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Hesketh, William

3138 Private William Richard Hesketh - 2nd Pioneer Battalion & W243072 - Royal Australian Engineers

William Richard Hesketh was born in East Fremantle WA on the 18th July 1894 to Thomas and Mry Hesketh. He was one of nine children born into the family, the others being; Elizabeth (1893), Margaret (1897), Irene (1898), Beatric (1901), Blanche (1902), Nellie (1903), Gladys (1904) and Thomas (1905).

The family lived at Fremantle and William was educated at East Fremantle Primary School and CBC Fremantle.

After leaving school William took up employment as a sailor but had also seen service with the 86th Infantry of the Citizen Military Forces.

On the 1st September 1915 William enlisted into the AIF. The medical examiner passed him as fit and recorded his physical details as;

Height - 5 feet 4 & 3/4 inches tall;

Weight - 125lbs;

Chest Measurement - 32-34 inches;

Complexion - Sallow,

Eyes - Blue;

Hair - Black.

After his successful enlistment, William was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and after two months of training was assigned to the 7th Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion on 1st November 1915. This group trained in WA for the next two months.

On the 18th January 1916, William and his group boarded the transport ship HMAT Medic in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for Egypt. After they arrived in Egypt in February William and his group were marched into the 7th Training Battalion. As the 28th battalion was at it's full complement of numbers, William instead joined the newly forming 2nd Pioneer Battalion. On the 19th March 1916, the 2nd Pioneers left Egypt and proceeded to France, arriving at Marseilles on the 26th March 1916.

William and the 2nd Pioneers had a few months to gain knowledge of the Western Front before their first major action. It was at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm from July to September 1916 that the 2nd Pioneers suffered heavy casualties in trying to keep the communication avenues and trenches clear but under constant and heavy bombardment it was an almost impossible task.

Fortunately William came through Pozieres at least physically unscathed. In August he went AWOL for three days and after returning was duly punished with a fine and 28 days of Field Punishment No.2. The next few months were a mix of returning to his unit and going AWOL. In January 1917 his commander had enough of this and William was court martialled. Even though he had voluntarily returned to his unit the charge was for desertion. William plead Not Guilty but was found Guilty and was sentenced to 10 years Hard Labour in a military prison.

William was sent to No.4 Military Prison at Aboncourt. However on the 10th March 1917 the sentence was commuted to 2 years.

On the 26th April 1918 this sentence was dismissed and William was free to return to his unit.

Before and while he was in prison William had penned a few poems which appear below. These were published in the Sunday Times and other newspapers.

THE NIGHT SENTRY

With 'my rifle close beside me I am

keeping watch at night.

Sitting well down in my dug-out un-

til day;

And my thoughts go back a-wandering

to Fremantle all alight,

Where the bandsmen on the sea-

beach used to play;

And loud through all the breezes ring

the bustle and the din.

And on Fremantle kerb once more I

seem to stand,

And I hear the motor hooters when the

theatre hours begin.

And I roam, a ghost in khaki, down

the town.

Ob! the legions came from Canada,

from India all aflame,

From lone Australian outposts (hear

them tramp);

To the calling of the bugle and the

Motherland they came,

And they're with me in the trenches

and the camp.

But it's not of them I'm thinking when

I keep my watch at dark;

It is not of a shell-torn shattered

land.

But of the searchlights o'er Fre-

mantle and the kiddies' in King's

Park

And the bustle and the glamor of the

town.

I am thinking of the women in the

fair land, and, my word!

It's for them I fight, to keep them

safe and free.

And I peep beneath the moonlight at

the snapshot dim and blurred

And the girl who waits at' Moora

town for me.

And I'm thinking of -the Zeppelins, the

vultures of the sky,

The lean. grey ships by baby-killers

manned.

And I see the blood-red harvest,

they'll be reaping by and by

'As I roam a ghost in khaki, down

the town.

Ah! you in Australia sleeping, in your

dreaming, maybe, tread

Where the' bullets pop and shells

are raining down.

For you' the plain of Flanders and the

trenches running red

And for me the lure of old Fremantle town.

So I keep my watch at night time far

beyond the swaying pines,

And my ears are cocked, my rifle to

my hand.

But I'm far away from Flanders and

the hidden German lines.

For I roam, a ghost in khaki, down

the Strand.

Localised by Private W." R. Hesketh,
"Somewhere in France." He is a
North Fremantle boy.

Pte. W. R. Hesketh, of the Second
Pioneer Battalion, and formerly of
North Fremantle, sends along a set
of verses.
 
"In 1916,'' he writes, "I for-
warded you a piece entitled 'The Night
Sentry.' I composed it in a town
which is now a ruin in the enemy's
hands. The piece I am sending is call-

ed —

'TWO MOTHERS' SONS.'

" This morning when the postman stop-

ped

To make his morning call,

He left a bunch of papers,

But no letters came at all;

And a woman's heart was heavy,

As she hurried up the stairs,

For that is where she always went

When troubled with her cares.

And her soul was filled with anguish,

And she gave a little cry,

For she thought she'd get a letter

Ere another day passed by.

Through the day she worked in silence;

There was sadness in her glance,

For a mother had no letter

From her soldier-boy in France."

"This morning when the postman stop-

ped

To make another call,

He left a soldier's letter

That was welcome most of all.

And a woman's fingers trembled

As she tore the envelope

To scan the lines which held so much

Of cheer and love and hope.

And sunshine all the day was stamped

Upon her loving face,

And she swept and cleansed with vigor

All around the well-loved place;

And the dust that lurked in corners

Didn't have a fighting chance,

For a mother had a letter

From her soldier-boy in France."

William served with the 2nd Pioneer Battalion through to October 1918. He was then injured in the Groin while working in the line and was sent to hospital. He had several weeks away from his unit only returning on the 3rd January 1919. William had the next few weeks in Belgium with his unit when they were based around Charleroi but in February he was sent back to England. He had a few bouts of sickness and also a few more cases of going AWOL while he was waiting for his orders to embark for home.

Finally on the 3rd July 1919, William boarded the transport ship which sailed for home, disembarking in Fremantle on the 10th August 1919. He was discharged from the AIF on the 30th September 1919.

In 1921 William married Myrtle Grant in Perth. A son Harold was born in Midland in 1921 and Arthur in 1924. The family then went to live in Central Avenue Maylands.

In World War Two William enlisted on the 10th October 1939. (W243072).

He was assigned to the 10th Garrison Battalion but then went to No.7 Australian Workshop and Park Company Royal Australian Engineers. He served in Western Australia and Darwin from 1940-42 and in 1943 was stationed in NSW. In 1944 he was in Queensland and Northern Territory before returning to WA in October 1944. He was then discharged from the services.

Hi son Harold Thomas Hesketh ha killed on the 8th February 1945 with the 619 Squadron Royal Air Force.

William Richard Hesketh died on the 27th May 1960 aged 64. He was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery plot Salvation Army AA 0131A.