Beesley, Walter
No.3027 – Private Walter Beesley – 44th Battalion AIF
Walter Beesley was born in Blackburn Lancashire England on the 30th August 1889 to Henry and Jane Beesley. Walter, one of eight children, was educated in a Church of England school in Blackburn and he was about 15 years old when the family migrated to Australia. The family got off the ship in WA and immediately took up residence in Fremantle. The Beesley’s then moved to Jandakot where Walter soon found work as a labourer.
With the outbreak of the Great War Walter attempted to enlist but was knocked back due to suffering from varicose veins. He continued to work as a wood cutter, lately working at Kurrawang. Unfortunately, during 1916 both his parents passed away at their Jandakot property. Shortly after his father’s funeral Walter tried again to enlist on the 13th October 1916 and this time he was successful. The medical examiner found Walter to be 5 feet 7 & ½ inches tall; weight of 138lbs; chest measurement of 33-35 inches; fair complexion; brown eyes and fair hair. His religious denomination was Church of England and his next of kin was listed as his father.
Upon his successful enlistment Walter was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 7th Reinforcements to the 44th Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for the next few months learning the basics of soldiering but finally their departure orders came through. On the 29th January 1917 Walter and his group boarded the HMAT Miltiades in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for England. After a nearly two month-voyage they arrived at Devonport Harbour on the 27th March 1917.
After being disembarked from the ship Walter and his group were sent to the AIF Details camp at Fovant on the Salisbury Plains. They remained there for the next three weeks and on the 18th April were marched into the 11th Training Battalion at Durrington Camp. Hard training took place here though the men were also given leave to see the sights of England. During his time at Durrington Walter got into trouble for being improperly dressed in that he was not wearing a belt and also for being out of bounds of camp. As a result he was awarded two days of field punishment no.2.
Walter seems to have got through the next few months without any more infractions as he continued his training through the English summer. On the 20th August 1917 he was included in a draft of men leaving camp for France. The soldiers proceeded to Southampton where they boarded a troopship which took them across the Channel to France. After disembarking at Le Havre the men were marched into the 3rd Australian Division Base Depot. Walter had just over a week there and was then sent to join his unit, being taken on strength of the 44th Battalion on the 1st September 1917 in Belgium.
He joined the 44th Battalion just in time to take part in the Third Battle of Ypres. The 44th Battalion successfully took their objectives allotted to them during this battle at Zonnebeke near Passchendaele but due to the muddy conditions the assaults were less and less successful and it wasn’t until November 1917 that the Canadians successfully took Passchendaele. Walter and the 44th Battalion continued to hold the line near Passchendaele through to November and December 1917. They were then moved to the Messines front and they would spend the first three months of 1918 in this sector.
On the 21st March 1918 the Germans launched their assault which broke through the third and fifth British Armies and they were making a speedy advance. The third and Fourth Australian Divisions were sent to the Somme to help stop their advance but when they moved Walter was not with them. On the 21st March he had begun his leave to England and he did not return until the 8th April, by which time his Battalion were near Corbie on the Somme front.
Through April 1918 the Germans were still attempting to advance but they were repulsed by the Australians and slowly the momentum was changing as the AIF began to take back territory off the Germans through small raids and attacks. On July 4th 1918 the 44th Battalion had a prominent role in the capture of Hamel which Walter came through unscathed. Just over a month later on August 8th 1918 during the opening day of the Amiens offensive, the 44th Battalion successfully took all the objectives allotted to them. For the next two months the AIF pursued the Germans, kicking them out of one defensive position after another until they were back behind the wire of the Hindenburg Line. Walter had been bearing a charmed life so far in not being wounded but on the 29th September 1918 when the 44th were involved in operations on the Hindenburg Line he was seriously hurt when shrapnel struck him in the abdomen, chest and arms. He was evacuated to the 11th Field Ambulance but unfortunately died of wounds the same day.
Walter was buried at Ste Emile British Cemetery but after the war was over a consolidation of cemeteries occurred with the result that Walter was moved to Templeux-le-Guerard Cemetery France in plot II.F.36.
Two of Walter’s brothers also served in the AIF, but fortunately made it back home. No.5802 Private Arthur Beesley served in the 27th Battalion AIF through 1917/18, apart from an attachment in June/July 1918 to a British Tunnelling Company. Arthur was wounded in the arm on the 1st September 1918 while the 27th Battalion were in operations near Mont St Quentin. He was sent to hospital in England and was invalided to Australia on the 18th December 1918. William Willard Beesley enlisted in the AIF in March 1917 and was assigned to the 28th Battalion reinforcements with the regimental no.7030. On reaching England he was re-assigned to join the 16th Battalion and served with them through 1917/18. In 1919 he was transferred to the 4th Division HQ and returned to WA in July 1919.