The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
The remains of RE8 C4580 which was shot down at Hamel Wood, by the enemy, after it had succeeded in dropping ammunition to the forward troops by means of parachutes. One of the parachutes can be seen caught in the tree tops in photo E03845, taken on the same day. This aircraft was flown by 9 Squadron Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Hamel and used for ammunition drops to the forward troops. C4580 was piloted by Lieutenant (Lt) S E Harris with observer, Lt D E Bell (America). C4580 departed 9 Squadron's aerodrome at Argenvillers at 3.45am on 4 July to 3 Squadron AFC's aerodrome at Villers Bocage, which took them an hour. During the ammunition drops, each aircraft carried two boxes of ammunition, each containing 1000 rounds. They took off for their first ammunition drop at 6.35am, successfully dropping two boxes at 62D P.4c.32.58, just north of Hamel. They returned to Villers Bocage and reloaded before taking off for their next run at 9.05am. By the time they reached their drop area, about 20 German aircraft had arrived at the battlefield and held air superiority for a period. C4580 was shot down and crashed just south of Hamel. Leutnant Martin Dehmisch from Jasta 58 was credited with this ‘kill’, However the ‘kill’ is recorded as taking place at 10.30am, over an hour after Lt Harris and Lt Bell were shot down, and may be a mistaken reference to the attack on the RE8 C2347, piloted by Lt H Pryce, which was attacked by 3 Pfalz scouts around 10am. Lt Pryce was wounded in the attack but managed to fly his aircraft back to Villers Bocage. Lt Harris is buried at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery in plot 15, row A, grave 7.
Stretcher bearers of the 11th Australian Infantry Brigade bringing back a wounded man, past R.E.8 Serial B5073, which was shot down near Hamel, during the battle on 4 July. Note individual aircraft le
A battle day photograph taken during the attack by the Australian and American troops at Hamel. Hamel Wood is seen in the background on the left. Two parachutes can be seen just previously dropped fro
A unique photo of a disabled British RE8 aircraft diving towards earth during the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade attack at Vaire Wood in the Battle of Hamel. It was subsequently discovered that the m
To the men of the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment patrolling on active service in forward positions near the Sarawak-Kalimantan border of Borneo, air drops of supplies have become more than ju
Small brown-dyed cotton parachute made from eleven panels, each joined by a vertical rib. At the base of each rib is a brass eyelet to which is tied a length of twisted hemp twine; there are twelve le
A parachute, used as an ammunition carrier, caught in the trees at Vaire Wood, during the Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918, when the supply of ammunition to the infantry by means of parachutes was a fea
