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Son of William Champion and Emily Jane TATNALL, 12 Edgar Road, Clive Vale, Hastings, England.

AND THE KING'S WORDS SHALL THRILL THE HEART SERVANT OF GOD, WELL DONE

521 Captain William Henry Tatnall, B Company, 24th Battalion. Born in Finchley, Middlesex on 28th March 1885, the son of William Champion and Emily Jane (Nobbs) Tatnall. He lived in Hornsey, Middlesex, for about ten years, educated at Stroud Green School, Hornsey, before coming to Australia at the age of 26. He was 31 and working as an accountant in the Union Bank of Australia Ltd, Warrnambool, at the time of his enlistment on 1st April 1915, serving as Private WH Tatnall, B Company, 24th Battalion, his unit embarked from Melbourne on HMAT A14 Euripides on 10th May 1915 (the diversity of the members of the AIF can be seen from the list of “trade or calling” on the embarkation roll – “labourer, clerk, blacksmith, storeman, stoker, accountant, fireman, grocer, tailor, cutter, driver, papermaker, farmer, student, miner, carpenter, draper, horticulturalist, plasterer, butcher, horse-trainer”). Promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 15th September 1915.

The Warrnambool Standard of Saturday 13th November 1915 carried a letter from Tatnall to a friend in Warrnambool: Letter from the Front. Lieutenant WH Tatnall. The following extracts from a letter written by Mr. WH Tatnall to a local resident should be of interest to his numerous friends. He will be remembered as accountant at the local branch of the Union Bank of Australia Ltd, and as a popular secretary of the Golf Club. Dating his letter from Gallipoli, 20th September, Mr. Tatnall writes: "You will notice that I have been numbered amongst the select and received an appointment as Lieutenant of D Company, 24th Battalion; I am not certain as to the exact date from which the commission counts. What a splendid response the old town gave and how well all the old friends 'bucked in.' Rest assured that all you do is well appreciated by the lads here (he refers to Australia Day), cigarettes and tobacco being a great treat. We receive 60 cigs. and two ounces tobacco, per week, so you will see that funds are well spent. Cannot buy anything here. The Australian people cannot do enough for their splendid lads here, and although my boys are quite new to the game they are as steady and cool as the old chaps, and the 24th have already a well-earned name as soldiers. Our trenches, are called the Lone Pine, and are from eight to 20 yards from the Turkish trenches—quite an easy 'putt'—and in places the Turks have old communication trenches running right up to our parapet. By the way they are Turkish trenches reversed and my dug-out belonged to a late German officer. Case of sitting in the seats of the mighty. The life is full of events, and being so close to the enemy allows plenty of bombing. This is a pleasant occupation until they lob one amongst the crowd and then it is 'time for a scatter.' Spend 48 hours in the trenches, and then to a rest camp for 48 hours. Duties all pretty heavy practically all day, then from 6 p.m. to 12 or 12 to 6 a.m., but with "stand to", etc., one only gets about four hours rest in 48. Two subs. take charge of each section and report each hour, so there is a fair amount of responsibility. Have experienced the joys of an artillery bombardment; lasted 45 minutes, and one of these efforts is quite sufficient for this child, as one high explosive shell will knock over four or five men and crowds of sandbags all over the place. A human being is not a pleasant sight after being mixed up with one of these chaps. The more cheerful side is the rest camp. Men are there allowed to rest as much as possible, occasional fatigue parties for water and tucker. To see them all fat, happy and jolly is a grand sight. Most of us manage to have a swim each day during the rest, but the Turks have a playful gun called "Beachy Bill that flops shrapnel on to the beach, so one has to be careful. The scenery is really fine and in the evening one sees the most perfect sunsets across the bay. Ye Gods, it is hard to realise the war is so close. Everybody sleeps in 'dug outs' in the hill side, as stray bullets and shells are fairly numerous. Another officer and I share a bonza dug-out, and are slowly putting in improvements for the winter months, am pleased to say these various alterations in the life of an erstwhile bank clerk have not affected my appetite or sleep—am just "top-hole." Please give my best remembrances to all mutual friends." Further promoted to Lieutenant on 8th December, shortly before the Evacuation.

The Warrnambool Standard of Saturday 9 September 1916 reported his death: “Our Losses. Killed In Action. Captain Tatnall. The name of Captain WH Tatnall appeared in the list of casualties published Thursday as having been killed in action in France on the 7th August. The intimation of his death will be received with keenest regret by a large circle of friends in Warrnambool where he was well known, having occupied the position of accountant at the local branch of the Union Bank. Captain Tatnall was a native of England, and had only been in Australia two or three years. He was a young man of very fine character, was in very sense "a real sport”, and his amiable and manly qualities won for him an extensive circle of admiring friends. He, moreover, joined the Australian forces in the right spirit. Asked by a friend at the time he volunteered, if he was "going for a commission", he at once replied. "No! a private is good enough for me!" But it was not "good enough" for his superior officers. They quickly recognised his sterling qualities, appreciated his intelligence and capacity for handling men, and consequently he was speedily singled out for promotion. His rise, in fact, was exceptionally rapid, and in his transference to a higher sphere Australia loses one of the finest young men it has sent abroad to preserve the freedom and integrity of the Empire.”

The Warrnambool Standard of Monday 2 October 1916 reported from Sgt Norman Cuzens (Warrnambool) how Tatnall met his fate: “Letter From France. Sgt Norman Cuzens. How Captain Tatnall was killed. A letter has been received by Mrs. Cuzens, of Warrnambool, from her son, Sgt. Norman Cuzens, who was wounded in the capture of Pozieres, who writes from No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, Boulogne, under date 4th August. Inter alia he says: It is many weeks now since we've been able to get any letters away, and many things have happened in that time. We've been in the "big push" and have been told by those in authority that our division has done magnificently. But one does not want to go through such a hell again. Talk about death and desolation! Our battalion walked out and dug in right under Fritz's nose, and then their artillery opened on us and words cannot describe the awfulness of the experience - twenty hours terrific and continuous bombardment. Previous to digging-in we were fighting from shell holes and the advance has been so rapid that there has been no time to bury the dead, and there they lie - Germans and Tommies and Australians. The Boche is a "rotten" fighter, and it is only his artillery that saves him. We went through some of the dugouts in the first line that we captured. They are from 40 to 60 feet underground and reminded me more than anything of a big ship. Corridors leading from one dug-out to the other were lined with white tiles. One bedroom contained a bed with sheets, a wardrobe and a beautiful little stove. There was paper on the walls and linoleum and rugs on the floor. Empty wine bottles and glasses were everywhere. There were kitchens, pantries, bedrooms and dining rooms. In some of the rooms were glass doors with near-blinds on them. The whole show was lit by electric light. They were certainly there to stay and no shell made could have got them out: but the smart, sharp attacks of the infantry soon cleared the Hun from the trenches and bombs, rolled gently down the steps into the dug-outs "completed the case for the Crown". Am anxiously awaiting news of Tat as his division relieved ours. Later (Aug 20). I tried to stop a shrapnel shell, but the shell won, and some of it stuck to me. My head, face and left hand have suffered, and it gave me a great shaking, but I hope to be quite right shortly. Another fellow and I got the full burst of the shell and we're lucky to be alive. It happened at Pozieres, about three hours before we were relieved. You will have heard that poor Tat has been killed, five miles behind the line. I saw him a week before the "push" and he, having been my greatest pal, I feel rather sick about. He was adjutant of his battalion and, like me had got through the show alright, and was killed by a big German shell searching for one of our batteries. I saw some of the officers and men and they were all very much cut up about his being killed.”

Other details from his Roll of Honour Circular, filled out by his older sister Miss Charlotte Emily Tatnall, 51 Wilton Road, Muswell Hill, London, England, are listed: “Secretary of the Warrnambool Golf Club, which presented him with a gold watch on his joining the AIF.”  The Warrnambool Standard, 8 September 1916, carries an obituary. Tatnall is buried in Becourt Military Cemetery, Grave I.V.I, the epitaph on his headstone reads: “And the King’s Words Shall Thrill the Heart Servant of God, Well Done” (these words were written by John R. Ver­non, in Sup­ple­men­tal Hymns to Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1889).

The Becourt Military Cemetery webpage holds a dedication: Captain William Henry Tatnall, 24th Bn., Australian Infantry, 7th August 1916, aged 31. Son of William Champion Tatnall, of 12, Edgar Road, Clive Vale, Hastings, England, and the late Emily Jane Tatnall, native of Finchley, London, England. Born 12th February 1885 in Finchley, Middlesex to William Champion Tatnall and Emily Jane Nobbs. He emigrated to Australia in 1911 and worked as a bank clerk at the Union Bank, Warrnambool. He joined the AIF in 1914 at Warrnambool and died on 7 August 1916 at Tara Hill, Pozieres, France (Regimental No. 521 24th Bn Australian Infantry A.I.F).

‘Tat’ is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Hastings War Memorial (Sussex), the Warrnambool Soldiers’ Memorial, and the Christ Church Roll of Honour, Warrnambool.

Sources: Blair & Affleck, For King & Country – Great War Enlistments from Warrnambool and District; Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour; National Archives of Australia; The AIF Project; Virtual War Memorial Australia; Warrnambool Standard 13th November 1915, 9 September 1916, 2 October 1916; Photos - Becourt Military Cemetery. 

Courtesy of James Affleck 2025

24th Bn. Australian Infantry, A.I.F.

He was 31 and the son of William Champion Tatnall, of 12, Edgar Road, Clive Vale, Hastings, England, and the late Emily Jane Tatnall. At some time, his father lived at 72 Ridge Road, Strong [sic-probably Stroud] Green, London, England

Age on arrival in Australia 26.

Enlistment date 1 April 1915
Rank on enlistment Private
Unit name 24th Battalion, B Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number 23/41/1
Embarkation details
Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 10 May 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll-Commissioned
Rank from Nominal Roll-Captain
Unit from Nominal Roll 24th Battalion

Promotions 2nd Lieutenant

Unit: INF24
Promotion date: 15 September 1915

Lieutenant

Unit: INF24

Promotion date: 8 December 1915.

Other details from Roll of Honour Circular
Secretary of the Warrnambool Golf Club, which presented him with a gold watch on his joining the AIF.  The Warrnambool Standard, 8 September 1916, carries an obituary.

He is remembered on the Hastings War Memorial.