FAMILY LIFE

Herbert Walker was born in 1894 in Ballina, one of John Gregory & Rachel (Hughes) Walker. He was one of 10 children. According to the NSW birth register the Walker family had moved to Murwillumbah in 1907.

APPLICATION

Herbert was single labourer, eager to do his bit. He travelled to Adelaide St, Brisbane on 24^th January 1916 to complete his application which showed his next of kin as his mother, Rachel Jenet, of Murwillumbah. He had 2 years compulsory service out of the Murwillumbah area.

His medical showed he was 21 years 9 months old, 5ft 8 inches tall (1.72m), weighed 142 lbs (64 kgs), with a fresh complexion, blue eyes & dark brown hair. His eyesight was good. Herbert was Methodist and had a scar on the left side of his chin.  He was enlisted as a private into the 41^st Infantry Battalion C Coy with service No 772.

THE 41^ST BATTALION

The 41st Battalion was raised at Bell's Paddock Camp in Brisbane in February 1916 with recruits from Brisbane, northern Queensland, and the northern rivers district of New South Wales. It formed part of the 11th Brigade of the 3rd Australian Division.
ENOGGERA TRAINING CAMP

As was the case with men from the Northern Rivers district in New South Wales, they trained at Rifle Range Camp, Enoggera near Brisbane. The Barracks Block was built as accommodation for men in two dormitories, each 36 feet by 22 feet (10.97 x 6.7 metres). Beds or bunks were not provided, instead each man slept on a palliasse with ground sheet on the floor. For many it was their first time away from home. Men from every walk of life, from clerks and teachers to factory and shop workers, were crammed together

Now training for the new recruits began. Firstly, the men received their vaccinations for smallpox, rabies & plague, then a recruit had to be inducted into military forms of discipline, command, and order. This was partially achieved through a program of basic training carried and, in a sense, was maintained for a long as a man was in the service. It involved marching and drilling with the rifle, cleaning and caring for personal equipment and being supervised and inspected in ways quite different to ordinary civilian life. For example, no boots should be allowed to get in a bad state of wear but must be sent to the bootmaker without delay for repair. Men who were found with hair long and unshaven had to have a haircut and shave

Secondly, after basic training there followed the far more serious exercise of turning a man into a fighting soldier at least partially prepared for the kind of warfare he was about to experience overseas. The topics and exercises in the syllabus of training were a world away from their former lives and included daily physical training, entrenching, wiring, firing rifle grenades, firing the Lewis light machine gun, dealing with gas attack, using hand grenades, using the bayonet, and the routines to be followed in the trenches.

This training was then put into practice during what were called ‘Field Days,’ when men would practice using the skills they had acquired in mock attacks both by day and by night. How well men had learnt to use their weapons, in cooperation with each other in training, would be tested in the harsh reality of the front line. Training would take several months

VOYAGE OVERSEAS

On the 18^th May 1916, the recruits left Sydney, sailing upon the HMAT Demosthenes. They thought it was the start of a new adventure- for many it was their first time so far away from home. However, after some time at sea the biggest problem turned out to be boredom. Attempts at breaking up the boredom, apart from the regular drill, varied. Shipboard activities included regular church parades and concerts. Troops engaged in lifebelt drill; a cookhouse on deck; soldiers on fatigues peeling potatoes 'spud bashing'; going to the dentist; barber, pay day; soldiers cleaning personal equipment; medical inspection. Sports and recreation included boxing, deck quoits, draughts. Also, the commanding officer's morning inspection; kit inspections; submarine drill; recreation such as the on deck 'open air' library, deck billiards, pillow fighting and card games including Nap. As well, conditions on the ships were cramped and the risk of illness was constant. 

ENGLISH TRAINING CAMP

They arrived in Plymouth, England on the 20^th July and were marched into the training camp. They had already completed their basic training in Australia but over many more tough months, in the camp, the volunteers left their old lives farther behind. They began their training with physical fitness exercises, they were taught individual and unit discipline, how to follow commands, how to march, some basic field skills and how to safely handle his weapons.  Later, as soldiers specialised in a particular area (for example, machine gunner or signaller) they would be trained in specific skills and would take part in practice manoeuvres and sham fights. They would spend many hours learning training in the use of bayonets, anti- gas training and guard duty along with lectures on camouflage or trench warfare and much more

WESTERN FRONT & TRENCH WARFARE

After training in Australia and Britain, the 41st Battalion arrived in France on 25 November 1916. It entered the front line for the first time on Christmas Eve and spent the bleak winter of 1916-17 alternating between service in the front line, and training and labouring in the rear areas. The recruits now found themselves fighting the German in trench warfare. On the Western Front in 1914–1918, both sides constructed elaborate trench, underground, and dugout systems opposing each other along a front, protected from assault by barbed wire. The area between opposing trench lines (known as "no man's land") was fully exposed to artillery fire from both sides. Attacks, even if successful, often sustained severe casualties. Trench warfare created a living environment for the men which was harsh, stagnant, and extremely dangerous. Not only were trenches constantly under threat of attack from shells or other weapons, but there were also many health risks that developed into large-scale problems for medical personnel. Apart from the inescapable cold during the winters in France & Belgium, trenches were often completely waterlogged and muddy, and crawling with lice and rats

HOSPITALISATION- ORCHITIS JANUARY 1917

On the 6^th January 1917 Herbert was admitted to the 9^th Field Ambulance with orchitis. (A Field Ambulance was a mobile front line medical unit (it was not a vehicle), manned by troops of the Royal Army Medical Corps.) Orchitis refers to infection or swelling and irritation, called inflammation, of one or both testicles. It is often associated with the mumps infection and by 8^th January he was admitted to the 7^th General Hospital with mumps.  Mumps is a contagious viral illness, easily spread among the soldiers. It can cause fever, swelling of the salivary glands and did cause inflammation in the testicles. There was no specific treatment for mumps. Instead, treatment focuses on symptom relief. Treatment would have included plenty of rest, lots of fluids, using a warm or cool compress to relieve facial pain and swelling & eating foods that do not need a lot of chewing. He rejoined his unit on 28^th January.

BELGIUM 1917

Compared to some AIF battalions, the 41st's experience of the battles in Belgium during 1917 was relatively straightforward. It had a supporting role at Messines on 7 June. At the end of June 1917, the 11th Brigade was ordered to establish a new front-line west of Warneton, in full view of the Germans. Work carried on night and day under heavy shellfire and the period became known to the battalion as "the 18 days".

HOSPITALISATION- NO DETAILS JUNE 1917

On the 20^th June Herbert was admitted to hospital, no details recorded, and he rejoined the unit on 30^th June 1917.

FIGHTING IN THE TRENCHES

Fighting continued in the trenches. An individual unit's time in a front-line trench was usually brief; from as little as one day to as much as two weeks at a time before being relieved. On an individual level, a typical soldier's year could be divided as follows:

·      15% front line

·      10% support line

·      30% reserve line

·      20% rest

·      25% other (hospital, travelling, leave, training courses, etc.)

Even when in the front line, the typical battalion would be called upon to engage in fighting only a handful of times a year; making an attack, defending against an attack or participating in a raid.

During the day, snipers and artillery observers in balloons made movement perilous, so the trenches were mostly quiet. It was during these daytime hours that the soldiers would amuse themselves with trench magazines. Because of the peril associated with daytime activities, trenches were busiest at night when the cover of darkness allowed movement of troops and supplies, the maintenance and expansion of the barbed wire and trench system, and reconnaissance of the enemy's defences. Sentries in listening posts out in no man's land would try to detect enemy patrols and working parties, or indications that an attack was being prepared.

It was some of the battalion's more "routine" tasks that proved its most trying experiences. The start of August found the 41st holding ground captured by two of its sister battalions in a feint attack on 31 July. Enduring continual rain, flooded trenches and heavy shelling many of the battalion's platoons dwindled from 35 men to less than ten.

THE BATTLE OF BROODSEINDE OCTOBER 1917

The 41^st captured its objectives at Broodseinde on 4 October with little difficulty. Belgium remained the focus of the 41st Battalion's activities for the five months after its action in October 1917 as it was rotated between service in the rear areas and the front line. The battle was the most successful Allied attack of the Third Battle of Ypres. Using bite-and-hold tactics, with objectives limited to what could be held against German counter-attacks, the allied devastated the German defence, prompted a crisis among the German commanders, and caused a severe loss of morale in the 4th Army. Preparations were made by the Germans for local withdrawals and planning began for a greater withdrawal, which would entail the abandonment by the Germans of the Belgian coast, one of the strategic aims of the Flanders Offensive.

TRAINING SCHOOL AND LEAVE IN ENGLAND NOVEMBER 1917 AND JANUARY 1918

From 6^th November to 17^th November Herbert attended a school (I cannot find what it was) and was granted leave to England from 18^th December to 6^th January 1918.

MARCH 1918- OCTOBER 1918

When the German Army launched its last great offensive in March 1918, the battalion was rushed south to France and played a role in blunting the drive towards the vital railway junction of Amiens. The Allies launched their own offensive on 8 August 1918, and the 41st played an active role both in the initial attack and the long advance that followed throughout August and into September. The 41st participated in its last major action of the war between 29 September and 2 October 1918 as part of the Australian-American operation that breached the formidable defences of the Hindenburg Line along the St Quentin Canal.

WAR ENDED

On 11^th November the fighting was officially over so he prepared to return to Australia. After the Armistice, the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes insisted Australian troops be repatriated (returned home) as quickly as possible. This logistical challenge was enormous with 135,000 troops brought home from Britain in 147 voyages, and 16,773 troops from the Middle East in 56 voyages, mostly on a first come, first go basis. There was a lack of suitable ships to transport personnel home and many had to wait many months before they were headed back to Australia.

GOING HOME

Herbert was granted leave to England between 15^th December 1918 & 6^th January 1919.  Herbert returned to Australia on the Nestor on 6^th July 1919 and was discharged on 20^th August 1919.

FOR HIS SERVICE

For his service, Herbert was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, and the Victory Medal and his name is recorded on the Dungay Public School WW1 Honor Roll

HOME LIFE

Herbert died on 28^th April 1984 in Sydney.  He is buried in Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, Matraville, plot-Eastern Drive Walls, Wall J1, Position 27

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