WHETTEM, Allan Read
| Service Number: | 5223 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Havant, Hampshire, England, July 1898 |
| Home Town: | Waroona, Waroona, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Telegraphist |
| Died: | Killed in action, Hebuterne, France, 5 April 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Gommecourt British Cemetery No.2, Hebuterne, France Plot II, Row F, Grave No 2. IN MEMORY OF THE LOVED SON OF JAMES & MARGARET WHETTEM OF WAROONA |
| Memorials: | Burekup War Memorial, Waroona Drakesbrook Great War Honour Roll, Waroona Great War Fallen Honour Roll, Waroona War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5223, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 5223, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 5223, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Shropshire, Fremantle |
Help us honour Allan Read Whettem's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
The son of James Read Whettem, and Margaret P. Whettem, of Waroona, Western Australia. James Read and Margaret Whettem owned a farm on Mayfield Road, north of Waroona adjacent to the junction of Mayfield and Whettem Road.
Two sons, Alan Read Whettem and his half-brother, Ritchie Mathewson Whettem enlisted for service during WW1 and unfortunately, both brothers did not return. they were both the sons of Margaret, she had been first married to Stephen Henry Whettem, but divorced and married his younger brother James Read Whettem.
Ritchie died on 7 April 1917 in France and Alan, also in France, nearly one year to the day after his brother, on 5 April 1918, aged only 19 years old. A third brother, James Ralph Whettem managed the family farm until his death in 1977. During and after the war years, the Whettem family were members of St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Waroona. Margaret Whettem played the organ and brass plaques within the church depict their generosity and sacrifice.
A witness in Alan Whettem's Red Cross file stated, 'I saw Whettem's body ... after he was killed by shell fire in the right breast at Hebuterne about 10/11 a.m. he was mending the line at the time. I think he lived for about half an hour but was unconscious all the time.'
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