William Knox DUNN

DUNN, William Knox

Service Number: 5571
Enlisted: 25 January 1916, Brisbane, Queensland
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 25th Infantry Battalion
Born: Dublin, Ireland, September 1885
Home Town: Sherwood, Brisbane, Queensland
Schooling: Sherwood State School
Occupation: Stockman
Died: Killed in Action, France, 28 May 1918
Cemetery: Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme
Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, Ribemont, Picardie, France, Querrieu British Cemetery, Querrieu, Picardie, France
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Corinda Sherwood Shire Roll of Honor, Graceville War Memorial, Nanango War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

25 Jan 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5571, Brisbane, Queensland
7 Sep 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 5571, 25th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Clan McGillivray embarkation_ship_number: A46 public_note: ''
7 Sep 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5571, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Clan McGillivray, Brisbane
28 May 1918: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 5571, 25th Infantry Battalion, "Peaceful Penetration - Low-Cost, High-Gain Tactics on the Western Front"

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Biography contributed by Faithe Jones

William Dunn was born into a Scots Presbyterian family in Dublin. Both his father, James Knox Dunn and his brother Ralph Knox Dunn shared the middle name of the founder of the Presbyterian Church, as did William.

The family emigrated to Australia when William was a young boy as his father reported William attending both Sherwood State School and Brisbane Normal School. The family home was “Keppoch” Berry Street Graceville. Keppoch is the ancestral home of the Macdonald Clan in the Scottish Highlands and is further indication of the family’s strong Caledonian roots.

William enlisted on the 25th January 1916. At the time he stated his occupation as stockman and gave Keppoch as his home address; although other documents indicate that he may have been working in the Central Queensland area prior to enlistment. William’s younger brother Ralph, who was just 18, had enlisted in September 1915, and it is not unreasonable to think that the family requested William ; who was 31 years old, to enlist also to keep an eye on his brother. Fortuitously both brothers were posted to the 25th Battalion.

William embarked on the “Clan McGilvray” in Brisbane on 7th September 1916 and arrived in Plymouth on 2nd November. By the 21st November he was in a training battalion at Rolleston. On 31st July William was finally taken on strength by the 25th Battalion.

The 25th Battalion were in a rest area when William arrived, recovering from the arduous battles of 1916. The billets were in the Reniscure district near Hazebrouk and training consisted of practicing infantry advancement by company, battalion and brigade. It was also harvest time and up to 100 men a day were detailed to help local farmers get in the summer wheat.

The third battle of Ypres (often referred to as Passchendaele) began in June 1917 with mine explosions and artillery barrages at Messines. Plumer (the British Corps Commander) adopted a bite and hold strategy to continue the offensive east from Ypres towards the Passchendaele Ridge and by September, the 25th Battalion were brought up to the line to continue the offensive along the Menin Road. As the battalion moved up, William reported to a Field Ambulance with trench fever (nephritis). He was evacuated to the 58th General Hospital at Rouen and then spent the next three months in convalescent depots before returning to his unit which was by this time wintering in Messines.

The 25th Battalion remained in the Messines area for several months, which was relatively quiet. When Ludendorff launched Operation Michael on 21st March 1918 on the Somme, the British Army stationed there could not withstand the advance of German shock troops and beat a hasty retreat surrendering all the ground won on the Somme in 1916.

Haig realized that Michael had the capacity to split the British and French, capture the ports of Boulogne, Dunkirk and Havre and possibly win the war. To halt the German advance, Haig called on the Australian divisions resting in Flanders. By this time the five Australian Divisions were now under the command of Lieutenant General John Monash in a single corps. Monash rushed the third and fourth divisions to the Somme and succeeded in stemming the German tide at Villers Bretonneux on Anzac Day 1918. In order to buy time for the counter offensive, the remainder of the Australian Corps were brought to the Somme in early May.

The 25th Battalion, as part of the 2nd Division was tasked with holding the line in the strategically vital triangle formed by the confluence of the Ancre and the Somme Rivers. On the 28th May, it was reported that William Dunn had been killed in action.

Red Cross reports reveal that William had received two gunshot wounds to the back while digging a sap perpendicular to the front line trench. He was buried in the Heilly Cemetery near Ville-sur –Ancre (the village on the Ancre) with a wooden cross erected. At the end of the war, William’s remains were reinterred in the much larger Ribemont Communal Cemetery four miles from Albert. His family were provided with photographs of his grave.

William’s younger brother, Ralph was fortunate to survive the war. He was wounded on five occasions; the most serious being multiple gunshot wounds and a fractured skull. He returned to Australia in the middle of 1919. William’s parents James and Elizabeth left Berry Street in 1922 to live at Wickham Terrace.

Courtesy of Ian Lang

Mango Hill

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