Wragg, Albert
No.2246 – Private Albert Wragg – 11th Battalion AIF
Albert Wragg was born in Fremantle WA in 1885 to Charles and Annie Wragg. He was one of several siblings, with his brothers Daniel and Charlie and Sisters; Florrie, Rose, Lily, Ida and Ivy. The family lived in John Street North Fremantle and Albert was sent to the local North Fremantle primary school for his education. After leaving school Albert took up work as a labourer and also started his military service when he joined the 11th Australian Infantry Regiment of the Citizen’s Forces. Albert served with this military unit for two and a half years but then resigned as he went to the Goldfields to work as a miner. Through this time he continued with his love of bicycle racing.
On the 7th April 1915, Albert travelled to Perth and went to the Francis Street Drill Hall where he enlisted in the AIF. He was passed as fit for service with the medical examiner stating that Albert was 5 feet 5 & ½ inches tall; weight of 150lbs; chest measurement of 34-38 inches; brown eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Church of England and his next of kin was listed as his father.
Upon his successful enlistment Albert was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.74 Depot Training Company. He only stayed in the depot for a short time and was soon transferred to the 6th Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion with the regimental no.2246. Albert trained with this group through May 1915 but towards the end of the month their departure orders arrived. After packing up camp; Albert’s group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the HMAT Geelong. This ship set sail on the 6th June 1915 and headed to Egypt, arriving there just over three weeks later.
For nearly a month Albert remained in Egypt training with his reinforcement group but on the 31st July he was in a group of reinforcements that travelled to Alexandria Harbour where they boarded the HMAT Berrima and set sail for the Dardanelles. The sea journey to Gallipoli took a few days and Albert eventually arrived at Anzac on the 4th August 1915 and was taken on strength of the 11th Battalion. The 11th Battalion had captured the Turkish trench at what was called Leane’s Post on the 1st August and for the next week they resisted the Turkish counter attacks to retake this position. Albert would have been involved in the defensive efforts to retain this position.
After that action the 11th Battalion remained in the southern portion of the Anzac battlefield and though they were not involved in any more major actions they continued to lose men from sickness. On the 6th September Albert was sent to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station and he was diagnosed with enteritis. The same day he was sent aboard a hospital ship and was taken to Mudros. However his stay there was short as he was then transferred aboard a hospital ship to Alexandria. On the 11th September he was admitted to the 2nd General Hospital and was also diagnosed as suffering from bronchitis. He would stay in this hospital for the next six weeks and after recovering he was admitted to the British Red Cross Hospital on the 26th October.
Albert spent several days in this hospital and on the 6th November he was transferred to the overseas base camp. His records state that Albert left Egypt on the 8th November and returned to Lemnos island but it is not clear what he did for the next two months for it is recorded that he was not taken back on strength of the 11th Battalion until the 7th January 1916. For the next two months Albert trained with the 11th Battalion in the Egyptian desert as well as holding sections of the Suez Canal defence line. Albert was now joined in the 11th Battalion by his brother Dan who had transferred across from the 28th Battalion.
On the 29th March 1916 the 11th Battalion left Alexandria aboard the troopship HMT Corsican and headed for France, arriving at Marseilles on the 5th April 1916. Upon being disembarked the men were marched through the city to the railway station where they boarded trains which took them to northern France. They were billeted in the Armentieres region and they soon had their first taste of Western Front trench life at Fleurbaix. They would spend the next three months in this sector becoming accustomed to the war in France.
In early July 1916 the 11th battalion, as part of the 1st Division, were sent to the Somme battlefield. They would soon be taking part in the British offensive which was currently grinding out an advance against tough German resistance. On July 19th the 11th Battalion went up to the front line at Pozieres passing through the territory captured by British units in the previous weeks. On July 23rd the 11th Battalion successfully took part in the assault which captured Pozieres; however both Albert and his brother Dan were wounded. Albert had been struck in the arm by shrapnel and he was taken to the 1st Australian Field Ambulance and from there he was sent to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station.
After receiving treatment Albert was sent to the 9th General Hospital at Rouen, but he would only spend a few days there as he was evacuated to England on the 29th July 1916. He was then admitted to the 3rd General Hospital at Newport where he remained until the 17th October 1916. The wound had necessitated a finger being amputated, so he spent several weeks on recovery. Albert was then transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital though he only remained there for a short time before he was transferred to the Command Depot Camp at Perham Downs. Despite his amputated finger Albert slowly regained his fitness and on the 21st December 1916 he was put in a draft of soldiers returning to France.
On the 22nd December 1916 Albert marched into the 1st Australian Division Base Depot in Etaples and would stay here for the next two weeks. He was eventually taken back on strength of the 11th Battalion on the 10th January 1917, but instead of rejoining his Company Albert was made cook for the Headquarters Company. The 11th Battalion were then in the vicinity of Delville Wood and Flers on the Somme battlefield and they would be spending winter in this sector. The area was a morass of muddy shell holes amid freezing temperatures. The soldiers endured this cold weather but there was much sickness about. Despite the conditions there were still constant attempts to capture the German trenches however in late February 1917 the Germans sprung a surprise when they began a withdrawal to their pre-prepared defensive position known as the Hindenburg Line. The Australians pressed the Germans all the way and several small actions took place in the villages near Bapaume.
On the 11th March Albert was evacuated to the 1st Field Ambulance with scabies but returned to his unit six days later. While the 10th & 12th Battalions were next tasked with the capture of Boursies, the 11th Battalion was in reserve in the village of Morchies which had been captured by the British on the 20th March. The night of April 6th was bitterly cold & snowy; the men of 11th Battalion HQ Company set up camp for the night in an old stable. The majority of the men had finished their tasks for the night and had laid down to rest and to try and keep warm.
Albert Wragg, the HQ Company cook had completed his evenings work, having dished out the meals to the Officers & Men, and had completed initial preparations for breakfast the following morning. The Germans were intermittingly sending over shells to search out a nearby artillery battery. Three shells burst near the stables without harm but disaster struck when a fourth came over and exploded next to a wall in the stable. The resulting explosion & wall collapse killed 9 of the men instantly and a further 8 were wounded, one of whom would die of injuries the following day.
Men rushed to the scene of the calamity and quickly rescued the wounded and sent them off to the nearest first aid posts, the dead were also recovered from the building. The following day the dead were buried sided by side in the one grave in a small battlefield cemetery by the road side at Morchies which would later be known as Morchies Australian Cemetery with Albert lying in plot B.7.
Albert loss was deeply mourned the Wragg family though fortunately Daniel Wragg survived the war. He had enlisted on the 23rd June 1915 and was assigned to the 3rd Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion AIF with the regimental no.2014. He was taken on strength of the 28th Battalion on Gallipoli on the 12th October 1915 and served through the remainder of the Dardanelles campaign with this battalion. After Gallipoli was evacuated the 28th Battalion returned to Egypt and Dan requested a transfer to join his brother in the 11th Battalion. The brothers thus served together for the next few months and they were wounded together a Pozieres. Dan was hit in the knee by shrapnel and he was also evacuated to England. After medical treatment Dan was declared as medically unfit for further service as the shrapnel had damaged his knee to such an extent that any further military service was out of the question. While Albert returned to France, Dan was shipped off to Australia and left England on the 13th February 1917. Shortly after his return to WA news would have come through about Albert’s death in France. Dan was discharged from the AIF on the 6th October 1917.