Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

#2680  KERNKE William Charles  52nd Infantry Battalion
 
The Kernke family, Frederick and Wilhelmina, and their three children were residents of Biggenden. William was born in Maryborough around 1889. It seemed that it was common practice for mothers to travel to Maryborough from the North Burnett for the birth of their babies and Wilhelmina may have travelled part of the way on the new rail line from Brooweena to Maryborough.
 
William attended school at Biggenden and then worked on the family property. Both he and his younger brother Thomas were members of the Biggenden Rifle Club. William and Thomas travelled by train to Maryborough in May 1916 to enlist in the AIF. It is possible that both brothers had attempted to enlist earlier but were rejected due to German heritage as Thomas stated this on his attestation papers.
 
William and Thomas were accepted into the AIF by the recruiting officer in Maryborough on 3rd May 1916. Both stated their occupation as grazier and both named their sister, Dora Kernke of Biggenden, as next of kin. At the time William was 27 and Thomas was 25. Both were single. The brothers travelled to Brisbane by train and were marched in to the 11th Depot Battalion for rudimentary training before being allocated as part of the 6th reinforcements for the 52nd Infantry Battalion, part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Division AIF.
 
The 6th Reinforcements travelled by train to Sydney where they boarded the “Ceramic” on 7th October 1916. The embarkation roll shows that both men, who had successive regimental numbers, had allotted 3/- a day to their family in Biggenden. The 6th reinforcements landed in Plymouth on 21st November 1916 and were marched in to the 3rd Training Battalion at Codford.
 
William was transferred overseas via Folkstone in January 1917; his brother remained in isolation in hospital in England, probably with influenza. William was taken on strength by the 52nd on 15th January 1917; brother Thomas joined from hospital a month later.
 
The winter of 1916/17 was bitterly cold. Throughout January and February, the men of the 52nd had to endure heavy snow falls and frozen ground while maintaining and improving trenches. There was very little fighting with the exception of light artillery barrages from time to time. In February, the 52nd were withdrawn from the front areas to comfortable billets in Nissen Huts at Bazentin. This rest period allowed the men to regain strength and vigour. A march to Buire allowed the men to visit the brigade baths where they were issued with clean underwear and socks while their uniforms were steamed to remove body lice.
 
While the British and German forces endured the winter, the German command had ordered the construction of heavily defended line, 140 kilometres long some distance behind their own front line. The line which the Germans called the Seigfreid Position and the British called the Hindenburg Line consisted of belts of barbed wire several hundred metres thick, concrete dugouts, blockhouses and gun positions which became known as pill boxes. The position allowed the German to locate their artillery on the reverse slope of the ridge, thus hiding the guns from direct sight. With the coming of the spring thaw in February and March 1917, the German army on the Somme began an orderly withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. The Australian Divisions, attached to the British 5th Army cautiously followed the withdrawal, constantly on the lookout for rear guard attacks and booby traps. The 52nd Battalion advanced eastwards along with the rest of the brigade and by late March was in the support trenches at Lagnicourt.
 
When the advancing forces came up against the Hindenburg Line, the commander of the 5th Army, General Gough, ordered a series of small operations to test the defences. On 2nd April, the 52nd Battalion was in the jumping off trenches at Noreuil when the whistles blew to signal an attack. It is recorded that Private William Kernke was reported killed during this engagement. It was William’s first exposure to a battle of this kind and perhaps his inexperience contributed to his demise; he was one of only six 52nd Battalion men killed that day. There is no record of his burial on the battlefield which was fought over several more times that month. His family in Biggenden made no official enquiries into the circumstances of his death but it is more than likely that William’s brother Thomas who was also at Noreuil was able to write to his sister with any news.
 
Later in 1917, William’s sister Dora signed for a few of her brother’s belongings; two identity discs, cards and a tobacco pouch. William’s father signed for the Empire Medal and Victory Medal. William Kernke’s remains were never located. He is commemorated on the stone tablets of the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux which commemorates the over 10,000 Australians who lost their lives in France and have no known grave.