Allan Wesley WALKEDEN [1897 - 1916]

The following is a studio portrait of 2062 Private (Pte) Allan Wesley Walkeden, 3rd Reinforcements, 26th Battalion, of Derby, Tasmania, aged 18.

Pte Walkeden enlisted on 22 June 1915 and embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Makarini on 10 September 1915. He was killed in action on 5 August 1916 at The Battle of Pozieres, Somme, France.

*note:
The DALITZ Brothers of Horsham and Raymond BARTRAM of Richmond also set sail on board the HMAT MAKARINI in September 1915

Allan - a baker by trade - was born in 1897 at Sale, Victoria, Australia to James Richard Henry WALKEDEN and Harriet Melinda FOGWILL.

At the time of enlistment in 1915 Allan was living in Tasmania with the rest of his family and mentioned that he spent two years in the Army Cadets.

Allan - or WALKIE as he was known in the 26th Battalion - embarked Melbourne on 10th September on board the HMAT Makarini bound for the Greek island of Lemnos, arriving at the port of Mudros on 30th November 1915.  The original division of the 26th Battalion were already at Gallipoli at this time and were calling for more men.

Mudros gained wartime significance with the determination of the Allies - chiefly the British and largely through the enthusiasm of Winston Churchill.

HMAT MARARINI

"Walkie" was taken on strength with the 26th Battalion at Gallipoli on 9th December in the area known as Mule Gully and Russell Top. Three days later he was on a troopship back to Mudros and they were marched to Sarpi Camp. Just two days after Christmas in 1915, he was punished for reasons unknown other than "Conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline" and was awarded 72 hours field punishment. I am not so sure that it was an 'award'!

On 9th January 1916 the 26th Battalion disembarked (ex Mudros) on board HMT Hororata and arrived at Alexandria at 0830 and entrained for their next camp Tel-El-Kebir at 1800.

According to the Battalion diaries,  all of January and February 1916, the 26th Battalion were at Tel-El-Kebir training 'as usual'.  March 1916 they were at the staging camp at Ismailia digging trenches for defences. Two weeks later - on the 15th March - "Walkie" departed for Alexandria at 8.30pm arriving in Marseilles, France by the 21st.

According to the diaries, it was a rough sea trip on board the HMT Northland and many men were sea sick.

On 24th March the 26th Battalion were marched in falling snow to Morbecque, where they took up their first billets on French soil which was a school and three farms. The billets were dirty, and the remainder of the day was spent in cleaning them up and getting settled. It was cold, snowy weather and the change from a warm climate was felt severely.

The icy weather made life during the day miserable – but the drop in temperature at night was even worse.

They stayed here in Morbecque until the 4th April when they moved out towards the famous Armentieres, a march of about eleven miles.  On their way they passed Hazebrouck, Merris and Outlarsteene. Arriving at Hallebean late afternoon on the same day.   They did not reach Armentieres until 7th April where they were housed in billets around Rue Marle.

It is now 9th April 1916 and it has been raining for quite sometime, the Battalion is getting ready to take over the firing line by the 11th.

 
From the 11th April through till the end of May 1916, "Walkie" (Allan Walkeden) and the rest of the Battalion were moved into the front-line trenches near Armentières, in an area dubbed “the nursery”.

Although the Australians were in a relatively quiet sector, there were periods of sharp fighting, shelling, and some heavy raids; by the end of June over 600 men had been killed. Only a few days earlier, Private William Jackson became the first man of the AIF to win the Victoria Cross in France. He rescued wounded members of his raiding party from no man’s land until his arm was blown off by a shell.

July 1916 they were in the trenches at Messines and then moved on to Tara's Hill at Pozieres where the 26th fought in it's first major battle between 28th July and 7th August.

For men thrown into the fighting at Pozières the experience was simply hell. The battlefield had become the focus of artillery fire from both sides. Attacks went in, some ground was taken, and then the enemy would counter-attack.

Throughout this action the fighting was wild, and all the time the shelling tore up the ground, folded the trenches in, and blew away any protection.

Major Walter Claridge wrote to his wife:

I knew you would be ashamed if I played the coward, so I kept straight on at the head of my platoon. I was thankful to get [wounded] as it got me out of the firing line for a rest. Australia may well be proud of the part its boys played in taking Pozières.

The ordeal at Pozières, both physical and mental, was more than men could put up with for very long. Courage made little difference, what each man needed was endurance and luck.

Sergeant R. Baldwin, of the 27th Battalion wrote:

We came out this morning as best we could. We are a very shaken lot. Well, we went in and relieved the first division on the night of August 1, six days ago. I saw some awful things although I never got a mark, we are all on the edge, all our nerves are wrecked, we lost some fine men.

The 26th Battalion took part in the attack on Pozieres Heights at 9.15pm (see attached report) on the 4th August 1916.

The 26th Battalion diary has for the 5th August:

repelling enemy attack, took 91 prisoners, killing many others, Bn reassembles at Tara's Hill. 32 KIA.

 It was then that Allan Wesley Walkeden was first reported as Missing in Action.  But later that day was changed to "Killed in Action" according to the Red Cross reports:

Sap / Sapping: In trench warfare, the practice of digging small ‘sap’ trenches at roughly ninety degrees out from existing lines and then digging a new trench line at the front of the saps. A slow, but relatively safe, way of moving forward.

Unfortunately, this 'relatively safe' sap did not save Allan Walkeden from the German shell that exploded in the trench where he was standing.

Walkie's (Allan Walkeden) body was never recovered, but his memorial will forever remain at Villers-Bretonneux.

Allan Wesley Walkeden's
name will be projected
onto the exterior of the Hall of Memory
of the AWM in Canberra on:

Thu 28 August, 2014 at 8:25 pm
Tue 14 October, 2014 at 1:48 am
Sat 6 December, 2014 at 10:27 pm
Sat 31 January, 2015 at 1:50 am
Mon 23 March, 2015 at 2:06 am
Tue 5 May, 2015 at 6:45 pm
Sun 14 June, 2015 at 9:56 pm
Wed 22 July, 2015 at 4:33 am

These dates and times are estimates.
The actual time of projection could change as a result of weather and other factors, 

so it is advisable to check closer to the date.
In the rare event of a temporary loss of electrical power, the names scheduled for display in that period will not appear until the next time listed.

LEST WE FORGET

This website will be of interest to those with any family member that fought at Pozieres:

Pozieres Memorial Park

With grateful thanks to the following for information 
and the use of images & data off their sites.:

State Library of Victoria

National Library of Australia - Trove

The Australian War Memorial

The Australian National Archives

Australians on the Western Front

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Ernie Roberts ~ just one of the Rats of Tobruk (part 1)

 

Ernest Lister Roberts
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VX20637
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(1914 - 1943)

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The 2/43rd Infantry Battalion was formed on 17 July 1940 at Woodside camp, near Adelaide in South Australia.

On 1st June 1940 Ernest ROBERTS enlisted in the Australian Army and was soon dispatched to the 2/43 AIF, as seen marked in blue pen on the top RH corner of the following image ...
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Ernest Lister ROBERTS - or Ernie, as he was known - was born in Melbourne on 24th May 1914 to William George ROBERTS and Charlotte Elizabeth WALKEDEN. He had eight siblings.

Just four weeks after he enlisted, he married Beryl Millicent JOHNSTON at Prahran (Victoria, Australia) on 29th June 1940.

During WW11 he served in the Middle East and in New Guinea where he was KIA .... but more about that later.  Here I am just perusing his life during the second world war, while serving in the Middle East with the 2/43 Bn.

The battalion was initially raised as part of the 8th Division’s 24th Brigade and was transferred to the newly formed 9th Division in December. The 2/43rd left South Australia and moved to Melbourne, where it joined the convoy taking the brigade to the Middle East.

On 20th October 1940, Ernie, along with the rest of the Battalion, departed Melbourne on board the R.M.S. Mauretania for the long trip to the Middle East.
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(above: R.M.S. Mauretania.)

The battalion arrived in Egypt at the end of January 1941. Disembarking at Port Tewfik, the port of Suez, it travelled by train to Palestine, arriving there in February 1941. Southern Palestine was being used as a base for the Australians, where they could complete their training. The 2/43rd went into camp at Khassa, north of Gaza.

(above: from Port Tewfik, the port of Suez, to Gaza. Feb 1941)
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By early 1941 the British advance in the Western Desert had reached El Agheila. In March the 9th Division was brought to Libya, to garrison the area east of Tobruk. The division did not have enough vehicles to bring all its units forward towards Benghazi. Consequently, the 24th Brigade (comprising the 2/43rd, 2/28th, and 2/32nd Battalions) remained in Tobruk.

The situation quickly changed in April. The German Afrika Korps, leading the Axis counter-attack, pushed the British from El Agheila and the 9th Division withdrew to Tobruk. The division and the 18th Brigade defended the “fortress” for the next six months. The 2/43rd participated in the usual pattern of defensive duties, manning parts of the Red Line, working on the Blue Line, and aggressively patrolling no man’s land. The Red Line was a series of concrete pillboxes forming a semi-circle around Tobruk. It was the town’s outer line of defence, while the Blue Line was the second line.
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(above: the Italian post at El Aghelia, note the arid landscape!)

Its well worth looking at this LINK as it will give a detailed description of the Lybian landscape at this time along with many images.
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(above: image of a field ambulance in Tobruk taken 17 Sep 1941)

The above image is of a field ambulance in Tobruk, driving past the wreckage of an Italian plane in September 1941. It is 'possible' that Ernie Roberts would have been driving ambulances such as this, even possibly this one!

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In Tobruk, on the 9th Sept 1941, Owen Thomas Cosgriff wrote in his diary:

Worst night for months – planes over all night.

In September and October the majority of the Australian force was evacuated by sea. The 2/43rd evacuated Tobruk in the early hours of 17 October and sailed to Alexandria, from where it was transferred to the camp at Kilo 89 in Palestine. It later moved to Syria and Lebanon for rest, training, and garrison duties.

(above: shows the reader where Tobruk is located on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea)

It was during this time that Owen Thomas Cosgriff was writing his diary on events around Tobruk etc .... he often mentions someone named "Roberts", but to whom he is referring I have no idea! 
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On 12 Dec 1941, Ernie was evacuated to 1 AGH (Australian General Hospital) and in his war records it often mentions "post concussion headaches" - being an Ambulance Driver can only assume he specialized in driving these patients suffering from "shell shock" and other head related injuries.
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(above: 1 AGH - Gaza)

Then in January 1942 he was evacuated from 1 AGH to 4 AGH, where the following images were taken:

it seems that Lyel BRITTON was a great pal of Ernie's as he is often mentioned in letters and on photos.

BRITTON LYEL WALTER :
Service Number - VX22213 : Date of birth - 10 Aug 1914 : Place of birth - BALLARAT VIC :  Next of Kin - BRITTON WALTER

(above: Group of soldiers of the 6th A.G.H. - 6th Feb 1942)


By July 1942 the war in North Africa had become critical for the British forces. The Germans and Italians had reached El Alamein in Egypt, about seventy miles from Alexandra. Consequently, the 9th Division was rushed to the Alamein “box” and held the northern sector for almost four months as the 8th Army was reinforced for a new offensive. 
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The 2/43rd reached the Alamein front on 5 July and two days later conducted a highly successful night raid. The division attacked ten days later. On 17 July the 2/43rd and 2/32nd (comprising the 24th Brigade) moved inland, fighting along the ridgeline from Trig 22 to Ruin Ridge. The 2/32nd led the attack, advancing from Trig 22 to the Qattara Track. The 2/43rd then followed towards Ruin Ridge, which was briefly captured by the ill-fated 2/28th later that month.

In El Alamein, an obscure railway stop west of Alexandria that in the course of a few days became known around the world, it was a battle that turned the fortunes of war. In November 1942, the Allied Eighth Army broke German and Italian lines to push Rommel's Axis troops back to Tunisia and defeat in Africa.
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(above: the 'A' is to show the reader where El Alamein is located, just west of Alexandria)

In the midst of "the blue" was the Australian 9th Division, famous throughout the British Empire a year earlier for its defence of Tobruk. Now they dug into slit trenches on low ridges in open ground to hold a line scratched in the stony sands of Egypt.

Alamein was a great, although bloody, success for the Allies and by 6 November Axis forces were retreating. But the 9th Division was needed elsewhere. In December the 2/43rd went to Gaza, participating in the 9th Division parade on 22 December.

In January 1943 the battalion left for the Suez Canal and boarded troopships to Australia. The battalion reached Sydney on 27 February 1943.

the 2/43rd were home

But not for long, for just 6 months later they embark for New Guinea. Next blog post will be about Ernie and his posting in New Guinea and subsequent death in October 1943

They laid down their lives - That we may live in peace.
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with grateful thanks to the

Australian War Memorial
and the 
National Archives of Australia

for the valuable information they provide 
on their website's and for which 
I have used in the above blog post.

including images, data and parts of the diary

of Rev. Owen Thomas Cosgriff.
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as I write this particular blog post on 12 October 2012, I note that it is exactly 71 years to the day that Rev. Owen Thomas Cosgriff wrote the following in his diary, and so a little about Owen Cosgriff::

Cosgriff’s diary:  Sunday 12th October 1941

Blitz again – severe but did not last long… Could not say 2nd Mass as I had to go back to bed.  Evacuating 320 of us tonight – me on a stretcher.  Farewell to Crouch today.  Eyeties attacked last night.  Poles cleaned them up.  Ear much better today.  Send off with Red Cross beer etc at 4 pm.  To No 6 wharf at 5:30 by ambulance – crowded with stretchers and very hot.   I felt dizzy and perspired all the time.  Slept at 10 pm.  Carried out at 11:30 and left under the stars.  Plane over dropping flares.  Rush to get us aboard.  I was nearly last on.  Destroyer crammed full and I slept as soon as I was put down.  Vale Tobruk.  Our advance party on board…

Owen Thomas Cosgriff was born 21 December 1907 in Korumburra, Victoria. In his adult years he moved to Brunswick, Victoria, where he lived until his enlistment with the 2/4th Australian General Hospital (A.G.H), AIF, (Australian General Hospital) in Caulfield. In December 1940, Cosgriff left Melbourne aboard the Maurentania bound for North Africa.

Rev. Owen Thomas Cosgriff’s diary finished on 16 November 1941.  He was discharged from the Army on 13 July 1944 and soon returned to Australia.

and on 23 Oct 2012 ....

Vets and ADF members at the 9th Division Memorial in El Alamein, Egypt for the 70th Anniversary of El Alamein ...
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Lest We Forget
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there are three blog posts on Ernie Roberts

part one

part two

part three


<<>>

Ernie Roberts - in New Guinea (part 2)

the continuing story of Ernie Roberts ....

HEADING HOME
In December 1942 the 2/43rd Battalion participated in the 9th Division parade in Gaza, Egypt (see above image) before departing for home the following month. The battalion left for the Suez Canal in January and boarded troopships back to Australia. They were fairly well entertained with concerts on board, singalongs, playing cards and the 'local' newspaper titled "The Troops Tatler" which kept them up to date on events happening back home or on the war front.

according to the 2/43 Bn War Diary, they passed through the Sydney Heads at 1255hrs and dropped anchor at 1330hrs. Disembarkation of troops started at 1400hrs and their train journey - back to camp - was at 1800hrs.

The Battalion was given three weeks leave, after which units of the division marched through the mainland capitals and received just acclaim from huge crowds ; it re-formed in the Kairi area of the Atherton Tableland in April.

A.W.O.L.
Ernie was anxious to get back to his extended family in St Kilda and Prahran and to his wife - Beryl Millicent Johnston - whom he had married in June 1940.  Unfortunately Beryl had decided that she wanted a better life and had taken up with another man. This infuriated Ernie, who was beside himself with grief.  He was AWOL many times over the next few weeks as he tried everything to 'get her back', but to no avail. He told the family that he no longer had anything to live for and would go back to the front line as soon as he could.

The family were devastated and at a loss as to what to do next. They were of course furious with Beryl and could not believe that she could do that to their "Ernie".  From that time on, they had no further contact with her.

BACK WITH THE 2/43rd
Ernie was soon back at training camp in the Gordonvale District of Queensland where he stayed for just on three months for "jungle training".

By the 7th of August the 2/43 Battalion were clearing their camp at Trinity Beach - north of Cairns - where they had been for the past few days. They were to get ready to depart the following morning.

At 0935 they had arrived at the wharf in Cairns and by 1000hrs loading and embarkation had started. The MANORA left the Cairns Wharf by 1500 and they were on their way to New Guinea.....

above image:

Cairns, Queensland.  8th Aug 1943 Troops of the 2/43rd Infantry Battalion, Embarking for overseas. 

ARRIVING IN NEW GUINEA.

Two days later they had arrived at Milne Bay in New Guinea and immediately started setting up camp, clearing of the area and digging drains. Once that was done they started practicing embarking and debarking LCI (Landing Craft - Infantry).

image above: LCI - Landing craft of the Australian Army. From the State Library of Victoria


and by 15th August they had moved onto the Turnbull Airfield for embarkation on LCI. With loading continuing throughout the day. Then with a convoy of 6 LCI under protection of cruiser and destroyer, moved on towards Buna.

They were soon clearing the area, establishing beach patrols and organizing their lives in Boreo as best they could under the circumstances.

above image: location of Boreo and Samboga River in New Guinea.
 
Two weeks later they were crossing the Samboga River, on their way to Lae. Distance to be covered is approx 250klms.

OPERATION POSTERN.
D Day for Operation Postern - 4th September 1943

The Landing at Lae was an amphibious landing, as part of (Operation POSTERN), to the east of Lae in the Salamaua-Lae campaign of World War II between 4–6 September 1943.





4th Sept. 7:00AM - D DAY FOR POSTERN OPERATIONS.
Made unopposed landing at RED BEACH.
5th Sept. 07:00AM - embarked at BUNA at approx 1000 hrs
2/43 Bn having four LCI proceeded to BUSO VILLAGE. 
6th Sept. 00:00 - disembarked without incident at RED BEACH,
proceeded to BUSO VILLAGE. 
6th Oct. 07:00AM - Bn moved to ALUKI ........

The landing sites identified were Red Beach to the east of the mouth of the Buso River and Yellow Beach near Hopoi.
The Australian 9th Division quickly established a beachhead and began a pincer advance on Lae. The amphibious landing was unopposed by Imperial Japanese land forces. Japanese bombers staged an air attack on the second wave of amphibious landings, and killed about 100 Allied naval and army personnel.

A pincer advance is a military maneuver. The flanks of the opponent are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion after the opponent has advanced towards the center of an army which is responding by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks, in order to surround it. At the same time, a second layer of pincers attacks on the more extreme flanks, so as to prevent any attempts to reinforce the target unit. Most infantry combat, on every scale, is based in some fashion on this military tactic and it is commonly used by aircraft as well.


The Fall of Lae.
Between Red Beach and Lae, 16 miles away, the advancing division would have to cross five rivers and a large number of small streams. Swollen by the daily downpours of the rainy season 5 of the rivers were now fast-flowing, but, except for the Busu, which might present a problem, they were narrow with shallow banks and stony bottoms.

There were no roads in the area, only native paths. The two landing beaches were about 20 yards wide and of firm black sand, but behind them was a swamp through which were few exits.

The following shows just some of the conditions they had to deal with in this area:




One of the unit’s historians described the next 11 days as the battalion’s most difficult, with the men crossing rivers, drenched with rain and sweat, and “Hacking their way through jungle and swamp”.

Little resistance in the early stages soon intensified after the battalion crossed the Busu River, at which point the Japanese “contested every step of the way”. The 2/43rd reached the Butibum River on the outskirts of Lae on 16 September.

Following the fall of Lae (16th Sept 1943), the Australians continued their advance north along the New Guinea coast towards the Huon Peninsula, with the aim of securing Finschhafen, where large scale air and naval facilities could be constructed for operations that were planned to be launched in New Britain.

Battle of Scarlet Beach.
On 22 September 1943, less than a week after Lae had been captured, they landed at Scarlet Beach (north of Siki Cove), south of the Song River and about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the north of Finschhafen.

above image:  Australian soldiers and U.S. Navy landing craft at Scarlet Beach on 22 September 1943.


The landing was only lightly opposed and following this, the Australians began to advance south towards Katika where Japanese resistance was stronger, but was nevertheless overcome by the early afternoon.

On 14th Oct 1943, the following orders came through:
2/43 Bn will enlarge its operations in BONGA AREA C Coy remain for present at ZAC protecting SATELBERG L. of C

they then advance further north towards Bonga and Pino Hill.

Ernest Lister ROBERTS was KIA on 27 Oct 1943

with grateful thanks to the Australian War Memorial

and the Australian National Archives for the information they provide on their websites and for which I have used most images and data in the above blog post.

there are three blog posts on Ernie Roberts

part one

part two

part three

further URL's that maybe of interest:

• Jumping into History 
• The Bloody Ridges - Wau - Salamaua
• Markham Valley and Huon Peninsula 
• Battle of Sattleberg

Lest We Forget
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