Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William SCHULTZ

Military Medal

Recommendation: -

'At Glencorse Wood during the period 25th/27th September 1917 this N.C.O. showed exceptional courage and devotion to duty. He assisted in laying tapes for the assembly of the attacking Battalions, and from then until the time the Battalion was relieved, he worked untiringly organising carrying parties, and guiding ammunition and water to the front line. All this was done under very heavy shell fire, and the example set by this N.C.O. was of the greatest value to those who came under his command.'

Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 31 Date: 7 March 1918

The Schultz family were one of the earliest settlers to the Emu Creek District with William’s father John Schultz arriving here with his family in the 1860’s.[1]

William enlisted in January 1916 as news of the failed Gallipoli campaign was filtering back through the Australian newspapers. He was one of 27 young Bendigo men who applied to enlist in the second week of January, 1916.

He would embark on April 1st, with Reinforcements for the 6th Battalion; however, on arrival in Egypt he would find the A.I.F going through a major restructure and expansion. New battalions were being established combining experienced Gallipoli soldiers with freshly arrived troops from Australia.

William would be assigned to the newly formed 58th battalion, part of the 15th Infantry Brigade under the leadership of the legendry leader Brigadier Harold (Pompey) Elliot. 

Arriving in France with the 15th Brigade, there are few records of William’s service record, until on September 20,1917 he is promoted to Corporal and just a week later he undertakes his heroic acts at Glencourse Wood, part of the Polygon Wood. (described later)   

William’s war would take a distinct change of direction in the January of 1918. He is selected to be an A.I.F representative in a secret mission of the British force. This was part of General Dunsterville's mission of 200 officers and non- commissioned officers on its march through Persia. At the end of 1917 volunteers were called for, largely among colonial corps, to proceed to an unknown destination upon a secret mission. The main object proved to be that of re-establishing, under British officers, part of the dissolving Russian and Russo Armenian forces in the Caucasus and on the Persian border. Twenty officers and twenty NCO's of the AIF formed part of the force.[2]

Members of the force were usually selected from men who had been awarded bravery awards, and who showed strong character, adventurous spirit, especially good stamina, capable of organizing, training, and eventually leading, irregular troops.

The Dunsterforce mission was to safeguard the immense oil installations at Baku from the Ottomans and the Germans, while organizing local groups of Armenians, Georgians, and anti-Bolsheviks to safeguard the railways and approaches to Afghanistan and India.

Along the way, they encountered German spies, rescued American missionaries, ministered to starving Persians and refugee Armenians and Assyrians, and built roads to alleviate famine and the passage of Christian refugees fleeing ethnic annihilation. The soldiers of Dunsterforce battled Ottoman forces, the “Savage Division” of jihadist mercenaries, as well as Kurdish and Persian Jangali guerrillas. They fought alongside Bolshevik soldiers of the Red Army, volunteer Armenian units, disavowed Russian Cossacks, and flew Serbian and Bolshevik flags all in a failed attempt to protect Baku’s precious oil from Ottoman or German appropriation. The Battle of Baku began on 26 August 1918, and ended with the evacuation of Dunsterforce on 14 September. Although fighting a determined and well-orchestrated rear-guard action, the vastly outnumbered and underequipped soldiers of Dunsterforce were forced to concede Baku and its prized petroleum resources to the Ottomans. [3]

SERVICE DETAILS: 

Regimental No. 5185

Place of birth: Eaglehawk

School:  Emu Creek State School No 228, Victoria

Religion: Church of England

Occupation: Labourer

Address: Emu Creek, Bendigo

Marital status: Married

Age at enlistment: 21

Next of kin: Wife, Mrs M Schultz, Flora Hill, Bendigo, Victoria

Enlistment date: 11 January 1916

Unit name: 6th Battalion, Dunster Force

Fate: Returned to Australia April 4, 1919  

Date of death: 30 April 1964

At Glencorse Wood during the period 25th/27th September 1917.                                                                                              The battle of Polygon Wood (Belgium) was the I ANZAC component of a larger British and dominion operation staged as part of the third battle of Ypres. This operation was the second of the "Plumer battles", a serious of well-planned, limited advances supported by large volumes of artillery, masterminded by the British general Herbert Plumer.  He advocated and executed what was described as "Bite and Hold" tactics which were very successful in countering the tendency of British troops to over-reach and become vulnerable to German counter-attack. The name "Polygon Wood" derived from a young plantation forest that lay along I ANZAC's axis of advance, the western extremity of which had been reached in the earlier Battle of Menin Road. The Germans launched several counter-attacks but these were thwarted by the heavy defensive artillery barrages used to protect the infantry consolidating on their objectives; this was a feature of the Plumer battles. The battle cost 5,770 Australian casualties.[4]

[1]  The Bendigo Independent (Vic. : 1891 - 1918)  Wed 20 Jun 1917  Page 8  OBITUARY.

[2] Australian War Memorial website
[3] International Encyclopaedia of the World War One website https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/dunsterforce 
[4] Virtual War Memorial Australia https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/19