Pte
William Hillary Bartlett
Information about birth
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Year of birth: 1893 |
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Place of birth: Locksley, New South Wales, Australia |
General information
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Profession: Labourer |
Army information
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Country: Australia |
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Force: Australian Imperial Force |
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Rank: Private |
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Service number: 5785 |
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Enlistment date: 09/05/1916 |
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Enlistment place: Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia |
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Units: — Australian Infantry, 17th Bn. (New South Wales) (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 20/09/1917 |
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Place of death: Anzac, Zonnebeke, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 24 |
Cemetery
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Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood Plot: XXVI Row: A Grave: 6 |
Distinctions and medals 2
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British War Medal Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 3
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Enlistment place | ||
| #3 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Private William Hillary Bartlett served in the Australian Infantry 17th Battalion, part of the 5th Australian Brigade, of the 2nd Australian Division. He embarked from Sydney on the 7th of October 1916 on the troopship HMAT Ceramic A40.
The 2nd Australian Division took part in the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (20-25 September), part of the Third Battle of Ypres. On the 20th September 1917 the Division attacked from Westhoek Ridge. The attack was carried by the 5th and 7th Australian Brigades and was aimed at the German line, which ran along a spur known as Anzac Ridge. The 5th Australian Brigade attacked with the 20th, 18th Battalions; the 17th Battalion was to be in support and had to capture the third and last objective. In the early hours of the 20th of September the 20th and 18th Battalions assembled at Westhoek Ridge, while the 17th assembled at Bellewaerde Ridge.
The attack began at 5.40 a.m. And the 20th Battalion went forward behind a creeping barrage. Half an hour later the Battalion captured the first objective, the Red Line. The 18th battalion moved through the 20th and captured the second objective, the Blue Line, by 07.40 a.m. Now the 17th started advancing. In the muddy and desolate valley of the Hanebeek stream, the Battalion was shelled by the German artillery. Notwithstanding the shelling the 17th suffered only slight casualties and moved through the line of the 20th Battalion, and later through the 18th Battalion. Under cover of a barrage the 17th Battalion advanced to the their objective, the Green Line, which was quickly occupied without opposition.
When the Germans had recovered from the initial blow, they started shelling the area of the 17th Battalion, while German airplanes machine-gunned the men. Battalion Headquarters were relocated to a captured German pill-box at Garter point, due to the heavy shelling. The German artillery kept shelling the 17th Battalion’s positions throughout the afternoon, causing very heavy casualties.
Private William Hillary Bartlett was killed during the attack on Anzac Ridge. According to witness reports in Bartlett’s Red Cross Wounded and Missing File Private, he was assigned as a stretcher-bearer. While returning from the line with a serious wounded soldier, William Hillary Bartlett and three other stretcher-bearers were caught by a barrage. Private William Hillary Bartlett was hit by a shell. He was badly wounded in the head and the back and must have died moments later. William Hillary Bartlett was initially buried along the Westhoek-Garter Point Road, close to Anzac House. After the war his remains were reburied on Buttes New British Cemetery in Polygon Wood.
The 2nd Australian Division took part in the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (20-25 September), part of the Third Battle of Ypres. On the 20th September 1917 the Division attacked from Westhoek Ridge. The attack was carried by the 5th and 7th Australian Brigades and was aimed at the German line, which ran along a spur known as Anzac Ridge. The 5th Australian Brigade attacked with the 20th, 18th Battalions; the 17th Battalion was to be in support and had to capture the third and last objective. In the early hours of the 20th of September the 20th and 18th Battalions assembled at Westhoek Ridge, while the 17th assembled at Bellewaerde Ridge.
The attack began at 5.40 a.m. And the 20th Battalion went forward behind a creeping barrage. Half an hour later the Battalion captured the first objective, the Red Line. The 18th battalion moved through the 20th and captured the second objective, the Blue Line, by 07.40 a.m. Now the 17th started advancing. In the muddy and desolate valley of the Hanebeek stream, the Battalion was shelled by the German artillery. Notwithstanding the shelling the 17th suffered only slight casualties and moved through the line of the 20th Battalion, and later through the 18th Battalion. Under cover of a barrage the 17th Battalion advanced to the their objective, the Green Line, which was quickly occupied without opposition.
When the Germans had recovered from the initial blow, they started shelling the area of the 17th Battalion, while German airplanes machine-gunned the men. Battalion Headquarters were relocated to a captured German pill-box at Garter point, due to the heavy shelling. The German artillery kept shelling the 17th Battalion’s positions throughout the afternoon, causing very heavy casualties.
Private William Hillary Bartlett was killed during the attack on Anzac Ridge. According to witness reports in Bartlett’s Red Cross Wounded and Missing File Private, he was assigned as a stretcher-bearer. While returning from the line with a serious wounded soldier, William Hillary Bartlett and three other stretcher-bearers were caught by a barrage. Private William Hillary Bartlett was hit by a shell. He was badly wounded in the head and the back and must have died moments later. William Hillary Bartlett was initially buried along the Westhoek-Garter Point Road, close to Anzac House. After the war his remains were reburied on Buttes New British Cemetery in Polygon Wood.
Sources 4
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17th Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/34/26). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources used |
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First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, BARTLETT W H). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx. Sources used |
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Mackenzie K.W., The Story of the Seventeenth Battalion A.I.F. in the Great War 1914-1918, (Sydney, Shippin Newspapers, 1946), pg. 190-193. Sources used |
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McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 75. Sources used |
More information 4
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480109 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=c7bddce8-a861-4a56-9032-9c8318ee8b57 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7352163 |
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The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=15415 |