Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Richard Edwin BAILEY was born 31ST October 1893 in WILMINGTON to Isaac and Emily Augustine BAILEY who lived in WILMINGTON. Richard had at least 3 brothers and a sister. Richard reported he was working as a fireman with the South Australian Railways at the time of his enlistment.

Richard was 5’6 ¾“tall, weighed 134 pound and had a 35” chest. He had brown hair, a medium complexion and blue eyes. He attended the recruitment centre on 6th December 1916 after having signed up in WILMINGTON.

Richard embarked on H.M.A.T. (A9) Shropshire as part of the 10th battalion reinforcements on 25th March 1916.  Richard was posted onto the strength of the 10th battalion in France in the middle of the Battle for the Somme and fought through the devastating Battle of Pozieres which lasted until 3rd September, 1916.  

About a month of fighting and trench life later, Richard became dangerously ill. On the 29th September 1916 he was diagnosed with “Pyrexia of Unknown Origin” indicating the cause of the sickness was unknown.  He also suffered Mumps and was isolated. Richard was moved to a Hospital and on 4th October 1916 transferred to England still dangerously ill.  On 25th January 1917, Richard was able to rejoin his battalion in France, still involved in the fighting.
At this time the troops faced the famous Hindenburg Line which was originally built between two and 50 kilometres (30 miles) behind the original German front line. On 9 February, 1917 German forces retreated to the line and the withdrawal involved gains against resistance from the retreating German soldiers. This was completed by the 5th of April, leaving behind a devastated territory to be occupied by the Allies after 3 years of fighting and death.
On the 17th of February, 1917, Richard was involved in fighting near Bapaume in these actions and unfortunately was killed in action.  

In the fighting along the Western Front in World War 1, it is reported that 7,947,000 allied troops were killed, wounded captured or missing, and 5,603,000 enemy troops were killed, wounded captured or missing,  So many with no known grave.

Richard BAILEY is buried at the Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery,  Bazentin, in Picardie, France. His widowed mother and siblings were devastated and later received his British War Medal, Victory Medal, Memorial Scroll and Plaque. 

He is commemorated on the Australian War Memorial on the Roll of Honour, the South Australian Railways Memorial, and Richard is also commemorated on the Honour Roll at The WILMINGTON Soldiers Memorial Hall.

From Francois Berthout

Pte 5052 Richard Edwin Bailey,
10th Australian Infantry Battalion, C Company,
3rd Brigade, 1st Australian Division

The Somme, fields red with millions of poppies as far as the eye can see, silent and peaceful as we know it today and where I live, was more than a hundred years ago, for millions of men, a hell on earth like never before had been seen, a waking nightmare made of mud on which death and desolation rained down and which, through deadly symphonies of artillery fire, became nothing more than putrid quagmires, slaughterhouses in the sky open scarified by uninterrupted lines of sharp barbed wire, deeply bruised by trenches still visible like scars that haunted the thoughts of exceptional men of unfailing courage who, with a heavy heart, had to leave behind their friends, their brothers and their fathers who fell under the fire of machine guns, poison gas, rifles in the brutality of a war in which they sacrificed their youth and in the eternal poppies, paid the greatest of sacrifices in the name of the freedom and peace in which we live and in which I would always watch over these heroes so that their names, beyond the immaculate whiteness of their solemn graves, may live forever and to keep intact, eternal their memory so that may they never be forgotten.

Today, it is with the deepest respect and with infinite gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, of one of my boys of the Somme who came from the other side of the world and who, for his country and for France, gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 5052 Richard Edwin Bailey who fought in the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion, C Company, 3rd Brigade, 1st Australian Division, and who was killed in action 106 years ago, on February 17, 1917 at the age of 23 on the Somme front.

Richard Edwin Bailey was born on October 31, 1893 in Wilmington, Mount Remarkable, South Australia, and was the son of Isaac and Emily Augustine Bailey, of Wilmington Post Office, Wilmington. He had three brothers and one sister, was educated at Wilmington Public School then after graduation, worked as a locomotive fireman for the South Australian Railways until he enlisted.

Richard enlisted on 14 December, 1915 in Adelaide,South Australia,in the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion,16th Reinforcement. At that time the 10th Battalion was known as "The Adelaide Rifles" and on August 6, 1914 was one of the first battalions to be raised in South Australia and was first under the command of Colonel Ewen George Sinclair-Maclagan and from August 16 under the command of Colonel Stanley Price-Weir, (a distinguished officer in the South Australian militia).

As commanding officer, one of Price-Weir’s first tasks was to forward recommendations to military headquarters for key staff to fill the appointments in the battalion, that would assist him in raising its full strength of 31 officers and 974 other ranks as quickly as possible. He required, at the very least, a second in command, an adjutant, a quartermaster, eight company commanders and sixteen subalterns to command the platoons.

The Battalion formed and was steadily built up in strength during August and September 1914 while encamped at Morphettville Racecourse. It was to comprise 1,005 men organised in seven companies with two large platoons within each company.

After a period of three months of training, first in Belair National Park then in Glenelg, South Australia, Richard embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A9 Shropshire, on March 25, 1916 and sailed for England.

On August 9, 1916, Richard arrived in England where he joined the 3rd Training Battalion at Perham Down then two days later, proceeded overseas for France and was disembarked at Etaples on August 11 and marched the same day for the 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot where he completed his training. More than a week later, on August 23, he was taken on strength in the 10th Battalion, in the trenches standing in front of the Mouquet Farm, in Pozieres which was, for the Australian Imperial Force, the deadliest battle in the Somme. The fighting at Mouquet Farm, from August 8 to September 5, 1916 was terrible and the Australians, with bravery and determination attacked the farm on several occasions but all their charges were brutally repelled by German machine guns and artillery that killed 11,000 Diggers.

On September 2, 1916, after devastating fighting at Pozieres, exhausted, Richard and the 10th Battalion were sent for a period of rest and training at Ottawa Camp, Poperinge, in the Ypres salient. Unfortunately, even far from the trenches, death was never far away and on September 8, during an exercise to learn how to handle bombs, one of them exploded and caused 21 casualties including one man killed. On September 13, the battalion left Ottawa Camp and moved to reserve position at Chateau Belge then on 23rd September marched for "Railway Dugouts", Ypres, near the front line where Richard and his comrades were employed in improving and consolidating their dugouts which were under fire artillery. Less than a week later, on September 27, Richard fell dangerously ill, he was diagnosed with "Pyrexia of Unknown Origin" indicating the cause of the sickness was unknown. He also suffered Mumps and was isolated.

On September 28, 1916, Richard was admitted to Number 9 Red Cross Hospital in Calais then on October 3, was transferred to the 35th General Hospital from where the same day, he was embarked on board the hospital ship "Dieppe" and sent to England where the following day he was admitted to the 2nd Birmingham Hospital in Northfields. After a period of convalescence, he had to follow a period of training in the 3rd Training Battalion and on January 16, 1917, proceeded overseas from Folkestone for overseas on board Princess Clementine.

On January 17, 1917, after a quick journey on the English Channel, Richard arrived once again in France and was disembarked at Etaples where he joined the 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, proceeded to unit on January 18 and joined the 10th Battalion on January 21 in the Somme, into billets in the small village of Bresle and faced not only sporadic German artillery fire but also the coldest winter the region had ever known. Here the men of the 10th Battalion followed a new training period which was quickly stopped by heavy snowfall and it is noted in the battalion's war diary that this did not prevent the good mood from prevailing and snowball fights took place, a rare moment of joy in the hell of war.

On January 24, 1917, Richard and his unit left Bresle and moved for Albert on icy and slippery roads, so much so that it is written in the war diary of the battalion "that it was almost impossible for the horses to stand up" but finally reached the town the next day and undertook a further period of exercises there, then on 2 February the 10th Battalion marched to the front line at Bazentin-Le-Petit and occupied a position known as "Hexham Road "where they were engaged in fatigues and carrying parties but also worked to improve the lines of communications.

Unfortunately, it was in Bazentin-Le-Petit, on February 17, 1917 that Richard met his fate and was killed in action, probably by a shell. He was only 23 years old.

Today, Richard Edwin Bailey rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Bazentin-Le-Petit Military Cemetery, Somme.

Richard, more than a hundred years ago, you who were so young, it was with exceptional determination that you took a step forward to volunteer alongside your comrades who, side by side, ready to give their all for each other, answered the call of duty in the prime of their lives to defend the highest values and who, proudly, animated by the finest spirit of camaraderie, marched and fought in the name of peace and freedom far of their loved ones whom they hugged one last time knowing that many of them would never return home but nothing stopped them and were ready to give their lives for all that was dear to them.Together, aboard slow boats, behind the steam of the chimneys, in the foam, they saw their country move away and disappear under a last ray of sunshine which they wore on their slouch hat as a symbol of hope and bravery in the face of darkness and fears and turned, their eyes filled with determination towards the sky, towards the horizon of a world at war, towards days full of uncertainty and they knew it, of suffering but their fighting spirit, their courage was stronger than anything and through the ruined villages of northern France, they gave new hope to the children, to the people of France and in disciplined lines, with the deep desire to do their part, to do everything for what was right, joined the trenches in which they discovered the brutality of war and saw in the mud, above the parapets, the lifeless, mutilated, disfigured bodies of men who, a few days earlier, were mowed down by the bullets, they heard the cries of agony of men shattered by steel and lead who whistled in the air accompanied by the shells which, in their wake, in their race to death, dragged behind them the mournful symphony of the devastation of a world on the verge of destruction. Nothing had prepared these young men for this hell on earth but despite this plunge into this bottomless abyss of despair, they remained hopeful, they remained strong because they were not alone in facing this apocalypse and alongside their friends, they shared the burden, the weight of their silent suffering, the weight of the war and despite the tears caused by this avalanche of fury, they knew how to support each other, they exchanged their smiles while talking about their lives before the war, they shared their hopes and their dreams while looking at the photos of their families at home and became like brothers who always watched over each other, who trembled together under the shells but who always remained determined and held the front line with exceptional courage and by their loyalty to each other in these dark hours and preserved our humanity without ever backing down, together they showed the determination and the faith of an entire generation of men who fought and gave their all to make this war an end to all wars.In Pozieres, at Mouquet Farm, the young Diggers saw so many of them fall, that in a few moments, so young, were swept away by machine guns and buried alive under tons of shells but they continued to move forward through this chaos of grenades, shrapnel, flames, bayonets towards the enemy trenches and until their last breath, until their last strength, they showed the courage of the whole Australian nation, united through the ANZAC spirit, a spirit of courage and fraternity with which they fought from Gallipoli to Fromelles then from Pozieres to Villers-Bretonneux, through the poppy fields of the Somme on which they walk today in peace behind the shadows of their white graves and forever young in the light of remembrance, their faces and their names, their memory, just like the everlasting poppies, will never fade.I will always watch over them with care and respect to bring them back to life, to tell who these young men were and for what they will be forever for me, in my heart, my heroes, my boys of the Somme. Thank you so much Richard,for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.