Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

 
Claude Victor Wheaton was born on the 12th of March 1893 in Queenstown, South Australia. He went to Alberton Public School as a child. Before the war, he was single and worked as a labourer, suggesting he performed manual labour, such as farming or construction. In his attestation paper, Claude Victor Wheaton was described as 22 years and 7 months, being 5 feet and 7 ¼ inches, 150 Lbs, 35 ½ Inches in chest measurement, blue eyes, light brown hair, and he was Anglican, he signed an oath to never betray and to always serve the sovereign Lord, the king, in the Australian Imperial Force until the end of the war.
 
 Claude Victor Wheaton enlisted to fight in the First World War on the 19th of July 1915 in Australia, and soon later left on the HMAT A70 Ballarat on the 14th of September 1915. He landed in Egypt to complete his training from late 1915. The 10thBattalion did go to war on the Western Front; however, he was transferred to the 50th Battalion to train even more. The 50th Battalion was mostly made up of the 10th Battalion. Soon after, he left the 50th Battalion to join the 9th Light Horse Regiment on 13 Mar 1916.

The 9th Light Horse Regiment fought in Palestine and Sinai, mainly on foot and horse. They carried a rifle with a bayonet on the top for close-range fighting.  On April 9th, 1916, he fell ill in Egypt on the battlefront and was sent to a casualty clearing station to recover. This was no major sickness; he came back to training on the 15th of April. However, in 1917, he went to the 24th Stationary Hospital in Cairo. This was a major Hospital in the war.
 
Even though it was very hard work, he still chose to sign up; no one told him to do it. He was a private, which is the lowest rank. The privates did lots of the work in the wars, like fighting, building trenches and listening to orders. As a private, Wheaton carried out many of the basic but important duties of a soldier. During his time in Egypt, he would have completed many trainings for his work, such as marching, weapon practise and, and physical preparation. He may have also helped with other camp tasks like carrying supplies and setting up equipment.

After joining the 9th Light Horse Regiment, his role involved being with and riding horses. He would have ridden horses very far distances through the deserts, and he would have had to take care of his horse. This would have involved feeding and grooming his horse. Even though they had horses, they were mainly for transport because it was very hard to hit a target while moving.

The Battle of Beersheba that took place on the 31st of October 1917. In Wheaton’s case, he did not go to this battle because before the battle took place, he transferred to the motor transport on the 1st of September 1917, so he did not end up going to this battle. Instead of caring for horses, he cared for trucks and other vehicles. Now, he would transport equipment and soldiers to battle or wherever they needed to go. In June 1919, he had the privilege of having leave in the UK. This was given to a small population of the fighters in World War One; he received multiple extensions to his leave in the UK. After this leave, he returned to Egypt to get ready to leave and to return to Australia.
 

Wheaton lived to the age of 67, dying on March 12th 1960. He was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery, located in South Australia.
 
 
 
Bibliography
 
Claude Victor WHEATON 2026, Vwma.org.au, viewed 30 March 2026, <https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/272998>.
 
Terrace, V 2026, View digital copy, Naa.gov.au, viewed 30 March 2026, <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8383422>.
 
W 2026, CEDUNA WW1 HONOUR ROLL, viewed 30 March 2026, <https://cedunaworldwar1.weebly.com/w.html>.