William Henry Watt 25th Bttn Infantry, A.I.F.

[spike10764]

Tonight I received an email with the last letter home of Private William Henry Watt, 25th Infantry Battalion A.I.F. I thought I'd share it with you all, it moved me. Even in 1917 the troops were writing home in the "dont worry mother, we all have to go sometime style", trying to spare their relatives feelings. The picture is from the local paper in Penrith, Cumbria and the email explains the rest.

(Noo marrer- the Cumbrian equivalent of Hello or Hi......ratch means....well.... ratch- to search for something not to hand)

Noo marrer,

I was talking to my mother Delphine, she said you were interested in WW1, this letter was found in my gt grandmothers effects, it is the last letter of William Henry Watt Pte 5665 25 Btn Australian Infantry, the battle he was talking about was the first advance on Broodseinde Ridge 20th Sept 1917 which he came through in one piece, he was however killed in the second advance on 4th Oct, he has no known grave his name being on the Menin Gate panel 23.

I have his full military records from Australia he had gone to Queensland in c1912.

Harry was born 3rd August 1889 at 22 Rose Terrace, Keswick, their long time neighbours were the Evans family ( the Mrs Evans who was to give the letter to his mother )

Her son Edwin Evans Pte 26060 8th Btn Border rgt was killed at Ploegsteert 10th April 1918 and his son also Edwin was killed in Italy WW2 .

EVANS, EDWIN: Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) Unit Text: 9th Bn. Age: 28 Date of Death: 19/02/1944 Service No: 3600183 Additional information: Son of Edwin and Annie Evans, of Keswick, Cumberland; husband of Velma Evans, of Keswick.

taken from Penrith paper 1917

I`ve some more letters from two of my Robinsons I`ll ratch them out if you are interested.

Steve

Maybe some of our Aussie experts could fill in the exploits of the 25th Bttn prior to Broodseinde 1917, as I only read the email at 21.30, just before coming to work, so haven't had a chance to reply.

[Andrew P]

Thanks for sharing that with us Spike.

Tim/Blackblue is the 25th Battalion expert so he should be able to tell you something about their role in the battle.

Cheers

Andrew

[Blackblue]

Very sobering Spike. Thank you.

I have a relative, George Zeller, who was with the 25th Battalion so may even have known your William. His brother Thomas, and a cousin William, served alongside him with the 26th Battalion. Thomas was KIA at Broodseinde on 7 October. This is an extract from a piece I wrote on the family.

The next major engagement to be experienced by the 7th Brigade would be the assault on Broodseinde Ridge from which its defenders had a commanding view of the battlefield. In this battle the two Anzac Corps, each consisting of two divisions, would attack side by side. On the left was I ANZAC Corps, consisting of the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions, attacking south of the Ypres-Roulers railway line. The divisions in I ANZAC would also attack side by side with the 2nd Division on the left and the 1st on the right. The 7th Brigades would again be at the forefront of the assault attacking beside the 6th Brigade. The brigade attack was to be similar to Menin Road with the 25th Battalion leading the way to secure the Red Line and the village of Zonnebeke. The 26th Battalion was to follow and move through the 25th to and take the Blue Line consisting of Broodseinde Ridge in front of the village of Brooseinde itself.

The attack was to commence at 6.00am on the 4th October 1917. George Zeller arrived back at the 25th Battalion on this day and it appears unlikely that he joined the battalion for the attack. By 4.30am the battalions were in position and waiting on their start line for zero hour at 6.00am. At 5.25am a heavy German barrage began to fall and movement was seen to the front. At this time that it was realised that the Germans were also forming up for an attack on the Australian line. The Germans were too late and the allied barrage began at 6.00am falling on the Germans assaulting troops as they were forming up. The Australians of the 25th Battalion were quickly among them firing from the hip and using the bayonet. A series of small desperate engagements ensued before the Germans broke and ran. The ground was boggy and fierce resistance was encountered as the 25th Battalion advanced.

The 25th continued into what remained of Zonnebeke village itself having to dig out a number of determined strong points one by one. They continued towards the Red Line, marked by smoke shells, near the crest of Broodseinde Ridge reaching it and consolidating. At 7.35am they were able to inform Brigade HQ that the Red Line was secure as the 26th Battalion moved up in support. The 26th faced a considerable advance to the 25th Battalion positions and on to its objective over ground still swept by enemy shell and machine gun. At 8.10am the 26th Battalion moved through the 25th and with the 27th Battalion in support assaulted the Blue Line. The battalion experienced heavy fire as it advanced on the outskirts of Broodseinde village. They took mounting casualties which eventually became so great that advance faltered and they were driven back to the shelter of an old trench. The battalion dug in and consolidated from this position which was found to provide an even better defensive position than their proposed objective. Although suffering heavy casualties the attack was considered another success and morale was high as the other allied attacks had been just as successful.

During the Broodseinde action the 25th Battalion casualties were twelve officers and two hundred and thirty-nine men and the 26th Battalion nine officers and three hundred and eleven men. What was considered one of the most important features on the Western Front had been taken.

Rgds

Tim

[spike10764]

Thanks Tim - it's good to have a bit more background to the letter.

One thing struck me, do you have any more background on the 25th Bttn- I just wondered what they had been through before this- had they fought in other theatres-eg Gallipoli, or battles eg Somme etc. It appears the Aussies usually got in the thick of it and it made me wonder just how much Harry may have been through prior to this.

Andrew -thanks for the reply

[Patrick H]

What a very moving letter. How tragic that he appears in no doubt as to his fate. I cannot imagine the atmosphere of the last hours before going over with all your comrades writing their "last" letters home. What a pity he was only allowed the one letter and presumably couldn't write to his girlfriend ? Elsie.

And to be the family receiving the letter ? How awful for them and the fact that it might still be some time before they receive news confirming his death.

Patrick

[marina]

Very moving. Reliigous feelind seems to have carried many of them forward.

Marina

[Blackblue]

Plenty Spike,

The 25th Battalion arrived at Gallipoli with the 7th Infantry Brigade in September 1915. It went through all the major battles of 1916/1917/1918 on the Western Front. The 25th sufferred more battle casualties than any other AIF battalion.

You can read more here:

http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11212.asp

You can also request a digital copy of William's service papers here:

http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/ItemDetail.asp?M=0&B=8375916

If you are after something more specific I have the battalion history. There are also detailed accounts of all their actions in the official history which you can access here:

http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/index.asp

Rgds

Tim

[spike10764]

Tim

I think "plenty" is the understatement of the century, Bloody hell, the 25th seems to have been at every hard slog there was. I take my hat off to them. No wonder they rebelled when the powers that be wanted to disband them.

Many thanks for the links- over the next few days I'll have a proper look and see what I can get from them.

Spike

[Blackblue]

No probs mate....they did indeed have a very active war! Will be away for a while with work but you should be able to reach me via e-mail if you need anything further. The official history is very detailed.

Rgds

Tim

[Auimfo]

Fascinating,

While searching for some possible files amongst the Red Cross missing and wounded (on the AWM site) I came across the wrong William Henry Watt but the coincidence was uncanny.

5665 Pte William Henry Watt, 25th Battalion, KIA 4th Oct 1917 (as above)

but also

3210 Pte William Henry Watt, 24th Battalion, KIA 9th Oct 1917

[spike10764]

Fascinating,

While searching for some possible files amongst the Red Cross missing and wounded (on the AWM site) I came across the wrong William Henry Watt but the coincidence was uncanny.

5665 Pte William Henry Watt, 25th Battalion, KIA 4th Oct 1917 (as above)

but also

3210 Pte William Henry Watt, 24th Battalion, KIA 9th Oct 1917

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Uncanny

[Auimfo]

Not only that, but both were never found and are remembered on the same panel at the Menin Gate Memorial.