Cain, William Corbett

No.3033 – Private William Corbett Cain – 11^th 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 5^th 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 9^th Reinforcements to the 16^th Battalion. However Billy was soon transferred to the 10^th Reinforcements to the 11^th Battalion.

He embarked with this group from Fremantle on the H.M.A.T. “Themistocles” on the 13^th October 1915. After arrival in Egypt, William was sent to the reinforcement camp as the 11^th battalion was still at Gallipoli. As the Gallipoli peninsula was being evacuated this reinforcement group were not sent on but waited for the 11^th to return to Egypt. On the 7^th January 1916 William was officially taken on strength of B Company of the 11^th Battalion AIF. The next few months were spent training in Egypt; however on the 29^th March 1916 the 11^th Battalion arrived in Alexandria and boarded their transport ship for France.

Arriving at Marseilles on the 5^th April 1916, William and the rest of the 11^th 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 7^th June 1916 William was wounded in the leg and back by shrapnel and was evacuated back to the 3^rd 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 12^th June he was admitted to Colchester War Hospital and on the 23^rd June transferred to the 1^st 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 16^th April 1917, Billy went absent without leave, only returning to Perham Downs on the 19^th April.  As a punishment he was confined to camp for 7 days and forfeited 6 days pay. On the 25^th April 1917 Billy was transferred to the newly forming 16^th Brigade of the proposed 6^th Division and then on to the 70^th Battalion. On the 26^th 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 15^th May 1917 Billy was admitted sick to 16^th Field Ambulance and then on to the 1^st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Bulford as he was suffering from VD. After a period in hospital, on the 23^rd June he returned to the 70^th Battalion.

As not enough reinforcements came to England, the 6^th Division was disbanded and the men sent back to their original units, thus William was returned to the 11^th Battalion on the 16^th October 1916. After fifteen months away from the 11^th Battalion there would not have been many familiar faces as the 11^th 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 11^th 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 1^st 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 1^st Division reboarded their trains and went back to Hazebrouck. The 1^st 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 3^rd 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.