Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Henrys parents were William Henry HAFFENDEN and Phoebe Alice TURNER who married in Camberwell, England in 1893

William & his father William & brother Frank arrived in Brisbane on 27th November, 1911 on the ship Otranto - his Mother Phoebe and other siblings followed on the ship Marathon in December, 1912

Four of his brothers served as follows

1. Frank HAFFENDEN (SN128) died of wounds in WW1 in 1915

2. Wilfred John HAFFENDEN (SN383) died of illness in WW1 in 1916

3. Stanley Jack HAFFENDEN (SN50641) served in WW1 , returned to Australia in 1919 & served in WW2 (SN401493) discharged 1941

4. Leslie HAFFENDEN (SNQX31366) served in WW2 and was discharged in 1944

William Haffenden was the eldest of the four brothers and the first to enlist. He presented himself at Enoggera on 20th August 1914, only a few days after recruiting began. At the time he stated that he was 23 years old, a butcher, and gave his address as Logan Road Holland Park. He named his mother Phoebe Alice as his next of kin. William also stated that he had two and a half years experience with the Oxley Regiment, Citizens Forces

After a rudimentary medical inspection, William was drafted into the 9th Battalion, the first Queensland battalion to be raised for the AIF. By the 28th August he was promoted to Lance Corporal, four days later to Corporal and three days after that to Sergeant. Competition for acceptance into the AIF in those days of August 1914 meant that recruiters could be very selective regarding health and physique. It is amazing that William was accepted, given what was to follow.

Training for the 9th Battalion was very short, but this was not seen as much of a handicap as most of the battalion were either Boer War veterans or had experience in the citizen’s forces. The 9th sailed from Brisbane on the “Omrah” on 24th September. The convoy was delayed in Melbourne because of fear of German raiders which had sailed from the German port of Qingdao, China, some weeks earlier and their whereabouts were unknown.

Eventually, on 3rd December the Australians and New Zealanders disembarked at Alexandria and were moved by train to the outskirts of Cairo. Training began within a week of arrival at camp. Bridges; the Divisional commander required a tough training schedule be implemented. After a period of calisthenics, the twelve battalions of the 1st Division were sent out on forced route marches through the soft sand of the desert. The men had to carry full battle order kit which amounted to almost 70 pounds in weight. Water for the march was restricted to what each man could carry in his water bottle. Unsurprisingly the troops found this tough going and significant numbers of men were unable to complete the marches.

Bridges’ orders were perhaps a direct result of his desire to toughen the troops after spending several months at sea; as well as an overreaction to a perception of ill discipline in the dominion troops compared to the British regulars who were also stationed in Egypt. Bridges himself was an officer from the old British Army, the former commander at Duntroon, and “he made no concession to humanity” (Charles Bean; Official Historian AIF). Reinforcements from Australia presented an opportunity to weed out men who proved to be unfit for service for any number of reasons.

William’s file is remarkably bereft of any indication that he was not proving to be a satisfactory soldier. There is no indication that he reported to a casualty clearing station or field ambulance, nor is there any disciplinary comment; but sometime in late December or early January 1915, a decision was made to return William to Australia. The reason stated was “flat feet”. William embarked in Suez on 3rd February and arrived in Melbourne on 11th March 1915. He was discharged as medically unfit in Brisbane on 4th April 1915. Three weeks later, his mates in the 9th Battalion would land on Gallipoli.