This is the action in which Tottie’s youngest son, Marshall, died.
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New Zealand History writes that in terms of lives lost in a single day, the attack on Bellevue Spur was probably the greatest disaster in New Zealand’s history. An attack on 9 October by British and Australian troops, intended to open the way for II ANZAC Corps to capture Passchendaele, had failed with heavy casualties. Nevertheless the New Zealanders began their advance at 5.25 a.m. on the 12th…
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Bellevue Spur is an ugly V-shaped hill rising to a height of 200ft above the flooded Rabapeek Creek, its sides extending 1000 yards back into Passchendaele township.
At the point of the V, which is about 200 yards wide, a deep concrete structure stands overlooking our lines, with narrow slits manned with machine-gunners and snipers, governing every approach. Two irregular lines of wire, each ten feet deep, extend across the front of the redoubt down the hill to the valley, where a smaller redoubt bars the flank.
Bellevue looks a forbidding stronghold, and was the scene of one of the greatest incidents of the war. Against this spur thousands of fine-spirited New Zealanders flung themselves at dawn on Friday, with high hopes of crowning an unbroken series of victories with the greatest victory of all. The enemy barrage played heavily upon them for twenty minutes before the start, but the lads rose eagerly from a line of shell-holes and began a steady advance wave, our barrage plunging ahead. The men sank sometimes waist-deep in the mud. The barrage went faster than advance was possible. The enemy machine-gun fire swelled to a shriek, and many men fell, but the others pressed on.
They reached Rabapeek, and plunged into this deep morass. The enemy’s main barrage of shrapnel and high explosive descended hereabouts, whilst the machine-guns, which were now thickly studded the trenches between redoubts, seemed to close the passage over the stone road which traverses the morass. Many, nevertheless, pressed irresistibly over the dead and across the road; others plunging through the water, though wounded, and some were drowned. Then the ascent of the slope began, and the first wave, which was now thin, reached the wire.
This heroic effort will in future be told wherever Australasians gather. The gallant lads tried every means of piercing the wire. Wave after wave advanced to death. Many were riddled with bullets, and others dropped to the ground and began crawling beneath the wire. Many were shot remained where they fell. Some reached the other side, charged, and fell. One reached the other side and began to crawl beneath the slits and round to the side. Perhaps he might have altered the fortunes of the engagement with bombs, but he was killed by one of our rifle grenades, which we were firing from shell-holes.
The great effort ended. The waves had determinedly expended themselves. The survivors remained in shell holes, the Jaegers sniping so accurately that any head put above ground was shot. They awaited another effort, which the commanders decided was undesirable.
The day was crowded with heroic incidents. An orderly-room sergeant, after the death of the colonel and the wounding of the adjutant, went through a hail of bullets to the senior captain, found him wounded, and went to other senior officers who were all disabled. He went to a lieutenant and informed him that he was in command of the battalions. The journey occupied 90 minutes.
A Lewis gunner, who was wounded, the rest of the crew having been killed, continued to work his gun upon an enemy machine-gun, twice advancing the position alone, and finding another gun when his own was blown out. — United Service, London, October 18th, 1917.
New Zealand History writes: “For badly wounded soldiers lying in the mud, the aftermath of the battle was a private hell; many died before rescuers could reach them. The toll was horrendous: 843 New Zealand soldiers were either dead or lying mortally wounded between the front lines.”
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The United Service coverage above appeared in the Otago Daily Times on October 20th, as well as in other New Zealand and Australian newspapers. The Brisbane Daily Mail added:
The New Zealanders used a First Aid post, averaging a hundred cases within and 150 outside. The German snipers did not fire on the post, but the artillery put three heavy shells over, which did no damage. The Germans used a redoubt on the north slope under the Red Cross.
A New Zealand officer on Saturday went out with a towel as a flag, and the band followed. Both sides were soon collecting the wounded. Every available man became a stretcher bearer and the battlefield was cleared. The Germans respected our Red Cross men, but began bringing up ammunition on the stretchers, whereupon the rules of warfare compelled us to fire on the bearers. The work was wonderful, the gallant men carrying all day long and all night long, through barrages. Owing to the mud, six men were told off with each stretcher. It was an eight-hour journey over three miles, but such countless individual acts were overshadowed by the collective gallantry of those four dauntless waves. Throughout the Australian force, the greatest appreciation is felt for the New Zealanders’ wonderful devotion.
Sergt. Wm, A. Lamont, reported wounded, is a son of Mrs O.M. Lamont, of Wells Street, Kingsland, and before his enlistment was on the staff of the National Bank. Enrolled as Private of infantry in December last [1915], he was appointed a corporal in the course of his training at Trentham, and soon after departure from New Zealand obtained his third stripe, which he had previously held in the territorials, as a member of the 16th Waikatos.
Sergeant-Major William A. Lamont, reported killed in action on October 4, was the second son of Mrs O.M. Lamont, of Wells Street, Kingsland. He was educated at the Auckland Grammar School, and prior two enlisting in the Eight Reinforcements (16th Waikatos) was on the staff of the National Bank of New Zealand, Auckland. He was wounded in the Somme Battle of last year [1916] and has since been engaged at Sling Camp, but left England only a few weeks ago to join his brother, Sergeant M. Lamont, at the front. Sergt-Major Lamont was well known in athletic circles both here and in the North, where for some time he was stationed. His brother, Sergeant M. Lamont, is also at the front.
Cpl Marshall L. Lamont, killed in action on 12th October, was the youngest son of Mrs O.M. Lamont, of Wells Street, Kingsland, and the brother of the late Sgt-Major William A. Lamont, who fell only a week earlier . Prior to enlisting with the 14th Reinforcements, Cpl Lamont was on the staff of the Bank of New Zealand in Auckland.
It’s not recorded where William Lamont died, but it’s likely to have been in the attack on Gravenstafel Spur on October 4th, when over 300 more New Zealanders were killed.