Carl Walter DALITZ

Regimental number277
Place of birthDimboola, Victoria
ReligionLutheran
OccupationGrocer
AddressDimboola, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation19
Height5' 9.25"
Weight160 lbs
Next of kinFather, Henry Dalitz, Dimboola, Victoria
Previous military service73rd Infantry
Enlistment date3 April 1916
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll27 March 1916
Place of enlistmentHorsham, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit nameMachine Gun Company 6, Reinforcement 3
AWM Embarkation Roll number24/11/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on 4 May 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll6th Machine Gun Company
FateKilled in Action 3 May 1917
Age at death from cemetery records20
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
177
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Commemorated in Dimboola Cemetery, Victoria. Parents: Henry (b. 17 January 1861, d. 13 February 1947, bu. Dimboola Cemetery) and Elizabeth DALITZ (b. 6 March 1862, d. 25 April 1915, bu. Dimboola Cemetery)
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 2578 Sergeant Alwin Clarence DALITZ, 14th Bn, returned to Australia, 31 March 1919; 297 Pte Henry Chalres DALITZ, 5th Machine GUn Bn, returned to Australia, 20 October 9118; 2579 Pte Frederick William DALITZ MM, 14th Bn, returned to Australia, 8 April 1919.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Melbourne, 4 May 1916; disembarked Suez, 10 June 1916.

With 2nd Australian Division Details Depot, Tel el Kebir, 15 June 1916.

Embarked Alexandria, 2 August 1916; marched into No 2 Details Camp, Parkhouse, England, 27 August 916.

Promoted Extra Duty Pay Corporal, Grantham, 26 August 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 30 September 1916, and reverts to the rank of Private the same day; marched into 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 1 October 1916.

Promoted Acting Sergeant, 6 October 1916; reverts to the rank of Private, 15 October 1916.

Promoted Acting Extra Duty Pay Corporal, 18 October 1916; reverts to the rank of Private, 2 November 1916.

Taken on strength of 6th Machine Gun Company, in the field, 6 November 1916.

Killed in action, 3 May 1917.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DALITZ Carl Walter