Eric Hugh William Bateson 1897 - 1916

Family history

Eric Hugh William Bateson was born on 2 May 1897 in Adamstown NSW, the second child of Joseph Bateson and Ellen O’Dea. His great-great-great grandparents were Joseph Bateson and Mary Rawnsley of Windhill.

Eric Hugh William Bateson

He enlisted in the 18th Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at the Armidale NSW recruitment office in 1915 with service number 3627. He sailed from Sydney onboard HMAT Aeneas on 20 December 1915 en route for Egypt. The vessel would have arrived in Alexandria around mid-January 1916. Because the Gallipoli Campaign had ended, Eric's unit undertook training before being sent on to France, landing there on 25 March 1916.

In the Somme valley, the I Anzac Corps was given the task of attacking the Pozières Ridge, the highest point on the Albert – Bapaume road.

The fortified village of Pozières had been captured on 23 July, but to the north and east, a trench system known as the OG (Old German) Lines remained to be taken.

Just two days after the battalion’s arrival, the offensive was launched, at 1:30am on 23 July 1916.  On 4 August 1916, after an intense artillery bombardment, the Australian 2nd Division obliterated the OG Lines and captured Pozières heights.

It was on this day that Eric Bateson was Killed in Action. He is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (east of Amiens) and at Tent Hill, Emmaville, NSW.

When they were relieved on 6 August, the Australian 2nd Division had suffered 6,848 casualties. The historian Charles Bean said that Pozières Ridge “is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth”.

Images

Sources

* Battle of Pozières at https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Pozières

* Commonwealth War Graves Commission at cwgc.org

* Find a Grave .com

* War Memorials Register at nsw.gov.au/memorials/tent-hill-first-world-war-honor-roll