BOSISTO, Russell George
| Service Number: | 1038 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 March 1915, Beachport, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hindmarsh, South Australia, Australia, 18 August 1893 |
| Home Town: | Hindmarsh, Charles Sturt, South Australia |
| Schooling: | North Adelaide School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Baker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 4 August 1916, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
Courcelette British Cemetery III. G. 29. |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Commissioner of Public Works Roll of Honour, Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Beachport WW1 & WW2 Memorial Rotunda, Gilberton Soldiers Memorial Swimming Reserve, Keswick Prospect Highbury Street Methodist Sunday School Old Scholars Roll of Honour, Keswick Prospect Methodist Sunday School Honour Board WW1, Nailsworth Primary School Great War Roll of Honour, Prospect St Cuthbert's Church Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Mar 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1038, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Beachport, South Australia | |
| 31 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, HMAT Geelong | |
| 12 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1038, 27th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Jul 1916: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 1038, 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , Russell's unit, the 27th Battalion, was part of the 7th Brigade in the 2nd Australian Division. It formed the right hand flank of the assault formation that on the 4th August 1918, captured the Windmill feature on Pozieres Ridge. It was the 27th Battalion that captured the ruins of the windmill itself. Russell Bosisto was struck down in the assault, possibly by a shell splinter as suggested by the rent in his waterbottle, recovered with his remains in 1998. His remains were found within 150m of the ruins. At the time, he was declared Missing in Action (MIA). The 27th Battalion held the Windmill feature until on relieved by the 48th Battalion, which was a composite SA / WA Battalion from the 12th Brigade in the 4th Division. The 48th Battalion held the feature against relentless German shelling and counter attack until relieved by the Canadians. It has been suggested that there is more South Australian DNA in the soil immediately around the Windmill than in any place outside the major metroplitan cemeteries in Adelaide. Russell Bosisto was one of hundreds. He now lies among others of the 27th Battalion killed on the same day. |
The Late Private R.G. Bosisto
"News has been received by Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Bosisto, of Dutton-terrace, Medindie, that their only son, Private R. G. Bosisto, who was previously reported missing, was killed in action in France on August 4. He was in his 23rd year, and left Adelaide on May 31, 1915. He spent 16 weeks on Gallipoli, and left for France in March last, where he served till his death." - from the Adelaide Chronicle 11 Nov 1916
Submitted 19 May 2015
Missing in Action - no longer
Russell Bosisto didn’t win a Victoria Cross or a Military Medal. But he did manage to achieve some sort of fame long after his death on the 4th August 1916, in the assault which captured the famed ‘Windmill’ at Pozieres.
Russell was listed as ‘Missing in Action’ for 82 years. One of the 18,000 Australians with no known grave, he was one of the names on the wall of the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneaux.
At 9.00 p.m in the twighlight of 4th August, 1916, the 27th Battalion as apart of the 2nd Australian Division launched an attack astride the Albert-Bapaume Road, as part of the continued push to seize the high ground above Pozieres to secure the flanks for a subsequent drive to outflank the German positions at Thiepval.
The 27th Battalion was on the extreme left of this attack, north of the road, and between the road and the track to Courcelette. This was the part of the attack which was aimed at capturing the ruins of The Windmill atop the high ground north east of Pozieres, beneath which the Germans had built a very strong machine-gun position. In front of the windmill were the Germans' two lines of trenches.
It was during this attack that Russell Bosisto was cut down, most probably by shellfire from the German guns near Courcellette. He was close to the objective at the Windmill, but fate had intervened.
Russell's body was most likely buried by subsequent explosions. He was not found after the battle and was listed as "Missing in Action".
He remained so for 82 years until in January 1998, a farmer engaged in winter ploughing, felt his plough drag on something in the soil. Upon investigation, that something was the remains of a WW I soldier. Russell Bosisto was no longer missing.
This work written by Steve Larkins for the "Our Other ANZAC Day 08" tour by Military History Tours Pty Ltd
Submitted 19 March 2013 by Steve Larkins
"One of the Boys"
Russell's body was not found after the battle or after the war. It wasn’t until January 1998 that Russell’s fate was confirmed at last.
The farmer contacted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and in a well-practiced process, they made arrangements for the remains to be removed and, if possible identified.
Identification was easy, because Russell's remains were found intact with all of equipment and personal possessions. He was not blown to pieces by artillery fire like many of his colleagues. It is not known how he died, although a rent in his waterbottle suggests an artillery shell splinter may have cut him down. He may well have been buried by the shell that killed him or by subsequent shells falling nearby.
There was his rifle, bayonet fixed with a round of ammunition ‘up the spout’ and more in the magazine. Hand grenades, his ammunition bandolier, the remains of his pipe, his gas-mask, perished except for the glass eye-pieces, his penknife and a razor were all there. His ‘hook quillion’ bayonet marked him as a Gallipoli veteran.
There was even the remains of his fountain pen with which he wrote letters to his family, which are themselves still in possession of his descendants.
Most important of all there were his identity discs - still legible. They were not service issue discs but specially made and engraved and given to him by his family.
There was also some evidence that Russell was "one of the boys", who liked a good time and who knew how to go about having one. A quick glance at his service record confirmed that he probably spent a bit of time 'on the mat'.
He had in his hip pocket the rank insignia of a lieutenant. His conduct sheet shows more than the odd entry relating to being AWOL. He was “a bit of a lad” it seems and from the occasional remark in some of his letters home there is speculation that he may have ‘put up’ the badges of rank to impress the girls or get a ‘foot in the door’ to premises not otherwise accessible to ‘enlisted men’.
But that was in 1916. In 1998, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was ready to change the lives of Russell's surviving relatives for ever, by telling them that their great uncle's body had been found by a French farmer preparing his fields for sowing.
On the 5th July 1998, Russell Bosisto’s remains were interred alongside nine other 27 Bn soldiers killed in the same attack, by an Australian Army Honour Guard from Adelaide’s Army Reserve 10th / 27th Battalion.
He rests in Courcellette cemetery, with direct line of sight to the remains of the Windmill.
Russell’s equipment and effects are now on display in the Army Museum of South Australia at Keswick Barracks Adelaide. Visit there sometime and pause to reflect on the life and times of Russell Bosisto, “one of the boys".
Submitted 16 March 2013 by Steve Larkins
Biography contributed by Kadina Memorial School
Private Russell George Bosisto, was born on the 18th August 1893 in Hindmarsh, South Australia. He and his family then later moved to Dutton Terrace, Medindie, South Australia. Russell's parents were Ernest and Annie Bosisto and he was the second child of five sisters, Gertrude, Dorothy, Evelyn, Marjory and Flora. Russell went to North Adelaide Public School for all of his schooling. When he finished school he got a job as a baker.
At the age of 21 and still employed as a baker, Russell enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Keswick Barracks on the 15th of March 1915. He was posted to "A" Company of the 27th Battalion in the Second Division.
The battalion embarked from Adelaide aboard HMAT Geelong on 31st of May, 1915, heading for Egypt. The first men to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) were sent not to Europe, as they had expected, but to Egypt for further training and to protect British interests in the Middle East and the Suez Canal.
On the 12th of September 1915, Russell's Battalion landed in Gallipoli. He served in a supporting role. At Gallipoli, the 7th Brigade, which included the 27th Battalion, reinforced the weary New Zealand and Australian Division. The 27th had a relatively quiet time at Gallipoli and the battalion departed the peninsula in December, having suffered only light casualties. They were evacuated and moved back to Egypt.
In late March 1916 Bosisto’s battalion then proceeded to France where he was to experience the frontline trenches for the first time. The battalion took part in its first major battle at Pozières between 28 July and 5 August. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division returned to the south in October. The 27th Battalion took part in two attacks to the east of Flers in the Somme Valley, both of which floundered in the mud.
On the 12th August 1916 Bosisto was reported missing in action from the 4th of August. On 14 October this was revised to killed in action. He had died while fighting at Pozières. Until his body was found his name was put on the Villers-Bretonneux, France. That is where all soldiers that were killed in action, had their names as a memorial. 82 years later in 1988, a farmer was ploughing his paddock and uncovered the remains of Private Russell Bosisto. On the 5th of July 1988 Russell was awarded a full military funeral to re-inter his remains at Courcellette Cemetery.
Russell was awarded the 1914–15 Star which was authorised in 1918 and was awarded for service in specified theatres of war between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915. He was also awarded the British War Medal for entering theatres of war during specified periods or left places of residence and rendered approved service overseas. Finally the Victory Medal was authorised in 1919 to commemorate the victory of the Allied Forces over the Central Powers. Each of the Allied nations issued a ‘Victory Medal’ to their own nationals. Each nation used the standard ribbon but used different designs on the medal to reflect national identity and custom. Australians were awarded the medal issued by Great Britain.
By Lachlan Jones
Year 9 student, Kadina Memorial School (2016)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau, 2014-18, Russell George Bosisto, retrieved 23/6/16, https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/story/russell-george-bosisto#https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/SRG76_1_1775_3.jpg
RSL Virtual War Memorial, Russell George Bosisto, retrieved 23/6/16, https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/1039
UNSW Australia, The AIF Project, 2004-16, Russell George Bosisto, retrieved 23/6/16, https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=27397
Australian Government, Department of Defence, Defence Honours and Awards, imperial awards, retrieved 23/6/16, defence.gov.au
Australian War Memorial. 2016. Australian War Memorial. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51467/. [Accessed 23 June 2016].
Biography contributed by Steve Larkins
Russell George Bosisto (1893-1916)
Russell George Bosisto was born on 18th August, 1893 at Hindmarsh, South Australia, the second child and only son of Ernest and Annie Bosisto. His five sisters were Gertrude, Dorothy, Evelyn, Marjory and Flora. The family later moved to Medindie, a suburb of Adelaide.
Russell was 21 years old and employed as a baker when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Keswick Barracks on 15th March, 1915.
He enlisted under an alias as "George Russell". His subterfuge didn't last long and the record was corrected before he embarked for overseas service. He was posted to "A" Company of the 27th Battalion in the Second Division and served in Egypt and then Gallipoli where the 27th Battalion landed on the 12th September 1915 to take part in the waning stages ofthe cmpaign. Russell and his comrades returned to Egypt in December 1915 before arriving in France on 21st March, 1916.
After a long train trip (in cattle trucks) to the north of France, the 27th Battalion and the rest of the 2nd Division was cycled through a section of the front around Fleurbaix and Fromelles in northern France, known as "The Nursery". All AIF Divisions did the same to accustom them to the nature of trench warfare on the Western Front. In June 1916, the Second Division headed south for the great Somme Offensive, along with the 1st and 4th Divisions.
And so it was that Russell Bosisto found himself in the ruins of a village called Pozieres.
His letters and what effects the family had, were passed down through his sister’s families, and they provide a fascinating insight into the life of Russell Bosisto, ‘one of the boys’ an average knock-about bloke who formed the backbone of the Anzac force.
Russell had confided to his father in a letter that he requested not be read to the rest of the family as was normally the practice. In the letter he told his father that France was much worse than Gallipoli. It was written shortly before his death, presumably during the early fighting around Pozieres.
Russell said that they couldn’t get forward and that retreat wasn’t an option. He felt that he would not survive. Russell’s dark hair was said to have turned white during the course of the Pozieres campaign. He asked his father to prepare the family for what might happen. Then Russell disappeared.
As CEW Bean so famously cited, Australians fell more thickly around Pozieres than in any other battlefield anywhere in the world – and among them was Pte. Russell Bosisto of A Company 27 Bn AIF.
He was one of many who had come from the other side of the world, to die an unknown death near a small village ‘Somewhere in France’. It is said his father never recovered from the grief of his son’s loss.
In January of 1998, a farmer ploughing his field adjacent to the Pozieres Memorial felt something drag in the tines of his tractor-drawn plough. Inspection revealed the remains of a soldier and from personalised Identity tags, it was quickly determined that he was an Australian soldier, so the find was reported to the Australian Embassy.
That set in train a course of events that saw his remains re-interred in nearby Courcellette cemetery on 5th July 1998, by an Honour Guard from the 10th/27th Battalion, the modern-day counterpart of Russell's unit. It received extensive news coverage in Australia. Russell's effects including a rifle with a full magazine of ammunition and one 'up the spout', hand grenades and other items including the pen he presumably used to write his letters home, still held by his family in Australia, and a set of officer's 'pips' (badges of rank), that he may have used to gain access to 'estaminets' (bars) and other establishments reserved for officers only, personalised an otherwise grim and poignant discovery.
Written by Steve Larkins - the Honour Guard Commander from the 10th /27th Battalion which reinterred Russell Bosisto's remains on 5th July 1998.
Biography contributed
The author of this work was a student at Heathfield High School in 2022. Their father was selected to be part of the ADF contingent which supported the reburial of Private Bosisto's remains following their discovery in January 1998.
On Sunday July 5th 1998 at the Courcelette Cemetery (France), my dad, a member of the 10/27th Battalion (Royal South Australian Regiment), was involved in the burial of Private Russell George Bosisto. It was a special day for him and something he often used to talk about when I was a child. It was 82 years after Private Bosisto was Killed in Action at the battle of the Somme in France, during World War 1.
The battle of the Somme (1st July to the 18th of November 1916) was a joint operation between the Allied forces intended to achieve a decisive victory over the Germans on the Western Front. For many in Britain, the resulting battle remains the most painful and infamous episode of the First World War. They where faced with German defenses that had been carefully laid out over many months. Despite a seven-day bombardment prior to the attack on the 1st of July, the Allies didn’t achieve the quick breakthrough they where hoping for. Private Bosisto was one of the allied infantry soldiers in the battle of Somme and was reported missing on the 4th of August 1916, 5 months after arriving in France and experiencing the frontline trenches for the first time. On August 12th 1916, Bosisto was reported ‘missing in action’ having taken part in the battle at Pozieres which occurred between July 28th and August 5th.
According to Red Cross records, his mother Anne wrote to the South Australian branch hoping to find out where he was believing him to be a prisoner of war. However, on October 14th 1916, his ‘missing in action’ was revised to ‘killed in action’ as witness statements declared that he was posted near the Windmill at Pozieres and killed outright when hit by a shell. His remains were unable to be recovered and he was commemorated on the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France with other soldiers with an unknown resting place.
Fast track 82 years and a French farmer, whilst ploughing the land dug up a body identified as an Australian soldier by the buckles on his back pack which included his razor. The mystery of where he fell was finally solved when the dog tags identified him as Russel George Bosisto. His old battalion, the one my dad belonged to were involved in the funeral service with full military honors in which a named grave was provided. He was the son of a South Australian family when he went to war and his war story detailed due to the post cards he sent every week to each of his five sisters. Two of the descendants of those women came from Australia for his burial along with one of the last Australian veterans and member of the same battalion, Howard Pope.
Bibliography
Secondary Sources
South Australian Red Cross accessed at https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/story/russell-georgebosisto#https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/SRG76_1_1775_3.jpg accessed on October 31 2022
Sydney Morning Herald https://amp.smh.com.au/world/pozieres-and-fromelles-centenary-wwi-digger-russell-bosisto-laid-to-rest-20160716-gq72zu.html accessed on October 31 2022
Virtual War Memorial Australia https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/1039 accessed on October 31 2022
Primary Source
J Smolski
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