DITCHBURN, William Arthur

William Ditchburn was the second of eight sons born to Thomas Ditchburn (1848-1903) and his wife Eugenie Jane, nee Musika. William Ditchburn was an ironmonger, when he enlisted on 1 March, 1915. Of his four children,the youngest, Noel, was born in 1916, and it is possible that his wife, Mary Ann, nee Findlay, died in childbirth. William Ditchburn married his second wife, Marion Barbara Bradey, on 26 August, 1916, at Clare, South Australia. His only contact with East Melbourne was his brother, George Ditchburn, who lived at 229 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. William was 33 years old, 5'10" tall and gave as his next of kin upon enlistment, his dasughter, Jessie Findlay Ditchburn, living at Kingston Terrace, North Adelaide. However, this was subsequently erased on his record and replaced by the name of his second wife, Marion, who lived during the war at 36 Tivoli Road, South Yarra. After training in Adelaide, he was attached to the 23rd Reinforcements, 10th Battalion AIF.

William Ditchburn embarked from Adelaide for Egypt on HMAT Burda A36 on 23 June, 1915.  From here, the Reinforcements were sent to Gallipoli, where William Ditchburn was taken on strength with the 10th Battalion on 30 July. At this stage, the 10th Battalion was guarding the beachfront at Anzac Cove. On 12 August, he suffered a gunshot wound to his arm, later described in his record as 'slight' and a blow from a pick.. This was probably at Lone Pine. He was first taken to the HMHS Dehanna for treatment, then sent back to the 2nd General Hospital at Cairo and then on to convalescence at Mena Hospital, Cairo. Perhaps the wound became infected or otherwise worse, however, because he was removed from front-line duty and returned to Australia on HMAT Wiltshire, on duty as Sergeant of the Escort, leaving Egypt on 25 September, 1915. His family situation might also have influenced the army authorities: though there is nothing in his military record to support this, it was in 1916 that his youngest son was born and in the same year, he remarried. 

From 1 November, 1915, to 10 January, 1916, Wiliam Ditchburn was a Private, transferred to A Company, 10th Reinforcements, but on 10 February, he applied for a Commission, describing himself as a widower. He was struck off strength with the 10th Battalion on 10 May and sent to Duntroon and where he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant. On 6 December, he was returned to duty as an Acting Sergeant, and embarked for the war on board HMAT Berrima A 35. He disembarked at Devonport on 17 February, 1917, and returned to duty with the 3rd Training Battalion at Durrington.

The following notation from his service record, p.46, written on 6 April, 1918, explains what followed:

He went to the Anzac landing on July 15th, 1915, and came off abotu the 10th August with a bruised arm from being accidentally hit with a pick. He was in Australia at a School until December, 1916. Landed in England in February and has been practically in Hospital on and off since. At Present he is on duty at Tidworth at a School of Instruction. He has only done this duty for four days since July 18th. He says he suffers from abdominal pain and vomiting. He is pale and flabby, but there is n sign of organic disease of viscera. We recommend his return to Australia as Permanently Unfit for all Military Service. In our opinion, service has not injured him. 

A further note, written on 21 February, 1918, describes him as 'physically, mentally temporarily unfit for service'.

William Ditchburn left  England on 29 September, 1917,  on board HMATBorda A38, the ship on which he had first left Australia, arriving in Melbourne on 26 November. On 13 February, 1918, he was living at Fullerton Rd., Mitcham, and was awarded a pension for six months for one-half incapacity. By 1921, he was in Townsville and there made a great successof his life. An article in the Townsville Daily Bulletin of Saturday, April 1, 1933, recommended him for Council, describing him as 'holding a responsible executive position with Messrs. Burns Philp and Coy. Ltd., President of the RACQ (Townsville Branch), President of the Townsville Branch of the R.B.8.I.L.A., President of the Commercial Travellers Club and Chairman of the Committee which had organised the shark proof fence at Alma Bay'.

By 1936, he and Marion were living at 'Franor', River Rd., Milton, Queensland, where he was employed as a manager. His last address in the Electoral Roll was at 'Milchester', Bowen Terrace, New Town, Queensland in 1946, where he was living with Marion and working as a Farm Manager. William Arthur Ditchburn died on 30 August 1952, aged 71.