Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Birth 1897 in Creswick, Victoria, Australia Went to London General Hospital for 11 days with Pleurisy on 20/12 /1915 Went back to duty in Egypt on the 23rd/02/1916 Shot on the 25th July 1916 Death 30 July 1916 in France, Pozieres on the Somme Bendigonian Newspaper (Bendigo, Vic. : 1914 - 1918)Thursday 2 November 1916 Private W. G. GARDNER. Died of Wounds received in France. Private W. G. Gardner, the fourth son, enlisted on his 18th birthday . He was attached to D Company, of the 24th Battalion, and sailed on the 8th May, 1915 he went to Gallipoli, after serving in Egypt and when in the trenches at Lone Pine he was taken ill, and removed to Gibraltar, where he lay in hospital. He was subsequently invalided to England, and spent some time on Furlough in Scotland. He re-joined his unit in Egypt on the 20th February 1916, and sailed to France at the beginning of March. On the 25th July he received wounds, from which he subsequently died. Roll of Honour - William George Gardner DA08154 Service Number: 982 Rank: Private Unit: 24th Battalion (Infantry) Service: Australian Army (2nd Light Horse regiment) Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918 Date of death: 30 July 1916 Place of death: France Cause of death: Died of wounds Place of association: Costerfield Victoria, Australia Cemetery or memorial details: Puchevillers British Cemetery, France Source: AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War The Somme battle which had begun on 1 July 1916 was the bloodiest of the whole war, with the soldiers enduring unimaginable horrors. Three weeks after the battle was joined the Anzacs were committed to action before Pozieres, north of the Somme River. The artillery bombardments which fell on them there were the heaviest and most prolonged they were to experience. The 24th Battalion was raised in a hurry. The original intent was to raise the fourth battalion of the 6th Brigade from the “outer states”, but a surplus of recruits at Broadmeadows Camp in Victoria lead to a decision being made to raise it there. The battalion was formed during the first week of May 1915, and sailed from Melbourne at the end of that week. Training shortfalls were made up in Egypt in July and August, and on 4 September 1915 the Battalion went ashore at Gallipoli. It spent the next 16 weeks sharing duty in the Lone Pine trenches with the 23rd Battalion. The fighting at Lone Pine was so dangerous and exhausting that battalions rotated every day. While the bulk of the battalion was at Gallipoli, a small party of 52, trained as packhorse handlers, served with the British force in Salonika. The Battalion was reunited in Egypt in early 1916 and proceeded to France in March. It took part in its first major offensive around Pozières and Mouquet Farm in July and August 1916. The Battalion got little rest during the bleak winter of 1916-17 alternating between the front and labouring tasks. When patrolling no-man’s land the men of the 24th adopted a unique form of snow camouflage - large white nighties bought in Amiens. In May 1917 the battalion participated in the successful, but costly, second battle of Bullecourt. It was involved for only a single day - 3 May - but suffered almost 80 per cent casualties. The AIF’s focus for the rest of the year was the Ypres sector in Belgium, and the 24th’s major engagement there was the seizure of Broodseinde Ridge. Like many AIF battalions, the 24th was very weak at the beginning of 1918, but still played its part in turning back the German offensive in April. When the Allies took to the offensive, the 24th fulfilled supporting roles during the battles of Hamel and Amiens. At Mont St Quentin, however, it played a major role by recapturing the main German strong point atop the summit on 1 September. A diorama at the Australian War Memorial depicts this attack. The battalion’s last battles of the war were at Beaurevoir on 3 October and Montbrehain on 5 October. It left the front line for the last time on 6 October 1918 and disbanded in May 1919.
Researched and written by Linda Mayer