DILGER, Willie Mayfield
| Service Number: | 3130 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 February 1916, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Childers, Queensland, Australia, 15 August 1893 |
| Home Town: | Apple Tree Creek, Bundaberg, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Doolbi State School |
| Occupation: | Cane cutter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Dernancourt, France, 5 April 1918, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Childers Doolbi & Horton Honour Board, Childers Isis District Roll of Honour, Childers Memorial Hall (Isis District Pictorial War Memorial), Childers Past Scholars of Doolbi Primary School Honour Roll, Childers Residents of Horton and Doolbi War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3130, Brisbane, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3130, 47th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3130, 47th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Sydney | |
| 12 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 3130, 47th Infantry Battalion, 1st Passchendaele, GSW (left chest) | |
| 1 Dec 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3130, 4th Infantry Battalion, Dernancourt/Ancre |
Help us honour Willie Mayfield Dilger's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Dave Dilger
On the 100th anniversary of the Second Battle of Dernancourt, the French SNCF railway authority and the townspeople of Dernancourt dedicated the railway bridge at Dernancourt to Willie Mayfield Dilger and his comrades of A company, 47th battalion, most of whom went missing on that fateful morning and have no identifyable graves.
If you pass by Dernancourt (just 4km outside of Albert), a rock plinth with a plaque and a commemorative oak tree, honors Willie Mayfield Dilger and his comrades. 100 years on they are remembered and are no longer lost to us.
Biography contributed by John Edwards
Submitted by Dave Dilger;
Willie Mayfield was a Lance Corporal and served with the 47th Battalion at Dernancourt where he died at around 11am on the 5th April 1918.
Willie suffered a fatal gunshot wound after withdrawing from a sniping position atop the railway embankment due heavy artillery bombardment and was killed at the junction of emu and dolly trenches, just as the German 50th Division came through on mass under the railway underpass with a 77mm gun.
Willie's body suffered a direct hit from the 77mm gun and was unidentifiable.
It is very likely that Willie may lie in the grave of an unknown Australian Lance Corporal in row 10G of the Dernancourt Cemetery and extension.
Click images to start slideshow.