OGIER, Arthur Edgar
| Service Number: | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 February 1916, Blackboy Hill, WA |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Clunes, Victoria, Australia, 1883 |
| Home Town: | Boulder, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Clunes State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Greaser |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 25 April 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Boulder Roll of Honor, Boulder Roll of Honour Board, Clunes War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Blackboy Hill, WA | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Bee embarkation_ship_number: A48 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Jul 1916: | Embarked Private, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Seang Bee, Fremantle | |
| 2 Apr 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), The Outpost Villages - German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line, Noreuil | |
| 7 Jun 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle of Messines | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Polygon Wood | |
| 1 Oct 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Belgium | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Dernancourt/Ancre | |
| 25 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Villers-Bretonneux | |
| 25 Apr 1918: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1983, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1983 awm_unit: 51 Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1918-04-25 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
Arthur Edgar Ogier, aged 33, enlisted in the AIF at Blackboy Hill, WA on 25 February 1916. He embarked overseas on 18 July 1916 and arrived in Plymouth on 9 September, where he joined the 13th (Brigade) Training Battalion at its Codford Camp in Wiltshire.
After ten weeks training, he left England and arrived in France on 30 November 1916, where he was formally taken on strength of the 51st Battalion in the field on 14 December 1916.
After the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917, the 51st Battalion successfully attacked a blocking force at Noreuil on 2 April 1917.
In the middle of the year the battalion moved north to Belgium and was involved in the Battles of Messines (June 1917) and Polygon Wood (September 1917), after which Pte Ogier was promoted to Lance Corporal on 1 October 1917.
After a relatively quiet period, the Germans launched their Spring Offensive on the Somme on 21 March 1918 and the Australians were rushed south to assist plug the allies’ defensive gaps. The 51st Battalion helped stem the German thrust when they counter attacked and held the position at Dernancourt on 5 April 1918.
On 24 April 1918, the Germans captured the village of Villers-Bretonneux and threatened Amiens, an important rail hub. On the same night, the 51st Battalion took part in the successful Australian counterattack that recaptured the village, and it was here that L Cpl Arthur Edgar Ogier was killed in action during the morning of 25 April 1918.
His body was never recovered, and he has no known grave.
He is remembered on the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux.
Source: Extract from "Clunes War Memorial WW1" by Robert Wight, June 2022.
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