BERNHAGEN, August
| Service Number: | 7198 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (9RAR) |
| Born: | Mount Beppo, Queensland Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 25 July 1918, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Boonah War Memorial, Maroon War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Jan 1917: | Involvement Private, 7198, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ayrshire embarkation_ship_number: A33 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jan 1917: | Embarked Private, 7198, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ayrshire, Sydney | |
| 24 Jan 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 7198, 9th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (9RAR) |
Military History
August Bernhagen #7198 9th Battalion
August Bernhagen was born around 1890 at Mount Beppo near Toogoolawah; the son of Matilda and Albert Bernhagen. Albert and Matilda had at least four children before Albert died in 1902. Matilda remarried and took the surname of Hamer. The family had by that time settled at Maroon. August probably had very little schooling as his signature on his enlistment papers is in a very childish hand, even though he was 27 years old at the time.
August presented himself for enlistment at Brisbane on 2nd November 1916. The date may be highly significant. The first of the highly emotive conscription plebiscites had been held just five days beforehand and it may have been the failure of this campaign which was the catalyst for August’s enlistment. He reported to the recruiting officer that he had been rejected when attempting to enlist on a previous occasion as both of his parents, and probably his step-father, were German immigrants.
The situation facing the AIF in France in the latter half of 1916 was serious. The disastrous battles on the Somme had cost the Australians over 23,000 casualties. There was a desperate need to make good the losses if the four divisions in France were able to sustain their fighting strength. For August, this meant that just two months after enlisting, and with only very rudimentary training, he embarked in Sydney on the “Ayrshire” as part of the 24th reinforcements for the 9th Battalion. Upon arrival in Devonport near Plymouth, August and the other recruits marched out to a training camp for a further six months of training.
August was finally deployed overseas to France on 18th October 1917 and was taken on strength by the 9th Battalion on 19th November. For the most of 1917, the AIF had been fighting with the British in Belgian Flanders in a campaign that was usually referred to as Passchendaele. When the campaign ground to a halt in the Flanders mud in late October, the Australian divisions were exhausted. All five divisions were taken out of the line and billeted in winter accommodation around Poperinghe.
The winter of 1917/18 was a relatively quiet period in the northern sector of the Western Front and new recruits like August would have had ample time to acclimatise to trench life. The balance of power in Europe had temporarily swung in the German favour with the collapse of the Russian Front which allowed for full deployment of German forces in the west. This power advantage would not last long though as the United States would be entering the conflict.
The German Spring Offensive began on the Somme in March 1918 and most of the gains so had won by the British in 1916 were lost in a matter of days. Four Australian divisions in Belgium were rushed south to France to meet the German advance. The 1st Australian Division, of which the 9th Battalion was part, remained in the northern sector, taking up position on the front around Armentieres.
On 19th July 1918, the 9th launched an attack at Meteren between Armentieres and Hazebrouk. The action was highly successful with almost 100 prisoners being taken and 16 heavy machine guns captured. Unfortunately 39 men from the battalion were wounded, one of which was August Bernhagen. August was transferred to a casualty clearing station where he was admitted with a gun shot wound to the face. He died five days later.
August was buried adjacent to the casualty clearing station with a chaplain in attendance His mother received a parcel of his personal effects which included an ID tag, a razor, two knives, 2 French francs and a piece of shrapnel.
In 1924, the Imperial War Graves Commission exhumed the remains of those who had been hastily buried on the battlefields. August was reinterred in the Longuenesse Souvenir Cemetery at St Omer. His mother requested that his permanent headstone of Portland Limestone be engraved with the words: “In memory of our dear son and brother.” Matilda paid threepence halfpenny a letter for the engraving.
August Bernhagen’s younger brother William also enlisted. He returned to Australia in 1919.
Submitted 8 February 2021 by Ian Lang
Biography contributed by Ian Lang
August Bernhagen #7198 9th Battalion
August Bernhagen was born around 1890 at Mount Beppo near Toogoolawah; the son of Matilda and Albert Bernhagen. Albert and Matilda had at least four children before Albert died in 1902. Matilda remarried and took the surname of Hamer. The family had by that time settled at Maroon. August probably had very little schooling as his signature on his enlistment papers is in a very childish hand, even though he was 27 years old at the time.
August presented himself for enlistment at Brisbane on 2nd November 1916. The date may be highly significant. The first of the highly emotive conscription plebiscites had been held just five days beforehand and it may have been the failure of this campaign which was the catalyst for August’s enlistment. He reported to the recruiting officer that he had been rejected when attempting to enlist on a previous occasion as both of his parents, and probably his step-father, were German immigrants.
The situation facing the AIF in France in the latter half of 1916 was serious. The disastrous battles on the Somme had cost the Australians over 23,000 casualties. There was a desperate need to make good the losses if the four divisions in France were to be able to sustain their fighting strength. For August, this meant that just two months after enlisting, and with only very rudimentary training, he embarked in Sydney on the “Ayrshire” as part of the 24th reinforcements for the 9th Battalion. Upon arrival in Devonport near Plymouth, August and the other recruits marched out to a training camp for a further six months of training.
August was finally deployed overseas to France on 18th October 1917 and was taken on strength by the 9thBattalion on 19th November. For the most of 1917, the AIF had been fighting with the British in Belgian Flanders in a campaign that was usually referred to as Passchendaele. When the campaign ground to a halt in the Flanders mud in late October, the Australian divisions were exhausted. All five divisions were taken out of the line and billeted in winter accommodation around Poperinghe.
The winter of 1917/18 was a relatively quiet period in the northern sector of the Western Front and new recruits like August would have had ample time to acclimatise to trench life. The balance of power in Europe had temporarily swung in the German favour with the collapse of the Russian Front which allowed for full deployment of German forces in the west. This power advantage would not last long though as the United States Army would have a significant number of troops trained and in France by the summer of 1918; thus creating a power imbalance in favour of the British and French.
The German Spring Offensive began on the Somme in March 1918 and most of the gains so hard won by the British in 1916 were lost in a matter of days. Four Australian divisions in Belgium were rushed south to France to meet the German advance. The 1st Australian Division, of which the 9th Battalion was part, remained in the northern sector, taking up position on the front around Armentieres.
On 19th July 1918, the 9th launched an attack at Meteren between Armentieres and Hazebrouk. The action was highly successful with almost 100 prisoners being taken and 16 heavy machine guns captured. Unfortunately 39 men from the battalion were wounded, one of whom was August Bernhagen. August was transferred to a casualty clearing station where he was admitted with a gun shot wound to the face. He died five days later.
August was buried adjacent to the casualty clearing station with a chaplain in attendance His mother received a parcel of his personal effects which included an ID tag, a razor, two knives, 2 French francs and a piece of shrapnel.
In 1924, the Imperial War Graves Commission exhumed the remains of those who had been hastily buried on the battlefields. August was reinterred in the Longuenesse Souvenir Cemetery at St Omer. His mother requested that his permanent headstone of Portland Limestone be engraved with the words: “In memory of our dear son and brother.” Matilda paid threepence halfpenny a letter for the engraving.
August Bernhagen’s younger brother William also enlisted. He returned to Australia in 1919.