WIGGINS, William
Service Number: | 3144 |
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Enlisted: | 21 February 1917 |
Last Rank: | Private |
Last Unit: | 36th Infantry Battalion |
Born: | Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia, 25 November 1900 |
Home Town: | Balmain, Leichhardt, New South Wales |
Schooling: | Balmain Public School and Sydney Technical High School, New South Wales, Australia |
Occupation: | Clerk |
Died: | 4 March 1989, aged 88 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
Memorials: | Sydney Technical High School WW1 Roll Of Honour |
World War 1 Service
21 Feb 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3144, 36th Infantry Battalion | |
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10 May 1917: | Involvement Private, 3144, 36th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
10 May 1917: | Embarked Private, 3144, 36th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Devlin
William Orchard Wiggins
William Wiggins was perhaps a rare soldier with an interesting story to tell. Wiggins was born on the 25th of November, 1900 in Woollahra. He lived at 10 College Street, Balmain with his mother Mrs Jane Wiggins. Brought up in a family that followed the religion of Church of England, he attended Balmain Public School and then Technical High School (now STHS).
At the time of the war, William Wiggins was working as a clerk and was 16 years old. He enlisted on the 21st of February, 1917, lying about his age to get past conscription as many other underage men had done so previously. He was given the embarkation roll number 23/53/3 and was due to set sail on the 10th of May, 1917. On the day, he boarded the HMAS A24 Benalla and was placed into the 36th Infantry Battalion.
The 36th Infantry Battalion was originally formed in Newcastle. Most of the men in the battalion were recruited at local rifle clubs in the area at the order of the Minister for Public Information of the NSW Government, Ambrose Carmichael. The unit was nicknamed Carmichael’s Thousand and he himself enlisted in the battalion as a lieutenant, later becoming a captain.[1] The unit left Sydney on 13th of May, 1916 for the UK. They spent 4 months for training and were sent to the trenches of the Western Front. They went on to fight in key battles such as Villers Bretonneux, Passchendaele, Somme, Amiens and Broodseinde Ridge to name a few.
Having departed in May, Wiggins arrived at the Western Front sometime in the middle of June. Wiggins would then fight in the Battle of Messines. Since the Nivelle Offensive had failed, the Battle of Messines was planned to capture German defences on a ridge, south of Ypres giving the Allies the advantage. The Allies had succeeded but with heavy casualties of over 24000 men. Somehow by chance, Wiggins had been present at this battle and survived.
Still nonetheless, a 16 year old William Wiggins still found himself not lying face down, dead in the mud. By a miracle, he had survived the disease, gas attacks, bullets and artillery fire of the defending German forces. At this time, Wiggins would have been a mere 16 years of age. Most young men volunteered to fight as they believed it was a chance to see the world and show their patriotism. However, the age an applicant had to be to enlist was 18 years old. Many teenagers lied about their age, with the recruiting officer usually turning a blind eye to let in these young men.
Most young men that went to fight were either tragically killed in action, survived the duration of the war, found out and returned to Australia or became national heroes. In Wiggins’ case, he was soon discovered after the conclusion of the Battle of Passchendaele to be underage. He was labelled as a ‘bad boy’ which would demoralise any growing teenage male. He was placed on a ship and sent back to Australia, arriving on the 30th of January, 1918, about 11 months before the end of the war.[2]
After a WWI military career of just 8 months, he had stayed as a private, his battalion soon disbanded on the 30th of April, 1918. He returned to Australia and lived a normal life as many of his fallen comrades would have not had the chance to. He passed away on the 4th of March, 1989 at the age of 88.
Some may remember him as a lawbreaker, some as a hero and a role model and some as an ordinary young man trying to do his bit for the nation but no matter what, he will be known as the bad boy who fought for Australia.
Leslie Sohn
Year 10 - Sydney Technical High School
[1] Commonwealth of Australia Gazette Thu 16 Mar 1916 Issue Number 35, p.612
[2] AIF Project Site William Wiggins