Higgins, Stafford & William
No.50 – Private Stafford Higgins & No.49 Sergeant William Higgins MM – 44th Battalion AIF
Stafford Higgins was born in Bunbury WA in 1883 to James and Maria Higgins. He was one of several children, Ethel (1886), Ellen (1889), James (1891), William (1895), Bertha (1898), George (1902) and Sydney (1897). He was educated locally and after leaving school he took up work as a farm hand.
In the 1910 electoral rolls, Stafford is listed as farming in the Franklin River area and later in the Cranbrook district. William was also a farmhand in Cranbrook.
In 1912 Strafford married Amelia Baker in the Plantagenet district in WA, though they soon moved up to live in Samson Street Fremantle. A daughter, Edna, was born in 1913.
On the 4th January 1916 Stafford went to the Perth Drill Hall to enlist in the AIF. He was passed as fit with the medical examiner finding him to be 5 feet 7 & ½ inches in height; weight of 154 lbs; chest measurement of 34-36 inches; fair complexion; brown eyes and dark hair. His religious denomination was Church of England.
William enlisted at the same time and was accepted for service. The medical examiner recorded his physical attributes to be 5 feet 7 inches tall; weight of 132lbs; chest measurement of 33-35 inches, complexion - sallow, eyes brown and hair dark brown.
Stafford and William were initially allotted to Depot training units, though on the 1st February they were both assigned to “A” Company of the 44th Battalion AIF at Claremont Camp. They would be assigned the sequential regimental numbers of 49 & 50.
They trained with this group in WA until the end of May 1916. Orders then came through for their departure from WA and on the 6th June 1916 they boarded the H.M.A.T. “Suevic” in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for overseas, arriving at Plymouth England on the 21st July 1916.
After being disembarked the 44th Battalion were sent to the 3rd Division Training area on the Salisbury Plains and remained there till November 1916. On the 2nd November 1916 Stafford was admitted ill to Fargo Military hospital and remained there till December, thereby missing the 44th Battalion’s departure for France. When he was released from hospital Stafford was sent to the 11th Training Battalion and remained there until the 20th December 1916. He then proceeded to leave for France from Folkestone Harbour, arriving at Etaples on the 21st December. Stafford was sent to the 3rd Australian Division Base Depot, but came down ill and was sent to a segregation camp where he remained until the 16th January 1917. Stafford joined the 44th Battalion near Armentieres France on the 26th January 1917. He then rejoined his brother who had arrived with the 44th Battalion in France in November 1916.
In March 1917 the 44th Battalion moved to the Ploegsteert sector in Belgium. On the 23rd March Stafford got into trouble for not appearing on parade. As a result he was given 6 days of No.1 Field Punishment.
During April 1917, one of Stafford and William’s brothers, James Edward Higgins was killed in action in France on the 20th April 1917 while serving with the 28th Battalion.
The 44th Battalion conducted trench raids while in Belgium which were a lead in to the Battle of Messines in June 1917. Despite being under heavy shellfire the 44th battalion took their objectives successfully during the Messines offensive and through June, July and August, continued to hold the captured territory.
In September and October 1917 the 44th Battalion took part in the Third Battle of Ypres and Stafford and William came through unscathed. William had now been appointed to the rank of Corporal.
They continued to serve with the 44th through the winter of 1917/18, except for a few weeks in January 1918 when Stafford was in hospital ill. On the 31st January Stafford was granted a fortnight’s leave to go to the UK, after which he reported back on the 15th February 1918. The 44th Battalion during February and March 1918 were in the Messines sector. During this time William was promoted to Lance Sergeant.
On the 21st March 1918 the Germans launched their Spring Offensive that broke through the Third and Fifth British Armies. The Australian divisions in the Messines were sent down to combat the threat the German attack posed on Amiens. The 3rd Division were the first of the Australians to reach the area and the 44th Battalion came into contact with the Germans near Sailly-Laurette. When attacking the Germans, the men of the 44th came under heavy machine gun fire with the result that many men including Stafford were hit. As the Australians had to withdraw, those men that were killed were not able to be retrieved.
Stafford’s body was not recovered at the time, despite William searching for it nor was he found after the war and so Stafford is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
William continued to serve as a Sergeant in the 44th Battalion and was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in their last action. The official recommendation reads;
On 29th September 1918, during operations south of Bony, Sergeant's Higgins platoon officer became a casualty. He immediately took command, led and directed his platoon with success against an enemy counter attack. It was mainly on account of the fine work of Sergeant Higgins that the counter attack failed to reach its objective and suffered heavy casualties. Sergeant Higgins also reconnoitered a wide stretch of No Mans Land under heavy machine gun fire and established liaison with the flank division, a most difficult and dangerous piece of work. Throughout the whole operation Sergeant Higgins did exceptionally fine work.
William survived the war and returned home to Fremantle on the troopship Somali on the 8th July 1919.
(Photo - William and Stafford Higgins in front row)
After the war William returned to the South West of WA. In 1921 in Plantagenet he married Olive Lillian Rogers. They would have James in 1924, Sylvia 1926, Audrey 1928 and Elizabeth 1941.
He was farming in the Albany, Katanning and Cranbrook areas through to the 1950's
William Higgins died on the 4th August 1967.