Bullmore, William Prince

857 Company Sergeant Major William Prince Bullmore - 5th Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company

William Prince Bullmore was born on the 21st February 1868 in Maitland New South Wales to Dr William Henry King Bullmore and Susannah Bullmore. He had four siblings, Lydia (1859), Caroline (1864), Elizabeth (1866) and Frederick (1870).

William was educated in NSW and spent three years serving in the NSW Artillery of the Citizens Forces. When William was old enough he travelled to Western Australia and found employment with the WA Government Railways.

On the 13th November 1896 he married Isobella McIntosh in Fremantle and they would have four children, William (1897), Ellen (Nellie)(1900), Mavis (1904) and Jean (1911).

They spent a few years in Northam in the 1900's but then returned to Fremantle.

The family were living at "Swan View" Ainslie Road North Fremantle. (Now called 17 Ainslie)

With the Great War, his son William went away with the 44th Battalion in 1916 but at nearly 50 years old, he was to old to enlist. However it was announced that Australia would be sending men for a new Railway Corps. As this was William's expert area he decided to enlist. William put his age down to 44 to enlist.

The medical examiner recorded William's physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 9 inches tall;

Weight - 165lbs;

Chest Measurement - 36-39 inches;

Complexion - Fresh,

Eyes - Brown;

Hair - Black.

After his successful enlistment William was sent to the Australian Railway Corps and was given the rank of Sergeant. They did not have much time in WA as on the 29th January 1917 William and his railway corps men boarded the transport ship HMT Miltiades in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for England. After the long sea voyage the ship arrived at Devonport England on the 27th March 1919.

The group were then disembarked and were sent to the Australian Railway Corps camp at Borden. In April 1917 Willim was promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major.

In May 1917 Williams unit the 59th Railway Operating Company (later renamed the (5th Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company) headed for France.

For a time they were responsible for running what was known as the 'Midland Line'. This ran from north of Poperinghe to Regensberg north of Ypres and then to St Julien.

They later operated from near Abbeville and ran services to Boulogne and Dunkirk as they were connected to the main French rail network.

They took supplies from the base depot to closer to the front lines. Though not in the front lines the railway lines were often under long range shellfire and aircraft bombing attacks.

William wrote a letter back home which was published by the Northam Advertiser on the 27th October 1917.

From France we went to Belgium, where we were received by Fritz with some heavy shelling. We are not a fighting unit, but are doing great work under this terrible torture, and as for being cold footed, let any man come into the battlefields of Flanders and put up with what we have to, and see how they would fare. You can take it from me, there is not a cold-footed man amongst our lot, every man is doing his best to beat Fritz. I suppose you know Joe Burley well, he got the D.C.M. on the battle fields of Africa fighting the Boers, and is now with us. He went out the other night with a big gun and ammunition and Fritz got one on to his train, setting it on fire; well, he could not put it out, but he saved the gun, forty men and best part of the ammunition, losing four trucks. He was the Sergeant Major in Charge. Dave Livingstone was the driver, it was a very brave act. Well he got the D.C.M. again, that as a bar attached. There was a terrible explosion, not a particle of the trucks, railway or anything else being left, and Burley just got away in time. What do you think of the cold-footed brigade now.

We are shelled morning, noon and night where we are stationed. We don't mind the shelling, but the Taubes are frightful. They are the only things that give us a scare, they come in the night and lay their eggs, and what, beauties! I have seen some awful sights ,'done by these Hells of things ; you have to take your chance. Last Monday week a party of us paid a visit up to Fritz's old trenches. It is wonderful what our boys have done to get them out of these trenches. It was marvellous the way they had their trenches fitted up, railway rails and six feet of concrete. Put our boys in the same trenches and they would never get them out! Our Artillery did most of the work, but when it came, for the word to say go, it was Hell let loose. We were a few, miles back.
Nothing but slaughter; oh! it was frightful! The day after it had fairly started Joe Goldsworthy and myself went up to one of our dressing stations. Fritz was shelling everywhere and anywhere. You should have seen those poor lads coming in; a good many Fritzs were amongst the wounded, and our poor fellows had a smile.
They were mostly Scotchmen coming in; a few other, battalions were in this fray, but Scotland took the lead. I said to one poor chap, 'How is it going ?' and he replied, 'We got them going ; if the weather will only keep good; give us a smoke Sergeant Major.' (You see I don't smoke but I always carry them.) Well, I lit one for him". He was badly wounded and smothered in mud. They had been laying in mud all night, before the attack. This place is Hell itself with a little rain, mud up to your knees. What a Wait these "poor .fellows laying in it all night waiting for the word to say go, and they did go! They drove Fritz out of the trenches in three hours what it took him three years to build ; that is after they started. Joe and myself gave a hand until our own train arrived with walking wounded; that is men who can get along with a little assistance. The pinched faces on some and others, saying do you think I have got a Blighty? Well, on this train were a good many Germans who were slightly wounded, who had helped some of our fellows along the road before they got to the dressing station. The casualties were very slight considering the defences. Fritz did not fight like he used to; he finds we are prepared to now meet any emergency, and doesn't wait for Tommy's bayonet. Prisoners were coming in everywhere; at our particular little Base we had a couple of trains, fifty in length, and every wagon full. We got rid of a good few thousand. Each of these wagons carry fifty Tommies, that is for transport purposes. The prisoners were taken in the afternoon during the heavy rain and we had to keep them in safe places. They did not want to run away once we had them. They were wet through, some with no hats, others with helmets ; they looked a poor lot, and a lot of boys amongst than. Alter we got them in the train everyone was given a dry shirt, and the Tommies were very good giving them cigarettes and matches....

We passed through five little towns and two large ones, they are all levelled to the ground bar one, that is the place where we are near. It is two miles from our little dugout, but oh! don't they give it some shells day and night; don't think for a moment we don't get the same!

There are a good many women and children here that Fritz did not get. They are a very funny lot, but have been through a lot of misery. The majority of these people' still have their farms, and the country looks wonderful ; it grows everything you put under the ground. At every other farm house are little beer houses; they call them Estaminets. The Tommies like the Belgian beer, but I could never take it on. The French are just the same, every other house licensed to sell beer. It is very light stuff. I went into one of these for a meal. Have you got anything to eat? Yah! Just like the Germans. Well, I had a couple of eggs, a cup of coffee —all coffee here— and bread and fat. She did not put the pepper and salt on the table, so I said, 'Have- you got any salt?' 'Yah.' 'Well let's have some.' She took -it out of her pocket ! 'What about the pepper, sis ?' 'Alright.' She also took it out of another pocket. I looked at' her and thought -it strange. I said, "Don't you leave it on the table ?' She," said, 'No, because the 'Ossie' steal them.'

William remained with his unit through the majority of 1917-1918. He got his first bout of leave in July 1918 when he was given two weeks in England. He then returned to his unit in early August and served with them for the next few months

On the 1st October 1918 due to health reasons William was transferred to the Railway Corps HQ in England. He was then sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth. He was still there when the Armistice was announced.

William was now waiting to be assigned a berth on a troopship home. On the 4th January 1919 he boarded the ship Marsala and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 12th February 1919. He was discharged from the AIF on the 30th March 1919.

William then returned home to "Swan View" 17 Ainslie Road North Fremantle and resumed his work as a Locomotive Engine Driver. He remined here till the late 1930's

William's wife Isobella died in North Fremantle on 3rd March 1937 and he then moved back to NSW where he died at Randwick on the 11th March 1944.

His two daughters Nellie and Jean were in England during World War Two. Nellie was a nurse with the British Army. Nellie was with the BEF in France and was evacuated from Dunkirk, and then went on to serve in the Middle East and India before returning to Britian in 1944 and then further service in Europe in 1945.