Whitfield, Wesley F
SURNAME
Whitfield
NAME
Wesley F
PLACE OF BIRTH
Birmingham, England
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT
Brisbane
DATE OF ENLISTMENT
? 31-03-15
NEXT OF KIN
Father, Frank Whitfield, Birmingham, then wife, Mabel M Whitfield, Armidale, NSW.
LINK TO DOUGLAS SHIRE
W F Whitfield is listed on the Douglas Shire Roll of Honour but no identified link to Douglas Shire.
REGIMENT 1
11th Light Horse
REGIMENT 2
2nd Light Horse
RANK
Captain
CAMPAIGN 1
Middle East
KILLED IN ACTION
Yes, 25-09-1918
OTHER INFORMATION
Applied for a Commission in the AIF , 31-03-1915.
Appointed 2nd Lieutenant.
STORY OUTLINE
Wesley Frank Whitfield is the only W F Whitfield that we can find in National Archive records to match the W F Whitfield on the Douglas Shire Honour Board.
However, we cannot find a link between Wesley Frank and the Douglas Shire.
The fact that both W.F on the Honour Board and Wesley Frank were killed in action suggests possibly the same person because of the scarcity of W F Whitfields in the war.
Captain Whitfield would have been known to some Douglas troopers in the 2nd and 11th Light Horse.
His service record shows that he embarked from Brisbane on the Medic, 2 June 1915 with the 11th Light Horse, but transferred to the 2nd LH in late August, joining the fighting in Gallipoli.
He was hospitalised for some months from 29 November (in Malta). He e-entered active service in August 1916 with the 11th Light Horse. On 6 August 1918 he was appointed Captain but was killed in action on 25 September 1918.
A soldier who witnessed the action told an enquiry,
"Captain WF Whitfield who led one bayonet attack was treacherously killed, through part of the enemy holding up their hands whilst the remainder continued firing from the loopholes and windows in the railway carriages...the enemy showed several white flags at the station buildings and as our men collected round them to disarm them were fired on and we suffered most of our casualties owing to this treacherous action”.
SERVICE NO
? B2455
