WOODLAND, William
| Service Number: | 4013 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Jarrahdale, Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Mill hand |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 17 December 1978, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Jarrahdale Roll Of Honor WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4013, 11th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 4013, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: RMS Mongolia embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 22 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 4013, 11th Infantry Battalion, RMS Mongolia, Fremantle | |
| 3 Sep 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4013, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Mouquet Farm |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
William Woodland was the son of Edwin and Matilda Woodland of Jarrahdale, Western Australia. He was working as a mill hand in Jarrahdale, and only 18 years of age when he enlisted. His brother Cyril Woodland also served in the 16th Battalion AIF.
The National Archives holds a file called Prisoner of war statements, 4th Australian Division, 51st Battalion, in which William Woodland, 51st Battalion, who was captured at Mouquet Farm on 3 September 1916, made a written statement after he was repatriated to England in 1918.
“The battalion attacked Mouquet Farm at about 5.10 a.m. ‘Fritz’ put up a very heavy barrage on our right and the 52nd Battalion who were to have supported us on that flank were consequently delayed in their attack. We reached the enemy first line and captured it after a sharp struggle and then passed over on to his second line and proceeded to bomb the Germans out and took possession. We remained in possession until about noon when the enemy counter attacked. A number of our men with an officer got down into a dugout and must have retired through another entrance. Myself and 15 other men did not get any orders so we fought on and in about half an hour we were all knocked out and only three of us remained alive.
I was wounded through the throat by a rifle bullet and by a ‘whizz-bang’ in the shoulder. We crawled into the dugout and remained there for five days before being picked up by the Germans. There was one wounded German with us.”
Woodland was in hospital in Germany for seven months recovering from his wounds. In late November 1917 he was sent to Switzerland. Under the agreement of the warring parties, and with the help of the Red Cross, prisoners of war were transferred to Swiss mountain villages to recover, and to sit out the war.
Woodland must have been still under military rules as in March 1918 he was awarded punishment of four days in a cell for being found drunk in a café in Leysin, a Swiss town. He was repatriated to England during June 1918 and was invalided to Australia a few months with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
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