DUFFIELD, Arthur Leslie
| Service Number: | 549 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 February 1915, Keswick, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mitcham, South Australia , 21 October 1896 |
| Home Town: | Mitcham, Mitcham, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Kyre College & St Peter's College, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Poultry Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 11 June 1918, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 549, Keswick, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 549, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 31 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, 549, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 4 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 549, 27th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 549, 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières | |
| 11 Jun 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 549, 27th Infantry Battalion, "Peaceful Penetration - Low-Cost, High-Gain Tactics on the Western Front", --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 549 awm_unit: 27 Battalion awm_rank: Lance Sergeant awm_died_date: 1918-06-11 |
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From the book Fallen Saints - Arthur Leslie Duffield of Stirling West South Australia was born at Mitcham and received his education at Kyre College and the Collegiate School of St. Peter where he had served in the cadet unit.
Before enlisting at Keswick on 22 February 1915 he was a Poultry Farmer and serving part-time in B Company 74th Infantry Battalion at Unley.
On 16 April while at Mitcham Camp he was posted to C Company, 27 Infantry Battalion as a temporary Corporal and sailed from Adelaide with his unit aboard HMAT Geelong on 31 May 1915. After two months in Egypt the 27th Battalion landed at Gallipoli in September where with the remainder of the 7th Brigade they reinforced the war weary New Zealand and Australian Division. Corporal Duffield reported sick with enteric fever to 7th Field Ambulance on 10 October and was evacuated to Mudros before then being transported to Malta aboard HS Nevasa.
On 19 November he was invalided to England aboard HS Kildonan Castle and upon arrival was admitted to the War Hospital, Epsom.
In January 1917 he was transferred to Abbey Wood Convalescent Depot, London and after a series of setbacks which included an abscess on his ankle he was granted furlough. He rejoined the battalion in August and was appointed Lance Sergeant in October.
During the period 7/10 June the units of the 2nd Division were busy preparing for an attack with the aim being to improve their position between Sailly- Laurette and Morlancourt. The attack which commenced at 9.45 p.m., on 10 June although highly successful cost the 7th Brigade 327 casualties. Lance Sergeant Duffield was killed in action during an operation south of Morlancourt on 11 June 1918; he was 22 years of age.
Sir John Monash writing about this operation in his memoirs after the war wrote how in its first divisional operation the 2nd Division ‘gave us possession of a further slice of the important ridge between Sailly-Laurette and Morlancourt. It gained us 330 prisoners and 33 machine guns’. [i]
[i] Monash, J, Australian Victories in France in 1918- Angus & Robertson, 1936, p. 26
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