RAITT, Ernest William
| Service Number: | 1580 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 May 1915, Age 16 years |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Barry's Reef, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 1898 |
| Home Town: | Busselton, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Busselton State School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Bread Carter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 29 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Busselton Cenotaph Victoria Square, Busselton Rotary Park Of Remembrance War Memorial, Busselton Rotary Park of Remembrance Memorial Walk, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 4 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1580, 28th Infantry Battalion, Age 16 years | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 1580, 28th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 1580, 28th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Fremantle |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Joy Dalgleish
Busselton Mail FEBRUARY 13 2015
Age no barrier to Busselton's Anzac Baker by - Ray Sparvell
Young baker, Ernest Raitt, entered the Busselton enlistment depot on April 3 1915 and stated his age as 18, he was accepted, though his real age was actually 16 years and 10 months.
Raitt was born in Barry’ Reef, Ballarat, Victoria to Susan and Alexander Raitt. He was schooled in Busselton where his father was also a baker for local businessman, H.H. Russell.
Raitt was sent to Blackboy Hill for training and allocated to the 28th Battalion. The 28th Bn left Australia in June and Raitt boarded with the 1st Reinforcements on June 5 from Fremantle onboard HMAT Geelong. The WA diggers arrived in Egypt in July and joined the rest of the 7th Brigade at Abbassia, near Cairo, where they became part of the newly-raised Australian 2nd Division. Two months of training followed, as the division was prepared for action; this programme was put on hold in September when elements of the division were dispatched to Gallipoli to provide reinforcements for the Australian and New Zealand forces that had been fighting around Anzac Cove since April.
The Gallipoli campaign was almost over, but the decision to evacuate had not been set and the 7th Bgde landed in early September.
The brigade was attached to the New Zealand and Australian Division as reinforcements, occupying positions north-east of Anzac Cove around "Cheshire Ridge"The 28th Bn remained on the peninsula for the next few months, manning the trenches, improving defences and defending the beachhead until the evacuation in mid-December when it was withdrawn back to the Greek island of Lemnos. The battalion left the Gallipoli peninsula with 24 officers and 667 other ranks.
Raitt was among the first Australian soldiers to be sent to the Western Front in France in mid-March, 1916. The 28th Bn entered the front line around Armentieres, holding the right flank of the 7th Bgde.
The battalion would fight in the trenches of the Western Front in both Belgium and France and take part in numerous battles until the end of the war. The 28th Bn’s first major action came during the Battle of Pozieres in late July and early August when it took part in two big attacks. During the first, the 28th was battered when it took part in a night-time push that largely stalled on barbed wire defences that the softening-up bombardment had failed to destroy.
Raitt was killed in action on July 29 during early action at Pozieres. He has no known grave. Raitt was likely the victim of artillery, though many bodies simply disappeared under thick mud. The 18-year-old is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.
His brother, Allan Raitt, also fought in France before becoming a prisoner or war. He returned home after the war ended.
Acknowledgements and thanks:
Local resident, Joy Dalgleish, who researched the names on the Busselton Cenotaph.. Busselton Public Library for its help and access to records.
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