otago; and the 1st Canterbury and 2nd Canterbury.
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3rd Brigade: This was the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, also called the Earl of Liverpool’s Own and known by all as the ‘Dinks’. As the name shows, it had a slightly different character compared to the other Brigades and needs a little explanation. Each brigade obviously used rifles and often infantrymen from all brigades were called riflemen. But the name Rifle Brigade had a distinctive history in the old English armies dating from the invention of the rifle and its introduction overtaking older firearms such as muskets. A rifle is named a rifle because of the spirals on the inside of the barrel that spin the bullet, thus giving it greater speed and accuracy. The bullet is ‘rifled’ from the barrel. The original Imperial Rifle Brigade was formed in 1800 by taking the best marksmen from every other regiment and equipping them with the new, super accurate rifle. They were an elite group.
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In 1915 New Zealand’s government decided it needed to field a third brigade to help in the war effort. This would be a different brigade from the 1st and 2nd brigades which had been existing regular army units swelled by volunteers and based on districts, e.g. with all Aucklanders going into the 1st Brigade. This new brigade however would pull people from all over the country into one unit regardless of district. It was a national brigade. It was initially called the Trentham Infantry Regiment. But on 27 May New Zealand’s first Governor General, the rather exotically named Arthur William de Brito Savile Foljambe, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was asked to become patron of the new brigade. He had served in the Imperial Rifle Brigade himself as had the commander appointed to the new brigade. Within weeks they had changed the name to the Earl of Liverpool’s Own: NZ Rifle Brigade.
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The initial Rifle Brigade troops sailed with the 7th reinforcements. They had differences not just in title but in dress such as their button design and in the early days of the Rifle Brigade legend has it the other Kiwi soldiers were irritated at how punctilious they were at guard duty and even when off-duty. Each battalion had identifying coloured and shaped patches on their uniform to quickly tell which unit they were with. In early 1916 the old Samoan Relief Force, which was incorporated into the Rifle Brigade had square patches. So, with the idea of conveying the impression that the Riflemen were inordinately proud of themselves, the term The Square Dinkums, soon shortened to the ‘Dinks,’ was given to them – at first it was a barbed name, but soon became affectionate as the Dinks proved their fighting worth. While the 1st and 2nd brigades were regular army units and part of the standing professional army, the Rifle Brigade was formed only for World War I. It was disbanded immediately after the war. The Rifle Brigade therefore had one of the shortest regimental histories ever, from 1 May 1915 to 1 February 1919.
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4th Brigade: In March 1917 the return of more veterans from recovery of wounds received in Gallipoli and the Somme along with more new recruits saw the formation of 3rd Battalions of each of the regional units – 3rd Auckland, 3rd Wellington etc – which were formed into a 4th Infantry Brigade. But on 8 February 1918, after the disasters of Flanders, it had to be disbanded due to heavy casualties in the overall NZ Division which meant four Brigades could no longer be sustained.
1st Auckland Battalion
Bert’s 3rd Company (Auckland) badges showing on the photo he had taken in London in March 1918
Gordon Coates
By the time Bert was involved in the most significant actions he saw, 3rd Company was commanded by Captain Gordon Coates.
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Coates was a Member of Parliament at the outbreak of the war having been voted in as an independent MP for Kaipara in 1911. He later joined the Reform Party.
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He enlisted almost immediately in 1914, keen to go to the front, alongside his brother William. Historian and biographer of Coates, Michael Basset (himself a former MP and Cabinet Minister), said Coates “had learned English patriotism on his father's knee.”But PM William Massey wouldn’t release him, because of the slim majority in Parliament, until November 1916 when, at age 38, he sailed with the 19th Reinforcements, alongside Bert.
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Once in the field, Coates was initially assigned to 15th Company, joining them as second-in-command in March 1917. Then for six weeks from late June he became temporary commander of the 15th as the Battalion moved into the Ypres battle field.
The Auckland Battalion drew its soldiers from the Auckland military district, which included the Far North, Auckland city, the Waikato, much of the King Country, and the Bay of Plenty. 1st Auckland then divided into the following four Companies:
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3rd Company - Auckland
6th Company - Hauraki
15th Company - North Auckland
16th Company – Waikato
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We don’t know definitively which particular Platoon or Section Bert was with while on active service with the 3rd. At Mailly-Maillet he was in 2nd Platoon, but for all we know assignments to Platoons may have changed around many times while on active service.
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With such a high casualty rate the Company was really the smallest unit a person could regularly identify with. After the First Battle of the Somme it is said that a Scottish Brigade was called to parade in Company formation ready for review by an HQ officer, but many Companies had only one or two survivors. The sight was so distressing, they were ordered to file into any order to disguise how few there were.
Gordon Coates
Coates, 6-foot-tall, lean and good looking, is described by many as a cool, determined and able officer, a natural leader who won the loyalty of his men. Basset says he was “ideally suited to the role of Company commander.”
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He goes on to say: “Physically fit and fearless, with sufficient years on him to be able to comfort as well as cajole, Coates became like an elder brother, a role model for the younger men around him. He could be proper when required, ribald when it was appropriate, abstemious before battle and into his cups when it was all over.”
But, Basset says, “on the ground the grim reality of the trenches, the summer heat, the winter cold and mud, tempered his ardour a little”and “the glamour of war had long since worn off by the time Coates got to Ypres.”
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He commanded the 15th with distinction and won the Military Cross in action on 31 July 1917 in an engagement at La Basseville. The citation for the MC said it was for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on two occasions. He displayed the utmost ability at a critical moment, when a determined hostile raid was made upon his company's sector, getting his men into safety and saving many casualties by his coolness and presence of mind. He reinforced his front line, and personally re-established two posts which had been driven in. He afterwards commanded his company with great skill and energy in a raid upon the enemy, and his fine leadership was largely responsible for the success of the entire operation."
In early September he was transferred and promoted to commander of 3rd Company – where Bert was by now the signaler for his Platoon. Coates lead the Company in a major action attacking Gravenstafel Spur, where he was impressed by Bert’s own coolness under fire, using him as a runner across the battlefield. Coates promoted Bert to Company signaler, to work alongside him. Basset says Coates was lightly wounded on 7 Oct but remained on duty.
It is said the men of the 15th and 3rd once assembled before him and a spokesman announced: “You are the best solider in the Battalion and the bravest and we boys will go to Hell with you.” A private in the 3rd Platoon of 3rd Company is quoted as saying: “The reason he never rose higher in the Army was because he looked after his men first ... He was the greatest socialist I’ve ever known - if there was a feed there for one you would get half of it; if there was only one bed, you’d get the bed.”
When the Battalion was transferred to fight in the Somme in March 1918, Coates again showed his courage leading a desperate charge against overwhelming forces and won a bar to his MC for his bravery, which included carrying wounded men to safety under fire. And again, he was injured. According to Basset, he slipped and injured his knee as he helped carry his men. He was later promoted to major.
After Bert’s death he wrote a letter to Bert’s mother Annie, praising Bert.
Coates continued his parliamentary career after the war, becoming Prime Minister from 1925-28 and he remained an influential figure in coalition governments until Michael Joseph Savage’s win for Labour in 1935. He then helped found the National Party, but split from it because he was always more of a cross partisan, co-operative worker. He joined the World War II cross-party war cabinet but died in 1943 of a heart attack, brought on by overwork. His loss was mourned by those on both sides of the political spectrum.