Westergaard, Ernest
No.3007 – Private Ernest Westergaard – 48th Battalion AIF
Ernest Harold Westergaard was born in Manum South Australia in 1893 to James and Agnes Westergaard. He was one of several siblings and shortly after his birth the family moved to Western Australia and took up residence in John Street North Fremantle. Ernie was educated at North Fremantle State School and also served with the junior and senior cadets of the citizens military forces. After leaving school Ernie took up an apprenticeship with the State Implement Works as an iron moulder.
He didn’t have to go far from home for the next six years of his apprenticeship as the State Implement Works was also located in North Fremantle. Ernie continued with this trade after finishing his apprenticeship. In 1915 he married Gladys White in Fremantle and they would have one son, Ernest Thomas, also born in 1915. Unfortunately the marriage would be interrupted as on the 14th August 1916 Ernie enlisted in the AIF.
He and his brother Laurence enlisted at the Fremantle Drill Hall and were both accepted as fit for the AIF. Ernie was found to be 5 feet & & ¾ inches tall; weight of 159lbs; chest measurement of 35-38 inches; fresh complexion; brown eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Church of England. He listed his next of kin as his wife Gladys.
Upon their successful enlistment the brothers were sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and allotted to No.81 Training Depot. On the 14th September 1916 they were transferred to the 7th Reinforcements to the 48th Battalion AIF. The next several weeks would be taken up with infantry training such as route marches, drills, fatigue duties as well as shooting at the Osborne Rifle Range. However their orders to depart would soon come through and on the 9th November 1916 they boarded the HMAT Argyllshire in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for England, reaching Devonport on the 10th January 1917.
After being disembarked Ernie and Laurie were sent to the 12th Training Battalion at Codford Camp on the Salisbury Plains. The men then commenced on more training but they were also given leave to see the sights of England. This may have cost Ernie as on the 6th February 1917 he was admitted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital in Bulford with venereal disease. Ernie had to spend several weeks here and was not well enough to be released until the 31st March 1917. He was then transferred to No.1 Command Depot at Perham Downs.
On the 18th April 1917 Ernie returned to the 12th Training Battalion at Codford and he had to endure several more weeks of training. On the 29th May he was finally attached to a group leaving the camp and they arrived at Southampton where they boarded a troopship which took them across to France. After arriving in France; Ernie was marched into the 4th Australian Division Base Depot in Etaples. He spent a further three weeks here but on the 21st June he joined the 48th Battalion in the Messines sector of southern Belgium.
He met up again with Laurie and for the next few months they served in the Messines sector. On the 8th August Laurie was wounded by shellfire in the buttock and was evacuated to hospital.
In September the 48th Battalion proceeded to the Ypres sector where they would take part in the current offensive. On the 4th October the 48th Battalion successfully took part in the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge and on the 7th October Laurie returned from hospital. Five days later the 48th Battalion were tasked with an assault on German positions near Passchendaele. The attack initially went well but the 48th Battalion’s flanks were unsupported so the Germans were able to fire on them from three sides and the 48th Battalion were forced to withdraw.
It was during this action that Ernie went missing though a report later came from a returning soldier who was taken prisoner by the Germans that Ernie had been on a Lewis Gun and with a L/Cpl Harris he went to get into a different position in a small tin shelter when a German shell fell on the area, blowing it in. No.2989 Private W.P. Seward states that he began to dig them out but was taken prisoner by the Germans and could not get the Germans to assist and they had to be left.
Tragically for the Westergaards confusion would reign over Ernie’s fate as it was originally reported in the battalion records that Ernie had been evacuated sick on the 13th October. Even his brother Laurie had been under the impression that Ernie had been sent to England sick as he wrote home that;
“Just a few lines to let you know that I am still going good and in the best of condition. I expect you have heard by this time that Ern is sick in hospital. Up to date I have not had any word from him, but am expecting a letter any day now. I think he must be in Blighty (Eng) and I fancy he must have trench feet”
This took some to investigate and it wasn’t until the 24th November 1917 that Ernie was listed as missing in action. Further evidence was sought including from prisoners of war and a court of enquiry was held on the 8th April 1918 which declared that Ernie had been killed on the 12th October 1917.
Ernie’s body was never discovered after the war and both his wife and mother wrote to the defence department over that matter. Four years later in 1921 his mother wrote to the authorities that she had a presentiment that Ernie was still alive and had posted his photos to newspapers in France, Belgium and England. She asked whether the authorities could investigate the asylums in England in case he had lost his memory or whether the Germans were still keeping him as a prisoner in Germany due to his good work as an iron and brass moulder.
Unfortunately nothing further was ever discovered regarding Ernie Westergaard and he was thus commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres Belgium. His wife Gladys and son Ernest would both receive pensions from the military. In the 1920’s Gladys moved to Geelong and then Ballarat in Victoria. His son Ernie would later serve in the 2nd World War with the Royal Australian Air Force and would survive that conflict.
After his brother Ernie’s death Laurence Westergaard continued to serve with the 48th Battalion through 1917 & 18; serving at Dernancourt, Villers-Bretonneux, Monument Wood, Hamel and Amiens. In September 1918 he was promoted to Lance Corporal and saw out the war with his battalion. He was not wounded again in the war but suffered from several bouts of illness. Laurie boarded a ship in England on the 21st June 1919 and returned to Australia, disembarking in Fremantle on the 3rd August 1919. He married Daisy Greaves in Fremantle in 1920 and they lived in Cottesloe. Two sons, Ernest & Reginald would be born in 1921. Laurie would work for Fremantle Harbour after the war as a Lumper. Ernest Clement Westergaard would serve in the 2nd AIF in WW2 (WX34861) as did Reginald Earle Westergaard (WX37863). Laurence James Westergaard died in Fremantle in 1981.
The third brother to enlist was William James Westergaard. He was married to Ruby Meiers in 1914 in Fremantle. He was working as a Carpenter when he enlisted into the AIF on the 11th June 1917 aged 27 and his wife Ruby was listed as his next of kin. William was assigned to the 12th Reinforcements to the 2nd Pioneer Battalion and he trained with them for a few months in WA before being transferred to Broadmeadows Camp in Victoria. On the 30th October 1917 William boarded the HMAT Aeneas in Port Melbourne and set sail for England, sailing via the United States.
He disembarked in Devonport England on the 26th December 1917 and was sent into the Pioneer Battalion training camp on the Salisbury Plains. He spent the next four months in England in training and eventually reached France on the 26th April 1918 and was taken on strength of his unit. He served with the 2nd Pioneers around Morlancourt and Villers-Bretoneux and took part in the Amiens offensive which began on August 8th 1918. The 2nd Pioneer Battalion fought in the last Australian infantry action of the war at Montbrehain on the 5th October 1918 though William came through unscathed. After the armistice was declared William returned to England and set sail for Australia in May 1919, disembarking in Fremantle on the 2nd July 1919. He resumed work for G Wood & Co and he had two daughters born, Vera and Jean. Unfortunately William died in 1928 and was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.
Ernie Westergaard’s brother in law would also serve in the war. No.159 Private Thomas William White served in the 16th Battalion and died in Egypt on the 15th May 1915 from wounds received at Gallipoli.