Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Chapman was wounded in action 2 May 1915 and evacuated to Egypt. He was then taken to England in July with a bullet wound through the achilles tendon area of his leg. After several months in hospital he was returned to Australia in November 1915 and discharged medically unfit in June 1916.

In the Nagambie Times of 25 June 1915, Pte. W. F. Chapman, 13th Battalion, has written the following account of his experiences in the fighting at the Dardanelles :—

"….The writer goes on to describe an action which took place on 2nd May 1915,

We mustered up behind a hill, where the Colonel made a short speech telling us what we were wanted to do. The attack opened with a terrific shell fire from our guns. The position we were to take was situated about a quarter of a mile away, and to reach it we had to advance up a deep ravine and then climb a hill which was well-nigh a precipice. The enemy wore entrenched along the top of the ridge, and we had not advanced far before men commenced dropping but up we went. Wo got a minute's respite near the top under the shelter of a bluff.  We gathered together, fixed bayonets and then charged. It was awful; the machine guns got on to us, and fairly mowed men down, but on we went. The Turks hopped out of their trenches and started to run; we, mad with excitement, after them. One big fellow crouched in front of me, and I drove the bayonet into him. Three of us rushed a machine gun worked by four Turks. We shot or bayoneted the Turks, but were unable to take the machine gun, as it was anchored to the ground, so we destroyed it by firing some shots into its mechanism.

We then made our way back to where our boys were entrenching, my mate being shot dead on the way. The. boys were singing "Tipperary" while they dug. "Though the fire was terrific and the casualties heavy, we hung on, even though more ammunition and reinforcements were late getting up. The moon was up by this time. I sneaked along and got some more ammunition, and then took up a nice cosy position, from which I was able to pick my mark, and shoot and shoot till my gun got hot. I stood up, and looked round, when there was a bang, and I copped it right in the foot. I ripped my boot off, but even as I held it was shot out of my baud. What happened after seems like a nightmare. I crawled and scrambled through scrub and rolled down gullies, but finally got back to the base. Cases were fairly streaming; in. Someone put me on a stretcher, and away I went to the beach. Even when there, one was not out of the wood, as snipers, who were posted on the heights, still tried to pick us off. I was put on a boat and taken to a hospital ship, where excepting for extreme pain I was quite comfortable. Everybody, no matter how badly wounded, was quite cheerful, as we had bagged hundreds of Turks and won a fine position."