WIGHTMAN, Mitchell
| Service Number: | 6103 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 37th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat East, Victoria, Australia, 1875 |
| Home Town: | Leongatha, South Gippsland, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Heyfield State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 28 January 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres Plot III, Row E, Grave 4, |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Leongatha Fallen Soldiers Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6103, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 6103, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Jul 1916: | Embarked Private, 6103, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne | |
| 28 Jan 1917: | Involvement Private, 6103, 37th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 6103 awm_unit: 37th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-01-28 |
Help us honour Mitchell Wightman's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
From his Red Cross Wounded and Missing file on the night of 28 January, William Haggar, Victor Gray and Mitchell Wightman were among those to go on a night raid. Gray saw Wightman hit in the back of the head by machine gun fire and believed he died almost instantly. The wire was not cut and casualties were heavy, the enemy machine guns opened fire whilst the raiders were trying to get over the wire and they did not get into the enemy trenches. Around 13 men from the unit were killed during this raid. Gray and another soldier tried to carry Wightman’s body in but the enemy fire was so hot that they had to abandon Wightman’s body after Gray fell on barbed wire. Later, stretcher bearers were able to get to Wightman’s body to bring him in but while doing so the enemy opened fire, again forcing them to leave him behind on the stretcher and find cover for themselves. Some days later they tried again to recover his body and found that the enemy had attached wire from their own trench to Mitchell’s feet and stretcher in order to shoot anyone attempting to recover him. Yet again, they were thwarted in retrieving his body. Finally, two weeks later the Tyneside Scottish Brigade were on a raid in the same place and managed to cut the wire and return his body for burial.
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