Owen, William Sydney
5766 Private William Sydney Owen - 16th Battalion AIF
William Sydney Owen was born in Fremantle WA on the 1878 to Robert and Clara Owen. He had three siblings. Robert (1873), Clara (1874) and Charles (1877).
The family lived in Fremantle and William was educated locally.
His mother Clara died in Fremantle in 1897 and his father Robert was lost at sea near Broome in 1889.
Prior to enlisting William was a plumber working in Fremantle and was living at 120 Attfield Street Fremantle.
On the 17th March 1916 in Fremantle William enlisted into the AIF. He was accepted as fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 5 & 3/4 inches tall;
Weight - 116lbs;
Chest Measurement - 32-34 inches;
Complexion - Fresh;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Dark.
Upon his successful enlistment William was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was initially assigned to No.56 Depot. William was taken through the basics of infantry work while at this depot camp. On the 4th April 1916 he was then assigned to the 18th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion AIF.
This group trained in WA until the 13th July 1916, when they departed from Fremantle Harbour on the transport ship HMAT Seang Bee. The ship then set sail for England, arriving at Plymouth on the 9th September 1916.
William and his group were then disembarked and sent to the 4th Training Battalion at Rollestone Camp on the Salisbury Plains. He had several more weeks of training here but on the 4th December 1916 was put into a draft of soldiers that left for Folkestone Harbour where they boarded a transport ship to France.
On the 5th December 1916 William was sent into the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples. William would spend the next few months in the base depot camp as he was only taken on strength of the 16th Battalion on the 17th February 1917.
The 16th Battalion were then on the Somme Battlefield, having just participated in the capture of Stormy Trench.
In March 1917 the Germans began their withdrawal to their pre-prepared defensive position known as the Hindenburg Line.
The 16th Battalion, as part of the 4th Brigade were tasked with breaking the Hindenburg line at Bullecourt and capturing the German positions. This assault finally went ahead on April 11th 1917 with the assistance of tanks though with no artillery support. On the 4th Brigade front, the 16th & 13th Battalion broke through the thick barbed wire and despite the heavy German fire managed to capture sections of the trenches. However due to their flanks being unsupported and the lack of supporting fire along with running out of ammunition, the survivors had a choice to remain and become prisoners of war or to make a dash back for their own lines.
The 16th Battalion had very heavy casualties with only a handful of men making back to their own lines.
During the action William had made it into the German trench but during the next few hours he had been wounded in the head, shoulder and breast. William was therefore in no condition to try and make it back to his own lines and so when the Germans recaptured the trench, William was taken prisoner.
Upon capture he was taken away with other wounded prisoners and their wounds were eventually seen to. William was sent to Limburg and he would spend the remained of the war as a prisoner of the Germans.
After the Armistice was signed in November 1918, the men being held prisoner by the Germans were released. William returned to England on the 2nd December 1918. He was then granted over a months leave and when returning from leave on the 6th January 1919 he was posted to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth.
He would wait here until he was assigned a berth on a troopship home. On the 5th March 1919 William boarded the transport ship Nevassa in Portland England and set sail for Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 13th April 1919.
William was discharged from the AIF on the 1st June 1919.
After the war William was employed as a lumper at Fremantle Harbour and was living at 20 Nairn Street Fremantle.
By 1925 he was living at 23 Essex Street and was working as a barman. In 1936 he was at Stotter's Yard in Mouat Street.
By 1943 he was living at 12 Bannister Street.
William died in Nedland in 1964 aged 85. He was buried at Fremantle Cemetery plot ANGLICAN MON A7 0406