WALDEN, William James
| Service Number: | 2823 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 2823, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 2823, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 2823, 10th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour William James Walden's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
He enlisted for the army when he was 18 years old. He was a natural born British subject. In this case, they were born in Penwortham, South Australia. He did not have a partner, and his first kin was his sister. His sister’s name was Mrs. Flora Giles, who lived in North Adelaide. Usually, the first kin of the soldier would be their wife. Before he enlisted for the army, he worked as a labourer, indicating that he had a working-class background. His religion was a Methodist, which was a Christian denomination.
William’s life during the war was tough like everyone else’s. He enlisted on the 2nd of August 1915, in Adelaide, South Australia. He was deployed first on the 27th of October 1915, from Australia. He initially served in the 27th battalion but later transferred to the 10th battalion. During his army time, it is indicated that most of his time was spent in France. As an infantryman, which he was, William fought in trenches, in offensive and defensive operations, support, and endured many excruciatingly difficult tasks. As an infantryman, William would’ve had to endure the harsh conditions, these conditions were the ground very muddy and uncomfortable. He was hospitalized in 16/4/1916 due to a sickness. He was also hospitalized another time however, this time it due to a septic leg. A septic leg is commonly formed from battlefield wounds such as a gunshot, in this case, on his leg. This gunshot wound then became infected with the large quantity if dirty bacteria due to the unhygienic conditions they had to endure not just in trenches, but throughout their whole life serving. The septic leg, if not treated quickly can cause death, so it is assumed that his leg was relatively healed by the medical doctors.
After enlisting into the military, William had a good start; being respectful and obeying orders. He then realised the harsh reality of war and started disobeying commands made by higher authorities. This caused him to stray from that obeying self and went down a different part of disobedience. William used obscene language and showed insolence to a non-commissioned officer (NCO). He also illegally signed another soldier’s leave, therefore disobeying his orders. Although he disobeyed his orders, he was still a good soldier. He earned some respect being promoted to Lance Corporal. Lance Corporals are required to supervise a small team of up to four soldiers. This means that he was in control of few soldiers and had more power over lower ranked soliders.
William was discharged from the army after the war had ended in late 1919. Although the war ended and he was discharge, it is suggested that he most likely survived his injuries (specifically the septic leg) and returned back to Australia. He was awarded the 1914/15 star, Victory medal and British war medal.
Bibliography
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