Wallis, Alfred

No.715A – Private Alfred Wallis – 51^st Battalion AIF

Alfred Wallis was born in Fremantle in 1893 to Richard and Elizabeth Wallis. He was one of several siblings, with his brothers Richard, Percy and Harry and Sisters Annie and Nelly. The family resided for a time in Collie Street Fremantle and the children were educated locally. However the family soon moved to Ballidu where they joined another section of the Wallis family who were farming in that district. Alfred became a farm hand and also began his first military service when he joined the 85B Cadets who were based at Northam.

For a while after the outbreak of the war the boys continued to work on the farm but Alfred was the first of them to enlist. On the 13^th March 1916 he travelled to Perth and enlisted at the Francis Street Drill Hall. The medical examiner found him to be 5 feet 3 & ½ inches tall; weight of 120lbs, chest measurement of 31-33 inches; fresh complexion; brown eyes and auburn hair. His religious denomination was Church of England.

Upon his successful enlistment Alfred was initially sent to No.53 Training Depot at Blackboy Hill Camp. On the 4^th April he was transferred into the 13^th Reinforcements to the 28^th Battalion. He only stayed 20 days with this group and then was sent to No.22 Training Depot. A few days were spent here and on the 27^th April Alfred was sent to Claremont Showgrounds Camp where he was assigned to the 1^st Reinforcements to the 44^th Battalion. He spent the next several weeks training with this group but on the 1^st June Alfred was transferred into “D” Company of the 44^th Battalion with the regimental no.715.

Five days after joining his new unit Alfred entrained with them to Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the HMAT Suevic and set sail for England. The sea journey took several weeks and they finally arrived at Plymouth Harbour on the 21^st July 1916. During the voyage Alfred had been admitted to the ship’s hospital ill but by the time he arrived in England Alfred had recovered.

Upon arriving in England the 44^th Battalion were sent to the 3^rd Division training camp at Larkhill on the Salisbury Plains. It was here that the training ramped up as the men practiced fighting in trenches, bayonet fighting and bombing. On the 20^th August Alfred was admitted to Fargo Military Hospital suffering from influenza. His records appear sparse at this point but it seems that Alfred was now transferred to the 13^th Training Battalion as he had been earmarked to join the 51^st Battalion.

On the 2^nd November 1916 Alfred left England on the transport ship Princess Henrietta and set sail across the Channel to France. On arrival in Etaples he was marched into the 4^th Australian Division Base Depot. Alfred only spent two weeks in this depot as on the 17^th November 1916 he was taken on strength of the 51^st Battalion AIF. After his arrival an ‘A’ was added to his regimental number as there already was a soldier with that regimental number in the battalion and so Alfred’s number became 715A to differentiate between the two.

When he joined his unit, the 51^st Battalion were in the vicinity of Flers where they were to spend the entire French winter of 1916/17. This winter was the coldest in decades but Alfred survived this cold period unscathed. By the end of February 1917 the Germans began their withdrawal to their pre-prepared defensive position known as the Hindenburg Line. They did this to shorten their line but they conducted a fighting withdrawal and over the next six weeks the Australians fought several sharp actions around the outpost villages. The 51^st Battalion were involved in several actions such as at Noreuil on the 2^nd April 1917. This village was successfully captured but casualties were large.

The 51^st Battalion were in reserve for the disastrous Bullecourt offensive on 11^th April but they helped to bring in the casualties. Alfred soon came down ill and on the 27^th April he was sent to the 13^th Field Ambulance where he was diagnosed with diphtheria. He was then evacuated to the 2/1^st South Midland Casualty Clearing Station. He remained there under treatment for a short time and was then put on an ambulance train which took him to the 2^nd Stationary Hospital in Abbeville. Alfred remained here until the 14^th May when he was sent to the 5^th Convalescent Depot.

For the next few weeks Alfred would remain at this place while he regained his fitness and on the 4^th June 1917 he was transferred to the 4^th ADBD at Le Havre. He spent ten days here and then rejoined the 51^st Battalion on the 15^th June 1917. Alfred missed his unit’s action during the Messines battle from June 7^th to 10^th but they continued to hold the line in this sector until August. Alfred and his battalion were then sent to Ypres and on the 20^th September the 51^st Battalion would take part in the Battle of Menin Road. This was a successful advance and six days later the 51^st also saw action at Polygon Wood.

Fortunately for Alfred he came through these battles unscathed as on the 29^th September he was granted leave to England. He spent a great fortnight in England but had all too soon had to return to France, and he rejoined the 51^st on the 12^th October 1917. This was a terrible time for the front line troops as they held the line in the muddy shell hole strewn battlefield near Passchendaele. To exacerbate matters the Germans drenched the entire area with mustard gas and many soldiers came down ill.

Fortunately in November 1917 the 51^st Battalion were withdrawn from the line for a rest and were sent to the French countryside near the coast. Unfortunately they did not remain here long as in response to a German counter attack at Cambrai the 4^th Australian Division were sent to Peronne where they were kept in reserve. In the end they were not needed but they remained at Peronne until January 1918.

The cold weather took its toll on Alfred and on the 29^th December he was sent to the 4^th Field Ambulance with influenza and then was transferred to the 41^st Stationary Hospital. Alfred spent the next few weeks here recovering from his illness and he only rejoined the 51^st Battalion on the 5^th February 1918. By this stage the battalion had returned to the Messines sector and for the next several weeks they would remain in this sector. On the 21^st March 1918 the Germans launched their Spring Offensive with a large assault which broke through the British 3^rd & 5^th Armies. The Germans were making speedy progress towards Amiens and so the 3^rd & 4^th Australian Divisions were sent south to the Somme to stop them.

The Australians succeeded in bringing the advance to a halt around several crucial areas. The 51^st battalion came into contact with the Germans around Dernancourt and assisted to halt their advance in late March. On the 5^th April the Germans attempted to break through when they launched an assault on the Australian lines with several divisions. The Australians were slightly pushed back but retained most of the important ground though casualties were severe. Alfred was badly wounded in the arms and legs and he was sent by stretcher bearers to the 13^th Field Ambulance. His wounds were treated and he was then sent to the 29^th CCS for further medical assistance. Alfred was then put on an ambulance train and taken to the 7^th Canadian General Hospital in Etaples on the 8^th April. He spent a further four days of treatment here but on the 12^th April he was sent to England aboard a hospital ship.

He arrived at the City of London Military Hospital on the 13^th April where he was progressing well in his recovery. On the 30^th April Alfred was transferred to the 3^rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford where his wounds were found to be progressing well. However Alfred complained of a sore throat to his doctors and on examination his tongue was found to be ulcerated and it appears that Alfred had contracted tetanus. He was treated by Captain Landon from Fremantle of the AAMC but despite all possible medicine Alfred’s condition continued to decline. Alfred Wallis died on the 5^th May 1918, the official cause being heart failure and tetanus.

It was stated that;

“Chaplain Major Neveridge visited him constantly until death and with whom he left messages of love to his Mother and Father, and all his sisters and brothers. He was conscious every time he visited him and always seemed hopeful and brave, fighting hard, but at the same time perfectly resigned to meet his God, in whom he expressed his undoubted faith”

Private Alfred Wallis was given a military funeral at Brookwood Military Cemetery, with the firing party, buglers and pall bearers supplied by the AIF. He was buried in plot XI.A.5.

Alfred’s three brothers also served in the AIF. Richard enlisted in February 1916 and was assigned to the Australian Army Medical Corps with the regimental no.11186. He left Fremantle on the HMAT Surada in May 1916 and proceeded to Egypt. From June to July 1916 he was attached to the 8^th Light Horse Regiment and then in August to the 2^nd Light Horse Regiment. He was then transferred to England where he remained until November on duty with the AAMC. In late November he moved to France to serve with the 11^th Field Ambulance but for the duration of the war Richard was attached to the 9^th Field Company Engineers. He survived the war with a few bouts of sickness his only ailments. Richard boarded the HMT Somali in England on the 1^st June 1919 and returned home to Fremantle.

Percy enlisted into the AIF on the 16^th August 1916 and was attached to the 18^th Reinforcements to the 28^th Battalion with the regimental no.6419. He left Fremantle on the 29th December 1916 and arrived at Devonport England on the 3^rd March 1917. He was sent to the 7^th Training Battalion in England and after a few months was sent to France, being taken on strength of the 28^th Battalion on the 31^st July 1917. Percy was wounded at the Battle of Menin Road near Ypres on the 20^th September 1917 but quickly recovered and rejoined his unit in December 1917. He served the next four to five months with his Battalion but on the 25^th April 1918 he was evacuated sick and spent the rest of the war in England. Percy Wallis returned home to Fremantle in 1919.

Harry was the youngest of the brothers to enlist, having been born in 1898. He enlisted on the 15^th June 1917 and was assigned to the 16^th Battalion reinforcements with the regimental no.7836. He left Sydney Australia on the 1^st August 1917 and arrived in Halifax Canada on the 21^st September 1917. Their journey then took them to Liverpool, arriving there on the 3^rd October. After a few months in England with the 4^th Training Battalion Harry was taken on strength of the 16^th Battalion in France on the 26^th January 1918. Harry served through the next few months seeing action at Hebuterne in April and Hamel in July. On the 8^th August 1918 during the first day of the Battle of Amiens Harry was wounded during the 16^th Battalion’s successful advance but rejoined the next month on the 18^th September 1918 which happened to be the day of the 16^th Battalion’s last attack of the war. After this date they were then relieved and the armistice was signed before they were due back at the front. Harry spent several months in England in 1919 and returned to Australia on the 15^th November 1919.

Four of Richard and Elizabeth’s sons served in the war with only Alfred paying the supreme price. Their other sons returned to farming after returning from the war.