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"...97 Private Stephen Nicholas Flett, 25th Battalion. A labourer from Bendigo, Vic prior to enlistment, Pte Flett embarked with A Company from Brisbane on HMAT Aeneas on 29 June 1915. Shortly after his promotion to Corporal, he was killed in action on 14 November 1916, aged 31, at Somme, France and is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)

# 97 FLETT Stephen (Steve) Nicholas                         25th Battalion
 
Steve Flett was born at Sydney Flat, Bendigo, Vic in July 1885. According to his mother who completed the Roll of Honour circular, Steve attend school at Sydney Flat. After leaving school, Steve probably worked at any number of labouring jobs, moving around the country to where there was work. By the outbreak of the 1st World War, Steve had worked his way to Benarkin, a timber town a few miles from Blackbutt on the Brisbane Valley Rail Line in Queensland. Steve described himself as a labourer and he may have been working as such in the timber industry or on the railway as a ganger. Steve caught the train from Benarkin to Ipswich where he walked into the recruiting office on 10th February 1915. He stated his age as 30 years and occupation as labourer. Steve named his mother in Victoria as his next of kin.
 
As his low regimental number suggests, Steve was one of the first members of “A” Company 25th Battalion, which would form part of the 7th Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Division AIF. The battalion was raised at Enoggera from recruits primarily from regional Queensland. The training provided at Enoggera was at first very basic as there were insufficient supplies of military equipment and the battalion spent a lot of time constructing the camp itself. Men were issued with a pair of boots, a pair of dungarees (overalls) and a white floppy hat. Eventually a more military order was established with uniforms issued, close order drill, musketry and route marches. On 29th May, the 25th Battalion and its sister battalion the 26th as well as a squadron of Light Horse took part in a march from Enoggera to the city, down Queen Street to Brunswick Street. Home leave was granted and many of the men had photographs taken in their new uniforms, as depicted in the photograph of Steve held in the Australian War Memorial archives. The photo was almost certainly taken by a professional photographer but is not a studio photo, as most were, but appears to have been taken out of doors in what could be a garden.
 
On 29th June 1915 the battalion was loaded onto trains at Enoggera Station headed for Pinkenba Wharf where they boarded the “Aeneas”. After a brief stop in Sydney, the transport headed across the Great Australian Bight and into the Indian Ocean bound for Egypt, arriving in Suez on 4th August. Whilst in camp at Abbassia, the men were issued with battalion colour patches; a black over blue diamond, to replace the copper “25” on the shoulders. Steve kept his copper numerals in his kit and they were returned to his mother after his death.
 
The Gallipoli campaign which had begun with such high expectation in late April had developed into a stalemate after the failed Anzac attacks in August. The men of the 1st Division and the Light Horsemen who had been holding the Anzac position for almost five months were in need of a period of rest.
 
On 11th September 1915, the 25th disembarked at Gallipoli. This operation was carried out at night and the battalion suffered only one casualty during the landing. By this time the Gallipoli campaign had ground to a halt with neither side willing to incur the shocking casualties that had occurred in May and August. The 25thspent much of its time on Gallipoli manning positions at Steele’s and Courtney’s Posts. November 1915 saw the arrival of severe storms to the peninsula as well as snow. After an inspection by Lord Kitchener, British Minister for War; the British command decided to abandon Gallipoli. Those members of the 25th still manning the trenches on Gallipoli were withdrawn with the rest of the ANZAC force in December.
 
On 25th December 1915, Steve Flett was admitted to the 1st Australian Hospital on the island of Lemnos suffering from jaundice. He was subsequently transferred to hospital in Cairo before being discharged to duty at Zeitoun where the 25th were back in Egypt taking on reinforcements. On 13th March, the battalion was visited by General Birdwood who informed the men that they would be going to France and he urged them to “play the game.” The 25th Battalion was the first Australian infantry unit into France, arriving in Marseilles on 19th March 1916. The Battalion was transported by train north to the Armentieres sector of the front. This part of the frontline was considered to be suitable for educating newly arrived troops into the routines of trench warfare, even though there were not actually any trenches as the ground was too boggy. Instead, earthen breastworks had been constructed with timber walls and duckboard floors; and even piped running water; a far cry from the conditions on Gallipoli. On 29th March, Steve reported to the 7th Field Ambulance with a case of mumps. Steve did not report back to his battalion until the 24th April. Meanwhile, the battalion continued to rotate in and out of the line before being called south to the Somme in July.
 
General Haig, Supreme British commander on the Western Front was planning a big push in the south of the British sector through the Somme River valley for the summer of 1916. It was to be the largest battle of the war so far, and was timed to commence on the 1st of July. The attack was a disaster, with the British suffering 60,000 casualties on the first day, many of them fresh faced conscripts of Kitchener’s New Army. In spite of the losses, Haig was determined to push on and the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions were moved south from the Armentieres sector to Albert to take part in the Somme offensive. 
 
The village of Pozieres half way between Albert and Bapaume, sat on the highest point of that part of the battlefield. Pozieres was taken by the 1st Division on 20th July. The second division’s objective was to take a blockhouse which had been built on the site of a windmill above the village of Pozieres. The windmill was behind two lines of trenches, and provided a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. The attack, the first major offensive by the 25th Battalion since arriving in France, began just after midnight on the 29th July. The attack was a failure, with the 25th Battalion suffering 343 casualties (from a strength of a little less than 1000 men). The remnants of the 25th continued to batter against murderous artillery until relieved by brigades from the 4th Division. Steve was indeed fortunate to have survived Pozieres uninjured. All told, the AIF suffered 23,000 casualties during the Somme campaign of July, August and September 1916. All four of the AIF divisions in the field were moved north to rest areas around the Belgian town of Poperinghe to rest, take on reinforcements and take part on sporting competitions.
 
As winter approached, the 25th Battalion and the other three battalions in the 7th Brigade were put back into frontline duties on the Somme. Since the Australians had departed in September 1916, the front had progressed only a few miles to the east. When the 25th arrived in the support lines near the village of Flers in late October, the trenches were knee deep in mud. The bitterly cold weather made life difficult for the Queenslanders and it was only an issue of sheepskin jerkins from Australia that kept the men from freezing. On 30th October, Steve Flett was promoted to corporal. The British commander on the western front was getting ready to close down the front for the winter but he wanted the Australians to make one last effort at Flers to allow his troops to get out of the mud and up to the higher ground near Bapaume.
 
On 4th November, the 25th moved up through the congested support saps to take up position for a frontal assault on a trench system called the Maze. Despite considerable effort by the 7th brigade battalions, the objective was reached but could not be held. As the 25th filed back out of the line, the General in charge of the operation, Brig Gen Holmes, described the inability of the 25th and 26th Battalions to secure and hold Gird trench as “pretty cheap.” Prejudice against the “colonials” was common amongst senior British officers at the time. Retribution was also swift. When the 7th brigade was finally relieved at Flers, both commanders of the 25th and 26th Battalions were sacked.
 
Holmes ordered a fresh assault against Gird trench and Gird support trench to take place on 14th November. It was during this action that Steve Flett was fatally wounded. There are several versions of what happened recorded in the red cross file of the Wounded and Missing Inquiry Service. Unfortunately, most of these statements were gathered in late 1917 and early 1918, many months and many battles since Flers. Generally though, witnesses state that Steve was hit in the head by a rifle bullet, perhaps from sniper fire, and died instantly. He was buried on the parados (rear embankment) of the trench that his section was occupying. His grave was marked in some way but the position could not be held and the survivors trickled back to the start line. The location of Steve’s grave was lost.
 
Steve’s mother received a parcel of his personal belongings which included a razor and nail clippers, socks, coins and the copper “25” Steve had originally worn when he departed Australia. In 1938, some 20 years after the end of the First World War, the Australian Government constructed the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. The memorial was dedicated by the newly crowned King George VI. The memorial records the names of over 10,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in France and have no known grave; Corporal Stephen Flett among them. Steve Flett is commemorated on the War memorial at Nanango some 40 kilometres from Benarkin where he worked. His name does not appear on any memorials in the Bendigo district where presumably Steve had family and his mother lived.