Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Frederick SANDFORD # 1905 42nd Battalion

William Sandford had been born in Worcester in England where he attended a Church of England school. At some time he and his family moved to Stoke on Trent where William befriended William Rawlins. The two Williams, aged in their early twenties, emigrated together and landed in Brisbane in 1912. It would appear that after making contact with a Charles Gear of South Brisbane, the two friends obtained employment in Moore. Rawlins worked as a clerk in a sawmill and Sandford was employed by a Mr McIvor. Further research may be necessary to establish if they were in fact employed at the same place.

William Rawlins enlisted in the 26th Battalion on 7th March 1916. William Sandford enlisted a fortnight later. If the friends had intended to be allocated to the same unit by the recruiters, their hopes were dashed. William Sandford was allocated to the 42nd Battalion. After a brief stay in the depot camp at Enoggera, the two would not see each other again. William Rawlins would also not survive the war.

William Sandford embarked on the ‘Boorara’ in Brisbane on 16th August 1916 and arrived in Plymouth two months later. In December, William was posted to the transit camp at Etaples in France and from there was taken on strength by the 42nd Battalion at the end of January.

The 42nd Battalion, as part of the 3rd Division AIF, had arrived in France in November and gone into the line for the first time in December. When William was taken on strength, the battalion was just settling into a routine of labouring in the rear areas interspersed with brief tours in the front line. The 3rd Division had been deployed to the northern sector of the front around the French Belgian border for a specific task, a major assault in the Ypres salient which was timed to begin in June 1917. For most of the spring of 1917, the battalions of the 3rd Division were engaged in training and familiarization of the battlefield by inspecting a large scale model of the ridge on which was located the village of Messines.

The battle of Messines began on 7th June 1917 with the blowing of 19 underground mines. On 9th June the 42nd went into the attack, tasked with advancing and establishing a new front line. On 11th June, William reported sick. He was eventually diagnosed with VD and spent the next 65 days in hospital and convalescent camps. In September he was granted a ten day furlough in France before reporting back to his unit.

When William rejoined his battalion, the advance had progressed from the ancient city of Ypres along the Menin Road to a slight ridge, Broodseinde Ridge, which contained the towns of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele. The Flanders campaign which had begun so well in the dry high summer had by October become mired in mud. A combination of unseasonal rainfall and the destruction of drainage canals created appalling conditions for men and animals. In spite of the difficulties created, the British Commander ordered the assault on Passchendaele to continue: a decision which more than any other imposed a stain on Douglas Haig’s legacy.

From 12th to 30th October, the 42nd attempted valiantly to gain the village of Passchendaele. Men were being taken out of the line at an alarming rate due to trench feet and gas poisoning. Trenches had to abandoned as they filled with water. Men and animals simply disappeared in a sea of mud. The official file records that William Sandford was killed on 18th October 1917, at the height of the Passchendaele disaster. Fortunately for his family, his body was not lost (as so many in Flanders had been) and he was interred in the Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. In his will, William had bequeathed ten pounds to each of his siblings with the remainder of his estate to go to his parents. William’s mother, Susan was granted a paltry pension of five shillings a fortnight by the Australian government.