Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte 3110 Joseph Alderman
50th Australian Infantry Battalion,
13th Brigade, 4th Australian Division

The Somme, today peaceful and silent, it was more than a hundred years ago a hell on earth of metal, mud and blood in which lived, fought and fell a whole generation of young men who served side by side with pride and determination for peace and freedom and who, for their country and for France, stood bravely in the darkness of the trenches and who, heroically, behind their officers, alongside their brothers and fathers, united in camaraderie and the fraternity, guided by their convictions, bravely went over the top under hail of bullets and shells without ever taking a single step back.Shoulder to shoulder they faced their destinies through the fire of the machine guns which mowed them down in the barbed wire and found on these sacred grounds, the peace of their final resting places on which are remembered and honored their names but also the stories of their lives that we will keep alive just as I would keep their memory strong and eternal so that they are never forgotten. I will always watch over them so that they live forever.

Today, it is with the deepest respect and with gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 3110 Joseph Alderman who fought in the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion, 13th Brigade, 4th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 104 years ago, on April 22, 1918 at the age of 25 on the Somme front.

Joseph Alderman was born on July 21, 1892 in Saints Station, Gilbert, near Balaklava, South Australia, and was the son of William Alderman and Elizabeth Alderman (née Murray), of Ardrossan, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Before the outbreak of the war, Joseph worked as a farmer.

Joseph enlisted on October 24, 1916 in Adelaide, South Australia, in the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion, 8th Reinforcement, battalion whose nickname was "Hurcombe's Hungry Half Hundred", after his first Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Hurcombe. After a training period of just over a month and a half, Joseph embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A35 Berrima on December 16, 1916 and sailed for England.

On February 16, 1917, Joseph arrived in England and was disembarked at Devonport. Less than a week later, on February 21, he was sent to the 15th Training Battalion at Hurdcott and then to the 13th Training Battalion on March 6 at Codford. On March 15, he fell ill and was admitted to the Military Hospital of Sutton Veny, was discharged to duty on March 28, marched out to Codford on April 10 and joined the 13th Training Battalion on April 19 and two months later, on June 19, he embarked from Southampton then proceeded overseas for France.

On June 20, 1917, Joseph arrived in France and was disembarked at Le Havre where he joined the 4th Australian Divisional Base depot and was taken on strength in the 50th Battalion on July 7 at De Suele Camp near Ploegsteert, Belgium. On July 13,Joseph and the battalion moved into support lines in Ploegsteert Wood under heavy fire from German artillery and enemy aircraft and fought in this sector until July 18 and were relieved the next day by the New Zealanders of the Otago Regiment then marched into billets near Steenwerck on July 22 and stayed there until August 7.

On August 8, 1917, Joseph and the 50th Battalion left Steenwerck for Kemmel, near Ypres, in reserve and were employed in this sector in working parties, in the construction of lines of communication. On August 15 the men moved to Kemmel Hill Camp and relieved the 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade south of the River Douve on August 19. Two days later the battalion moved to Aldershot Camp at Neuve Eglise then moved back to the front line at Ploegsteert Wood on August 22.

On August 23, 1917, Joseph was admitted to the 4th Australian Field Ambulance suffering from a fractured radius and was transferred the same day to the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station from where he embarked on an Ambulance Train on August 25 and was admitted to the 35th General Hospital in Calais. Less than a week later, on August 30, he embarked on board Queen Mary for England and arrived the same day at the Auxiliary Hospital in East End, London, suffering from a broken elbow.A month later, on September 18, he was discharged to furlough and was sent to Perham Downs on October 2 then to Hurdcott the next day and marched to Overseas Training Brigade on October 19 in Longbridge Deverill then the following month,on November 10, embarked from Southampton and proceeded overseas for France.

On November 11, 1917, Joseph arrived again in France and was disembarked in Le Havre where he joined the 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot, marched out to unit on November 14 then joined the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion on November 26 in the Somme, in the small village of Mesnelies where they remained until December 6 following a light period of training.

On December 6, 1917, Joseph and the 50th Battalion left Mesnelies and marched through Peronne, Etricourt and arrived at Templeux-La-Fosse where they remained until December 18 and then reached Moislains the following day where they celebrated Christmas around good food from Amiens which was distributed to all the men then followed a new period of training including trench attack exercises and road works until January 9, 1918.

On January 9, 1918, the 50th Battalion left the Somme and were sent to Strazeele, Hauts-De-France the next day, and marched to Tournai Camp on January 13 in weather that alternated between snow, rain and wind but the men found in the camp a very pleasant comfort. On November 19, the battalion received new orders and were sent to the front line south east of Ypres where they fought in very difficult conditions until February 8.

On February 9, 1918, Joseph and his comrades, after very difficult fighting, were relieved by the 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion and sent to Ridgewood Camp, near where the Spoilbank cemetery is now located and were mainly employed in working parties and musketry exercises until February 27. The next day they left Ridgewood Camp and marched to Kemmel Shelters Camp and stayed there until March 23.

Two days earlier, on March 21, 1918, the German army launched its spring offensive, planned by General Erich Lundendorf and aimed at breaking through the front between the British and French lines and taking the railway junction at Amiens, in the Somme, which would allow the Germans to rush towards Paris but the Australian divisions were sent very quickly to the Somme to stop and counter them.
On March 26, 1918, the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion was informed that the Germans had been spotted at Hebuterne, in the Somme and received orders to march as quickly as possible to reach this sector where they arrived later in the day, more precisely in the village of Forceville then marched through Courcelles, Bertrancourt, Bresle. During their march, the battalion received reports that the Germans were attacking in the valley of Ancre, between Albert and Dernancourt. The next day, the battalion entered the trenches of Henencourt with the support of the Australian artillery. The 50th Battalion also had the support of the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion on their right flank at Buire and dernancourt as well as the 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion at Ville-Sur-Ancre.

On April 1, 1918, Joseph and the men of the 50th Battalion moved to the abandoned aerodrome of Dernancourt but were under fire from German artillery and the same day, a squadron of 16 enemy aircraft attacked but no casualties were reported. Three days later, on 4 April, the battalion journal reported that the Australian artillery was very active and pinned down the Germans at Lavieville, Bresle and Ribemont. The following day a direct hit from a high explosive shell killed 52 men in a hangar of the aerodrome of Dernancourt.

On April 8, 1918, the 50th Battalion was relieved by the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion and marched to Corbie where they relieved the 18th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. Unfortunately, it was at Corbie that on April 21, 1918, Joseph met his fate and was seriously wounded in the knee by machine gun fire from an enemy aircraft which attacked the town but was shot down. Joseph was immediately evacuated and admitted to the 11th Australian Field Ambulance then transferred to the 20th Casualty Clearing Station at Vignacourt where he died the next day, he was 25 years old.

Today, Joseph Alderman rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Vignacourt British Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "We, your loved ones sadly miss you."

Joseph, it is with faith in your country and in the future of humanity that you answered the call of duty alongside your friends and that together, determined to do your bit on the battlefields of the great war you stood with honor through the hail of lead and bullets endlessly spat out by enemy machine guns and rifles that mercilessly mowed down an entire generation of young men who faced their destinies and their fears in the mud of the fields of the Somme on which was shed the blood and tears of exceptional men who gave their today and their youth in the name of peace and freedom for which they served with pride and for which they fought shoulder to shoulder, united in the spirit of ANZAC,a spirit of camaraderie and valor,of sacrifice and solidarity in the face of adversity,a spirit of endurance and duty,and love of country,a spirit of mateship and good humour,a spirit who kept the Diggers united and strong , the sons of Australia and France to whom we owe so much for all they did for us through the darkest hours of history but who, in the face of death, never backed down and moved forward without hesitation without regard for their own lives so that we can have a tomorrow, a better world for which they sacrificed so much without questioning.Knees deep in the mud, their heads high under their slouch hats and their steel helmets they fought the good fight for the highest values that unite men and through the poppies, through the fields of barbed wire, into the darkness in which they lived through hell, they found in each other the strength and courage to overcome the pains and sufferings of a world that descended into the madness and chaos of a senseless war that dragged innocent young boys to kill each other in the bloodbaths that were Pozières, that were the battles of Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux and which today are the symbols of the courage and sacrifices of the young Australians who fell here, in the shroud of the light of the rising sun through which their names and faces will forever be honored and remembered with love and respect. They were young, they were brave and from Gallipoli where the first of them fell on the red sand, they never gave up the fight and remained united, they walked together through the nightmare that is called Passchendaele, they fought with bravery at Fromelles where so many of them disappeared under tons of shells, shattered by so many losses they did not however cease to move forward and joined the bruised, scarified and bloody fields of the Mouquet Farm which they attacked again and again with extreme bravery but the price was paid in blood and tears and saw behind them thousands of their comrades and brothers who would never return home. The fields of the Somme were an unnamed nightmare, an open-air slaughterhouse, but the Australians, alongside their French and British brothers in arms, never took a single step back and after so much fury and chaos, in a last assault full of determination and courage, stopped the germans and saved france at Villers-Bretonneux where in a few days, Australians and French will be reunited to honor the memory of these young men on whom I will always watch to honor their memory so that they are never forgotten and so that they never cease to live.

Thank you so much Joseph, for everything. Long live Australia,my adopted country. Long live the Australian people, our friends and brothers united forever in the most sacred of bonds. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him,we will remember them. 

Son of William ALDERMAN and Elizabeth nee MURRAY