Gallipoli was a good plan in theory but from the first moments of the attack, when a number of British ships ran into Ottoman mines and sank, the execution was a disaster. The idea was for ANZAC troops to mount amphibious landings and take the heights surrounding the straights. However, at nearly every landing site troops were dropped in the wrong locations and instantly ran against Ottoman machine gun defenses that turned the landing zones into torrents of death. The attack stalled, leaving hundreds of thousands of Allied troops essentially stranded in enemy territory.
That was where McCarthy found himself, trapped in the pocket at Gallipoli. Within a few weeks, the cramped conditions and difficulty of supply lead to outbreaks of disease that killed thousands of men. Even McCarthy was not immune from the danger and finally had to be evacuated in November due to an illness. Within a month, the rest of the AIF would follow and Gallipoli was declared a failure. Back in England, Churchill was forced to shoulder the blame and tearfully resigned, sure that his career was over. But just like McCarthy, the greatest trial of his life still lay ahead.
With the Ottoman front frozen in a stalemate, McCarthy’s unit was redeployed to France to take the line against the German army in what was turning out to be the bloodiest battle in history up to that point, the Battle of the Somme. The Somme began in July 1916 when the Allies, desperate to strike a fatal blow against the Germans, launched a massive offensive near the Somme River in Northern France. And within the first 24 hours of the offensive, there were almost 70,000 Allied casualties. McCarthy soon found himself thrust into this meat grinder at a little town on the front called Pozières.
The battle of Pozières began when the Allied high command needed someone to take the heights surrounding the town, which would give them a commanding view of the German position nearby. And it was McCarthy’s unit that got the nod. So in the early hours of July 1st, McCarthy, by now promoted to Sergeant, led his men through the gloom towards the heavily fortified German lines. The bugle sounded and the ANZAC troops hurled themselves against the German trenches. The fighting was intensely bloody as the men braved fields of machine-gun fire and barbed wire.
The men of the A.I.F began to fall in huge numbers. But rather than withdrawal, McCarthy led his men into near-suicidal attacks onto the German trenches. Tur The Australians even broke through German defenses twice but were driven out by fierce German counter-attacks both times with heavy losses. Finally, the troops managed to capture the city after an intense shell barrage that reduced it to rubble. But now the Australians were in an even worse position. Pozières was the only position on the entire line at the Somme where the Allies had gained ground at all. And the Germans were now determined to push them out at all costs.