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William Sidney Leopold Biffin
Birth 08 MAR 1889 • Esk, Queensland, Australia

Death 09 AUG 1916 • The Somme, Picardie, France

# 4131 BIFFIN William Sydney Leo (Leopold)                       47th Battalion
 
Will BiffIn (or Biffen) was born at Esk on 8th March 1889. The family lived at Ottaba on the Brisbane Valley Rail Line between Esk and Toogoolawah and Will spent most of his life on the family farm before enlisting. Will presented himself for enlistment in Brisbane on 3rd September 1915, one day later than another Esk man, James Barr. He advised the recruiting officer he was 25 years old and stated his occupation as horse team driver. Will named his father of Ottaba as his next of kin. Once accepted into the AIF, Will proceeded to Enoggera Camp where he was placed into the 13th Reinforcements of the 15th Battalion, the same draft as James Barr. Training at Enoggera continued to 3rd January1916 when the 13th reinforcements embarked on the troopship “Kyarra” in Brisbane. Will had allocated 3/- of his overseas pay to his mother.
 
The reinforcements landed at Alexandria in Egypt on 19th February 1916 and proceeded to the infantry depot at Serapeum. Early 1916 saw an expansion of the AIF from two to four divisions as well as an increase in artillery and logistics. New battalions were formed and both Will and James found himself transferred to the 47th Battalion, part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division AIF. The 47th Battalion was raised from a core of Gallipoli veterans from the 15th Battalion. This splitting of existing units to provide the core for two new units was generally carried out ensuring a roughly even amount of experience among officers and non-commissioned officers. However, in the case of the 47th, the battalion war history, “Battle Scarred,” notes that the Commanding Officer of the 15th Battalion had used the opportunity to unload officers and NCOs who had, in his opinion, underperformed. An inconsistent and disorderly regime of leadership within the battalion reduced the effectiveness of the training that was so vital for the new battalion to operate effectively. In addition to the unevenness of the officer group, almost all the ordinary ranks of the 47th Battalion were made up of reinforcements with the entire 11th, 12th and 13th reinforcements for the 15thBattalion being taken on by the 47th. With such an inexperienced makeup of personnel, the 47th Battalion remained in Egypt for some time and was one of the last AIF battalions to be shipped out to France and the Western Front. Drunkenness was an ongoing problem and several officers were sacked upon arrival at Marseilles.
 
The battalion travelled by train to the northern sector of the Western Front where they began to acclimatise to the routines of trench warfare. During the first issue of pay in July, there were a number of incidents of drunkenness amongst the lower ranks, Will among them for which he was fined 2/6d. The battalion spent a short three days in the front line at Fleurbaix before being withdrawn for fatigue work.
 
On 1st July 1916, General Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Forces in France and Belgium launched his big push with the opening of the Battle of the Somme. The battalions of Kitchener’s new army, suffered appalling losses; 60 000 casualties on the first day of whom 20,000 were killed. The gains of the offensive were minimal but Haig was committed to pushing on. By the middle of July, Haig ordered that three of the four Australian divisions in France and Belgium be moved south to the Somme where they would be thrust against the might of the German Armies. The primary objective was the high ridge on which nestled the village of Pozieres. The 1st Australian Division successfully took the village on the 24th July. The 2nd Division eventually took two lines of trenches and a blockhouse on the crest of the ridge above the village. The 4thDivision was put into the line at Pozieres on 7th August 1916, not to prepare for an attack but to simply hold the line and endure what was described by survivors as the heaviest and most relentless artillery barrage of the entire war. On the first day in the trenches, Will Biffen was seriously wounded by an exploding shell which took off both of his feet.
 
Will was carried out to the 44th Casualty Clearing Station where he died of his wounds on 9th August 1916. Will was buried in the Puchvillers Military Cemetery close to the CCS. Will’s parents received a parcel of their son’s personal effects which included 2 identity discs, a purse, brush and comb, book of views and a rosary. The name on William’s headstone at Puchvillers is spelled Biffin.