Diggers remain heroes
I HAVE always been in awe of the heroism shown by our Diggers in World War I.
I try to focus at times to fully comprehend what they endured but without doubt, the ferocity of it all and the carnage and suffering they sustained, makes me wonder how any survivors ever settled back into civilian life again after all that torment.
I am lucky to have an uncle that survived but he was wounded twice and gassed. He never spoke of his exploits and it is only in recent times that my nephew, Robert White, stumbled over some information while working on his computer.
3133 Charles Frederick Woodhead, 47th Battalion, 12th Brigade could not join the Army until 1915 because he was under age and his mother would not sign his papers. When 21, he wanted to join the Navy with his two brothers but the Navy had sufficient recruits so he joined the Army and his two brothers the Merchant Navy.
He arrived in France in 1916 and was involved in the battle of Pozieres, Bullecourt, Messines, Passchendale and Dernancourt.
He was recommended for the Military Medal on two occasions by his Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel A. P. Imlay. While not awarded the medals, I would like to record one of the recommendations – not to glorify the deeds of my uncle or to glorify war but to give an insight to the public into what our soldiers experienced on a daily basis.
“At Dernancourt March 27 to April 5, 1918 for splendid work in maintaining and laying telephone lines under heavy machine gun and artillery fire, he was constantly out in the open and showed utter fearlessness on all occasions. His courageous work kept the success of the communications to the front line in use. He was wounded on April 5 while repairing the line but completed his job before returning.”
Well, Uncle Charles survived the war, married and became a lighthouse keeper. He was a jovial, full- of- life character but he never spoke about the war. The family is proud of him, as we are proud of all those lads who fought in conditions that were worse than we can possibly imagine. They gave their lives and suffered horrific injuries for our Australian lifestyle and it must never be forgotten.
Lest we forget.
FRED WOODHEAD,
North Ward.