Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Brothers Harry Hopetoun (‘Hope’) Wharton (born 1889) and Leslie (‘Les’) Wharton (born 1891) were born eighteen months apart at Rocky Ponds near Parkes, New South Wales, where their Lancashire-born father, John Henry Wharton, taught at the local school. They received their schooling in various country locations to which their father was transferred, living in school residences, while their mother Sarah (nee Cotton) taught sewing and brought up the children. By the time they moved to Black Mountain School in 1902 and then Ben Venue School in Armidale in 1908, the family had grown to four sons and three daughters.

On leaving school both Harry (usually known as ‘Hope’) and Les trained as teachers, and at the outbreak of war in 1914 Hope was teaching at Groses Creek, southeast of Armidale, and Les was completing his training at Hereford House in Sydney.

Both boys had completed the compulsory military training which had been initiated for 18-24 years-olds in January 1911 and was equivalent to 16 days per year.

Amongst the first rush of volunteers were Hope and Les, arriving at Victoria Barracks on 14 August to be sorted alphabetically into a long line. From the line, groups of 20 men presented themselves at tables where a doctor was able to give them a preliminary medical clearance, and a clerk allotted Hope and Les numbers 357 and 358 respectively, as privates in 2nd Battalion, ‘C’ Company.

The brothers proceeded to Randwick Racecourse where they were issued with two brown blankets which helped to soften the concrete floor of the Ledger Stand where they were to sleep. Transfer to the Kensington Racecourse provided orderly rows of bell tents, each accommodating eight men, and a programme of intensive training. A private received five shillings per day with one shilling per day deferred.

In early October 1914, the four uniformed battalions marched through the streets of Sydney in a spectacular pageant prior to embarkation on 18 October. At 8 am the 2nd Battalion of around 1,000 men boarded the troopship A23 Suffolk. Boarding took 25 minutes and the ship, which was to be their home for the next seven weeks, sailed for Albany at 4.30 pm.

From Albany a convoy of 36 ships sailed from King Georges Sound on 1 November – for many this would be the last sight of their homeland.

After sailing up the Suez Canal to Alexandria, on 8 December the men were issued with a 24 hour ration of one tin of bully beef and six army biscuits to serve them for the train trip from Alexandria to Cairo.

The intense and interminable training under desert conditions for almost four months was a period of severe frustration for these men, fired up to actively fight for ‘King and Country’. But it came to an end on 1 April when Hope and Les sailed with the 2nd Battalion from Alexandria on the captured German ship ‘Derfflinger’, bound for Mudros Harbour on the island of Lemnos. Here they practised silent disembarkation with full packs. The ‘real’ disembarkation, commencing before dawn on 25 April was with full 70 lb (32 kg) packs and a bundle of sticks or boards for firewood, was carried out in total silence. Boats of 40 men were towed in lines of four, to 500 yards from shore, where the tow lines were released, and the men then lowered their upright oars and rowed.

Hope and Les (who landed later in the day) survived the frantic scramble up the steep and rugged cliffs under fire to assemble in some form of order despite loss of men and officers. In Les’ words: “Hope and I were in the same trench for a while. All our battalion was mixed up, NZ men and men of all brigades together. Colonel Braund was in charge of our men. He captured a position and held it against awful odds. Our Major and the majority of our officers were shot, some think by men who joined as spies and other officers were shot by Turkish snipers. Hope and I got separated. I was sniping off the Turkish snipers and as soon as we had got them, Joe Western and I rushed out to get the wounded men, who could not be attended to owing to the scarcity of AMC men. We rescued three or four each and the last one we came to was Hope. He was lying in a safe position, to which he had been carried by the AMC men. He was bandaged up and very glad to see us. We had great difficulty in getting a stretcher, but we managed it and carried him all the way down a spur, past the various AMC dugouts to headquarters. As we passed the dugouts, he was inspected and given a little beef tea. Hope had been in pain at first, but the doctor gave him a light dose of morphia. We cheered him up and got him to where the boats were coming in to take the wounded to hospital … I bade him farewell on the beach, hoping to hear of his recovery.

I have since heard that he had been fighting in the firing line and when ammunition ran out, he commenced rescue work. We were fighting on the extreme left. The position was vital. We fought our way up a steep spur. False orders were being passed by spies along our lines. If we lost our position the whole division would have been wiped out. After fighting from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm reinforcements arrived but were sent back by false orders from a spy. He was one who came out with us and was second to me in a trench. A mate of mine caught him and shot him. At dusk we gained the top of the spur. Food and water came up. We were refreshed but must go on and gain another trench. The order was given to charge with bayonets. We won against awful odds, routed the Turks, but Hope and four others who were up first were seriously wounded or killed.”

Leslie Wharton was never to see his brother again. Mortally wounded, Private Harry Hopetoun Wharton died on board the Derfflinger on April 29 on route to Alexandria and was buried at sea the following day.

The struggles on Gallipoli continued with the epic Battle of Lone Pine (or Sari Bair) erupting on 6 August - by midday the following day, eight officers and 160 men had been killed from the 2nd Battalion. They had run out of ammunition and the battle was a frightful hand-to-hand struggle. Private Les Wharton received a bullet wound in his arm and was evacuated to Alexandria and hospitalised in Cairo.

Recovering from his wound he was declared fit for active service again on 19 August but on 5 September was admitted to hospital with gastritis and did not re-join his unit until the end of October. 

Soon after his return to Gallipoli, and with winter setting in, plans for the evacuation of the peninsula were being prepared. On Boxing Day, 1915, the 2nd Battalion of 25 officers and 544 other ranks (which included Les Wharton), sailed to Alexandria on the Derfflinger, now renamed Huntsgreen, and their Gallipoli campaign was over.

Back in Egypt, the ranks of the 2nd Battalion were split, with half the men transferred to the new 54th Battalion of the 5th Division. Les, now a corporal in the 2nd Battalion, sailed for Marseilles. Then it was to Belgian Flanders, where the troops were introduced to trench warfare, Western Front style.

Before Pozieres in July 1916, he wrote: “The world’s battle is roaring and raging as I write. We may rush into action at any moment now, ready to chase the Germans once they are hunted out.”

Later in July, Les described how he was christened ‘King of No-man’s land’ for his rather delicate patrol work when, in his words, in charge of the parties each night he “crept stealthily forth, blackened all over, bombs projecting from pockets, a huge automatic revolver in one hand and a shillelagh in the other." One night when eight fellows were wildly throwing bombs at them, he replied with fire, but his party managed to dive into some friendly shell holes when the machine-gun firing commenced.”

On 13 October 1916, Les received orders to attend the Cadet College at Gailes in Ayreshire, Scotland. Here he qualified for his commission and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant before returning to France to re-join his unit on 17 December 1916 and into the rain, mud, and freezing conditions of the Somme.

In mid-July 1917, for his leadership at Second Bullecourt on 4 May , he was awarded the Military Cross by King George V in the field. 

Shortly after he was seconded for training with the AFC and his service in the 2nd Battalion AIF ended on 11 December 1917. After joining the School of Military Aeronautics at Reading and Mincinhampton, England for training as a flying officer-pilot, he graduated on 25 May 1918 and was assigned to No. 4 Squadron AFC, flying the newly developed single-seater biplane, the Sopwith Camel.

On 11 August, in action over Armentieres, Les was separated from other members of his flight but took on two German aircraft, one of which he brought down. It was said he then must have thought that the whole German Army Air Service was at his heels when six fighters shrieked down on him. With his plane badly damaged and with petrol pouring from holes in the tank behind his seat, he sought safety in the clouds below, but wounded by anti-aircraft fire, he emerged and crashed on the British side of the lines.

With gunshot wounds to his head and concussion, Les was transported to hospital but insisted on reporting to his squadron commander on route. He was later transferred to hospital in England and was discharged on 11 October. From there on he was taken on strength of the 5th Training Squadron at Minchinhampton, until returning to Australia in the Kaiser-i-Hind and his discharge from the AIF on 3 July 1919.

In civilian life Les Wharton returned to his teaching career. He married Ivy May Forbes-Shirden at Ryde in 1921 and cared for their children following her untimely death from tuberculosis in 1934. In 1940 he married Brenda Ada Beale at Manly. After an extensive career in primary school education across New South Wales, he retired in the late 1950s as principal of Balgowlah Primary School.

Lieutenant Leslie Wharton MC died in October 1965 aged 74.