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Western Mail, Thursday 15 June 1933, page 2
More About Lagnicourt.
Dear "Non-Com.," - In regard to Lagnicourt and the late Lieutenant Pope. V.C., I can vividly recall the stunt and some of the attendant disasters which befell both sides. Fritz there captured the biggest haul of Australians he got, and I think they numbered more than half his total. On the other hand, scores of Germans missed the sally-post in their own wire on the way back and paid the full penalty.
The story- we heard at the time was that the late. Lieutenants Pope and Simmons were in charge of isolated outposts, and. had orders to hold on at all costs. Both the garrisons did, the same thing exactly – ran out of ammunition and then mixed it with fixed bayonets in face of overwhelming numbers, to lose their lives:
Lieutenant Pope's runner got back wounded, but Lieutenant Simmons's runner was killed en route to company headquarters. I always understood there were no other survivors, and that all the bodies of both garrisons were afterwards brought in. Evidently the story was wrong in that respect.
According to the story at the time, Lieutenant .Pope's gallant action was witnessed by Captain Hemmingway, but there was no witness to Lieutenant Simmond's end. That was given as the reason why Pope was awarded a posthumous V.C. and Simmons was not.
I give the .foregoing as we heard it at the time, but am quite open to correction. It would: be interesting, indeed, to hear the true narrative from Bob Lowson.
"B Company,” 11th, Geraldton