HOSKING, Archibald John
| Service Number: | 5604 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 April 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 26th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Esk, Queensland, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Esk, Somerset, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Esk State School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Wheelwright and Grazier |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 20 May 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Esk Presbyterian Church Roll of Honour, Kingaroy Stone of Remembrance, Kumbia & District Fallen Roll of Honour Memorial, Kumbia WW1 Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5604, 26th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 5604, 26th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Clan McGillivray embarkation_ship_number: A46 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 5604, 26th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Clan McGillivray, Brisbane |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Lang
#5604 HOSKING Archibald (Archie) John 26th Battalion
Archie Hosking was born at Coal Creek, a farming community near Esk on the Brisbane Valley Rail Line, to parents William and Jean Hosking. As a boy, he attended Esk State School and then began an apprenticeship as a wheelwright.
The Hosking family moved from Esk further up the rail line to Moore as the rail was extended. When Archie presented himself for enlistment at the Adelaide Street recruiting depot on 26th April 1916, he had just turned 19. His enlistment papers show he was still a young lad, being only 5’ 3” tall and weighing just a shade over 9 stone. Archie stated his occupation as grazier and gave an address of Taabinga, Kingaroy. Documents in Archie’s national Archive File indicate that he may have had an interest in a 700 acre property. Archie named his father of Moore as his next of kin.
Archie reported to Fraser’s Paddock camp at Enoggera where he was taken into the 11th Depot Battalion. On 7th June, Archie was allocated to the 15th reinforcements for the 26th Battalion; and on 7th September boarded the “Clan MacGillivray” in Brisbane for England.
The reinforcements landed in Plymouth in Devon on 2nd November and then proceeded to the 7th Training Battalion camp at Rollestone on Salisbury Plain. Archie spent two weeks in hospital at Parkhouse with mumps; a common disease among newly arrived reinforcements, before returning to Rollestone.
On 16th January 1917, Archie crossed the English Channel to France where he marched in to the large Australian Infantry Depot at Etaples, just south of Boulogne. He remained at Etaples until early March. Just before leaving Etaples for his battalion, Archie completed his will in his paybook which was witnessed by two other soldiers.
When Archie finally was taken on by the 26th Battalion, the 26th as part of the 7th Brigade of the 2nd Division AIF was in camp at Contalmaison engaged in training and equipment refits for the coming spring when fighting on the western front would resume, once the weather improved.
In the lull in fighting of the previous winter, the Germans had constructed a 150 kilometre long defensive barrier, which the British labelled the Hindenburg Line, some distance to the east of their previously held positions astride the Somme. As the German forces began a strategic withdrawal to this new position, the British forces cautiously followed, taking the towns of Bapaume and Noreuil along the way. By the first week in April, elements of the 5th British Army under General Gough, which included the 2nd and 4th Australian divisions, came up against the Hindenburg defences at Bullecourt.
An initial attack against the Hindenburg defences on 11th April which included two brigades from the 4thDivision was resoundingly unsuccessful but Gough was under pressure from his superior, General Douglas Haig, to breech the Hindenburg Line. A second major attempt against the Hindenburg Line, which involved 14 mainly British divisions along a 16 mile front, was planned for 3rd May. The 26th Battalion was tasked with being the 7th Brigade reserve. Soon after the attack began at 3:45am, the 5th Brigade AIF and the 62ndBritish Division were stopped in their tracks by heavy machine gun and artillery fire. The brigadier commanding the 6th Brigade ordered two companies from the reserve, the 26th Battalion, to move up to support the beleaguered 5th Brigade. Archie Hosking was part of this relief and as he moved up to the front line positions, he received a gunshot wound, almost certainly from a heavy machine gun. The bullet smashed into Archie’s right thigh fracturing his femur. Archie was transported to the 6th Field Ambulance and then to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station. The following day, he was loaded onto an ambulance train and taken to the 3rd Stationary Hospital at Rouen.
Despite the best efforts of the hospital staff, Archie died from his wounds on 20th May. He was just 20 years old. Archie was buried in the Saint Sever Cemetery Extension at Rouen. When permanent headstones were erected at the end of the war, Archie’s family chose the following inscription: HE WENT KNOWING HE WOULD NOT RETURN.
After Archie’s death, his brother, Lance Corporal W. Hosking wrote to the authorities from London where he was presumably employed as a clerk at AIF headquarters. In his letter, he expressed concern that a will had not been located because there was a parcel of some 700 acres of improved land in Archie’s name which should pass to William Snr.
There was further delay when the original of the death certificate, required for probate to proceed on the will, was lost at sea when the mail ship was sunk. When a duplicate certificate was provided from London, Archie’s estate was settled. His personal belongings were returned to the family which included two steel mirrors, a razor, a wristwatch and papers relating to his tenancy on the property at Taabinga.