Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of  William and Bertha BLEAKLEY

BLEAKLEY.—On 24th July, in France, from wounds, Private Arthur J. M. Bleakley, fourth beloved son of William and Bertha Bleakley, of D'Aguilar and Wilston, aged 24 years.
Far from his sorrowing friends.

The chairman read a telegram from the military authorities announcing the death of Private A. J. Bleakley, who died of wounds received on the 24th July. The chairman referred to the sad news, as he felt for ex-Councillor Bleakley, who had lost two boys in the service of their country. He moved a letter of condolence. Cr. Power seconded,  remarking he had known them since their baby day, and it was sad to think of the loss. The motion was carried, all members standing.

# 2568  BLEAKLEY Arthur John Montgomery                                    26th / 12th Battalion
Arthur Bleakley was born in Woodford, one of nine children born to William and Bertha Bleakley, on 26thApril 1892. Arthur attended a number of schools in the Woodford area and then began working in the local timber industry as either a timber worker or a teamster.
Arthur’s younger brother, Ernest, enlisted in the AIF on 28th July 1915 and Arthur also enlisted two days later. Arthur told the recruiters he was 23 years old and recorded his occupation as labourer. He also advised that he had convictions for drunkenness and profane language; a trait that would pursue him into the army. Arthur named his father, William, as his next of kin. William Bleakley was a well-known person in the district and had served as a shire councillor.
William reported to camp at Enoggera where he was allocated to the 6th reinforcements of the 26th Battalion. His brother, Ernest, had been placed in the same draft. Sadly, Ernest was admitted to the 6th General Hospital at Enoggera gravely ill. He died on 2nd September from cerebro spinal meningitis and was buried in the military section of Toowong Cemetery.
There is a large gap in Arthur’s records between enlistment and February 1916 by which time Arthur was in the AIF depot at Zeitoun in Egypt. Arthur was punished for talking on parade and making a disturbance. On 1st March 1916, Arthur was transferred to the 12th Battalion, a composite unit made up of Tasmanians, South Australians and Western Australians. At the end of the month, the 12th Battalion embarked at Alexandria for the crossing of the Mediterranean to the French port of Marseilles.
The 12th Battalion spent considerable time in billets around Strazeele in the north of France where training in musketry, gas masks and bayonet fighting was conducted. In May, Arthur’s tendency to ill discipline brought him serious trouble. He was found to be absent from his billet, drunk and creating a disturbance. Arthur was sentenced to 72 hours of field punishment; requiring that the offender spend at least two hours each day in shackles.
On 1st July 1916, General Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Forces in France and Belgium launched his big push with the opening of the Battle of the Somme. The battalions of Kitchener’s new army, mostly conscripts, suffered appalling losses; 60 000 casualties on the first day of whom 20,000 were killed. The gains of the offensive were minimal but Haig was committed to pushing on. By the middle of July, three of the four Australian divisions in France and Belgium were moved south to the Somme where they would be thrust against the might of the German Armies. The primary objective was the high ridge on which nestled the village of Pozieres. The 1st Australian Division, which included the 12th Battalion, moved up to the line at Pozieres in preparation for an attack on the lower part of the village on the 24th July. During events of that day, Arthur Bleakley received a serious gunshot wound. He was taken by stretcher bearers to the 1st Field Ambulance where he died of his wounds.
 
Arthur was buried in the Worloy-Baillon British Cemetery with the Rev Sheppard in attendance. William Bleakley accepted his son’s campaign medals, a memorial plaque and scroll. Arthur is commemorated on the Roll of Honour at Mount Mee, just up the range from D’Aguilar and Delaney’s Creek where there is a Bleakly Road.
 
On the outskirts of Pozieres today is a commemorative stone which reads:
“The ruin of the Pozieres windmill which lies here was the centre of the struggle on this part of the Somme Battlefield in July and August 1916. It was captured by Australian troops who fell more thickly on this ridge than on any other battlefields of the war.”