Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Submitted by Adrian Patterson (Great Nephew)

Uncle Willie, as he was always referred to in our family, was the brother of my grandmother, Harriet Patterson, he was born William James Shedden Hall, the illegitimate child of Philadelphia Hall, on 11th June 1895 at Young NSW. It is believed his father’s surname was Shedden. On 19th October that same year his mother married Mark Foots at the St Johns Church of England at Young NSW. At the time of this marriage Philadelphia was aged 23 and her husband, Mark, was aged 68 years. William was known from then on as William Foots, although he was not legally adopted, as on an Army pension approval dated April 28 1917 it has in parenthesis after his name “(correct name Hall)”.
Willie had one brother, Leslie born in 1897 and two sisters, Harriet born in 1899 and Alice born in 1903. Not much is known about Willie’s early life but according to family legend Willie was a great athlete and his army records list him as a labourer at time of enlistment, they also show his physical description as:
Weight 154 lbs
Height 5 feet 10 inches
Chest measurement 36 inches
Complexion fair
Eyes Grey
Hair Brown
Religious Denomination C of England

On 20 August 1915 Willie rallied to his country’s call and enlisted in the war effort as a private. Place of enlistment was Cootamundra and he was assigned to ‘A’ Company of the 6th Battalion and sent to Holdsworthy training camp where he arrived on the 29th August, after six weeks of basic training he was moved to Liverpool and attached to the 12th Reinforcements of the 4th Battalion.

Willie Sailed from Sydney on Friday 7 January 1916 on a Transport Ship “H.M.A.T.Medic” and called at Adelaide on the 12 January to pick up a further 300 troops. Four days later they docked at Fremantle WA and took on 300 more troops, making a total of 1500. His next stop was Ceylon on 28th January 1916.

After leaving Ceylon Willies next stop was Port Suez on the 12th February 1916 after a one day stop over he proceeded to Port Said arriving a day later. By the 17th he was in Alexandria and then on to Cairo the same day where they were marched five miles to the town of Heliopolis where he was encamped until 27th March when he again returned to Alexandria and boarded the “Saxonia” the next day.

Willies service records show that on 3rd April 1916 he disembarked the transport “Saxonia” at Marseilles.

On the 24th May 1916 he marched out of Et Aples to meet unit at Armentieres and on the 26th, two days later was taken on strength from the 12th reinforcements, 4th Battalion and reported to the 1st Pioneer battalion.

Willie celebrated his 21st birthday at Fleur Baix at the front on the 25th June 1916 although his diary entries give the date as 1915. The final diary entry is dated 25th June 1915 (1916) and tells of his arrival at Bec St Maur

Willie was reported as missing between 22nd and 27th July 1916 a Court of Enquiry on 15th June 1917 confirmed he was killed in action on 25th July 1916

Willie was killed in action on 25th July 1916, according to the Office of Australian War Graves, he has no known grave. However a letter written to his family in 1918 states he is buried at the Battery Corner Cemetery at Lepes. His name is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.

There is reference to Willies location when killed is in the reply letter to his mothers enquiry from Captain Anderson, where he states: “Through the dark days of Pozieres under a shell of fire unprecedented during the whole war he did his duty”. It can be assumed that Willie gave his life at the “Battle of Pozieres Ridge”

In a form filled out by Philadelphia (undated) for inclusion on the Roll of Honour the place he was killed is listed as Hooge Dump, my research revealed the following information.

A little along the Menin Road from the infamous Hell Corner , considered during the War to be the most dangerous place on earth, is Hooge. Hooge Crater Cemetery is situated here it contains the graves of almost 6000 Commonwealth soldiers. The cemetery now has a circular centre-piece, representing the crater, one of three in the immediate area, the other two having been turned into ponds in the grounds of a large house nearby.

Slightly south of the Menin Road is Hill 60. On the British army maps of 1914 it was unnamed but marked simply "HILL". The hill's height above sea-level (in metres) was also given -"60", so it appeared on the maps as "HILL 60" and this became its name to the soldiers of 1914 -18.

In the 1860’s a railway line was built from Ypres to the nearby town of Comines. Where the line passed through the Southern edge of the Passchendaele Ridge a cutting was dug to ease the gradient. The spoil from these cuttings was piled up into three low mounds, one on one side of the highest point of the cutting and two on the other. The single mound on the North side of the line was 230 metres long and 190 metres wide. It had become, by 1914, a grassy bank, this became known as Hill 60. The mounds on the other side of the railway cutting were called "The Caterpillar" and "The Dump" by the soldiers. From very early on in the war, the importance of Hill 60 as a point of observation made its capture an important target for both sides.
This is the only reference I have been able to find to “Dump” in the Hooge area and so it is the most likely spot of Willies death, ie: “Hooge Dump”. It is also may also be possible that Willie may be buried in the nearby Hooge Crater Cemetery as over 6000 Commonwealth Soldiers are buried here.