Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918
Private Wallace Crichton, The Herald 28 September 1918
Crichton W R Pte 2397 Wallace Roy 46 Inf Bn 21 Pastrycook Single C of E
Address: Flemington, Farnham St, 1
Next of Kin: Crichton, Arthur, father, 1 Farnham St, Flemington
Enlisted: 10 May 1916
Embarked: A15 Port Sydney 7 Sep 1916
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Extract from Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiries Brureau Correspondence
Missing 11.4.17
In reference to Pte W R Crichton. The last time I saw him alive and well was in the German trench, but since the retirement, no one seems to know anything about him. there was a good few of our boys taken prisoners, so I think there is a good chance of Wally being amongst them. I am sorry I can't help you further.
Letter from Pte A Jones, B Coy, 46th Battn
[Possibly No 2443 Arthur Jones, 46 Inf Bn who was on the same transport at Crichton.]
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1042024--1-.PDF
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BRUTAL GERMAN METHODS.
HOW AUSTRALIAN PRISONERS SUFFER.
Alderman A. L. Crichton, of Kensington, has received a pathetic letter from his son, Private W. R. Crichton, of the 5th Reinforcements, 46th Battalion, who recently arrived in England from Holland, after being a prisoner of war in Germany for nearly a year. He was wounded in the leg, and the limb was subsequently amputated. Although the information so far supplied to his parents is somewhat brief, it gives a fair indication of the brutal methods adopted by the Germans toward British prisoners.
In his letter, Private Crichton says:
"The horrible treatment I went through before my leg was amputated is too awful to describe. While in Germany I never saw soap, and paper was used on wounds instead of lint. We were never allowed to receive letters from relatives, and we would have starved had it not been for the Red Cross and other parcels sent from Australia. God bless those noble workers. Of course, the Germans opened these parcels first, and no doubt helped themselves. It is a treat to be able to write without a German censor dictating. The German doctors operated without ceremony, and there were no sympathetic nurses or even the slightest sign of luxuries for a wounded man. How must the unwounded Australians have fared?
Our last Christmas dinner consisted of four potatoes, about the size of walnuts, and soup made from the outside leaves of cabbages and leaves of titree. The populace, I believe, had not much better. Germany is in a very sad and sorry plight, and the people appear to be almost reduced to starvation. At one camp I was in, 12 lb. of beef made soup stock for 3000 people.
When others and myself got to Holland, the nurses there showed us splendid hospitality, and were full of sympathy for us. How delighted we were to be free again. The kindness of the people of Nottingham also will always be remembered. I hope to be home soon with an artificial leg, and will then have some thing to say about the cold-footers who turned down conscription in Australia."
BRUTAL GERMAN METHODS. (1918, May 2). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 4 Edition: Morning. Retrieved June 10, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74605806
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HUNS ILL-TREAT PRISONERS
ALDERMAN'S WOUNDED SON RECOUNTS EXPERIENCES
Private Wallace Crichton, who returned to Melbourne a few days ago,
was for some timea prisoner of war in Germany. After receiving a wound
in his right leg, Pte. Crichton riemained in No Man's Land at Bullecourt for
three days and nights without food. He was captured by the Germans, and
his leg was amputated. Pte. Crichton is a son of Alderman A. L. Crlchton,
who has been a councillor for 24 years, and President of the Essendon
Football Club for many years.
Enlisting on June 1, 1916, when 20 years old, Pte. Crlchton was attached
to the 46th Battalion Lewis Gun Section. He arrived at the front in France
in December of the same year. At daybreak on April 11, 1917, Pte. Crlch-
ton was in an attack at Bullecourt, and though the Australians gained their
objective, they subsequently made a strategic retirement, in which the
young soldier was wounded. Stretcher-bearers were preparing to take Pte.
Crichton behind the lines, but carried another wounded soldier instead, pro-
mising to return later. They did not come back, and Crichton remained on
the battle-ground suffering agony. "I had no water nor food, but on the
first night I managed to scrape together a small quantity of snow, which I
placed in my helmet," he says. When the snow melted, I drank the water,
but by the following morning the dye from the lining of the helmet had
ruined what remained. The pangs of thirst were dreadful, and though there
was a dead Australian a few yards away, I was too weak to crawl to the
soldier's water bottle. On the third night, when I had given up hope of be-
ing rescued, a stray German picked me up and carried me some distance to a
clearing station at Cambrai. I had retained my senses practically all the
time in No Man's Land, but I lost consciousness on the way to the clearing
"After my leg had been amputated just below the thigh, I was sent In a
motor ambulance to Douai, and a little later to Mons. During these trips the
treatment meted out to the wounded by the Huns was very rough, and the
blankets provided were swarming with vermin. "At Mons I met Sergt. Busbridge,
formerly a Williamstown footballer, who had a wounded arm. The journey to
Germany was made by train, and occupied nearly three days. All this time I
was compelled to lie on the seat of an ordinary compartment, and in conse-
quence developed a severe sore in my back. After being at the Charleroi
and Quedlinberg hospitals I was moved to a prisoners' camp at the last-named
"At Quedlinberg about 500 Italian prisoners came in. They were in a starving
condition, and were only given a small quantity of black bread and 'substitute' coffee.
The guard at the camp was composed of boys of about 14 years and old men.
I was the only Australian in the camp."
Crichton complains bitterly of the treatment he received at the hands of
the Germans. He was not washed for three weeks after his capture, and did
not see any soap until he had been in Germany for four months. Soon after
his capture all his possessions were taken from him, but the Germans
missed his signet ring because his hand was too dirty for it to be seen. At the
Hospital, paper was used to plug wounds and for bandages. He was eventually
placed in a batch of exchange prisoners and arrived in Holland early this year
He speaks well of the treatment be received there, parcels of comforts bear-
ing the inscription "With Neutral Holland's greetings: God speed you safely
to your mother country." being freely given to the men.
In England and Scotland, where Crichton visited Glen Farg, the birthplace
of his grandfather, Australians are treated, he says, with great kindness.
He was an inmate of the 2nd Australian General Hospital at Southall,
where he was fitted with an artificial leg.
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Private Wallace Crichton, son of Alderman A. L. Crichton, of Flemington, who returned from the front a few days ago, was a prisoner of war in Germany for some time, having been wounded in the right leg. He speaks of the bad treatment meted out to the prisoners and of the hardships they had to undergo. At Mons he met Sergeant Busbridge, a former Essendon and Williamstown footballer, who was wounded. He visited England and Scotland where the Australians, he says, are splendidly treated.
ROLL OF HONOR. (1918, October 3). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 3 Edition: Morning. Retrieved August 28, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74607253
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War Service Commemorated
Flemington Branch Australian Natives Association (ANA)
Essendon Gazette Roll of Honour Missing
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