Année de naissance: 1895

Lieu de naissance: Natimuk, Victoria, Australia

Profession: ouvrier journalier

Pays: Australia

Force armée: Australian Imperial Force

Rang: Private

Numéro de service: 6321

Incorporation date: 26/09/1916

Incorporation nom de lieu: Horsham, Victoria, Australia

Unités:  —  Australian Infantry, 23rd Bn. (Victoria)  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 09/10/1917

Lieu de décès: Dairy Wood, Belgique

Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Âge: 22

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

Private Wesley William Dewar served in the Australian Infantry 23rd Battalion, part of the 6th Australian Brigade, of the 2nd Australian Division.

The 2nd Australian Division participated in the Battle of Poelcapelle, a stage in the Third Battle of Ypres. It's ’ask was to cover the right flank of the 66th Division and it attacked with the 5th Australian Brigade, on the left and the 6th Australian Brigade on the left of the divisional front. The attack of the 6th Australian Brigade was carried by the 22nd, 24th, 21st and 23rd Battalions.

Zero hour, was at 5.20 a.m. The supporting artillery barrage was very light and lacked precision, leaving most German positions unscathed. Nevertheless as the men of the 23rd Battalion advanced they encountered little frontal opposition. However there was heavy machine-gun and rifle fire coming from the right flank in the vicinity of Daisy and Busy Woods, causing approximately half of the casualties of the Battalion on that day. Dairy wood was cleared by the Battalion of all German resistance. When moving onwards the Battalion lost its direction and veered north, away from Dairy Wood, and came in behind the 17th Battalion, of the 5th Australian Brigade. As they advanced they established posts to guard the flank ending at their 2nd objective at Rhine, a fortified farm ruin on the 6th Brigade’s left, thereby guarding the flank of the 5th Brigade. The Battalion held their positions and was eventually relieved from the frontline during the night by the Australian Infantry 49th Battalion.

Private Wesley William Dewar was killed in action on the 9th of October. According to a witness testimony of Lance Corporal Finlay, Private Wesley William Dewar was wounded at the very beginning of the attack. He was hit about 300 yards from the jumping off line, and crawled into a shell hole, where he probably died of his wounds. Private Wesley William Dewar was buried in the field, just west of Dairy Wood. He possibly fell, due to the German rifle- and machine-gun fire coming from Daisy and Busy Woods. His remains were exhumed after the war and he was interred at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood.

Alvan William Pasfield  Cousin

23rd Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/40/25). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources utilisées

Austin R., Forward Undeterred, The History of the 23rd Battalion 1915-1918, (McCrae, Slouch Hat Publications, 1998), pg. 132-136. Sources utilisées

Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10087212 Sources utilisées

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, DEWAR W W). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx. Sources utilisées

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 104-106. Sources utilisées

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480188

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=aed46710-7882-4903-a63a-99e4ae246131

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7416886

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=78385