Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte 729 Wesley George Wade
17th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company,
5th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division
 
Today, through the old battlefields and cemeteries of the Somme, a new sun rises and spreads its rays over the rows of white graves of thousands of young men who here served, fought and fell side by side in the poppy fields on which they rest in peace and on which they walk silently and through a light breeze, their voices are heard like an echo from the past to tell us that they are still there and asks us to remember them as men and to never forget what they did and gave for us who are fortunate enough to live in the peace for which they gave their lives. Forever young and united in the camaraderie that brings them together, they proudly watch over the sacred grounds of the Somme which have seen so much courage but which have also seen so many tears and blood but who today are honored, remembered in peace and silence and it is with the greatest care, with the deepest love and the highest respect that we will watch over them to bring them back to life so that they are never forgotten.

Today, it is with the deepest respect and gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these very 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 729 Wesley George Wade who fought in the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 5th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division and who died of his wounds 105 years ago, on August 3, 1916 at the age of 17 on the Somme front.

Wesley George Wade was born in 1898 in Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales, and was the son of Agnes Wade, of Francis Street, Artarmon, New South Wales. Wesley was educated at Chatswood Public School, New South Wales. Before the outbreak of the war, he worked in Liverpool, New South Wales as a carpenter.

Wesley enlisted on March 7, 1915 in Liverpool, New South Wales in the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company and claimed to be 18 years old but was only 16 years old. After a period of training of two months, he embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A32 Themistocles on May 12, 1915 and proceeded to join the MEF (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) on the Gallipoli peninsula.

On August 16, 1915, Wesley was disembarked in Gallipoli where he fought courageously and participated in the last action of the August Offensive,the attack on Hill 60, before settling into defensive routine in the trenches. For a short period part of the 17th garrisoned Pope's Hill, but for most of its time on the peninsular the Battalion was responsible for the defence of Quinn's Post, one of the most contested positions along the entire ANZAC front.In December 1915, Wesley and the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion were evacuated from Gallipoli and sent to Egypt and arrived in Alexandria on January 9, 1916 then after further training joined the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) on March 17 and the same day, proceeded overseas for France.

On March 23, 1916, Wesley arrived in France and was disembarked at Marseilles and a month later, on April 23, while fighting at Bois Grenier and the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion was to be relieved by the 19th Battalion, Wesley was wounded in the left eye and face by a shrapnel then was evacuated to the 8th Casualty Clearing Station and on April 25, was evacuated by Ambulance Train and admitted the same day to the 26th General Hospital of Etaples.

A month later, on May 21, 1916, Wesley was sent to the 6th Convalescent Depot and after recovering from his injury, was taken on strength on May 25 and after a period of training, joined the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion in the Somme on August 1 in Pozieres where unfortunately, two days later, on August 3, 1916 he met his fate and was seriously wounded.Wesley was evacuated to the 69th Field Ambulance located in Contalmaison, a few kilometers from Pozieres but despite the greatest care, he died a few hours later, he was 17 years old.

Today, Wesley George Wade rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "A young life gone to rest fighting for his king and country."

in the photo, Wesley is identified in center, back row.
Wesley, you who gave your life when you were so young, one of my youngest boys of the Somme, it is today with all my heart that I would like to thank you for all that you have done for us with devotion and pride alongside your comrades and brothers in arms who fought with exceptional bravery for the peace and freedom which guided their hearts and their actions on the battlefields of the Somme on which fell millions of men and who today, rest by our side in the eternal peace of the white and eternal cities in which the roses of peace and the poppies of Remembrance grow between the rows of white graves who tell us about the lives of these young men, lives taken too early in the hell of war but who still live here, on the soil of a friendly country who will be eternally grateful to them and who will always watch over them so that they never stop living, to pass on their stories and so that what they went through is never forgotten.For Australia and for France, Wesley, you did your duty with determination and the courage of your youth, under the shells and the bullets you stood with honor without ever backing down, you did more than you were asked for and I will always have in my heart, for you, my deepest respect, my admiration, we will never forget what Australia did for France in the quagmires of the Somme on which fell, in Amiens, Pozieres, Villers -Bretonneux, thousands of Diggers, our adopted sons, our heroes, my boys of the Somme on whom I am proud and honored to watch.They were all so young but all so brave and in the trenches, under the barbed wire, united to each other in the strongest and most beautiful mateship, they endured hell on earth through rains of howling metal under which they held their lines, feet and knees deep in the mud and blood of their brothers and friends who fell beside them.Their heads lowered under the steel of their helmets, they could see a few meters from them, beyond the parapet, the hell which was raining in flames in the no man's land on which were lying, lifeless, their brothers, their fathers who were mown down under the machine gun fire who spit death and destruction at an infernal rate and who mercilessly stopped waves of men who charged with determination with their bayonets forward, men who, they knew, were going towards death but none of them took a step back and stayed with their friends until the end because their mateship was stronger than anything.In this inhumanity that was the war, these young men kept faith and showed compassion, they showed the bravery of the young Australian nation, they showed the bravery and the determination of a whole generation of men who without hesitation, for their country, for their loved ones and for France, answered the call to duty and gave their youth, their lives and thanks to whom we live today in peace but I never forget, not for a single day what millions men did for us and today, until the end of my life, I will stand with respect in front of them, I will maintain the bond that unites us to them, I will always be there for them and their families who will always have in my heart, all my love and the highest respect, your sons, your relatives will always be remembered and honored with dignity and honor.Thank you so much Wesley,for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him, we will remember them.

Wesley was only 17 years old when he died.