4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force

19th Jul 1916 Reliefs

13th of April 1918 Under Heavy Attack

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There are:1 items tagged 4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have served with
4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Addis William Thomas. Pte. (d.13th January 1917)
Addis William Thomas. Pte. (d.31st January 1915)
Aley Albert Sydney. Pte. (d.9th Oct 1917)
Allardyce George Gilmour. Lt. (d.18th May 1918)
Ayers Victor Albert. Pte.
Boe James. L/Cpl. (d.20th Jul 1916)
Brabazon Sydney Hamilton. (d.25th July 1916)
DeVine Apcar Leslie. Sgt.
Howe MiD. Edwin Walter. Sgt.
McCallum Angus Duncan. Pte.
Moody Henry William. Pte.
Myers Walter James. Pte.
Pritchard William. Pte. (d.6th-9th Aug 1915)
Pritchard William. Pte. (d.6th Aug 1915)

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Records of 4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force from other sources.

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Pte. Henry William Moody 4th Battalion

My great-uncle Henry Moody received a gunshot wound on the right side on 6th of July 1918. He was admitted to the 14th General Hospital in Wimereux for two days and treated before being invalided to England.
Leeanne McHarg

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Sgt. Edwin Walter Howe MiD. 4th Battalion

Edwin Howe was born in London, England in 1896. He died in Cheltenham, Victoria. Australia in 1947 aged 51 years. Because Edwin had no headstone on his grave, my brother Graham, son in law of Edwin, decided to remedy this after the death of his wife Beverly in January 2018. Much research was done to obtain information re Edwin's Army life plus entitlement of medals. With a lot of help from my local RSL Advocate we obtained the replicas just in time to be able to place them on the unmarked grave at the 100 year celebration then later on the completed grave. I am posting photos of Edwin's grave in the hope that Tony Southend or Jacs may get to see them and get in contact with us.
Heather Lynch

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Pte. William Thomas Addis 4th Btn. Australian Infantry (d.31st January 1915)

Private Addis is buried in the Kavieng European Cemetery in Papua New
S flynn

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Pte. Victor Albert Ayers 37th Btn.

Victor Albert Ayers enlisted in the 4th Battalion AIF in late 1914 and landed at Gallipoli as part of the second wave later in the morning of 25th April 1915. He returned home sick in late 1915 and was medically discharged. He re-enlisted and served a second tour with 37th Battalion.
One of 3 brothers who served in ww1, Victor was the only one to return home at the end of the war. Another brother Charles enlisted in the 55th Battalion in Aug 1915 and was later killed in action at Polygon Wood in Belgium in Sept 1917. And the third brother Sydney enlisted in the Australian Flying Corps in Sept 1916 and was shot down near Cambrai in Nov 1917. He survived the crash in no mans land however was hit by shrapnel in the stomach running towards friendly lines and died the next day.
John Waugh

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Pte. William Pritchard 4th Btn. (d.6th Aug 1915)

When I was growing up I always knew that my paternal grandfather, William Pritchard, had died in the First World War; my father was completely unapproachable about the subject.
The years went by, my father died in 1983; my life continued as lives do, but sometimes I would ask myself, who was my grandfather? I knew his name, William Pritchard the same name as my father, but that was it, just a name.
Then along came the Internet and with it the ability to search the First World War records, so off I started my research. First I tried the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour website. There were lots of Pritchards, but none killed on the Somme. There was one killed at Gallipoli, but the next of kin was wrong, I was looking for my grandmother Ada Pritchard. Many long nights followed, coffee made by my husband Steve left to go cold, and then I would give up for a few months. When I looked at my father's family tree, it was just my father and my grandmother and his half sisters. His mother (my grandmother) had remarried in the 1930s but there was no father for my father, and then I would start searching again. I would sit down at my computer and say, " ... right granddad tonight I am going to find you" then, nothing.
The search went on in this way for five years. I emailed the Australian authorities but they said they had no record of the pension. I even started to wonder did this man ever exist, but he had to have existed. Talking to the family, no one knew anything, my three aunts in Australia knew nothing. However, I never gave up hope of finding him. I tried birth records, but there was the problem of trying to find someone with the name of William Pritchard when you are not quite sure when or where they were born, and there were a great many people with the same name. I also looked for the record of his marriage to my grandmother, but found nothing. I was actually starting to feel quite down, but always in the back of my head was the War Pension from Australia, so they had to be married.
Then one night I was sitting there staring at the census records yet again, and I realised that I was looking at things the wrong way round. I should be looking for my grandmother marrying my grandfather, and 'bingo' the first search came up with the record of their marriage. Overjoyed, I immediately sent away for the marriage certificate and waited, it seemed to take ages to arrive! The marriage certificate arrived and I found out that my great grandfather was called James and where he lived. If I said it once I must have said it a hundred times that night to my husband "... did you know that my great grandfather was called James" - he would just smile and nod.
I was getting so frustrated. I emailed everyone on a website who had a William Pritchard born in London, hoping that although I may not have the full story, perhaps they might have further information. Most people responded, but of course it was all negative. But I had the wedding certificate and knew who my great grandfather was, so I started emailing everyone again, and that is when I got the reply back saying yes it looks like we are related. I explained to her about my grandfather but she did not have any information either but she said she would try and help me as I had made her curious, but I needed my grandfather's birth certificate. I got that and yes, I had finally found part of my grandfather's family. So in the space of 2/3 weeks I knew the names of my great grandfather and my great grandmother, I knew where my grandparents had married, I knew where they both lived before they were married, and from this relation I found all of the names of my grandfather's brothers and sister. My father's side of the tree was now getting full, but there was still the question of grandfather's death in the First World War.
Late that day the family member that I had found emailed with a link to the Australian Service records and said look at page 10. When I did I found the next of kin James Pritchard crossed out and in red ink Ada Pritchard added. I then went through the documents that she had found on line for me and on page 25, there it was, Widow Ada Pritchard, dependent William Joseph Pritchard (my father). It even told me how much pension they received, which was Â£1 every other week for my father and Â£2 every other week for my grandmother. So why did she tell my Mother that my grandfather was killed at the Somme? I just sat looking at the screen - it had been there all the time, but of course how was I to know. I must be honest, I cried, really cried tears of joy. I had done it, I had found him.
He was born in Brick Lane, London in 1890. He was 25 years old when he joined the 4th Battalion, A.I.F (yes this was the Battalion that went on the rampage in Cairo!) and served in D Company. He enlisted at Liverpool Camp, New South Wales on 6th November 1914 and left Sydney on the HMAT Seang Bee for Egypt, as a 2nd Reinforcement, on 11th February 1915. This was the day before my father's first birthday. He left Alexandria on 5th April 1915 on T.S.S. Lake Michigan for Gallipoli. He was killed between 6th and 9th August 1915 during the attack on Lone Pine, and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial. There was a Court of Enquiry at a place called Fleurbaix, France, which confirmed his death in action but when I asked the Australian Government if they had the papers, they said unfortunately they have no other papers on my grandfather.
It is unclear whether my grandfather travelled to Australia to enlist certainly I was told this by my mother... he joined the Australian Army because they paid better than the British Army, and if he was killed, then my grandmother also got a better pension" - and one must remember that Â£6 a month in 1915/16 was a lot of money in those days. However, he could have gone to Australia in 1914 to seek a new life and employment on the land, but the war upset his plans. My feeling is that he intended that my grandmother and my father would settle in Australia with him. I suppose the thought of a bright new future in Australia was very appealing. The family row, oh well that was because his father - James Pritchard wanted some of the pension money! It is unclear why my grandfather put his father, James, down as next of kin on the Attestation Form. Perhaps he did so in case the Australian Army would not take married men from England. But that is something else for me to look up.
My grandfather's death in the period 6th to 9th August occurred when the 4th Bn. of the 1st Australian Division were engaged in bitter fighting at Lone Pine - an action in which seven VCs were awarded. The attack is well chronicled, C E W Bean devotes no less than 40 pages to it in The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918. He records that the attack began at 5.30pm on 6th August, on a narrow front with the first troops filing into tunnels, which extended some fifty yards beyond the front line. The attacking troops reached the Turkish front line but found it roofed over with heavy logs, which the Australians tried to remove while others went further forward and then worked their way back along the communication trenches. Much of the fighting took place in semi-darkness with attacks and counter-attacks that lasted until 9th August.
Another author, Alan Moorhead, comments in his book Gallipoli, "... it is really not possible to comprehend what happened. All dissolves into a confused impression of a riot, of a vicious street fight in the back alleys of a city, and the metaphor of the stirred-up ant heap persists ..."
What we do know is that 1st Australian Division lost over 2,000 men during the battle. The 4th Battalion, in which my grandfather served, went in with 20 officers and 722 other ranks and suffered the loss of 15 officers and 459 other ranks killed wounded or missing (63% of those engaged).
After years of wondering and searching I now have answers to my questions.
Carole Sach

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Pte. William Thomas Addis 4th Btn. (d.13th January 1917)

Private Addis is buried in the Kavieng European Cemetery in New Guinea, Grave 13.
s flynn

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Pte. William Pritchard 4th Btn. (d.6th-9th Aug 1915)

It took me five years to track down my grandfather, as my nanny had lied about where he died, due to family reasons. There had also been a family row (which my dad remembered) and my dad never saw his father's family again. My grandfather was killed in action between 6th and 9th August 1915 at Lone Pine, Gallipoli. Why he joined the AIF I have no idea. He was born in Brick Lane, London in 1890, married nanny in Bethnal Green in 1913 and my dad was born in 1914.
William Pritchard enlisted in the AIF at Liverpool Camp, Australia in November 1914. He landed at ANZAC Cove on 25th April 1915 between 11 and 12 pm. The first time I went to see him, (and I was the first person to go there in 90 years to see him) I made him a promise that I would be there at ANZAC on 25th April 2015, as everyone had seemed to forget about him except me.
I was there on the 26th, as on the 25th ANZAC was closed to the public, but was able to cruise past ANZAC about 9am that morning. That is a trip I will never forget nor the atmosphere at ANZAC and Lone Pine on the 26th April 2015.
Lone Pine! Lone Pine! Our hearts are numbly aching For those who come no more,
Our boys who sleep the sleep that knows no waking,
Besides the Dardan's shore.
Through all the years, with glory sad and sombre,
Their names will deathless shine;
No bugle call can wake them from their slumber:
Lone Pine! Lone Pine!

Sleep on my brave heart, found at last, William Pritchard (my grandad).
Carole Sach

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Pte. Angus Duncan "Dunc" McCallum 16th Battalion

Great Uncle Dunc (as he was known) was born on 10 September 1880. Before the Great War, Dunc McCallum worked as a soap maker, clerk and labourer. He tried to enlist on 27 July 1915 but was rejected because of weakness of the heart and cardiac murmur.
He re-applied in March 1916 and was enlisted on 21 August that year at the age of 35. After basic training at Blackboy Hill, he was assigned to the 20th Reinforcements of 16 Btn and the unit finally departed Fremantle on the HMAT Suffolk on 13th of October 1916. After a short training period in the UK the unit crossed to France on the Princess Clementina on 28th of December 1916 where they undertook more rigorous training.
Finally Dunc was taken on strength in the field on 11th of February 1917 at Bazentin. The 16th Battalion were in the thick of things at the Battle of Bullecourt (the black day of the AIF) on 11th of April 1917. There were significant casualties killed and wounded with 300 captured. Total 16 Btn losses on that day alone were 17 officers (from a total of 20) and, 623 other ranks (from a total of 797). Dunc was one of those casualties, having been wounded by shrapnel in his left knee. He was interned firstly in Dulmen POW camp until August and then transferred to Hembahn, Munster II Camp where POWs were assigned to work on farms and forests and often enjoyed a superior diet to the civilian population.
After the Armistice, Dunc was allowed generous leave in the UK until he was repatriated to Australia on 5th March 1919 and arrived in Albany on the SS Nevasa on 13 April. He spent 6 days in the sick bay suffering from myalgia on the journey home and was discharged as medically unfit on 3rd June 1919. He married Whilemina Denyer later that year, joined the WAGR (keeping it in the family) and was on the staff at Swanbourne Station as a railway porter for 16 years. He was described as a man of remarkable personal charm with a kindliness of character which won him close friendships. Dunc passed away peacefully after a long illness in 1950. He was buried at Fremantle Cemetery in a non-military grave. The Office of the Australian War Graves Commission recently have commissioned an official plaque in the Garden of Remberance plus a small plaque to be placed on Dunc's existing grave.
Wendy Mahoney

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Sgt. Apcar Leslie DeVine 4th Infantry Battalion

Apcar Leslie De Vine was born in the Saint Helier parish of the island of Jersey on 22 April 1886. In 1909 he married Edith Lepine Gray in England. Prior to the First World War he served with the Royal Sussex Regiment of the British Army and was an electrical engineer by trade. He immigrated to Australia before the war. He enlisted at Randwick, New South Wales on 19th of August 1914 and was assigned to the 4th Infantry Battalion. De Vine departed Sydney aboard HMAT Euripides on 20th October 1914.
De Vine served at Gallipoli and the Western Front with the 4th Battalion and was wounded several times during the conflict. During this period he was promoted through the ranks to corporal (1916), lance sergeant (1917), and finally sergeant (1918). Having served with the 4th Infantry Battalion for the duration of his service, De Vine returned to Australia on 16th June 1919.
De Vine later served with the Australian Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the Second World War as NX9819 Craftsman Leslie De Vine. On 8 February 1943, and whilst a member of the 2/6th Armoured Regiment, Apcar Devine died due to illness and is buried at Sydney War Cemetery, Australia.
s flynn

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L/Cpl. James Boe 4th Battalion (d.20th Jul 1916)

James Boe was born at Stranraer, Scotland and immigrated to Australia. He worked in Sydney as a plumber and was a keen footballer. He was 29 years old when he volunteered to join the Australian Imperial Force at Liverpool, New South Wales on 18th January 1915. Boe departed Sydney aboard HMAT Kyarra with the 4th Battalion on 13th April 1915. He served in Egypt, Gallipoli and France. James Boe was killed in action at Pozieres, France on 20th July 1916.
s flynn

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Lt. George Gilmour Allardyce 4th Btn (d.18th May 1918)

Lt. George Gilmour Allardyce was born in Dublin and was the son of George and Janet S. Allardyce, of "Viewmount," Archiestown, Carronon-Spey, Morayshire. He died at Oxford, from wounds received in France age 22. He was an undergraduate of Trinity College, Dublin and is buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, County Dublin, Ireland.
Update: there is a very detailed account of his military service here: Lt. George Gilmour Allardyce
S Flynn

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Pte. Walter James Myers 4th Battalion

My great Uncle, Walter James Myers, was treated at the 2nd Northern General Hospital between 29th July and August 1916 after receiving gun shot wounds at Poziere, France. Any information would help.
Jamie

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Sydney Hamilton Brabazon 4th Bn. (d.25th July 1916)

He is buried in the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Somme, France
S. Flynn

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4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force

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4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force
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4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force

Want to know more about 4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force?

Those known to have served with4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Forceduring the Great War 1914-1918.

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If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- 4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force during the Great War -

Those known to have served with
4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force
during the Great War 1914-1918.