SYMONDS, Arthur William
| Service Number: | 3473 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Clare, South Australia , 23 October 1876 |
| Home Town: | Clare, Clare and Gilbert Valleys, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Gold miner and sleeper hewer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 9 October 1917, aged 40 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Armadale Bedfordale Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bedfordale Roll of Honour, Exeter Semaphore Uniting Church (fmly Wesleyan) Roll of Honour, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial, Sevenhill & Penwortham District War Memorial WW1, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3473, 11th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3473, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Fremantle |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Josie Millwood
Arthur Symonds was born in Clare, South Australia on 23 October 1876. He moved from Clare to the West Australian goldfields in or prior to 1896. Records about his time on the goldfields are scarce and limited to registraion of several mining claims and newspaper accounts of disputed claims.
The presumption is that Arthur never struck it rich on the goldfields as by 1915 he was working as a sleeper hewer in Bedfordale, south of Perth. He was described by his fellow soldiers as a big strong fellow and most guessed his age as around 30, rather that close to 40. Arthur enlisted in the AIF in August 1915, giving his age as 39. He was a single man and asked his elder sister, Katherine Parks, (who was living in Exeter and later Largs Bay in Adelaide) to be his next of kin.
Arthur commenced his training with the 21 Depot Battalion at Blackboy Hill, just out of Perth. He sailed from Fremantle with the 11th reinforcements to the 11th Battalion (3rd Brigade, 1st Division) and joined his unit in Egypt in March 1916. He was posted to 3 Platoon 'A' Company. The battalion deployed to France at the end of March 1916 and spent three months in what was referred to as the 'Nursery Section' near Armentieres in Flanders.
Arthur's last letters home were dated June 1916. This corresponds with the battalion moving south in July 1916 to join the fierce fighting on the Somme, including action in Pozieres and Mouquet Farm. The 11 Battalion fought in the battle of the Menin Road on 20 September 1916.
Back home his sisters in Adelaide and family friends in Perth were writing to Base Records asking about his welfare. They had not received any notification about him being wounded or killed and were getting desperately worried as his letters started being returned to them variously marked 'In Hospital', 'Unable to Trace' and 'Killed'.
Arthur's sister and next of kin, Katherine Parks asked her son, Captain Edward Joseph Parks, adjutant of the 16th Battalion to maked enquiries with the adjutant of the 11th Battalion and also in London re the fate of her brother. Captain Park's enquiries revealed that Arthur was evacuated after the 'first Posieres stunt' and that his unit had no further record of him. Arthur's sister Katherine then asked the Red Cross in Adelaide to write to Base Records on her behalf.
Finally on receipt of the envelopes stamped 'Unable to Trace', Base Records in Melbourne despatched a cable to AIF headquarters in London requesting Arthur's disappearance be investigated.
Eventually in May 1918 an enquiry was conducted in London to determine Arthur's fate. This enquiry found Arthur was reported wounded and missing on 9 October 1917 and that there was no evidence to show he was ever admitted to a Field Ambulance Clearing Station or Hospital in France. Eye witness accounts describe what they knew about Arthur's movements - that he was on Anzac Ridge, well behind enemy lines at Passchendaele and taken away by stretcher bearers. There was very heavy shelling at the time and one eye witness was not sure if it was possible to be taken away by stretcher.
This enquiry was unable to come to a finding about the fact that Arthur's last service payment was deposited in his bank account about 15 months before he was reported wounded.
I am sure that the confusion around Arthur's eventual fate and the questions that remain even today was not unusual for this time of heavy fighting on the Western Front. His family, as far as I am aware, have no photos of him, but someone dedicated a memorial stone to him at the Armadale War Memorial in Perth.
I have used the following sources for information contained in this biography of my great-great Uncle.
1. Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1473572
2. Men of Menin https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2802008
3. NAA: B2455 SYMONDS ARTHUR WILLIAM
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