Année de naissance: 1895

Lieu de naissance: Forbes, New South Wales, Australia

Profession: Clerk

Pays: Australia

Force armée: Australian Imperial Force

Rang: Private

Numéro de service: 6189

Incorporation date: 01/05/1916

Incorporation nom de lieu: Moore Park, Sydney, South Wales, Australia

Unités:  —  Australian Infantry, 20th Bn. (New South Wales)  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 20/09/1917

Lieu de décès: Anzac, Zonnebeke, Belgique

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

Âge: 22

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

Private William Henry Twist served in the Australian Infantry 20th Battalion, part of the 5th Australian Brigade, of the 2nd Australian Division. The 2nd Australian Division participated in the Battle of the Menin Road (20-25 September 1917), a stage in the Third Battle of Ypres. The 5th Australian Brigade attacked with the 20th Battalion and the 18th Battalion in support; the 17th and 26th Battalions were in reserve.
Moments before the allied artillery barrage opened, the German artillery started shelling the jump-off lines of the 20th Australian Battalion. At 5.40 a.m. the allied artillery barrage came down, followed by the advancing Battalions. When the 20th Battalion crossed the Westhoek Ridge the German barrage came down heavily on them, causing several casualties. Nevertheless the attack went on and the Battalion only encountered slight resistance, from a line of old concrete artillery shelters, causing a slight hold up. By 7.24 a.m. the allied barrage crept over the ridge above Hanebeek Wood, and the men went on to the first objective and captured it around 7.30 a.m. Thusly the 20th Battalion had gained its objective and started to consolidate the line. For several hours their positions on the ridge were heavily shelled.
Enemy shelling was intermittent throughout the day and the next one, but the men held the line. The night was quit and the 20th Battalion was relieved from the frontline by the 19th Battalion on the following day.
Private William Henry Twist was killed in action on the 20th of September 1917, during the Battle of Menin Road. He was buried in the field, just south of Anzac House. His remains were exhumed after the war and were interred in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood.

"The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account", McCarthy C., London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995, pg. 72-75. Sources utilisées

20th Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/37/26). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources utilisées

Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10273497 Sources utilisées

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

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480479

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=993e39b7-f5d7-47b6-b99b-e7b9bfb2e481

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7636877

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=306967