Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Bertie Bruce Weston, born in 1898, was the son of Alfred Leonard Weston and Annie Brumby. His parents lived in Black Rock, twelve kilometres east of Orroroo, South Australia.
He was seventeen when he signed up to join the 11th Battalion. He lied about his age saying he was twenty-one so he didn’t need his parents’ signature on the enlistment form.
When he signed up he was in Perth, Western Australia, in the suburb of Blackboy Hill.

He embarked from Fremantle and travelled to Egypt on the HMAT A38 Ulysses transport ship. He travelled to Gallipoli, then back to Egypt. He was moved from the 11th Infantry Battalion to the 51st Infantry Battalion because the soldiers were coming back from the Gallipoli campaign and they needed more battalions to house the large numbers of soldiers. He recommenced training on March 11th, 1916. This consisted of twenty-five minute periods of handling of arms, musketry, extended order, bayonet fighting, rapid loading orders and messages and drill (close order) with a ten-minute gap in between periods.
During ‘smoko’, lecturers talked about pack fitting, eye training, care of arms, welfare of men, parts of rifles and march discipline. He didn’t do any night training due to the evenings being used for instruction of NCOs (non-commissioned officer: Sergeants and Corporals) and other ranks.

He spent the 13th to the 18th of March, 1916 in training. Each day began at 7am with a half hour of platoon drills at the double without arms. This was followed by 25 minute periods of training in line of sections, fire direction, attack movements, disciplinary drills, bayonet fighting and company drill or battalion demonstrations. He was required to charge at full speed with his bayonet over one hundred yards and then return to formation after the charge.

After he had finished his training he embarked for France on the HMT Ivernia anti-submarine ship equipped with depth-charges and machine guns. He disembarked at Abbeville, two and a half hours west of the Belgium border. He proceeded to Moolenaeker where he was given weapons for use on the Western Front, including a Lewis Gun and a gas mask which he had used in training drills.

The 51st Battalion was split into three with Bertie being put in the Grenade and Anti- Gas Platoon. The other two platoons were a Light Mortar Platoon and the Brigade Intelligence Section. All the platoons were trained in anti-gas protection but only his was specifically anti-gas protection and how to help others affected by gasses.
He was later removed from active service for extra training on April 1st, 1916, then reallotted into the 3rd Training Battalion and then transferred to the 13th Training Battalion where he trained for three months before being transferred back to active service.

On July 3rd, 1916, 7th Platoon returned from wood cutting and helped the 5th Platoon which was under heavy fire. Patrol 1 of 7 was in no man’s land, but was clear. Heavy shelling then had started on the front line. At 2 o’clock in the morning telephone wires back to HQ were cut and there was no communication. The Battalion were fighting blind without instructions. Casualty count for that day was 50 men, of all ranks.

On July 12th, 1916, the battalion marched back to Moolenaeker and stayed in the villas for one night and left the next morning on the train headed for Doullens. The battalion then marched to Halloy where they trained for 11 days. On July 28th, 1916, the battalion marched to Havernas, which was 12 miles south-west of Halloy, a journey that took around four and a half hours. They were travelling to Havernas to help a night assault with the support of artillery fire.

On August 29th, 1916, he was sent to hospital with gunshot wounds to his chest and 22 days later on September 21st, 1916, died of his wounds in the no.35 General Hospital.

He was buried in the Calais Southern Cemetery, France.