Payne, Mervyn Daniel
No.5779 – Private Mervyn Payne – 16th Battalion AIF
Mervyn Daniel Payne was born in North Fremantle WA in 1897 to Philip and Mary Payne. He was one of nine children, though unfortunately a year before Mervyn’s birth his sister Ivy had died. As well as Mervyn there was Phillip (1880), Vivian (1882), Bertram (1885), Mabel (1887), Glyn (1890), Ruby (1893), Joy (1895) and Ivy (1896). Merv was educated at North Fremantle State School and after leaving he took up work as a storeman in the local area. During this time he also served for four years as a senior Cadet in the 86A Regiment of the Citizens Military Forces.
(Pictured Right Glyn & Merv Payne)
On the 28th February 1916 aged just 19 years old, Merv enlisted into the AIF at North Fremantle and was passed as fit for active service. The Medical examiner found Merv to be 5 feet 10 & ½ inches tall; weight of 127lbs; chest measurement of 33-34 inches; fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Congregational. After his successful enlistment Merv was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.56 Training Depot. He remained there just under three weeks and on the 4th April 1916 he was assigned to the 18th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion.
The same day Merv enlisted in the AIF, his older brother Glyn also joined up. The boys met in camp and had their photograph taken together in their AIF uniform, however Glyn would be assigned to the 28th Battalion reinforcements and would not be able to join Merv in the same unit. The brothers trained at Blackboy Hill Camp with their respective groups though on June 30th 1916 a family tragedy occurred when their second eldest brother Bertram, died suddenly at home in North Fremantle aged just 31. Both Merv and Glyn were given leave from camp to attend their brother’s funeral at Fremantle Cemetery.
A few weeks later Merv’s group received their departure orders and they started to pack up their camp. They entrained at Bellevue siding bound for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the HMAT Seang Bee. On the 18th July 1916 this ship set sail overseas bound for England. Glyn, with the 28th Battalion reinforcements would have a longer stay in WA, and only left Fremantle on September 26th 1916 aboard the HMAT Surada.
The voyage for Merv took just under two months as the ship berthed at Plymouth Harbour on the 9th September 1916. Merv and his group were disembarked and sent into the 4th Training Battalion at Rollestone Camp on the Salisbury Plains. Merv would have just over a month in the training camp in England as on the 14th October 1916 he departed on a troopship bound for France. Upon arriving at Etaples he was marched into the 4th Australian Division Base Depot. After a couple weeks of training here, Merv marched out of Camp to join the 16th Battalion, being taken on strength of “A” Company on the 30th October 1916.
The 16th Battalion were currently on the Somme battlefield in the vicinity of Flers and they would remain in this sector for the winter of 1916/17. In late February 1917 the Germans began a withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, though they fought all the way and made the Australians pay dearly for the control of the Outpost Villages. On March 26th Merv wrote to his sister that;
“I will be moving on from here tomorrow to have another go at old Fritz. We have had him back a good deal lately. I will tell you all about this big push when I come home again.”
By early April 1917 the Germans had withdrawn behind the thick barbed wire belts of the Hindenburg Line. The 16th Battalion as part of the 4th Division were ordered to attack this line without the assistance of artillery and just with the support of tanks.
As the men went forward on April 11th 1917 the tanks were failing miserably, and the Germans, not being under artillery fire were clear to shoot the Australians down. Amazingly the 16th Battalion managed to fight their way into the German trenches and held the German line for some time in the morning. But without reinforcements or supplies coming through the surviving men had to either withdraw under heavy fire or surrender. It was the heaviest Australian defeat of the war, though the troops involved showed much bravery. It was the lack of artillery support which proved their undoing.
At some point during the battle Merv was killed. Due to no eyewitness reports regarding his death it is hard to know at what stage of the Battle that Merv was killed. Though as he has no known grave it is likely he was killed in or near the German trench.
Mervyn Payne has no known grave and is therefore commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
Glyn Payne served through 1917/18 with the 28th Battalion and 2nd Division HQ & returned home in 1919. Post war he became a Councillor & mayor in North Fremantle Shire.