Australian WW1 Gunner Page 1

GNR William Wallace Macdonald - An Australian WW1 Gunner Page 1

GUNNER William Wallace Macdonald In uniform during World War 1

Abstract This paper describes the military service of GUNNER William “Billy” Wallace Macdonald (SERN39667) Billy served as an artilleryman with the 1st AIF in England and on the Western Front in France during WW1. The milestones in his official Service Record are developed by including information from Unit Records and other sources about the military actions in which his unit was directly involved. Billy enlisted in the AIF on 23 Oct 1917 at the age of 18 and underwent training at Broadmeadows. Bill headed off overseas as an Artillery Reinforcement on 30 April 1918 and disembarked in England on 28 July 1918. After a further period of training with the Reserve Battery of the Australian Artillery at Heytesbury on the Salisbury Plain, Billy was deployed to France with the 10th Field Artillery Bri- gade. He joins the battle-hardened Brigade on the front line east of the Somme on 13 November 1918 two days after the Armistice is signed and consequently is spared from having to fight. In 1919, Billy returns to Australia and is discharged in November.

Information collated in 2017 by Victor Stewart GNR William Wallace Macdonald - An Australian WW1 Gunner Page 2

Enlistment 30 October 1899: William Wallace “Billy” Macdonald was born in Swan Hill on 30 October 1899. 23 Oct 1917 – Billy enlisted in the AIF at the age of 18. At the time of enlistment, William was a la- bourer in Swan Hill. 19 Oct 1917 – Billy commences recruit training at BROADMEADOWS. 11 Feb 1918 – Billy joins the Field Artillery Reinforcements as a GUNNER. Journey to England 30 April 1918 – Billy embarks for overseas service on HMAT Port Darwin 9 June 1918 – Billy disembarks from HMAT Port Darwin at SUEZ, Egypt 3 July 1918 – Billy is transferred to ALEXANDRIA in EGYPT for embarkation overseas 12 July 1918 - Billy suffers Influenza on route and spends time hospitalised at the Military Hospital at FAENZA in Northern Italy Arrival and Training in England 28 July 1918 - Billy disembarks at SOUTHHAMPTON 31 July 1918 – Billy joins the Reserve Battery of the Australian Artillery (RBAA) located at HEYTESBURY on the SALISBURY PLAIN in England Service in France 27 October 1918 – Billy departs the RBAA and proceeds overseas to France to join 4th Division Artillery at ROUELLES in France. He is assigned to the 10th Field Artillery Brigade. This is a battle-hardened ar- tillery unit that had been formed in 1916 and that had served with distinction in some of the heaviest fighting on the Western Front. The battle experience of the Brigade included the Retreat to the Hin- denburg Line, Bullecourt, Messines, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele, Villers Bretonneux, Hamel, Amiens, Albert and Hindenburg Line. The 10th Field Artillery Brigade is one of two Field Artillery Brigades in the 4th Division Artillery. The Commander of the 4th Division Artillery in 1917 and 1918 is Brigadier- General (later Major General & Knighted) William Livingstone Hatchwell Sinclair-Burgess. Burgess is a New Zealander attached to the AIF and a veteran of Gallipoli. Burgess is one of the AIF’s combat colonels mentioned in Holloway (2014). The 10th Field Artillery is equipped with eighteen 18 pounder field guns and six 4.5 inch howit- zers and comprises four batteries namely: the 37th,38th,39th Field Artillery Batteries and the 110th Field Artillery (Howitzer) Battery. It is the latter to which Billy is assigned. The 110th Field Artillery (Howitzer) Battery is equipped with the breech loading Quick-Firing 4.5 inch howitzer which is capable of firing a 16 kilogram shell to a range of almost 7 kilometres; however it is its capacity to fire at elevations of up to 45 degrees that makes the weapon so effective. The high ele- vation allows the gun to lob shells almost vertically into areas protected by traditional fortifications. The heavier 4.5 inch high explosive shell was found to be far more effective than the 18 pounder in damaging enemy parapets and trenches and thus found increasing use for this purpose. 11 November 1918 – The armistice that ended World War 1 comes into effect at 1100 hours. The 4th Division Artillery is one of the last Australian formations in action prior to the Armistice and operating east of the SOMME in the LE CATEAU area between ST QUENTIN and MONS. 13 November 1918 - Billy is taken on the strength of 10th Field Artillery Brigade two days after the Armistice that ended the Great War is signed

GNR William Wallace Macdonald - An Australian WW1 Gunner Page 3

Return to Australia 12 July 1919 – Billy embarks on HT City of Exeter to return to Australia. 24 September 1919 – Billy disembarks in 3rd Military District (3MD- Melbourne) 1 November 1919 – Billy is discharged from Army at 3MD

Billy Macdonald died in 1983 and is buried with his wife at Fawkner Cemetery in Victoria.

Awards/Medals 1. Victory Medal 2. British War Medal REFERENCES: 1. First Australian Imperial Forces Personnel Dossier (World War 1 Service Record) - Macdonald, William Wallace. (SERN 39667). 2. AWM4 Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries 1914-1918 War - Artillery  Subclass 13/13 - Headquarters, 4th Division Artillery. 3. Bean, C.W (Ed) Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918. 4. Carlyon, Les. The Great War. McMillan. 2008. 5. Horner, David. “The gunners: a history of Australian Artillery”. Allen & Underwood, St Leonards, NSW, Australia. 1995. ISBN 1 86373 917.3. 6. Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company website: www.artilleryhistory.org 7. Holloway, D C: Combat Colonels of the AIF in the Great War. Big Sky Publishing. 2014