Bath, William

1786 Private William Bath - 12th Battalion AIF

William Bath was born in Coolgardie WA in 1897 to Thomas and Elizabeth Bath. He had some older brothers who had been born over east, Edward in Gympie Queensland in 1882, William (born 1884), Walter (1886), Albert (1888), Ethel (1890), Henry (1893),  Leslie (1895) in Broken Hill NSW. The family then moved to Western Australia and took up residence in Coolgardie in the Goldfields where William was born in 1897. Victor was born in Boulder in 1901 and the family then moved to Perth, with three more children being born, Hazel (1905), John (1910) and Ellen (1913).

Prior to the Great War the Bath family were living at 34 Arundel Street Fremantle. William was initially educated in the Goldfields but continued his schooling once the family moved to Perth. During this time William had also seen service with the 86th Infantry of the Citizen Military Forces.

On the 15^th January 1915, Henry Bath enlisted into the AIF with his brother William. They presented themselves at Swan Barracks in Perth and were accepted as fit for service. 

The medical examiner recorded 18 year old William's physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 7 inches;

Weight - 127lbs;

Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;

Complexion - Dark;

Eyes - Dark Brown;

Hair - Dark Brown.

After the successful enlistment both William and Henry were sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where both were assigned to the 4^th Reinforcements to the 12^th Battalion AIF. Henry was given the regimental number 1751 and his brother William was given 1786.

Henry & William departed from Fremantle on the transport shup  H.M.A.T. A8 Argyllshire on the 19^th April 1915. While they were on their journey, the 12^th Battalion was landing at Gallipoli, so after their arrival in Egypt they were made ready to head to Anzac Cove to fill the 12^th’s thinning ranks. On the 26^th May 1915 they landed at Gallipoli and reinforced the 12^th Battalion in the vicinity of Bolton’s Ridge.

William served with the 12th Battalion through the next several weeks though the conditions had an adverse effect on his health. On the 5th August 1915 William was evacuated to hospital suffering from debility, dysentery and influenza. He was given a few weeks in hospital on Lemnos Island and after recovering rejoined the 12th Battalion on the 28th August 1915.

In his absence the 12th Battalion had fought at the Lone Pine Battle and Henry Bath had been wounded in that action and was transferred to hospital in England.

However William served through with the 12th Battalion for the remainder of the Gallipoli campaign. With the evacuation of the Gallipoli battlefield, the 12th Battalion returned to Egypt, and in the first two months of 1916 William had extensive dental work done so was away from his unit for periods of time.

William rejoined the 12th Battalion in time for their journey to France on the 29th March 1916, reaching Marseilles on the 5th April 1916. The 12th Battalion were then sent north to the region around Armentieres where they had their first taste of trench life on the Western Front.

They were in this sector for the next few months and in July 1916 moved to the Somme battlefield to take part in the current offensive operations taking place there.

The 12th Battalion were involved in the capture of the village of Pozieres. During the capture William was wounded when hit in the shoulder by German fire. He was evacuated to hospital at Rouen but a few days later was shipped to England where he was admitted to the Canadian War Hospital at Dartford.

Shortly after his wounding, his brother Henry rejoined the 12th Battalion and was killed in action in August 1916 at Mouquet Farm. Sadly the last time the brothers had been together was on the 5th August 1915 at Gallipoli.

William remained in hospital through to 1917 and as it was seen that his wounding would affect any further military service it was decided to sent William back to Australia. He boarded the transport ship Euripides in England and set sail for Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 12th September 1917.

William was discharged from the AIF on the 8th March 1918. The Bath family paid a high price in the war, for as well as Henry, his brother Leslie Bath, died of wounds in France on 6^th November 1917 and elder brother Edward died in 1921 of war related causes after returning to Western Australia.

William Bath died on the 3^rd June 1967 in Mt Hawthorn and was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.