Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sam Hubbe Bates was born in 1897. He had brown hair and brown eyes. Bates was 6 foot 1 inch tall and weighed 172lb. He joined the Australian Armed forces at the legal age of 18 in 1915 one year after WWI started

Sam Hubbe Bates was a dairyman from Gilles Plains in South Australia. When he turned 18 in 1915 he left his mother, Mrs Bates, and signed up to the Australian Army on the 22nd of July 1915. Having no prior military experience he was enlisted as a Private, the lowest rank. Sam joined into the 10th Battalion, 11th reinforcement unit, and the 50th Battalion on the nominal roll.

Sam Hubbe Bates was a Methodist, a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Weasley. Sam Hubbe Bates’ religion doesn’t come up as being a strong character, as he went into war at a private rank and returned home as a private.  

The 50th Australian Infantry Battalion – The 50th Battalion infantry was raised in Egypt on February 1915. Approximately half of the 50th infantry Battalion were veterans from the 10th Battalion and the other half were fresh recruits from Australia. Sam Hubbe Bates embarked on the HMAT A24 Benalla on the 27th of October 1915, landing in Egypt in early 1916. He was in the first group of soldiers to arrive in the 50th Battalion. The living conditions in Egypt were sub-standard, the weather was hot, and the nights were freezing.

Training in Egypt, the Australian Armed Forces of WWI needed to have some down time. They did this by going into the local markets and buying things with the small amount of currency that they had. The Australian troops were a target for local sales people as they could charge them unfair prices for items that shouldn’t cost those prices. There may be no winners in war (which is true) but the sales people of Egypt made a living off of the Australians for years.

After arriving in France on 11th of June 1916, the 50th fought in its first major battle at Mouquet Farm between 13th and 15th of August and suffered many casualties. The 50th continued to battle between the front line and labouring behind the lines. This routine continued into the bleak winter months of 1916 and 1917.  

In early 1917, two years after Sam Hubbe Bates joined the forces, the 50th Battalion participated in the advance into German territory up to the Hindenburg Line, and attacked Noreuil on the 2nd of April. These two places were German retreats in the war and being ordered to take hold of them would have been a challenge. 

The 50th Battalion assisted in the repulse of the largest German attack on Australian troops mounted during the entirety of the war. The German threat persisted through April, and on ANZAC day 1918, the 50th Battalion in the now legendary attack to dislodge the enemy from Villers-Bretonnoux. 

On the trip back to Australian soil Sam Hubbe would have been excited to see his mother again after not seeing her for 3 years. Sam Hubbe Bates would have been 21 on the 12th of December 1918.

Sam Hubbe Bates lived a long life after the war. He died on the 12th of June 1963, which means that Sam would have been around to see WWII start and finish, which would have been, needless to say, an interesting experience. And wouldn’t have been very pleasant. He died at age 66.