Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

World War One and the lives of soldiers who fought in it were researched through primary and secondary sources by Glenunga International High School students. This biography explores the life of William Ewart Gladstone Caulfield. Australia was immediately involved in World War One, as it was under the rule of the British Empire. Just over 400,000 Australian men enlisted in World War One. Sixty thousand of those men died, and 156,000 were injured or taken prisoner (Australian War Memorial, no date). World War One began on August 1st, 1914, and ended on November 11th, 1918.

William Ewart Gladstone Caulfield was born on the 12th of July, 1892 in Perth, Western Australia. His parents were John Philip Thomas Caulfield and Mary Winifred Caulfield, nee Ogerman (Births Deaths and Marriages Western Australia, 1893). Caulfield attended Melbourne University and graduated with a Bachelor of Dental Science, and a licence in dental surgery in 1915. He then worked as a dentist, and was registered in Victoria. Before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Forces to fight in World War One, he served four years as a volunteer cadet. (Australian Army Personnel, 1916-1968).

 Caulfield enlisted in the army on the 16th of June, 1916 as a lieutenant. He enlisted at Keswick Barracks in Adelaide (Australian Army Personnel, 1916). Caulfield enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces as part of the Army Dental Corps. The Army Dental Corps was officially established in January of 1915, but it was rather rudimentary. During the Gallipoli campaign, many soldiers were suffering from trench mouth, known today as ulcerative gingivitis, which meant there was a dire need for more dentists. The demand for more dentists led the army to establish a more organized dental corps in June, 1915 (Finlayson, I. 2016).

By the time Caulfield enlisted, the Dental Corps was well established. He embarked the ship ‘Bulla’ in Adelaide on the 23rd of June, 1916, and arrived in England on the 24th of August, 1916. Upon arrival in England, he was stationed at Parkhouse camp, which was where Australian troops were sent when they first arrived inEngland. He stayed in England as part of the Number 61 Dental Unit, until he was transferred to the Number 44 Dental unit, located in Havre, France on the 16th of July, 1917 (Australian Army Personnel, 1917). Havre was the base for Australian dental operations in France, and several units were located there (Australian Army Personnel, 1918, p. 24).

On the 15th of September, 1917, Caulfield fell ill and was sent to hospital. He stayed there for 18 days, until he was sent back to his unit on the 3rd of October. On the 19th of January, 1918, Caulfield again transferred units (Australian Army Personnel, 1918). He was moved to the Number 29 Dental Unit, located in Trois Arbres, France. When he transferred there, it was said of him that “This officer should prove excellent at the C.C.S., as his work at the base has always shewn [sic] keenness” (Australian Army Personnel, 1918, p. 24) Caulfield left the army corps on the 9th of April, 1919 to return to Australia. He returned to Australia via the United States of America, where he took refresher classes at the Dentistry University of Pennsylvania (Australian Army Personnel, 1919). This university provided graduate classes from 1910 onwards, so that dentists could be well-informed on the latest advancements in the profession (University of Pennsylvania, 2017). Caulfield returned safely to Australia at his own expense, and was discharged in Melbourne (Australian Army Personnel, 1919).

Upon his return from the war, Caulfield practiced dentistry in Victoria (Victorian government, 1941). He resided at 63 Beach Road in Hampton, Victoria. During 1968, he requested proof of his enlistment in World War One so that he could obtain a pension (Australian Army Personnel, 1968). Caulfield died during 1977, aged 84 (Victorian Births Deaths and Marriages, 1977).

REFERENCES

Australian Army Personnel (1918), War Diary of Australian Staff Officer Dental Services France for January 1918, Australian War Memorial, Canberra

Australian Army Personnel, Caulfield, W E G (1916-1968). B2455, CAULFIELD W E G. National Archives of Australia, Canberra

Australian War Memorial (no date), First World War 1914–18, available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1/, accessed 2/4/17

Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria (1977). Family History, CAULFIELD, Public Records Office Victoria, Melbourne

Births Deaths and Marriages Western Australia (1893). Caulfield, William Ewart Gladstone Birth Registration, State Records Office, Perth

Finlayson, I. (2016), Pull the Other One! – Dentistry in the 1st AIF, available at: https://www.army.gov.au/our-history/history-in-focus/pull-the-other-one-dentistry-in-the-1st-aif, accessed 2/4/17

Noot, B. (no date) Parkhouse Camp Postcard, available at http://www.shiptonbellinger.org.uk/SBHistory/AusSoldr_ParkhouseCamp.htm, accessed 2/4/17

University of New South Wales (2004-2016). William Ewart Gladstone CAULFIELD, available at: https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=49187, accessed 9/3/17

University of Pennsylvania (2017), School of Dental Medicine: A Brief History, available at: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/schools/dental.html, accessed 16/3/17

Victorian Government (1941) The Dentists’ Register, Public Records Office Victoria, Melbourne