WAKE, James Eugene
| Service Number: | 5224 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 1897 |
| Home Town: | Eaglehawk, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Memorials: | Bendigo James Roe Lodge Our Soldier Brethren Honour Roll, Eaglehawk St Peter's Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5224, 57th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 5224, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 5224, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Melbourne | |
| 29 Sep 1918: | Honoured Military Medal, Breaching the Hindenburg Line - Cambrai / St Quentin Canal, 'During the operations near BELLICOURT September 29th - October 1st Private WAKE, Company Runner, displayed great devotion to duty. He carried messages through heavy fire in spite of the fact that he had been severely burnt by explosion of a gas shell and was suffering also from a septic knee. He refused however to leave his duties, and carried on till the battalion was relieved, when he had to be evacuated. His devotion to duty deserves recognition.' Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 109 Date: 15 September 1919 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Jack Coyne
James Eugene WAKE
Military Medal
'During the operations near BELLICOURT September 29th - October 1st Private WAKE, Company Runner, displayed great devotion to duty. He carried messages through heavy fire in spite of the fact that he had been severely burnt by explosion of a gas shell and was suffering also from a septic knee. He refused however to leave his duties, and carried on till the battalion was relieved, when he had to be evacuated. His devotion to duty deserves recognition.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 109 Date: 15 September 1919
James Wake would enlist at the Bendigo Depot on Saturday January 29, 1916 along with 17 other successful candidates in front of Lieutenant Dyett, a returned Bendigo officer, who was wounded at Lone Pine and fought along side fellow Bendigo soldier and VC recipient Lieutenant Symons. He would go into the newly established Bendigo Military camp at the Epsom racecourse for two months and embark for war on April 1st, 1916.
He would join the Reinforcements for the 57th Battalion when he lands in Egypt in May and travel to France in June 1916. In the trenches on the western front he was struck down with Trench feet in November requiring treatment in England. He would spend the worst of winter in England returning to France in March 1917. New battalions were being established and James would find himself briefly in the new 63rd and 65th battalions which were later abandoned and by the end of the 1917 year, he was back in the 57th Battalion under the legendry 15th brigade Brigadier Harold (Pompey) Elliot.
James would be wounded in action (Gassed) in the first of the battles to hold back the German Spring offensive which had commenced on March 21st. James would spend six weeks in hospital behind the lines recovering and was back with the 57th Battalion by June just as the tide of the war was turning.
In the fighting to take the Hindenburg Line, James would be recognised for his brave deeds as a runner carrying important messages under heavy fire despite being wounded.
NO PHOTO IDENTIFIED AS YET FOR JAMES WAKE.
SERVICE RECORD:
Regimental No. 5224
Place of birth: Bendigo
Religion: Church of England
Occupation: Driver
Address: Skene Street, California Gully
Marital status: Single
Age at enlistment: 18
Next of kin: Mother, Mrs F Wake, Skene Street, California Gully, Bendigo
Enlistment date: 29 January 1916
Unit name: 7th Battalion & 57th Battalion
Embarked: HMAT A23 Suffolk on 1 April 1916
Final Rank: Private
Fate: Returned to Australia 10 June 1919
Died: 30 May 1971, Age 73
Buried: Daylesford Cemetery, Victoria
Near BELLICOURT September 29th- October 1, 1918. The assault on the main Hindenburg line took place on 29 September. Two large but inexperienced American divisions, 27th and 30th, were placed under the command of the Australian Corps. The Corps task was to attack across a land bridge where the St Quentin Canal ran through a five-kilometre tunnel.
The Americans attacked first, but were only partially successful, piercing the main Hindenburg Line on a short front at Bellicourt. Further south, British 9 Corps also captured a portion of the main line by crossing the St Quentin Canal north of Bellenglise.
Two Australian Divisions, 3rd and 5th, then passed through the Americans and continued the advance, completing the capture of the main Hindenburg Line. Several days later the Australians also took the Le Catelet line. Now only one German trench system remained. The 3rd and 5th were replaced by 2nd Australian Division, which captured the Beaurevoir line and, in the last Australian infantry attack of the First World War, took the town of Montebrehain on 5 October.
At a cost of 5500 men killed and wounded in 17 days, all five divisions of the Australian Corps had played a major role in breaking through the Hindenburg Line and bringing the war to a victorious end.[1]
[1] Australians on the Western Front website. https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/history/conflicts/australians-western-front-19141918/australian-remembrance-trail/fourth-0
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