FRAMED WW1 AUSTRALIAN ARMY MEDAL GROUP 2659 PTE W. GILLINGHAM BN AIF ANZAC

WW1 Australian Army medal pair to Private W. Gillingham, 46th Battalion A.I.F., a 41 year old enlistee, who saw some hard fighting in France.

British War and Victory Medals, impressed named 2659 PTE. W. GILLINGHAM. 46. BN. A.I.F; Returned from Active Service badge; 2 x blackened Australia shoulder titles, Australian collar badge & 2 x 46th Battalion reunion badges 1936 & 1945. Comes with copies Australian Army service papers & embarkation roll.

Professionally glass framed and mounted display. Frame size 54cm x 32cm. Items can be sent without frames at buyer’s request.

William Gillingham was born in East Coker, Yeovil Somerset in 1874. He emigrated to Australia in 1912 with his occupation recorded as a market gardener. He enlisted on the 20/5/1916 at Geelong Victoria, being 41 years of age & was allotted to the 6th reinforcements, 46th Battalion A.I.F. He embarked on the 20/10/1916 with H.M.A.T. A17 ‘Port Lincoln’ landing at Devonport 10/1/1917. Proceeded to France 13/3/1917. 18/3/17 marched into ‘B’ Coy 46th Bn A.I.F. 31/10/1918 to England & returned to Australia on the 4/12/1918. Discharged on the 14/2/1919.A nice display mounted 46th Battalion group of items to an older soldier who saw hard fighting in France. After Pozieres, the battalion spent the period up until March 1917 alternating between duty in the trenches and training and rest behind the lines. On 11 April it took part in the attack mounted against the heavily defended village of Bullecourt - part of the formidable Hindenburg Line to which the Germans had retreated during February and March. Devoid of surprise, and dependent upon the support of unreliable tanks, the attack had little chance of success; after managing to fight through to its objectives, the 46th was forced to withdraw with heavy casualties. Later in the year, the focus of the AIF's operations switched to the Ypres sector in Belgium where the 46th took part in the battles of Messines and Passchendaele. The 46th rotated in and out of the front line throughout the winter of 1917-18. In the spring of 1918, it played a role in turning the great German offensive by defeating attacks around Dernancourt in the first days of April. During the Allied offensive that commenced in August, the 46th also played an active part, fighting in the battle of Amiens on 8 August and in the battle to secure the Hindenburg "outpost line" on 18 September. The battalion was out of the line when the war ended on 11 November, and disbanded in April 1919.