After the disaster that befell the Aust 5th Div on the 19/07/16 at Fromelles, 4 days later on the 23/07/16 it was the turn of the Aust 1st Div to enter the fighting on the Somme at Pozieres.

The attack went in at 12.30am on the 23rd and the Australians very quickly over ran the German garrison capturing the village. German counterattacks were repulsed. German artillery barrages were horrific & that small peice of land reduced to nothing but red brick dust

On the 27th the 1st Div were relieved by the Australian 2nd Division. Part of the 2nd Div were brothers Lt John Alexander 'Alec' Raws (L) 22nd Bt and Lt Robert Goldthorpe 'Goldy' Raws (M) 23rd Bt. Like many in the AIF, the brothers were born in the UK, hailing from Manchester.

John, wrote numerous letters home and one of those letters provides a graphic account of the conditions at Pozieres.

... 'For the horrors one sees and the never-ending shock of the shells is more than can be borne. Hell must be a home to it. The Gallipoli veterans here say that the peninsula was a happy picnic to this push. You've read of Verdun – they say this knocks it hollow'...

... 'Even when we're back a bit we can't sleep for our own guns. I have one puttee, a dead man's helmet, another dead man's gas protector, a dead man's bayonet. My tunic is rotten with other men's blood and partly splattered with a comrade's brains'...

Goldy was killed on the 28th July the day after entering the line and Alec was killed on the 23rd August. Neither of their bodies were recovered and they are remembered on the Australian memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

The Australians remained on the Pozieres ridge area until the 03/09/16 where they were relieved by the Canadians. In this time the 1st,2nd and 4th Aus Div's rotated in and out of the line. The Aust had made 19 attacks against the German positions resulting in 23,000 casualties

Following the armistice, Pozieres was where the 1st Division chose to place their memorial.

(With thanks to @typejunky)

"Pozieres ridge is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth."

Charles Bean