Wylde HEATHER

Regimental number884
Place of birthGlasgow, Scotland
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationMiner
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation29.1
Height5' 10"
Weight161 lbs
Next of kinNone known
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date9 January 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll7 January 1915
Place of enlistmentChilders', Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name25th Battalion, Machine Gun Section
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/42/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A60 Aeneas on 29 June 1915
Rank from Nominal RollSergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll25th Battalion
Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Mention in Despatches


Awarded, and promulgated, 'London Gazette', second Supplement, No. 29890 (2 January 1917); 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 103 (29 June 1917).

FateKilled in Action 4 July 1918
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
104
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 4 September 1915.

Promoted Corporal, Gallipoli Peninsula, 20 September 1915.

Admitted to No 7 Field Ambulance, 15 [sic] October 1915 (septic leg); transferred to No 16 Casualty Clearing Station, 12 October 1915; to HS 'Yaldivia', 13 October 1915 (bayonet wound, right leg); to Greek Hospital, Alexandria, 18 October 1915; to Overseas Base, Cairo, 14 December 1915; to No 2 Australian General Hospital, 15 December 1915; to Convalescent Depot, Ras el Tin, 15 December 1915; to Overseas Base, Cairo, 21 December 1915; discharged, 28 December 1915.

Rejoined 25th Bn, Tel el Kebir, 10 January 1916.

Transferred to Bde Machine Gun Section, 2 March 1916; taken on strength of 7th Machine Gun Company, Moascar, 3 March 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 14 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 21 March 1916.

Admitted to No 6 Australian Field Ambulance, 20 April 1916 (mumps); transferred to No 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, 20 April 1916; to No 7 General Hospital, 21 April 1916; discharged to duty, 12 May 1916; rejoined unit, 14 May 1916.

Promoted Sergeant, 20 August 1916.

Admitted to No 7 Field Ambulance, 8 November 1916 (influenza); transferred to Corps Rest Station, 9 November 1916; to No 1 General Hospital, Etratat, 11 November 1916; discharged, 18 November 1916; marched into Machine Gun Base Depot, Camiers, 21 November 1916.

Rejoined unit, 25 November 1916.

Promoted Company Sergeant Major, 18 December 1916.

Mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's Despatch, 13 November 1916, for gallant and distinguished services and devotion to duty in the field.

On leave in England, no date stated; rejoined unit, 4 August 1917.

Transferred to 25th Bn at own request, 31 August 1917, and reverts to the rank of Sergeant the same day; taken on strength of 25th Bn, in the field, 1 September 1917.

Wounded in action, 9 October 1917 (2nd occasion), and admitted to No 3 Field Ambulance the same day (shrapnel wound, right hip); transferred to No 11 General Hospital, 10 October 1917; to England, 22 October 1917; to Norfolk War Hospital, 23 October 1917; to No 3 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, 21 December 1917; discharged to furlough, 27 December 1917, and to report to No 1 Command Depot, Sutton Veny, 10 January 1918.

Found guilty, 19 January 1918, of being absent without leave from 1530 hours, 10 January 1918, until 1700 hours, 15 January 1918: award, severely reprimanded.

Marched into Overseas Training Depot, Longbridge Deverill, 25 January 1918.

Proceeded overseas to France, 7 February 1918; marched into Australian Intermediate Base Depot, Le Havre, 8 February 1918.

Proceeded to unit, 10 February 1918; rejoined 25th Bn, 13 February 1918.

Killed in action, 4 July 1918.

Statement by Lt Col W.M. Davis, Commanding Officer, 25th Bn, undated: 'I have to advised [sic] that the above-named N.C.O. was killed in action on 4.7.1918. at VILLERS BRETONNEUX. He was buried at approximately 62D.P.25.d., 3500 yards due West of WARFUSEE-ABANCOURT'.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, HEATHER Wylde