Cain, William Corbett
No.3033 – Private William Corbett Cain – 11th Battalion AIF
William Corbett Cain was born at Kensington Victoria in 1894 to William and Alice Cain. The family moved across to Western Australia when William was still young and they initially took up residence in Fremantle and then Cottesloe. William was educated at Fremantle Boys School and also spent four years in the Fremantle Naval Reserve. After he left school he took up work as a Clerk and held the position of Assistant Town Clerk at Cottesloe.
William enlisted into the AIF on the 5th July 1915 and the medical examination found Billy to be 5 feet 7 ¾ inches in height; weight of 131 lbs; chest measurement of 33-35 inches; fair complexion; grey eyes and light brown hair. His religious denomination was Church of England.
William was initially sent to Liverpool Camp in NSW to join the Naval Brigade but returned to WA and was assigned to the 9th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion. However Billy was soon transferred to the 10th Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion.
He embarked with this group from Fremantle on the H.M.A.T. “Themistocles” on the 13th October 1915. After arrival in Egypt, William was sent to the reinforcement camp as the 11th battalion was still at Gallipoli. As the Gallipoli peninsula was being evacuated this reinforcement group were not sent on but waited for the 11th to return to Egypt. On the 7th January 1916 William was officially taken on strength of B Company of the 11th Battalion AIF. The next few months were spent training in Egypt; however on the 29th March 1916 the 11th Battalion arrived in Alexandria and boarded their transport ship for France.
Arriving at Marseilles on the 5th April 1916, William and the rest of the 11th Battalion were sent to the north of France around Armentieres and Fleurbaix. The next few months would be spent in this area, however on the 7th June 1916 William was wounded in the leg and back by shrapnel and was evacuated back to the 3rd Field Ambulance and then to No.1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station. Evacuated back to hospital at Boulogne, his wound was deemed serious enough for evacuation to England. On the 12th June he was admitted to Colchester War Hospital and on the 23rd June transferred to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital.
In July William was transferred to the Australian Depot at Perham Downs where he spent the rest of 1916 recovering his fitness. In early 1917, William went to the classification board and was marked as B1 which meant that he was not yet quite well enough to be sent back to France. On the 16th April 1917, Billy went absent without leave, only returning to Perham Downs on the 19th April. As a punishment he was confined to camp for 7 days and forfeited 6 days pay. On the 25th April 1917 Billy was transferred to the newly forming 16th Brigade of the proposed 6th Division and then on to the 70th Battalion. On the 26th April he was found to be improperly dressed on parade and was given a punishment of 7 days confined to barracks by Lieut-Colonel Denton. On the 15th May 1917 Billy was admitted sick to 16th Field Ambulance and then on to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Bulford as he was suffering from VD. After a period in hospital, on the 23rd June he returned to the 70th Battalion.
As not enough reinforcements came to England, the 6th Division was disbanded and the men sent back to their original units, thus William was returned to the 11th Battalion on the 16th October 1916. After fifteen months away from the 11th Battalion there would not have been many familiar faces as the 11th had gone through the Somme, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt and Passchendaele and casualties in these battles were immense. William would spend the next few months with the 11th in the trenches around Passchendaele and Warneton.
In March 1918 the Germans launched a large offensive that broke through the Third and Fifth British Armies. The Australian divisions up north were sent south to the Somme to repel the German advance. The 1st Division was the last to be sent but just as they reached Amiens news came through that the Germans had made another breakthrough up north and the 1st Division reboarded their trains and went back to Hazebrouck. The 1st Division managed to hold the Germans though on the 24th April 1918 near Caestre, Billy was badly hit by a shell. He was taken back to the 3rd Field Ambulance with wounds to his right leg, thigh, back and pelvis but soon succumbed as the wounds were too severe to recover. He was buried at Ebblinghem Military Cemetery Plot I.B.27.



