WILLIAMS, Arthur John
| Service Number: | 3694 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Peak Hill, New South Wales, Australia , date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Hairdresser |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Bullecourt, France, 3 May 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Esk War Memorial, Esk War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3694, 25th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3694, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Brisbane |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Lang
# 3694 WILLIAMS Arthur John 25th Battalion
Arthur Williams was born at Peak Hill, NSW. After finishing school, he began a four year hairdressing apprenticeship with William Ryan of Cobar NSW. By the end of 1914, Arthur had made his way Esk where he worked as a hairdresser.
Arthur attended the Brisbane recruiting depot on 28th August 1915. He stated his age as 22 and occupation as hairdresser. Arthur named his mother, Emma Williams, as his next of kin. Arthur reported to Enoggera Camp where he was drafted into the 8th reinforcements of the 25th Battalion. The reinforcements embarked for overseas on the “Kyarra” in Brisbane on 3rd January 1916. During the voyage to Suez, Arthur was missing from the troop ship in Colombo for nine hours; for which he was given 12 days detention. Upon arrival in Egypt, the reinforcements made their way to the Australian Infantry depot at Abbassia. Arthur reported sick to the field hospital on 2nd March with a dose of venereal disease.
Venereal disease was a serious problem for the AIF and Egypt had a particularly virulent strain of syphilis. Arthur was in the VD wards in Egypt twice for a total of 46 days; unfit for work. Men who were in the “dermatological hospitals” had their pay docked. On 6th June, Arthur boarded a transport ship at Alexandria for a voyage to England where he was taken on by the 7th Brigade Training Battalion at Rollestone. On 14th July 1916, Arthur was in the VD ward at Bulford Hospital. He was there for 37 days. On 23rd August, Arthur was back in Bulford for a further 36 days. Arthur’s repeated transgressions probably spurred the authorities to ship him off to the war. On 19th November, Arthur crossed the English Channel to the Australian Infantry depot at Etaples and he reported to his unit, the 25th Battalion on 3rdDecember.
When Arthur joined his battalion, the 25th were in comfortable billets resting and cleaning equipment after a bitter battle at Flers at the end of November. A bitterly cold winter had set in and there was to be no offensive actions while the weather was so bad. The battalion was ordered to perform fatigue duties shifting building material, wire and screw stakes and timber billets. Some were detached for traffic duty or duty at Railway yards. A number of men went out sick with influenza, bronchitis or trench feet.
During the lull in fighting over that winter, the Germans had secretly constructed a 150 kilometre long defensive barrier, which they named the Seigfreid Position but the British labelled the Hindenburg Line; some distance to the east of their previous positions astride the Somme. The first indication to the British and Australian forces that the situation had changed came at the end of February when patrols sent out into no man’s land reported that the German front line was deserted. The German forces staged a strategic withdrawal to this new position, destroying crops and infrastructure in a scorched earth policy as they moved to the Hindenburg line to the east. Time delay mines were concealed at important crossroads or buildings that might be used as headquarters to delay pursuit. British forces cautiously followed, taking several towns along the way. By the first week in April, elements of the 5th British Army under General Gough came up against the Hindenburg defences at Bullecourt.
A hastily planned attack against the Hindenburg Line in front of the town of Bullecourt led to a sound defeat of two Australian Brigades on 11th April. The 2nd Division of the AIF was put into an attack against the Hindenburg Line a little further north of Bullecourt at Noreuil in late April. Attempts to breach the Hindenburg defences continued into the first week of May. On 29th April, the 25th Battalion as part of the 7th brigade of the 2nd Division AIF, moved up to front line which was a railway cutting in preparations for an attack against the formidable defences. The 7th brigade threw itself against the dense wire under withering machine gun and artillery fire but were unable to penetrate the Hindenburg defences. A final attempt on the night of 3rd/4th May by the 25th Battalion was the last fruitless effort. Bullecourt was over. When the 25th battalion roll was called after being relieved, 30 men had been killed and 130 wounded. One of those killed was Arthur Williams.
There was no record of Arthur’s body being recovered. It is likely that he was buried in a mass grave by the Germans some time after the fighting at Bullecourt was over. In 1938, some 20 years after the end of the First World War, the Australian Government constructed the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. The memorial was dedicated by the newly crowned King George VI. The memorial records the names of over 10,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in France and have no known grave; Arthur Williams is among them.