Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Cairns was born in Ballarat, Victoria in 1876, the son of Thomas Wales Cairns (1840-1900) and Ellen Carr (1850-1922). He enlisted at Melbourne, aged 40, on 16 February 1916, listing his mother, Ellen, as his next-of-kin. He had previously worked as a Manager. His younger brother Robert had enlisted with the 4th Reinforcements, 29th Battalion, on 24 November 1915. Both brothers would go on to be wounded in action whilst serving in France, William as a member of the 14th Battalion and Robert with the 8th Australian Machine Gun Company.

William sailed for the war with the 19th Reinforcements, 14th Battalion on board HMAT Militiades on 1 August 1916. On 30 September 1916, at Rollestone, England, he was convicted of Drunkenesss and Disobedience of Orders for being without his pay book, for which he was fined 2/6.

He proceeded to France from Folkestone on 12 December 1916 and was Taken on Strength with the 14th Battalion on 7 January 1917. At that time, the 14th Battalion was in camp at Mametz, where it was engaged in road work until 21 January before moving into the reserve line to relieve the 47th Battalion. It was a challenging introduction to life in the trenches for Cairns. The weather was the coldest the men of the 14th Battalion had yet experienced, and the ground was frozen. However, it could have been worse. The cold ensured the mud and water were solid so the men could at least keep their feet dry.

The service records of William Cairns record him as present with the Battalion during April 1917. On 9 April, the British attack opened on the Third Army front at Arras. The initial success of this attack encouraged the Fifth British Army to ask the 4th Australian Division to attack the Hindenburg line on 10 April, and the 4th Brigade was given the task. Very little preparation meant the Australians could not make the necessary administrative arrangements to increase the likelihood of success. ‘No one in authority among the Australians appears to have believed in the feasibility of the scheme’, wrote Wanless in the unit history. The expected Tank support did not eventuate, and the attack did not follow best practice. Firstly, it was pushed through on a narrow front. Secondly, there was no support on either flank. Thirdly, the element of surprise was lost when the initial attack was cancelled due to the late arrival of the Tanks. However, the movement in the trenches had been seen by the Germans, who were now expecting an attack. However, Fifth Army ordered the attack to be carried out the following morning. The fourth issue was the lack of a protective barrage for the assaulting troops to lean in behind. The first Battle of Bullecourt, for 4th Brigade AIF, was the ‘most disastrous, the most bloody day in the history of the 4th Brigade', according to Wanless. The Brigade suffered casualties of 79 Officers and 2260 Other Ranks, including 19 Officers (ten of whom were killed) and 582 Other Ranks of the 14th Battalion. The establishment of the Battalion had been recorded in the War Diary on 7 April 1917 as 28 Officers and 1007 Other Ranks, of whom seven officers and 94 Other Ranks were detached on Corps, Divisional or Brigade duty or with other units. The Battalion, in one attack, had suffered 60% casualties. Of all the battalion deaths throughout the war, 15% occurred as a result of this attack.

Post-Bullecourt, William Cairns continued to serve with the Battalion.

The Australian War Memorial has in its collection, a copy of a recommendation for an award dated 9 September 1917 from the 14th Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Walter John Smith. Referring to William Cairns, he wrote, “This man joined the unit on 7/1/17 and has since that date been in the sanitary section. His work has been characterised by the utmost thoroughness and has in a great measure been a continuous factor in the general good health enjoyed by the unit.”

On 18 February 1918, he was promoted to Lance Corporal and then to Corporal on 15 March 1918.

He was wounded in action on 31 May 1918, suffering shrapnel wounds to the head and back. That day, the Battalion War Diary records that the unit was at Allonville, about nine to ten miles from the front line, when the Germans shelled the village. One shell landed in the large barn occupied by “A” Company, cutting it in half. 13 Other Ranks were killed and 56 wounded, whilst another shell landed in a barn occupied by “C” Company and Headquarters, causing a further 17 casualties. In total, half of the 14th Battalion occupied the two barns. The War Diary records, ‘The behaviour of the men was magnificent, as men were buried in the debris and had to be dug out and some of the wounds (the majority) were awful.’ Those are the only incidents recorded in the War Diary that day, so it is likely he was wounded by one of those shells. The shrapnel wounds William Cairns suffered were relatively light compared to others in the Battalion. The Battalion history written by Wanless, The History of the Fourteenth Battalion AIF, recorded that the first barn was hit by a shell from a gun of large calibre, which caused two sections of the roof to collapse and fall upon the men who were sleeping at the time. ‘The falling timber and the flying slates inflicted awful wounds, disembowelling some, smashing others to a pulp, and cutting off arms and legs as if they had been paper.’, wrote Wanless. The total casualties from the two shells was 86.

As a result of his wounds, he was taken to the 5th Casualty Clearing Station before being moved to 1st General Hospital at Etretat. He remained in hospital until 10 July 1918. He was sent to the Australian Infantry Base Depot, where he was classified as B3, meaning only suitable for sedentary work, and sent to England on 17 July. After a short stay in England, he returned to Australia aboard H.T Medic for discharge due to debility on 26 August 1918.

He was discharged in Melbourne on 28 October 1918. Post-war life was difficult for William. In 1922, his mother died, followed by the deaths of his sister in 1928 and brother in 1930. The 1934 electoral roll listed his address as Laurie St., Ballarat East. His occupation at this time was as a driver. Sadly, William Cairns died a year later on 24 December 1935 at Creswick, Victoria.