WICKER, Arthur
| Service Number: | 1391 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, April 1885 |
| Home Town: | Newbridge, Loddon, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 12 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" pres Memorial (panel 7- 17- 23- 25- 27- 29- 31) i |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kangaroo Flat Soldiers Memorial, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Newbridge War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Feb 1915: | Involvement Private, 1391, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb 1915: | Embarked Private, 1391, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Runic, Melbourne | |
| 12 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 1391, 48th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1391 awm_unit: 48 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-10-12 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Westminster School
Arthur Wicker was born in April 1885, in Bendigo, Victoria. Arthur was raised in a Protestant Church and later joined the mining industry. On the 28th of November, 1914 Arthur enlisted to join the military, aged 29 and 7 months. Arthur was attached to the 16th Battalion, they departed from Melbourne and headed off to Egypt for training before arriving on the front lines of Gallipoli.
Throughout his participation with the military during World War One Arthur was hospitalised on multiple occasions due to illnesses including varicose veins, venereal disease and gonorrhoea. When he wasn’t hospitalised he was AWOL (absent without leave) for extended periods. He was court martialled on several occasions and found guilty of absconding from his duty.
After the soldiers were evacuated from Gallipoli, Arthur was sent back to Egypt and transferred to the 48th Battalion where he retrained with these soldiers before being sent to the front lines of the Western front.
On the 12th of October Arthur was tragically killed in battle.
Following the war, investigations about the allocation of his medals discovered that Arthur was in fact married and had two children, to which his mother did not know. Arthurs’ enlistment papers made no mention of this and his mother was listed as his next of kin. Consequently, his wife was not aware of his enlistment and she remarried.