Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Hurtle was the son of Frederick READ & Sarah Jane DOWDEN and was born on the 13th of July 1884 in Crafers, SA.

His parents were married on the 14th of April 1868 at the residence of Walter Thompson in Adelaide.

His father was the son of Robert READ.
His mother was the daughter of John DOWDEN & Elizabeth KELLY and was born in 1842 in Bridgwater, Somerset, England.

Hurtle was the eighth child born into this family of 9 children.

His father was a gardener and the family grew up Crafers.

On finishing school Hurtle gained employment as a labourer.

His brother Walter enlisted into the 10th Battalion, C Company on the 19th of August 1914. (633).

At the age of 31, Hurtle enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 14th of September 1914 in Morphettville and posted to the 10th Battalion. Hurtle was discharged from the AIF on the 3rd of October 1914 as he was unlikely to become an efficient soldier and had bad teeth.

Walter embarked from Adelaide on board Transport A11 Ascanius on the 20th of October 1914.

At the age of 33, Hurtle re enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 21st of February 1916 in Adelaide and allotted the service number 5637 and posted to A Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp. He was then transferred to the 27th Battalion, 15th Reinforcements on the 1st of August and embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A68 Anchises on the 28th of August 1916.

Hurtle spent nearly 3 years overseas before embarking on board HT Mihia the 4th of June 1919, disembarking in Melbourne on the 17th of July and entrained to Adelaide the following day.

Hurtle was discharged from the AIF on the 1st of September 1919.

Hurtle married Mary Jane Grace JONES on the 14th of June 1930.
Mary was the daughter of John JONES & Lavinia SHIPP and was born on the 22nd of September 1887 in Thebarton, SA.

By 1939 Hurtle was a gardener and he joined the Stirling RSL Sub-Branch.

Hurtle died in Stirling on the 28th of June 1951 and is buried in the Stirling Cemetery; General, Section A, Row 5, Plot 44S.

Mary died on the 24.09.1966

They didn’t have children.

Military

At the age of 31, Hurtle enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 14th of September 1914 in Morphettville and posted to the 10th Battalion.

Hurtle was discharged from the AIF on the 3rd of October 1914 as he was unlikely to become an efficient soldier and had bad teeth.

At the age of 33, Hurtle re enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 21st of February 1916 in Adelaide and allotted the service number 5637 and posted to A Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his father, of Stirling West, as his next of kin.

On the 16th of March Hurtle was transferred to the 27th Battalion, 18th Reinforcements and then on the 1st of April he was transferred to the 48th Battalion, 2nd Reinforcements, B Company.

He was then transferred to the 27th Battalion, 15th Reinforcements on the 1st of August.

Hurtle embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A68 Anchises on the 28th of August 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 11th of October and marched into the 7th Training Battalion in Folkestone.

Hurtle spent Christmas 1916 here and then proceeded to France on the 28th of December on board Princess Clementine and march into the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot (ADBD) in Etaples.
On the 19th of January he marched out to the 27th Battalion at Mametz Camp in the freezing cold.

Hurtle was taken on strength with the Battalion on the 5th of February in the front line in the Le Sars sector and the following day they were relieved and moved to Villa Camp.
Five days later they marched to Scot’s Redoubt North Camp and took over from the 20th Battalion. Scot’s Redoubt was situated on the western side of the Contalmaison-Fricourt road, midway between the villages.
They carried out drill and tactical work was carried on, also tuition in bombing was received at a bombing school nearby.
On the 14th of February they marched to the front line and took over the forward posts immediately facing Butte-de-Warlencourt and at this time was practically in No Man’s Land.

They were relieved 4 days later by the 25th Battalion and moved to Sussex Camp, situated east of Scot’s Redoubt and after four days they moved to Fricourt Camp, then to Becourt.
On March 19th they left Becourt, marching via La Boiselle, Pozieres and Le Sars to Le Coupe-Gueule and bivouacked in tents for the night.
All main roads leading to Bapaume were packed with moving guns and material, urgently needed to follow closely upon the heels of the retreating enemy.
On the main Albert-Bapaume road, close to La Coupe Gueule, the enemy had left a huge crater, thereby impeding the Battalions advance.

When they arrived in Bapaume the town was partially in ruins and still burning as they passed through en route to Beugnatre, a ruined village N.N.E. of Bapaume.
Upon reaching Beugnatre they found few of the buildings intact and they bivouacked, for a few hours of rest, in the ruins and outskirts of the village.
At 7am on Monday, March 21st they moved to Vaulx-Vraucourt, which was being heavily shelled, but they relieved the 26th Battalion in the front line, N.E. of the village.

At 5.15am on March 26th they following a perfectly timed artillery barrage and attacked and captured Lagnicourt in two waves.
Although they participated in minor attacks during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917, the 27th Battalion did not carry out a major attack again until the 20th of September 1917.

At 10.30pm, the previous night they left the Ypres ramparts and marched to their assembly position on the Westhoek Ridge.
At 5.40am the artillery and machine gun barrage opened and with fixed bayonets the 25th Battalion, closely followed by Hurtle and the 27th, closed up behind the barrage and moved with it to the first objective.
The enemy barely realized that the barrage had passed beyond them when they were face to face with the 27th Battalion and only from isolated pill boxes did they offer much resistance.
It was not until 10 minutes later that the enemy artillery began to answer numerous S.O.S. signals, their barrage falling upon Westhoek Ridge about 100 yards on the forward slope and on the old front line, but by this time the 25th and 27th Battalions were well ahead and clear of it.

On the 29th they received orders to march via Reninghelst and Dickebusch, to Pioneer Camp.
On the night of October 1st they marched through Ypres to Westhoek ridge and although no shell fire was experienced, an interval of fifty paces between companies was maintained whilst moving to their positions.
At 5am on the 4th of October they reached their first position of assembly near Sans Souci for their attack on Broodseinde Ridge.
An hour later the artillery and machine gun barrage opened, its intensity being further increased by the hurricane activity of two trench mortars, which practically smothered several hostile machine gun posts.
They commenced to move forward to support the attack on the Blue Line and reached Anzac Ridge and then commenced to dig a communication trench between the next objectives.

This was their last major offensive action in 1917 and then they were mainly used as a Reserve Battalion for the remainder of the year and in November they were engaged in assisting the Canadian Light Tramway Company, near Ypres.

By December they were in the Ploegsteert Area and Christmas 1917 was spent in Romarin Camp in the cold and the snow.

Hurtle then gained 2 weeks leave to England on the 9th of January 1918 and when he rejoined his Battalion they were in training in the Henneveux Area.

Like most AIF Battalions the 27th fought to turn back the German spring offensive in April 1918 and later in the year participated in a string of offensive battles as Germany was pushed ever closer to defeat.
They were then involved in the attacked around Morlancourt on the night of the 10th of June and they then acted in a supporting role during the battle of Hamel on the 4th of July.

They then moved to Tronville Wood on the 29th of July to the vicinity of the Tank Park, north-west of Amiens, where they began practicing the latest methods of Tank and Infantry co-operation.
The following day Hurtle suffered from mustard gas poisoning and was admitted into the 6th Australian Field Ambulance for 4 days before rejoining his Battalion.

By now the activity in rear of their lines had increased tenfold, many Tanks, heavy guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition were brought forward and dumped in readiness for their next battle in Amiens.
On the 8th of August they were in the first wave at the battle of Amiens and here they captured 9 artillery pieces, 25 machine guns and over 200 prisoners.

They remained in the line throughout August and September undertaking further attacks at Biaches and Mont St Quentin.
Their final engagement of the war came on the night of the 3rd of October 1918, when they took part in the Battle of Beaurevoir.
During this battle, they attacked around Prospect Hill, suffering 67 casualties.
The following night they crossed the Estrees Road and took up position northeast of Estrees to support the 6th Brigade which was attacking positions beyond Beaurevoir.

Following this, the Battalions of the Australian Corps were removed from the line for rest on the 5th of October, after a request from the Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes.
They had been severely depleted and were suffering from acute manpower shortages as a result of the combination of a decrease in the number of volunteers from Australia and the decision to grant home leave to men who had served for over four years.

Subsequently, when the Armistice was signed on the 11th of November 1918, Hurtle and his Battalion had not returned to the front and were still in the rear reorganising and training in the Berteaucourt-Yzeux Area.
They then moved to Valenciennes and with the end of hostilities the demobilisation process began and men were slowly repatriated back to Australia.

Hurtle spent Christmas 1918 at Charleroi and with the repatriation process taking a considerable period of time a large number of men were able to undertake tertiary and vocational training in England and France to prepare for their return to civilian life.

Hurtle finally returned to England and the embarked on board HT Mihia the 4th of June 1919, disembarking in Melbourne on the 17th of July and entrained to Adelaide the following day.

Hurtle was discharged from the AIF on the 1st of September 1919 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.