Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Charles William Winkler was born in Wallaroo on 26 May 1898. He was the 4th child & 3rd son of Charles William & Elizabeth Jane Winkler. Bill, as he was known, enlisted in the Australian Infantry Forces on 24 Aug 1915 & his date of embarkation was 2nd December 1915. Bill said he was 19 ¾ years old when he enlisted but he was only 17 ¼ years old. His younger brother, Frederick (Fred) enlisted a couple of weeks before Bill on 8 August 1915; Fred was only 15 years & 8 months old! His older brother Benjamin enlisted on 27 March 1916; Ben was almost 23 when he enlisted. Both Fred & Ben came home again, Bill didn’t.

Bill’s service number was 3968 and his unit was the 10th Infantry Battalion. They were sent to Egypt as reinforcements on board the ship RMS Malwa, which left Adelaide on 2 Dec 1915. Bill spent some time with the 10th Battalion training in Egypt where he was admitted to hospital a couple of times with tonsillitis. Eventually in June 1916 he joined his Battalion in France. He seemed to do okay until he was wounded in action in March 1917. He had shrapnel wound’s in his left temple and then later he had a bad infection in his right foot.

In September 1917 Bill got 10 days leave & went to London but a few months later he was in hospital again with boils. He seems to have had a lot of trouble with boils over the next few months but finally rejoined his unit in April 1918. The 10th Battalion had taken part in bitter trench warfare since they had arrived at the Western Front in 1916. They had fought in the Somme Valley at Pozieres & then took part in fighting at Ypres before returning to the Somme. In 1917 they fought in Belgium again in the third Battle of Ypres.

In March/April 1918 the 10th Battalion helped stop the German offensive in France. On 8 August, just before Bill was killed, the 10th Battalion were fighting near Amiens in France. This battle was described as the greatest success in a single day in the Western Front. The Battalion continued operations until late September 1918 but at 11.00am on 11 November 1918, the guns fell silent. Members of the AIF soon began returning to Australia.

Bill Winkler never returned home though. On the 11 August 1918 the Germans were counter attacking at Crapey Wood near Lihons. They attacked through a gap in the front line and 5 of the battalion, including Bill Winkler, were in a dugout surrounded. A few shots were exchanged, and Bill was killed by a rifle shot fired at point blank range. The other 4 were captured but got away about an hour later when the enemy were driven off. Bill died almost instantly. That evening he was carried to an aid post, there wasn’t a mark on him according to the men who took his body to the dressing station.

Bill was buried at Ridgeway British Cemetery 1 mile N. of Lihons and 8 ½ miles N.W. of Lesle but was one of the soldiers later moved to Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres. Bill was only 20 years old when he died. At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on memorial panel no. 61, is engraved the name WINKLER C.W. When we visited Canberra in January 2005, we put a red poppy next to his name. He was my grandfather’s brother. I never knew him.