The AIF Project

Walter LIVERMORE

Regimental number7025
Place of birthAlbury, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationWood Carter
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation24
Height5' 6.5"
Weight148 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Ada Livermore, Lavington, via Albury, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil (previously rejected on account of bad ankle)
Enlistment date26 October 1916
Place of enlistmentAlbury, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name3rd Battalion, 23rd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/20/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A24 Benalla on 9 November 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll13th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 20 September 1917
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 7), Belgium

The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave.

The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936.

Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
37
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 9 November 1916; disembarked Devonport, England, 9 January 1917.

Found guilty, Larkhill, of being absent without leave from 2400, 26 January, until apprehended by Military Police, London, at 0650, 27 January 1917: awarded 1 day's Field Punishment No 2; in custody 2 days; forfeited 4 days' pay.

Found guilty, Salisbury, 5 March 1917, of (1) neglecting to obey Routine Order regarding bounds; (2) being absent without leave from Larkhill from 2130, 4 March, until apprehended in Salisbury, 1500, 5 March 1917: awarded 4 days' Field Punishment no 2; in custody 1 day; forfeited 7 days' pay.

Proceeded overseas to France, 3 May 1917; taken on strength, 3rd Bn, in the field, 21 May 1917.

Killed in action, Belgium, 20 September 1917.

Statement, Red Cross File No 160811I, 6819 Pte J.V. SEXTON, 3rd Bn (patient, 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, England), 15 January 1918: 'It was on the 20th September not 25th ... He was killed instantaneously by a shell which exploded the bomb he was carrying. His head was half blown off.'

Second statement, 1103 Signaller R. WALSH, 3rd Bn, 19 January 1918: 'Livermore was in B. Coy. On the 20th Sept. I saw his body at Clapham Junction. He was buried about 20 yards in front of our old first line at Clapham Junction. I saw him buried there on 21st and a cross put up at the time.'

Third statement, 6989 Pte T.S. DAVIS, 3rd Bn (patient, 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, England), 21 January 1918: 'Was in B. Coy. 6th Pltn. called William. He was killed instantly by shell - there were 3 knocked by same shell. I was about 15 yards away at the time. It happened about 50 yards N. of Menin Road near Clapham Junction. He was buried near where hit - I saw his grave, it did not have a cross up when I saw it, but one would be put up later. I also saw his body immediately after he was hit.'

Fourth statement, 234 Pte P. WALTON, 3rd Bn (patient, 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, England), 24 January 1918: 'I saw him killed at Polygon Wood. He was caught by a shell which exploded some bombs, which he had in his pocket, and which blew him about badly. He only lived a few minutes.'

Fifth statement, 6475 Pte V.A. BURNHEIM, 3rd Bn (patient, 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, England), 15 March 1918: 'I saw him killed at Polygon Wood. He was hit about the head with shell fragments, and only lived a few moments after being hit. He was conscious all the time.'

Sixth statement, 6872 Corporal J. SMITHY, 3rd Bn, May 1918: He was on the tall side, rather stout and fair. He was killed by a shell with 3 others, on 21.9.17 in the trench near Menin road; the others were L.L. Cullen, Warren and another.'

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, LIVERMORE Walter
Red Cross File No 1610811I

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