Just Another Pair Of Socks

Melton District ANZACS

Walter WICKHAM

Personal

Born: 11 August, 1891

Birth registration: Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages Registration No. 22195

Birthplace: Dromana, Victoria, Australia

Parents: George Wickham & Mary Ann King

Died: 1972

Place of death: Queensland, Australia; Record No. C2816

Burial place: Monto No. 2 Cemetery, Section 1, Plot 11, Monto, Queensland,.

Awards and Honours

  • Military Medal
  • British War Medal 1914-20
  • Victory Medal

Battalions

55th Battery, 36th Australian Siege Brigade

Events

Enlistment

Regimental Service Number: 417

Enlistment date: 5 June, 1915 Melbourne

Age at enlistment: 23 Years 11 Months

Address at enlistment: Artillery Barracks, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia / Melton Railway Station

Religion: Presbyterian

Marital Status: Single

Next of kin: Father: George Wickham

Physical Description: Height: 6 feet
Further details unavailable
Weight:
Complexion:
Eyes:
Hair:
Distinctive marks:

Embarkation ship: HMAT A67 Orsova A67 from Melbourne.

Rank: Gunner

Return Date: 19 April, 1919

Return Vessel: H. T. Sardinia.

Arrival at Australia: 28 May, 1919.

Discharge Date: 27 July, 1919

War Service Summary

105/06/1915 - Enlisted
17/07/1915 - Embarked form Melbourne
15/07/1915 - Promoted Corporal, transferred to 1st Reinforcements
12/04/1916 - Reverted to Gunner at own request
17/04/1916 - Joined 55th Battery; Unit renumbered 36th Heavy Artillery Group
03/02/1917 - To hospital; sick
13/03/1917 - Discharged from hospital
14/04/1917 - Rejoined unit from hospital
13/08/1917 - Awarded the Military Medal for Bravery in the field; See Ninth supplement to the London Gazette 30312, dated 25/09/1917; Australian Gazette, No. 9, dated 24/01/1918
26/08/1917 - To hospital; sick; Admitted 49th Field Ambulance
20/09/1917 - Discharged to base depot from 39th General Hospital; Harve; Rejoined unit
30/01/1918 - On leave to Paris
06/02/1918 - Rejoined unit from leave
24/02/1918 - To hospital; diptheria
09/03/1918 - Tonsillitis; admitted 7th Convalescence Depot; Boulogne
12/03/1918 - Discharged to Rest Base
15/03/1918 - Marched in from Convalescence Dapot
19/03/1918 - Marched out to 2nd Siege Battery
08/09/1918 - Granted leave to U.K.
23/09/1918 - Rejoined unit from leave
06/02/1919 - Proceeded to England for return to Australia
27/07/1919 - Discharged from AIF
13/08/1919 - Awarded Bar to the Military Medal; see London Gazette 31496, dated 23/07/1919; Australian Gazette, No. 119 dated 17/10/1919


Paybook No. 263319

War Service Commemerated

Life After the War

Names of wife & children:
1929 - Married Julianna LINDE Linde in Queensland, Australia. Regc. No. B6332. She died 1956 in Queensland, Rec. No. C4761)

Place/s of residence:
1925-1958 - Mulgildie Rd., Eidsvold, Queensland; with Gilbert and Julianna
1963 - Kalpowar, Queensland, Australia; with Gilbert

Occupations:
Labourer

Place of burial:
Monto No. 2 Cemetery, Monto, Queensland, Section 1, Plot 11. Also buried here is his brother Gilbert. Walter's wife Julianna is buried at Monto No. 1.

Other relevant information:

Additional Information

13/08/1919 - Awarded Bar to the Military Medal; see London Gazette 31496, dated 23/07/1919; Australian Gazette, No. 119 dated 17/10/1919

Paybook No. 263319

Brother, Gilbert Wickham, 2649, also served

Walter and Gilbert both served in World War 2 with 10th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps, Qld.

Walter and Gilbert attended Melton State School and are on the School honour board.

Gilbert Wickham is listed in the Express Honour list but Walter is not.

There is a Wickham Street in Melton South.

“Only one Australian battery – the 55th Heavy Artillery Battery – was equipped with the 9.2-inch (233-millimetre) howitzers. At first, the battery had just four guns, and this was later expanded to six. The battery, and the 54th Heavy Artillery Battery, which had 8-inch (203-millimetre) howitzers, on wheels, were placed together as the Australian Heavy Artillery Group (HAG). These two siege batteries, and their headquarters, moved from Britain to France in March 1916 and became the first Australian units to go into battle on the Western Front.

Unlike other formations of the AIF, which were created from civilian volunteers, the heavy batteries had been formed mostly from permanent artillerymen of the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery, with some reinforcements from the militia; the same regulars and citizens’ force soldiers who had been manning the forts guarding Australia’s ports and coastline. Early in the war, after it was decided that there was little direct threat to the coastal cities, the brigade was drawn together in Melbourne from the different states’ drafts, and sailed for overseas service in July 1915. On arrival in Britain the unit, with its two batteries, was numbered the 36th (Australian) HAG”.

Ref: https://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/26/big-guns/ viewed 11 July 2014

Sources

Australian War Memorial
Embarkation Roll
Service Record