Ernest Charles WENNERBOM

WENNERBOM, Ernest Charles

Service Number: 792
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 3rd Infantry Battalion
Born: Temora, New South Wales, Australia, 1896
Home Town: Temora, Temora Municipality, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Butcher
Died: Box Hill, New South Wales, Australia, 1981, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Not yet discovered
Memorials: Temora Public School Honour Roll, Temora WW1 War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

20 Oct 1914: Involvement Private, 792, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: ''
20 Oct 1914: Embarked Private, 792, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney

Temora ANZAC Address 2015

Temora - 2015 ANZAC Day Service
Wing Commander Tony Wennerbom
Commanding Officer – School of Postgraduate Studies
RAAF Base Wagga
IT IS A GREAT PRIVILEGE FOR ME TO REPRESENT THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE AND TO GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK IN TEMORA ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANZAC LANDINGS AT GALLIPOLI.
WHILST TODAY IS THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY, REMEMBERING ANZAC DAY GOES BEYOND WHAT OCCURRED IN TURKEY. IT IS THE DAY ON WHICH WE REMEMBER AUSTRALIANS WHO SERVED AND DIED IN ALL WARS, CONFLICTS, AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS. THE SPIRIT OF ANZAC, WITH ITS HUMAN QUALITIES OF COURAGE, MATESHIP, AND SACRIFICE, CONTINUES TO HAVE MEANING AND RELEVANCE IN 2015 IN TERMS OF OUR SENSE OF NATIONAL IDENTITY.
TODAY, WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO CONTINUE TO FACE NEW CHALLENGES, IN THE SAME WAY OUR VETERANS FACED ADVERSITY IN MANY WARS. OUR SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN FOUGHT WITH A BELIEF THAT THEIR VARIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS WOULD HELP TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD, AND WE SHOULD SEEK TO HONOUR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS BY STRIVING TO DO OUR BEST IN OUR DAILY LIVES.
WITH THAT I MIND, I WOULD LIKE TO RECALL THE COMMITMENT OF A PARTICULAR WORLD WAR 1 AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER FROM TEMORA. HIS NAME WAS ERNEST CHARLES WENNERBOM, MY GRAND FATHERS BROTHER AND MY GRAND UNCLE.
ERNEST WENNERBOM ENLISTED INTO THE AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE ON THE 21 AUGUST 1914, AT THE OUTBREAK OF WAR. LIKE MANY OF THOSE EARLY VOLUNTEERS – DESCRIBED AS THE CREAM OF AUSTRALIA'S YOUTH – ERNEST HELPED TO CREATE THE ANZAC LEGEND THAT DID SO MUCH TO BOND THE YOUNG NATION OF AUSTRALIA. DESPITE ERNEST BEING ONLY 17 YEARS OLD, HIS DAUGHTER, BETTY SAGE, TOLD ME THAT ERNEST UPPED HIS AGE TO 20 IN ORDER JOIN THE AIF AND GO OFF TO THE GREAT EXPERIENCE.

UPON ENLISTMENT, ERNEST BECAME A PART OF THE 3RD BATTALION. THE 3RD BATTALION WAS RAISED WITHIN A FORTNIGHT OF THE DECLARATION OF WAR IN AUGUST 1914 AND EMBARKED JUST TWO MONTHS LATER. ERNEST LEFT SYDNEY ON THE 21 OCT 1914 AND SAILED TO EGYPT WITH THE OTHER SOLDIERS OF THE 3RD BATTALION. AFTER A BRIEF STOP IN ALBANY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, THE BATTALION ARRIVED IN EGYPT ON THE 2ND DECEMBER.

ON THE 5TH APRIL 1915 ERNEST AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE 3RD BATTALION LEFT EGYPT ABOARD THE DERRFLINGER TO JOIN THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE MEDITERANNEAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES TO TAKE PART IN THE WAR ON THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA. ERNEST CHARLES WENNERBOM TOOK PART IN THE ANZAC LANDING ON 25 APRIL 1915 AS PART OF THE SECOND AND THIRD WAVES.
HE SERVED THERE UNTIL HE WAS EVACUATED BACK TO EGYPT IN JULY WHERE HE WAS PROMOTED TO DRIVER. IT WAS PROBABLY A BLESSING IN DISGUISE FOR ERNEST THAT HE WAS NOT WITH HIS BATTALION WHEN THEY HEADED THE ASSAULT AT LONE PINE ON 6TH AUGUST WHICH RESULTED IN HEAVY CASUALTIES.
AFTER THE AIF WITHDRAWAL FROM GALLIPOLI AND RETURNED TO EGYPT, ERNEST WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE 45TH BATTALION. HE REMAINED WITH THEM IN ANZAC CAMP AT TEL EL KEBIR UNTIL JUNE 1916 WHEN HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO ENGLAND TO RECOVER FROM INJURIES RECEIVED IN THE MEDITERANNEAN.
ON THE 20 JUN 1917 ERNEST ARRIVED IN LE HAVRE, FRANCE HAVING BEEN TRANSFERRED TO THE 5TH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION MEDICAL SERVICES (5 ADMS). HE SERVED ON THE WESTERN FRONT AS A DRIVER AS PART OF THE 4TH AUSTRALIAN FIELD AMBULANCE (14 AFA) AND THEN 1ST AUSTRALIAN CASUALTY CLEARING STATION IN BOULOGNE UNTIL HE HIMSELF SUCCUMBED TO TRENCH FEVER AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY TRANSFERRED BACK TO ENGLAND. HE REMAINED IN ENGLAND RECOVERING BEFORE FINALLY RETURNING TO AUSTRALIA ON 24 OCT 1918.

DESPITE HIS INJURIES, ERNEST LIVED UNTIL THE AGE OF 84, PASSING AWAY IN 1981 IN MELBOURNE.
AUSTRALIAN CASUALTIES IN WW1 TOTALLED 59,000 DEAD, AND 152,000 WOUNDED. FROM A POPULATION OF 5 MILLION, THAT REPRESENTED 1% KILLED. IN WW2 32,000 DIED. IN CONFLICTS SINCE WW2 IN MALAYA, KOREA, BORNEO, VIETNAM, IRAQ AND AFGANASTAN THERE HAVE BEEN APPROXIMATELY 2,000 KILLED OVERSEAS.

HERE IN TEMORA, IN TOWNS AND CITIES AROUND AUSTRALIA AND AT NUMEROUS BATTLEFIELDS AROUND THE WORLD, WE HAVE AN ETERNAL OBLIGATION TO REMEMBER THE EFFORTS OF THOSE WOMEN AND MEN WHO HAVE SERVED AUSTRALIA IN WAR. WE CAN HONOUR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS BY TRYING TO LIVE IN THE MANNER THEY WOULD HAVE EXPECTED FROM US.
TODAY WE FACE MANY NEW CHALLENGES, FROM PRESERVING OUR ENVIRONMENT, ASSISTING OUR FELLOW ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS, TO HELPING OTHER NATIONS TO LIVE PEACEFULLY. THESE ARE ALL AREAS WHERE, AS A NATION, WE CAN HAVE AN ENDURING AND POSITIVE AFFECT BOTH LOCALLY AND AROUND THE WORLD.

TODAY ON ANZAC DAY WE SHOULD ASK OURSELVES, HOW WOULD ERNEST, HIS COUSINS FREDRICK AND ALEX WENNERBOM, AND THE OTHER TEMORA RETURNED VETERANS EXPECT US TO FACE THESE CHALLENGES? IF WE CAN REFLECT ON THE POSITIVE AND SELFLESS CONTRIBUTIONS OF THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US, I BELIEVE THE RIGHT COURSE OF ACTION WILL EMERGE. SUCH REFLECTION WILL ENSURE OUR VETERANS EFFORTS WILL NOT HAVE BEEN IN VAIN BUT RATHER REMEMBERED IN A PRACTICAL WAY THAT WILL BUILD A BETTER FUTURE AND ULTIMATELY PLEASE THEM.

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