Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From Francois Somme

Pte 5648 William Henry Ashcroft,
5th Australian Infantry Battalion,
2nd Brigade, 1st Australian Division

More than a hundred years ago, in the Somme, the once peaceful and silent grounds were dug with trenches in front of which were stretched endless lines of barbed wire under the thunder of steel storms which decimated a whole generation of young men who ,for peace and freedom, side by side, proudly and bravely, watching over each other, went over the top through rains of bullets that swept the air with shrill whistles bringing death and despair on waves, battalions which, in a few minutes, in fury and blood, were mercilessly decimated by the brutality of an insane war which drove so many men to kill each other in the mud, in the fury of battles which were to bring an end to all the wars but which marked the beginning of the deadliest century in the history of humanity but with courage, with honor, in the fields of the Somme and the North of France, the Australian soldiers, the British, the French fought together united in the finest spirit of camaraderie and fraternity which lit up the darkness of the battlefields on which so many young lives were lost and which today, still united in eternal youth, in remembrance, stand proudly behind the shadows of their white tombs over which I will always watch with dignity and respect so that the lives, the sacrifices and the names of these men, of these heroes gathered in the light, may live forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and with the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 5648 William Henry Ashcroft who fought in the 5th Australian Infantry Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Australian Division, and who was killed in action 106 years ago, on December 20, 1916 at the age of 23 on the Somme front.

William Henry Ashcroft, who was very affectionately called "Willie" or "Billy" by his comrades, was born in 1893 in Liverpool, England, and was the son of Walter Boyes Ashcroft and Emma Marion Ashcroft (née Parker). He was educated in the Hawthorn Road School, Liverpool then after graduation, worked as a butcher for the firm "Argentine Meat Company". In 1914, he and his family emigrated to Australia on board "Port Lincoln" for a new life then settled in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor, although during the war years Emma Ashcroft and her daughters moved to 3, Sheffield Street, Coburg. Walter senior, who had been an invalid for a number of years, died soon after their arrival and William, as well as his two brothers, Walter and Edward, supported their mother and sisters.

Before the outbreak of the war, William worked as a farmer for Mr Charles King at Ouyen, Victoria and lived at 17, Nelson Street, Windsor, Victoria.
On August 4, 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany. Australia quickly followed the Mother Land’s call to arms. A rush of volunteers flocked to Victoria Barracks in Melbourne and to Broadmeadows Camp north of the city to enlist.

From the city and suburbs clerks laid down their pens, shopkeepers and shop assistants walked out of their shops, solicitors paused with their briefs, workmen downed their picks and shovels and from the countryside bushmen, farmers, graziers, shearers, woodchoppers set out on by horse drawn buggy, by train, by horse and on foot starting their journey to join a new type of army,an all volunteer army,the Australian Imperial Force.

William enlisted on February 21, 1916 in Melbourne, Victoria, in the 5th Australian Infantry Battalion, 17th Reinforcement, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Stanley Wanliss while the same day in France began the terrible battle of Verdun and after a period of little more than a month of training at Broadmeadows Camp, north of Melbourne, he embarked with his unit from Melbourne, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on April 4, 1916 and sailed for Egypt.

On May 11, 1916, William arrived in Egypt and was disembarked at Tel-El-Kebir where he joined the 2nd Training Battalion in the heat of the desert to complete his training and then on May 28, alongside the men of the 5th Battalion, joined the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) to Alexandria from where they proceeded overseas to France on board "Tunisian".
On June 4, 1916, after an uneventful journey across the Mediterranean Sea, William arrived in France and was disembarked at Marseilles. A month later, on July 7, he marched with his unit to Etaples where he joined the 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot and on July 30, was taken on strength in the Somme, at La Vicogne, which the 5th Battalion left the next day for Bonneville where they were billeted until August 7.

On August 8, 1916, the 5th Battalion moved back to La Vicogne then three days later, on August 11, proceeded to Vadencourt Wood where they were visited by King George 5 and followed a period of training including special exercises including a demonstration coordination work between artillery and air support. On August 14, they left Vadencourt Wood, bivouaced in Albert then the following day marched for Ovillers-La-Boisselle and on August 16, joined the trenches of Pozieres which was the scene of the first engagement major of the Australian Imperial Force but also the deadliest for them in the Somme. At Pozieres, the 5th Battalion suffered terribly and were under constant and precise fire from the German artillery which wiped the village off the map and left only lunar soil riddled with shell holes. On August 22, the 5th Battalion was relieved by the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion but in six days of hell at Pozieres, lost 335 men and moved for Albert.

On August 23, 1916, William and the 5th Battalion left the town of Albert and moved into billets at Warloy-Baillon then marched through Rubempre, Amplier, Authieule, and on August 26, arrived at the camp called "Connaught Lines" located at Godewaersvelde which they left four days later for Poperinge, in the Ypres salient and on August 31 were sent to Ottawa Camp for a period of training including bayonet practice, musketry drills, anti-gas drills, attacks in wooded surroundings, then on September 1st moved to "Belgium Chateau" with a force of 810 men.

On September 13, 1916, William and the 5th Battalion left "Belgium Chateau" and entered the trenches between the sector of Ypres and Menin Road where they relieved the men of the 8th Australian Infantry Battalion and fought there until September 26 then were relieved the same day by the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion and moved back on rest to Ottawa Camp but lost 95 men killed in action between 13 and 26 September.

On October 9, 1916, after receiving reinforcements and following a period of training, the 5th Battalion left Ottawa Camp and moved to Halifax Camp and then moved to Steenvoorde, in northern France. After this the battalion marched through Buysscheure, Houlle, and on October 23, arrived in the Somme, in the village of Gorenflos then Dernancourt the next day and marched into billets at "Pommiers Camp" where after a long march, they enjoyed of a few days of rest but orders were received from join the front line, and on October 28, occupied support trenches between Flers and Gueudecourt where they relieved the 8th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment.

On November 7, 1916, William and the 5th Battalion which occupied the "Grease Trench", "Biscuit Trench", "Pioneer Trench", "Pilgrims Way", "Gap Trench" and "Switch Trench", were relieved by the 8th Australian Infantry Battalion and proceeded to Bernafay Camp a few miles away then on November 12, moved back into billets at Dernancourt then moved to Ribemont where they remained until November 17. The following day William and his comrades marched to Vignacourt which they left at the end of the month and proceeded for the Sydney Camp located near Mametz on December 4.

On December 5, 1916, the 5th Battalion left Sydney Camp and moved to Carlton Camp near Bazentin-Le-Petit where they arrived at 3:30 p.m. and the next day moved back into the Gueudecourt trenches where they fought until December 20 but on the same day, William met his destiny.

On December 20, 1916, William and the men of the 5th Battalion who faced the worst and coldest winter the Somme had ever seen were relieved from the trenches at Gueudecourt by the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion and moved to "B Camp" near Bernafay Wood and later the same day, a German high explosive shell fell on the tent in which was William who was killed instantaneously as well as several of his comrades, he was 23 years old.

Today, William Henry Ashcroft rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Bernafay Wood British Cemetery, Montauban, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Thy will be done o Lord."

The circumstances leading to William's death were described by Captain and Chaplain Carter, 5th Australian Infantry Battalion as follows:
"This man,with others,came out of the trenches and went into huts near Bernafay Wood on 20.12.16.A high explosive shell hit the hut where these men were and killed them instantly.I saw the huts wrecked and the bodies of the men lying side by side.Ashcroft was buried at Bernafay Military Cemetery on December 20,1916.I officiated and a cross was placed over the grave."

William had two brothers who also fought bravely in the Great War. The first of them was Private number 5649 Edward Beken Ashcroft who fought in the 2nd Australian Pioneer Battalion, D Company, 14th Platoon. Unfortunately, Edward died of his wounds. on May 8, 1917 at the age of 21 and is now resting in peace at Grevillers British Cemetery and his grave is inscribed: "Thy will be done o Lord."

William's second brother was Private number 3451 Walter Benjamin Ashcroft.The Red Cross files reveal that Edward and Walter (the oldest brother) were in the same company (D Company) and the same platoon (14th) and that when Edward was reported wounded, his brother Walter went looking for him, found his brother and brought him back in, but was badly wounded as a result.

Walter Ashcroft suffered severe gun shot wounds to his feet, his buttocks and his right arm and was evacuated to the Southern General Hospital in Oxford where he had both legs amputated below the knee. After a period of treatment and rehabilitation, he returned to Australia in March 1918.

Despite his injuries, Walter Ashcroft went on to marry Eva Jean Templeton in 1919 and raise a family. He lived in the Coburg area for the rest of his life and died in Pascoe Vale in 1966 at the age of 76.

On the page of William Henry Ashcroft's file available on the "Virtual War Memorial Australia" website, there are some errors. It is noted that William was killed in action on April 27, 1917 but he was killed on December 20, 1916. It is also noted that William is buried in Morchies British Cemetery but is, with certainty buried in Bernafay Wood British Cemetery. Last error, it is noted that the rank of William was Lance Corporal but he was Private.

William, at the dawn of a life that stretched out at your feet, it was with courage and pride that you answered the call of duty to fight alongside your brothers and friends on the battlefields of the great war, to do what was right and lighten the darkness that invaded the trenches in which was lost the innocence and youth of a whole generation of men whose blood and tears were shed under the dark skies of a world that sank into the murderous madness of an insane war which, with extreme bravery, determination and conviction, held the front line behind the parapets that so many of them climbed to face death under rains of bullets and avalanches of steel who swept these young men in flames, in sufferings and horrors which they endured and crossed days and nights under the lugubrious and fatal howls of an implacable artillery which, relentlessly, hammered valleys and fields once green and peaceful who, under these bites of fire and steel, turned gray and bruised by an unleashing of brutality never seen before which transformed the fields of poppies into fields of death, desolation and despair.Their knees deep in the mud, in the cold of a winter that was hell on earth, these young boys, caught too soon in the turmoil of a world on the verge of annihilation, fought like lions pushed forward by sense of duty and camaraderie and carried without ever taking a step back the weight of war that crushed their shoulders already martyred by their bags and their rifles. They carried in their eyes the horrors that would haunt them forever and on their young faces, the filth, the scars, the wounds they never talked about, they never complained about and tirelessly, these young men, these young Diggers, showed each day the determination, the perseverance, the solidarity and the courage of the whole Australian nation which was united in the most beautiful spirit of courage, in the ANZAC spirit which, in the face of fears, in the face of pain, in the face of death, gave strength and faith to these exceptional men who, without hesitation, at the whistle of their officers, climbed the wooden ladders and charged through the barbed wire under the fire of mortars, shrapnel and machine guns which spat death in torrents of fire and blood through the poppies on which fell,dead and wounded, thousands of men, who, dying helplessly in the shell holes,did not retreat, never gave up and encouraged their friends, their brothers to move forward until their last breath of their young lives stopped too early in the reddened fields of Pozieres, Gueudecourt, Flers, Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux on which the memory of the Australians and the Australian Imperial Force is and will always remain alive. Today they rest in peace, in the silence of the cemeteries, behind their white graves, on the sacred walls of the memorials of northern France where their memory will never fade, where their stories will live forever, engraved in our thoughts and in our hearts, where the flame of remembrance will forever shine and upon them, with love and the deepest respect, I will watch forever, so that they are never forgotten, so that they remain forever young, to that today, in us and in the hearts of future generations, they may live forever. Thank you so much William, for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him, we will remember them.