Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Wilhelm Gustav Ambrosen, also known as William Ambrosen, was born on the 9th of May 1891 in Naissaar, Russia. He was the son of August Voldemar Ambrosen and Amelia Karolina Ambrosen. William was born as the 5th eldest child of the ten in his family, he had 8 brothers, including Ernst Johannes Ambrosen, Erik Samuel Ambrosen, Arvid Voldemar Ambrosen, Adolf Efraim Ambrosen, Walfram Fritjof Ambrosen, Walfried Gottlieb Ambrosen, Fridolf Ludvig Ambrosen and Edgar Christoph Ambrosen. He also has 1 sister, Hedvig Amalie Marie Kokk. Before he enlisted in the war, William was working as a labourer. William Ambrosen moved to Australia from New York on the 1st of October 1912, three years before the start of the first world war. He lived in Adelaide before he enlisted in the war.

William Ambrosen enlisted on the 16th of March 1915 in Keswick, South Australia. He was enlisted in the 27th infantry battalion in the 7th brigade, 2nd of Division, which was formed in March 1915. Along with 1264 other soldiers from the 27th Battalion, William embarked on the HMAT A2 Geelong. The battalion left Adelaide on the 31st of May and sailed overseas to Egypt. They disembarked the ship in Egypt in July for their two-month training there. The battalion landed in Gallipoli Peninsula on the 12th of September upon completing their training in Egypt. At Gallipoli, the 7th Brigade, which included the 27th Battalion, reinforced the weary New Zealand and Australian Division. At the same time, the 25th, 26th as well as the 28th battalion also landed at Gallipoli for the Gallipoli campaign.

Throughout October, William and his battalion as well as all of the other battalions defended the ridge. During the time they were defending the ridge, there were an unfortunate 34 casualties just before the New Zealander came to help in early November. The battalion had a relatively quiet time at Gallipoli and between the 15th and 20th of December, they evacuated from Gallipoli, having only suffered light casualties during the process.

During few months while in Gallipoli, the 27th battalion kept a war diary to record the events that happened while they were fighting. In October, the battalion recorded that they continued to construct the Cheshire Ridge line and the entrenchment work has been carried on. They had completed a considerable length of the new fire trench as well. Tunnels and covered saps have been made to for housing supports. They completed the trenches soon after and good progress were made in underground cover for the reserves.

On the 9th and 11th of October there were about five hours of rain fall. There was not much action to report, but the men in the trench lines and supports are being continually attacked by shrapnel, high explosives, bombs as well as machine fire. During the month, there were 10 lieutenant casualties as well as 5 soldiers killed, 29 of them wounded and 131 hospital cases for all the other ranks. There was a total of 175 casualties all together throughout the month.

The battalion stayed for a long stint in Egypt after coming back from Gallipoli. On April 7, 1916, the 27th Battalion made its initial entry into the front-line trenches, and from July 28 to August 5, 1916, it fought in its first major battle at Pozieres. The village was captured initially by the 1st Division on 23 July 1916, but they suffered heavily. 

While fighting in Gallipoli in 1915, William has been found with varicose veins in his legs, though this did not occur due to injuries during fighting. In his medical records, William wrote that he had tortured pain in both of his legs as well as swollen veins since his time at Gallipoli. He then had a surgery which removed several varicose veins at Sheffield England in July 1916. 

William was admitted to hospital several times because of his condition during the war. He was sent to the 8th Casualty Clearing Station on the 21st of June due to his sickness. On the 22nd of July 1916 he was admitted to the 26th General hospital in Etaples. Then on the 24th August 1916 he was transferred to the 3rd Northen General hospital. Finally in 1916 September 12th, he was discharged from the hospital in Tidworth. William stayed in the hospital for a total of about three months before finally getting discharged. On the 1st of January 1917 William was taken into strength to the ANZAC provost corps.

During the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg line in 1917, the battalion only participated in minor attacks. It did not carry out a major attack again until the 20th of September in 1917. The battalion were part of the 2nd Division’s first wave at the battle of Menin Road. Following this victory, the 27th Battalion participated in the capture of Broodseinde Ridge on the 4th of October.

On the 22nd of January 1918, William married Lottie Irene Greyatt in Monton, England. At the time of the marriage, William was 26 years old, and Lottie was 25 years old. The marriage was registered in the district of Monton Hants, and solemnized at the Monton Parish Church. 

He was transferred back to the 7th Field company engineers on the 16th of August 1918.

William returned to Australia on the 6th of February 1919. He returned after his discharge on the 23rd of May 1919 after being medically unfit, not due to misconduct. He served a total of 4 years of 69 days and his service abroad was 3 years and 252 days. During his service with the A.I.F, William served with the 27th infantry battalion as well as the 7th Field Company in France and later with the Australian Provost corps in England.

On the 3rd of January 1968, William wrote a letter to the officer commanding in the 4th Military District in the Royal Australian Military Forces, about 53 years after the Gallipoli campaign was finished. This letter was regarding the application for the Gallipoli campaign medal in 1915. William was given to understand that the Australian Government had struck a Gallipoli Campaign medal for servicemen that had served in the Gallipoli campaign. At the time of the application, William was living in Minehead, Somerset in England.

After the war, he lived in many different places such as Adelaide, Monxton, Andover as well as Hampshire. William Ambrosen died of natural causes on the 20th of August 1987 in Minehead, Somerset England, aged 96.