Sheldrake, William
No.2001 Private William George Sheldrake - 28th Battalion AIF
William George Sheldrake was born on the 7th June 1893 in Northcote Victoria to Charles and Celia Sheldrake. William had three siblings, Mildred (1890), Francis (1897) and Celia (1899).
In early 1900's the Sheldrakes moved to Western Australian and took up residence, firstly in Spearwood, and after a few years in Fremantle. They lived at 179 Forrest Street East Fremantle.
Prior to the Great War, Will was a keen cricketer and was heavily involved with the local Methodist Church. He was also working as a Clerk with D&J Fowler.
On the 25th June 1915 Will enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 inches tall;
Weight - 136lbs;
Chest Measurement - 35-37 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Dark Brown.
Upon his successful enlistment, Will was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 3rd Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion.
Pictured below in Camp at Blackboy Hill in front row is three mates from Fremantle, Will Sheldrake, Bert Ellement and Matt Cusack.
In the back row is Jack Bolt third from left and Sam Hobbins fourth from left. Herman Dedman on right.
After a few months of training in WA this group left Fremantle on the 2nd September 1915 aboard the transport ship HMAT Anchises. Will wrote of their departure;
September 2nd 1915: We left Fremantle about 3pm and there was a strong wind blowing and a storm brewing from the Nor. West. We laid out in Gage Roads for about an hour and then commenced our journey across the Indian Ocean. Everybody was sick the first night and the sea was very rough for the first 2 days but from that on we had a lovely trip. We were out 16 days before we sighted land and then we only saw the dim coastline of N E Africa in the distance. A day or two later we saw more land and was fairly close on shore. We saw whales and flying fish and sharks and birds now and again and the porpoises are in the wake of the ship all the time. The weather is beautiful and the sea is smooth we have great fun and sports on board, boxing, tug of war, jumping etc we drill about 1 hour a day.
After their arrival in Egypt Will and his group did not remain long there and were sent on to Gallipoli, landing at Anzac Cove on the 11th October 1915. Will kept a diary of his time there;
It was strange going through the sap last night, bullets were flying all around and the great height on both sides of us didn’t look too inviting, we realise we are well among it now, and intend to give a good account of ourselves if we get the opportunity…I have had the bad luck to lose my mate Bert Ellement, he was severely wounded by shrapnel about 11am and I assisted him to the Field Ambulance tent about halfway to the beach. Bert and myself were sitting down talking to one another when the shell burst overhead. How I escaped without getting hit was a miracle. There are graves everywhere and out in the front of our trenches are the bodies of Turks, Australians, New Zealanders and Gurkhas. They have been there for weeks and the stench is awful when the breeze is blowing in our direction...I am now mates with Clarrie O'Neill of Armstrongs Metal Co Fremantle and we are at present digging ourselves in for the winter. The hills are tremendous and I can't imagine how our chaps got inland as far as we are at the present...Out between the trenches last night stripping the dead of their equipment. God it’s awful, the first man’s arm I raised came away from the body. These poor fellows have been lying here unburied since July...John Bolt took ill and couldnt carry the pack and come along with us, the conditions are beginning to tell on poor Jack he has been ill for some time now, although he doesn't say much...I met D Williams of Sewell Street going to hospital on a stretcher with enteric fever.
The harsh conditions at Gallipoli were taking a severe toll on the men, and sickness was outstripping casualties from Turkish fire. Will and the 28th Battalion were given a break from the line but there was no real rest as the men were always under shell fire even when they were helping to dig graves and improve trenches near the Beach. The weather was also taking a turn for the worse;
Thunderstorm raging, terrible lightning, the worst I have ever seen… Woke up to find the country snowed up. It is a beautiful sight, hostilities seem to have ceased, warships and hospital ship out at sea look lovely, machine guns frozen and nearly all are out of action. Ice and snow all around, terribly cold, can't get water, have to melt snow and ice, fires wont burn. Sam Hobbins gone to hospital.
Will was in bad health, suffering from jaundice and dysentery. He was sent to the beach field ambulance where he was sent to a dugout for a few days rest. However even these positions were not safe from the Turkish shellfire and Will was blown up by a shell.
Heavily shelled from the Narrows about 8pm. The first three hit the cliff opposite us the next two fell on the Gurkhas dugouts 50 yards away and the next one blew me and my dug out up, all I remember was a flash just outside my little borough and then when I woke up I was in hospital again, I must have been outed for 1 and a half hours the biscuit tins of earth had evidently saved my life...I can't realise what luck I’ve had, I am terribly shook up and feel very ill, only marks I got was a bruised cheek and a black eye.
Despite his narrow escape from death Will wasn't sent to the hospital ship straight away and remained at Anzac Beach until the 10th December 1915. He was then sent aboard the hospital ship Grantully Castle and the ship set sail for Egypt.
On arrival Will was sent to the 1st Australian General Hospital and then to 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital. He was now given a thorough medical examination and it was found that the shell had done great damage internally and had placed great stress on his heart.
Despite this Will was making a good recovery and on the 4th January 1916 was returned to the Base Camp, however he soon took a turn for the worse and three days later was sent to the 2nd Australian General Hospital. It seems the strain on his heart was still playing havoc with Will's condition. After a few days in hospital he was then sent to a Convalescent Camp.
While he was not healthy enough to return to the fulltime role of a soldier with the 28th Battalion, Will was transferred to the Anzac Police (Provosts) in Egypt where he helped to escort prisoners.
Will was on this duty for the next few months. In June 1916 he had another health relapse and the medical authorities decided to send Will back to Australia. On the 17th July 1916 Will boarded the Hospital transport ship Seang Choon for the trip home. He arrived back in Fremantle on the 11th August 1916.
After arriving home Will was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for a medical check up. He was granted a pension of 2/5/- per fortnight
He was then discharged from the AIF on the 5th February 1917.
When he was at Gallipoli in October 1915, Will had penned the following in his diary;
He is sitting well down in his dugout with his rifle ready to pop, should a Turk in the Opposite trenches risk so much as a peep over the top. But his thoughts Lord, how far they are straying, and his eyes silly ass, as they dim, as they picture a scene back in WA and a girl who is waiting for him.
Eight o'clock he can fancy her sitting in the Town Hall with her sister there, looking at the pictures on the screen, but her thoughts flown away to somewhere. And he can't resist one look of rapture, at the face that rests over his heart. Though but half of its sweetness to capture has defiled the photographer's art, What a girl with those nice eyes, so steady, and her cheeks like the pink of a rose, and that dear hair that just won't keep tidy, and the curved lips whose softness he knows. Down the long line of men in the trenches roams his glare, every one he dare swears, carries always, if only in memory, just the face of a girl over there.
Upon his return to Fremantle Will married his sweetheart Eileen Mary Anderson at St Patricks Church on the 5th March 1917.