Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Private William Frederick Nairn:

William Frederick Nairn was born on August the 4^th 1897 in Mallala, South Australia. He was the son James and Emma Caroline Nairn who were a predominant farming family within the region of Mallala. For his schooling William Nairn attended the Grace Plains School until he was 14 and had finished 7^th grade. After this he returned to his family farm and began to work as a farmer.

Eager to join up, he patiently waited until he turned 18 years old on the 4^th of August, 1915, before enlisting on the 10^th of August, 1915. After several letters home to his mother in Mallala to confirm his age he was placed in the 27^th Battalion, consisting mainly of South Australians.

On the 11^th of January 1916 he boarded H.M.A.T. Borda (A30) in Adelaide with the rest of the 27^th Battalion bound for Egypt where he underwent training. On the 28^th of February, 1916, when still in Egypt, he was transferred to the 10^th Battalion. Again this battalion was mainly made up of South Australians troops. On the 27^th of March, 1916 William Fred Nairn embarked at Alexandria and sailed with the rest of the 10^th Battalion to France. He disembarked at Marseille, on the 3^rd of April, 1916.

Moved north to train, William Nairn was later posted to the ‘nursery’ or the quiet Armentières section of the Western Front for several months where he was introduced to trench warfare. However, he and the 10^th Battalion were moved south to the Somme region as a reserve unit in the Somme Offensive to begin on the 1^st of July 1916.

During the Somme Offensive the 10^th Battalion was moved to the front line and saw extensive action during the Battle of Pozières and again in the Battle of Mouquet Farm. Somewhere between the 19^th and 23^rd of August, 1916, during the Battle of Pozières (or more particuloarly the Mouquet Farm phase of the fighting) Private William Fred Nairn was shot in the left upper thigh and began to lose an extensive amount of blood due to this injury. He was reported ‘Missing in Action’ on the 23^rd of August.

On the 23^rd of August, William Nairn was taken prisoner by German Forces and moved to the Prisoner of War Hospital at Grafenwohr north-east of Nuremberg in Germany. He was admitted into the hospital on the 12^th of September with severe weakness (as an artery had been hit in his thigh) and a broken left leg. By this time his leg had already been in a plaster for some time without the wound having even been treated. On the 15^th of September it was decided to amputate his left leg and William Nairn seemed to improve for some time. Then on the 20^th of September his condition worsened, before William Nairn died on the 21^st of September, 1916 at 3:30am. He officially died of sepsis cardiac weakness, not his wounds, and was buried at the Grafenwohr Prisoner of War Cemetery nearby. He was aged 19.

In 1924 his body was exhumed from the cemetery and reburied at the Niederzwehren Cemetery, Germany. The cemetery contains many allied POW’s that died of wounds or illness during the war.

Sometimes known as James or Jim for short, he was remembered by many as very young soldier.  

British War Medal: 29983

Victory Medal: 29801.

Nathan Rohrlach, 2013.     

William (Fred) was born in Grace Plains on 4th August, 1897. His parents James and Emma nee Riseborough were farmers. The eldest of seven children, he had three sisters and four brothers. They attended the Grace Plains School. Fred left when he was fourteen to work on the family farm.

On August 24th, 1915, having just turned 18, he enlisted in Adelaide. He was 5 ft 9 34 inches tall with brown hair, a fair complexion, and hazel eyes.

He had previously served eighteen months in the Senior Cadets. He embarked on the HMAT Borda with the  27th Battalion, mostly made up of South

Australians bound for training in Egypt. In late February of 1916, he was transferred from the 27th Battalion to the 10th Battalion in Zeitoun, Egypt. He then travelled to Serapeum and on to Alexandria. From there he was sent to Marseille, France for active duty in the Somme region.

Fred was reported missing in action in France on the 19th of August, 1916. He had been captured in the Battle of Pozieres and was later reported as a Prisoner of War in Germany in October. However, he had been wounded in the left thigh during the action. The wound was severe and had hit an artery causing him to be weak through loss of blood. The wound remained untreated. A decision was made to amputate his leg. For several days he seemed to be improving but he sank steadily. The cause of death was given as sepsis and cardiac weakness. He died of his wounds on the 21st of September in the Prisoner of War hospital, Res Laz.

He was buried in Grafenwohr, Germany. In 1924, his remains were exhumed and reinterred in the Niederzwehren British Military Cemetery at Cassell, Germany. His personal effects being a wristlet watch & strap, wallet, 25 foreign coins, a pencil, cigarette holder, one 10 mark note, four 2 mark notes and one 1 mark note, a mosquito net, safety razor in case, swimming costume, two scarves, handkerchiefs, pair of mittens, two brushes and two notebooks were returned on board the Themistocles.

He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British war Medal.

Courtesy of Laura Parsons