Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur Prout #1893 42nd Battalion

Arthur Prout was born on the family property at Knapps Creek ( now listed as Knapp Creek). According to his mother who completed the Roll of Honour Circular after his death, Arthur attended school at both Knapp’s Creek and Maroon. Like most young men in the district at that time, he left school at the age of 13 or so to work on the land. Arthur reported his occupation as grazier when he presented for enlistment at Adelaide Street on 18th March 1916. He gave his age as 19 years and 2 months and even though he was clearly under the age of 21, there is no record of his parents providing permission for him to enlist.

After submitting to a medical examination at the recruiting depot, Arthur caught a train to Enoggera where he was placed into the 11th Depot Battalion for basic training. On 10th May, Arthur was allocated as a reinforcement for the 42nd Battalion.

The 2nd reinforcements of the 42nd Battalion embarked on the Boorara in Brisbane on 16th August and disembarked in Plymouth on 13th October, whereupon they were marched into the 3rd Division camp at Larkhill.

The 42nd sailed for overseas in November 1916 but the latest reinforcements which included Arthur Prout did not arrive in France until the end of January 1917. The 42nd were rotated in and out of the frontline just south of Messines for the next four months. In June, the campaign in Belgium began with the firing of 19 underground mines under the Messines Ridge. The 42nd was involved in the advance which followed the explosions.

Following the success at Messines, the next objective was Broodseinde Ridge, and it was here that Arthur received a bullet wound to his right thigh on 29th September. He was admitted to the 7th Canadian Hospital at St Omer before being transferred to a convalescent depot at Trouville. Arthur was discharged to the Australian Training Depot in December where he fell foul of a corporal instructor. The frontline troops in the AIF took a dim view of the training staff at base depots, judging them to be out of touch with the situation the infantry faced. Arthur is recorded as hesitating to obey a command from an NCO and of using obscene language. It is not hard to envisage the exchange that took place. He was given 10 days of field punishment #2; which entailed being detained in the guardhouse in shackles for two hours each day.

Arthur was finally back with his unit at the beginning of March 1918. The German Spring Offensive in the Somme sector brought the relatively quiet period of 1918 to an end. The Australian Divisions, with the exception of the 1st which remained in Flanders, were brought south to block the advance in front of the strategic city of Amiens. The 42nd was located on the north bank of the Somme between Amiens and Albert throughout the month of April. The German onslaught finally ran out of steam when it encountered Australian brigades at Villers Brettoneux on 25th April.

Once the German advance had been checked, the Australians held the line while preparations for a counter offensive by the Australian and British Divisions were begun. The Germans had begun using mustard gas in large quantities during this time. The war diary of the 42nd records that a particularly heavy bombardment of gas on 26th May caused the troops to wear their gas masks for eight hours, which resulted in the men being exhausted from fighting for breath. A wind change and rain blew pockets of gas into the sleeping positions of the 42nd and many men, including Arthur Prout, had to be evacuated to hospital. Arthur would not return to his battalion until 6th of August.

The 8th August heralded the turning point of the war on the western front. The Battle of Amiens involved all five Australian divisions as well as three divisions of Canadians and two British Divisions. The result was spectacular. Ludendorff, the German commander, called 8th August the Blackest Day for the German Army. From this day on, the Germans would be in retreat and General Haig urged his troops to pursue the enemy vigorously, with scant regard for casualties.

On 26th August, the 42nd were tasked with advance in the vicinity of the village of Bray. Arthur Prout received a bullet wound to the head which shattered his skull. He survived long enough to be transported to the Home Counties Field Ambulance where he died a few minutes after being admitted. He was buried in a copse nearby which became the Essex British War Cemetery.

Arthur’s parents had moved to Laravale while he was overseas. His father signed for Arthur’s medals and memorial plaque. Arthur’s remains were exhumed from the Essex Cemetery and were reinterred in the Dive Copse British Cemetery with a permanent headstone erected.

born 28/1/1897
buried Sailly_Le_Sec France
died of wounds 26/8/1918