Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

 

Scotch College commemorative website.

 

Hunter D     A/g Cpl    1912    David               22 Inf Bn    22    Woolclasser    Single    Pres       

Address:    Kensington, Derby St, 5   

Next of Kin:    Hunter, D R, father, 5 Derby St, Kensington   

                                                          24 Wolseley Pde, Kensington

                                                          263 Ascot Vale Rd, Ascot Vale

Enlisted:    11 Jun 1915       

Embarked:     A68 Anchises 26 Aug 1915  

Prior service:  2 years School Cadets, Scotch College

 

Relatives on Active Service:

Hunter-R-W-Sgt-1103  brother KIA

Hunter-W-J-Pte-4713 second cousin DOW

 

Date of death:  03/05/1917

CWGC: "Son of Daniel Ross Hunter and Christina Hunter, of 263, Ascot Vale Rd., Ascot Vale, Victoria".

VILLERS-BRETONNEUX MEMORIAL

 

 

Sergeant David Hunter

 

Rod Martin

 

Twenty-two year-old David Hunter joined up in the second rush to recruitment in mid-1915.  False propaganda about the situation at Gallipoli, as well as a substantial recruitment drive by the government, led to many men deciding to enlist where previously they may have had some doubts.  Perhaps David was one of these.   A slightly built young man, David was 173 centimetres tall and weighed sixty-five kilos.  He was a wool classer by trade and lived at 5 Derby Street, Kensington.  His complexion was described as sallow, and he had dark brown hair and grey eyes.  He already had military experience, being young enough to have served in the compulsory senior cadets while at school. After training at Broadmeadows, he and his fellow recruits who were assigned to 3 Reinforcements of 22 Infantry Battalion  boarded A68 HMAT Anchises at Port Melbourne on 26 August and sailed for the Middle East.

 

HMAT Anchises at Port Melbourne in 1916 (AWM PB0095)

 

David  arrived in Egypt, but did not stay long, being sent to Gallipoli on 25 October.  As he went, he received a promotion to the rank of lance-corporal, so his leadership skills had been noted by his superiors very quickly.

 

By the time David arrived on the peninsula, the battle there had ground down to a stalemate.  The last assault, by the Allies, had occurred in August and, apart from the capture of Lone Pine by the Australians, was a costly failure.  Now both sides remained in their forward trenches, taking the occasional pot shot and throwing the occasional bomb.  The Turks continued to bombard the men on the beach, and no place was safe at Anzac Cove.  The chances were that if a sniper didn't get you, a shell, bomb or piece of shrapnel would.

 

22 Battalion men resting on Brighton Beach,  Gallipoli   (AWM H14053)

 

Winter was also coming, and the nights were bitterly cold.

 

Snow in an Australian trench, Gallipoli   (AWM H14025)

 

The Allies evacuated the peninsula in December and David and his surviving comrades were back in Alexandria on 7 January 1916.  He remained in 22 Battalion as it was halved and mixed with men from another battalion and new recruits. During this period, David was promoted to the rank of temporary corporal. Together, the men sailed for Marseilles in late March, part of 2 Division which, along with 1 Division, was the first Australian echelon to head for the Western Front in France.

 

The new arrivals were sent to a section of the front near Armentières.  It was a relatively quiet area called 'the nursery sector'.  The lack of heavy, concerted action there meant that the men could acclimatize themselves to the realities of modern industrial warfare without being placed in too much danger.  However, it was the Western Front, and action occurred at every spot. The men entered the trenches for the first time on 13 April near Fleurbaix and three of them were wounded in the first twenty-four hours. The unit stayed there until 19 April, suffering a small number of other casualties caused by sniping and shell fire, before being relieved and going into reserve. When the battalion returned to the trenches later in the month it suffered its first fatal casualty on the twenty-seventh when a man was killed by a shell.

 

In May and June, 22 Battalion was based at Erquingham and Bois Grenier, taking its turn in the firing line and being subject to bombardments and gas attacks.  David survived these actions, but he was unfortunate enough to lose his braces during some melée or other and was forced to request another pair.  His pay account was debited ninepence half-penny as a consequence!

 

2 Division men in the trenches at Bois Grenier, June 1916  (AWM EZ0007)

 

The battalion certainly received a heavy baptism of fire during June.  It was in the firing line from the twentieth to the thirtieth, facing a heavy German onslaught.  As an example, on 22 June the commander reported:

 

Enemy's artillery active throughout day.  hardly [sic] any period when his guns were silent.  At 4 p.m. this sector was subjected to a very severe artillery bombardment lasting 50 minutes from both light and heavy guns.  Fire directed on Firing line, [?] line of Rue de Bois salient, support, Reserve Lines        and  Communication Trenches.

 

One can only guess at the stress such bombardments caused among the ranks.

 

The men stayed in reserve for the first ten days of July, moving around the area to different bivouac positions.  On the tenth, they boarded trains for Breilly, on the Somme River.  The greatest battle of the war had begun on the Somme at the start of the month, with the Allies attacking the German fortifications along an extensive front.  Some territory had been gained, but at terrible human cost.  The British Army alone had lost 60 000 casualties on the first day, 20 000 of them deaths.  2 Division had been earmarked to replace 1 Division after it had attacked the ruins of the village of  Pozières, aiming to capture the strategic ridge behind it and thus open the way for an assault on the German stronghold of Thiepval.  1 Division attacked on 23 July and gained a foothold in the village.  By the time it was relieved two days later, however, it had lost 5 285 casualties.  2 Division then took up the cudgels, aiming to take the windmill at Pozières.

 

The site of the windmill at Pozières  (AWM E00015)

 

However, before the assault began, David received a shrapnel wound in his neck on the twenty-seventh.  The injury was classed as severe, and he was evacuated to England for treatment.  He missed the assault, which began on 29 July and lasted until 4 August when the division finally took the ridge, after which it was relieved.  It had suffered 6 846 casualties in the process.

 

David remained in hospital and then convalescence until 15 September, when he was granted a furlough of one month.  He no doubt used this time to familiarise himself with the country and the attractions of London.  He returned to France on 11 December, rejoining his unit on Christmas Day.  It was the coldest winter in Europe for forty years.  However, having been at Gallipoli in its final days, David would have been no stranger to snow, ice, slush and half-frozen mud.

 

Australian soldiers at Montauban on the Somme, December 1916. They are

cleaning mud from their boots and clothing.  (AWM E00016)

 

Apart from the occasional bombardment, the biggest danger for men standing in half-frozen mud in the trenches was 'trench foot', an affliction that could lead to gangrene if not treated properly.

 

By December 1916, 2 Division had been involved in a second attempt to move forward at Pozières, aiming to take the strategic position at Mouquet Farm.  It did reach the farm on 26 August, but could not hold it.  It had suffered another 1 268 casualties before it was relieved.

 

By December, the Battle of the Somme had petered out.  Some territory was taken, but there was no strategic breakthrough.  With regard to Pozières, the whole affair had cost a total of 24 139 Australian casualties.  The gain?  The ruins of Pozières and the ridge behind it.

 

By Christmas, 22 Battalion was at Trones Wood, near Albert, north of the Somme, and in the firing line.  Three days later it was relieved and went into reserve nearby.  When David was in England, he had been demoted to the rank of lance-corporal because he was not on active service.  Once back in France, however, it did not take him long to regain the rank of corporal, receiving it on 24 January 1917.  Less than one month later, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant.  By that time, the battalion was in the Le Sars sector, still near Albert, taking its turn in manning the front line, and receiving casualties as a result.  Good NCOs were in short supply, and David was promoted to replace a man who had either been killed, or wounded and evacuated.

 

When the winter finally ended, British Command looked to renewing the assault on the German lines.  To save manpower, the Germans had staged a strategic retreat to the Hindenburg Line in January and February, leaving behind a swathe of territory to be occupied by the Allies.  In early April, the British commanders ordered an attack near the town of Arras.  It was also decided to launch an attack on the Hindenburg Line at a spot called Bullecourt, a few kilometres south of Arras.  The idea was for the troops to break though at Bullecourt and then swing north to assist the troops at Arras.

 

That was the plan, anyway.  The first attack at Bullecourt in April, using tanks instead of an artillery barrage, was a disaster. The tanks were quickly out of the action, no territory was gained, and 4 Division suffered 3 000 casualties, along with 1 300 taken prisoner.  The impetuous General Sir Hubert Gough, in charge of the British 5 Army, decided to try again the next month, this time using 1 and 2 Australian Divisions.  The attack was better planned, using an introductory artillery barrage, and a small part of the Hindenburg Line was breached and held.  However, the troops could go no further. 2 Bullecourt and the attack at Arras achieved little, but again at great cost.  The Australian casualty figure was around 7 000.

 

2 Bullecourt began on 3 May 1917.  David, along with his comrades, 'hopped the bags' at 3.45 am under the cover of the artillery barrage and moved forward.  The Germans replied with shells, shrapnel and machine guns.  When a roll was able to be taken on 7 May, David was reported as being one of sixty-two men killed. Whether anyone else in the attack reported that he had seen him being killed we do not know.  What we do know is that his body was never found.  It may well have been obliterated by a shell explosion during the onslaught.

 

David was twenty-four years old when he died.  Because his body was never found, his name was inscribed on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial after the war.

 

                                         Memorial to the missing at Bullecourt.  (Courtesy of  Ian Steer, Panoramio)

 

Sources

 

Australian War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Ian Steer, Panoramio

National Archives of Australia

Travers, Richard: Diggers in France: Australian soldiers on the Western Front,

                             Sydney, ABC Books, 2008

 

Flemington-Kensington Church News, March 1917   1912 Corporal David Hunter, 22nd Batt, was in Gallipoli during the last three months of the campaign, and was one of the last to leave the peninsula.  He went to France last March, and was wounded at the Somme on 24th July.  After a long spell in hospital, he visited many places of interest in England, and returned to France early in December.

 

Flemington-Kensington Church News, June 1917   On April 23rd, Sec Lieut Robert Hunter and on May 3rd Sergt David Hunter laid down their lives.  These were men indeed - good soldiers of our Empire's King, beloved also of the King of Kings.  Men like these are a huge loss to Australia and to our Master's Kingdom on the earth.  But none save God can measure what they have done for Australia and for Christ.  In God's world such self-sacrifice can never be in vain.  Pray for their parents and sisters and brother.  Theirs is a cup that is spilling over.  "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I wilt, but as Thou wilt".   Lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided".

 

Extract from a letter written by Watson-J-R-Gunner-11911 to his cousin Annie.   France July 4th 1917 Dear Annie,   I was on the Station a week or two ago on my way to the city near by and guess who I met - no not Chubby but his old pal Abber Barton who is in the same Field Ambulance as your friend.  Chubby has certainly done well - now Lieut Quartermaster in the 8th Field Ambulance.  Abber looked very well and said Mac is in the best of health and doing well.   The 8th are now out from the line so if time permits I may take a ride over to see him.  Abber told me Bob and Dave Hunter have both fallen.  Dave in the last big stunt in which we had a rough time.   We are enjoying a rest at present in a rest area just behind the old Front line, quite a treat I can assure you, since we only had twelve days out from the line in seven months all the winter included.  So we have had our share of the toil.  Within next week we will be on the move again on our way back to where business is very brisk.......

 

The parents of Sergeant David Hunter, of Ascot Vale, have been notified that their son, David, was killed in action in France.   He was an old Scotch Collegian, and saw service in France. A younger brother, Lieut. R. W. Hunter, was killed 10 days previously.   ROLL OF HONOUR. (1917, June 7). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 3 Edition: Morning. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74602782

 

Mentioned in this correspondence:

Stelling-G-Letter-en-route- to-Gallipoli Oct 1915

Stelling-Gus-letter-to-Irene-Oct-1915  

 

War Service Commemorated

Essendon Town Hall F-L

Flemington-Presbyterian-Church

Flemington and Kensington Presbyterian Young Men's Association  Dave

Scotch College: School at War

Scotch College - Fallen

Essendon Gazette Roll of Honour killed

Regimental Register

 

In Memoriam

 

HUNTER-Killed in action in France, on May 3,
Sergeant David, the dearly loved eldest son of    
D. Ross and Christina Hunter, of 263 Ascotvale
road, Ascotvale (late of Kensington), aged 24 
years.  
The Argus 30 May 1917
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1621472

 

HUNTER, Sergeant David of Ascot-vale, killed in
action in France. He was an old Scotch Collegian
and saw service in France. A younger  brother,
Lieut R W Hunter was killed 10 days previously.
Parents have been notified.
2 June 1917
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1622548

 

HUNTER.—In memory of Second Lieutenant

Robert William Hunter, killed in action at

Armentieres, April 23, 1917, aged 21 years;

also his brother, Sergeant David Hunter,

killed in action at Bullecourt on May 3, 1917,

aged 24 years.

"They were lovely and pleasant in their lives,

and in their death they were not divided."

 

Family Notices. (1918, May 3). The Argus

(Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 1.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1656581

 

HUNTER. - In sad but loving memory of our work-

mates, David Hunter, killed at Bullecourt, May 3,

1917; Robert, killed at Armentieres, April 23,

1917.

Rest on in peace, O warrior brave.

For now your task is o'er;

The greatest gift you gladly gave

To help them win the war.

This prayer we all are breathing.

Though hearts are wrung with pain.

Rest on in peace, brave soldier boys,

Till the bugle sounds again.

-(Inserted by F. Swan and J. Keen.)

 

Family Notices. (1919, May 3). The Argus

 (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 11.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1463952