Wilson, James Edward
Lieutenant James Edward Wilson MC - 6th Field Artillery Brigade
James Edward Wilson was born on the 29th November 1878 in Winchelsea Victoria to Joseph and Agnes Wilson. He had several siblings, Annie (1880), Henrietta (1882), Jesse (1885), Agnes (1887), Charles (1890), Caroline (1892), Harold (1895) and Walter (1897).
He was educated in Geelong Victoria and spent five years with the Victorian Garrison Artillery. He then served in the Boer War with the Victorian Mounted Rifles. This unit was under the command of a Colonel Tom Price. During his time fighting the Boers he was near Pretoria when he was struck by a stray Boer bullet but fortunately not causing serious injury.
In 1902 he moved to Western Australian with his partner Annie, who was from Colac Victoria, and took up residence in Albany.
In 1902 in Albany he married Harriet Ann "Annie' Gaylard. They would have six children, James (1902), Eric (1904), Stanley (1906), Ruby (1907), Mavis (1911) and Reginald (1912). James and Eric had been born in Albany but the other children were all born in Fremantle.
In 1905 the family had moved to South Fremantle and set up residence in Walker Street.
During this time James served in Fremantle with the 11th Garrison Artillery and was working for the Fremantle Harbour Trust.
When James enlisted to serve in the war his son James signed up as an apprentice plumber with the firm Instones in Essex Street. (He worked for them for 51 years)
On the 14th August 1914 James offered his services for the Australian Imperial Force and was accepted as fit. The medical examiner recorded James's physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 9 & 1/2 inches;
Weight - 160lbs;
Chest Measurement - 38-40 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Brown.
Upon his successful enlistment, James was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the Australian Artillery. Due to his previous service in the Garrison Artillery, James was given the rank of Sergeant and assigned to the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade Ammunition Column.
James and this group trained in WA for the next few months. They trained with the 8th Battery of the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade which was also made up of WA recruits.
On the 2nd November 1914 James and his group boarded the transport ship HMAT Medic in Fremantle harbour and then set sail for Egypt.
The Australians then set up camp at Mena near Cairo, and they trained here for the next few months. In March 1915 the Australians began to be sent to Lemnos Island off the Turkish coast. Preparations were now underway for a landing on the Turkish coast at Gallipoli.
As part of the infantry landing, the artillery including the 8th Battery and its personnel would be landed at Gallipoli. On April 25th 1915, the 8th Battery of the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade landed and the guns were manhandled up the Anzac Cove terrain to where they could support the infantry.
The 8th battery was placed in the southern sector of the Anzac battlefield near Bolton's Ridge and Shell Green. Unfortunately, the records are sparse on information so we don't know when James landed at Gallipoli but it states he was assigned to the MEF (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) on the 4th April 1915 so he would have been with the 8th battery on the troopships and when they landed at Anzac Cove.
James appears to have served through the 1915 Gallipoli campaign without being wounded or evacuated through illness.
In January 1916 the 8th Battery returned to Egypt after Gallipoli had been evacuated. On the 27th February 1916 at Tel-el-Kebir Camp James was transferred to the 4th Divisional Artillery. On the 6th March 1916 he was transferred to 103 Battery of the 21st Howitzer Brigade. James left Egypt with this unit on a troopship on the 25th March 1916 and headed for France, disembarking at Marseilles on the 1st April 1916. On arrival in Marseilles, James was sent to hospital ill, but returned to his unit after a few days.
The Australians were initially sent to northern France in the Armentieres region and they spent April through to June in this sector becoming experienced to the war on the Western Front.
On the 15th May 1916 James was transferred back to the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade. In June 1916 James was sent on attachment to the 1st Australian Trench Mortar Battery.
On the 20th June 1916 James was attached to the 1st Division Trench Mortars, but on the 7th July was detached for duty with the 13th Field Artillery Brigade which had newly arrived in the Fleurbaix sector and who provided artillery support during the Fromelles battle of 19th July 1916. James soon returned to the 1st Division Trench Mortars and served with them at Pozieres and Mouquet farm.
Unfortunately, James's younger Brother, Harold Gordon Wilson (pictured left) died at Pozieres while serving with the 11th battalion AIF. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
On the 1st September 1916 James was appointed Temporary Battery Quarter Master Sergeant and on the 20th October was promoted Acting Battery Sergeant Major. On the 4th December 1916 James reverted to Sergeant when the previous battery Quarter Master Sergeant returned from hospital.
James continued to serve with the Trench Mortars through the first half of 1917, seeing action at places such as Lagnicourt and Bullecourt. His good work had come under notice and in July 1917 he was sent to England for Officer training. This training took place at the Royal Artillery Cadet School at St John's Wood.
James successfully completed his course and was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant on the 30th November 1917. He was returned to France and spent a short time in the Artillery Base Depot at Rouelles. In February 1918 he was then appointed to the 6th Battery of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade. During his first week he was sent on a course in regard to the use of signalling and the use of pigeons.
The 6th Battery of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade was currently serving in Belgium in the area between Ypres and Messines.
James was wounded on the 11th March 1918 in an event that would see him decorated. His official recommendation for the Military Cross reads;
“For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Verbrandenmoles Ridge south of Ypres on 11th March 1918, whilst his battery was being subjected to heavy shell fire, this Officer showed splendid courage in getting his men away to safety. He was examining dugouts and attending to the wants of his men when he was badly wounded in the legs and arms. Seeing a dugout blown in close by he refused assistance until the occupants (three in number) had been dug out and personally supervised the work of the rescue party from where he lay.”
Pictured below are the aerial photo and the map of the artillery positions from the war diary of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade (Australian War Memorial 2nd FAB War diary March 1918)
After being wounded, James was initially sent to the 1st Australian Field Ambulance where his wounds were treated and was then transferred to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station. He was then sent by Ambulance train to the French town of Camiers where he was admitted to the 20th General Hospital.
Fortunately, his wounds were not severe, and James was soon released to the Artillery Base Depot at Le Havre. He rejoined the 6th battery on the 27th April 1918. The unit was then at Caestre, supporting the operations of the 1st Australian Division. James was now at the rank of Lieutenant. The award of the Military Cross was announced in the London Gazette in May 1918.
James served with his unit until late July 1918 when he was sent to England to take part in training at the Royal Artillery Depot at Heytesbury. He was only on this work for a few months because James qualified for Anzac leave. This was a program of six months home leave to those of 1914 enlistments. However the end of the war soon occurred in November 1918. James departed from England in December 1918, returning to Fremantle in January 1919.
James was discharged from the AIF on the 25th March 1919. His brother Charles Joseph Wilson survived the Great War after serving with the 28th Battalion.
Returning from the Great War, James resumed employment with the Fremantle Harbour Trust.
James's son Eric died in February 1925 aged 21 at Nannup in a motor vehicle accident; The Great Southern Herald reported;
James Edward Wilson was a Councillor at Fremantle from 1921 to 1935. During these years he had served on the Health Committee, the Finance and General Purposes Committee, Parks, Oval and South Beach Committee as well as the Works and lighting Committee.
He was also the Fremantle Council representative at many Anzac Day and Armistice Day commemorations through the 1920's and 30's. Below is a picture of James preparing to meet the Duke and Duchess of York in Fremantle in 1927. (James is on the far left of photo.)
Sadly, another son Stanley, died in 1937 aged 31 in Fremantle, this was also the result of a traffic accident; The West Australian Newspaper reported;
His son James served with the 2/11th Battalion during World War Two (WX382). He served against the Italians and Germans in the Middle East and then the Japanese in the Pacific. He survived the war and was discharged in 1945.
Reginald Medic Wilson (WX25934) also served with the 109 Anti-Tank Regiment, his service being mainly in Australia.
James Edward Wilson died on the 21st April 1945 at 11 Walker Street South Fremantle aged 66.
Wilson Park in South Fremantle was named after James Edward Wilson.
Sadly, James Edward Wilson lies in an unmarked grave in Fremantle Cemetery, Plot ANGLICAN MON A7 0311.