Arthur Cyril Ahrens
Stephen LearmonthArthur Cyril Ahrens was born in 1890 in Corryong, Victoria. At the time his father, Ferdinand Francis was 54 and his mother Katherine (nee Denny) was 35. He would have seven other siblings, five brothers, and two sisters; Francis, Florence, Ferdinand Thomas Elsing, Ruby Bernice, Swift Kirby, Charles, and Prince Bismark.
The names of some of Arthur’s siblings reflect the ancestors of their father. Ferdinand who was born in 1836 in Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany. One wonders how Ferdinand’s youngest son would have fared had he lived to adulthood with the name of Prince Bismark. Although records of Ferdinand’s immigration to Australia are unclear, it is likely that he departed Hamburg, Germany, and traveled out to Australia, arriving at the Port of Melbourne on the 5th of October, 1854. He married Katherine in 1873 when she was 18 and he was 37. In the early 1880s, Ferdinand carried on the trade of a hawker throughout the Upper Murray district. He eventually settled on land at Upper Thougla and cultivated a market garden, supplying Corryong with vegetables.
Arthur enlisted in the 1st AIF at Dubbo, NSW, on the 16th of September 1915. Eventually, two of his brothers, Swift and Charles, would also enlist. At the time of enlisting his height was 178 cm, weighed 60 kg, and had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and light brown hair. Arthur gave his current occupation as a hairdresser and stated that he had 2 ½ years of experience in the Cadets. He was allocated the Regimental Number 3618 and joined the 8th Reinforcements for the 18th Battalion.
After his initial training, he embarked on overseas service on HMAT A60 Aeneas in Sydney on the 20th of December, 1915. Arthur and his unit would initially disembark in Egypt, spending some time there before leaving Alexandria on the 27th of March, 1916, arriving at Marseilles a week later on the 3rd of April, 1916.
Travelling by train through the French countryside, the 8th Reinforcements arrived at the 2nd Australian Division Base at Etaples. One month later Arthur was admitted to the 26th General Hospital suffering from pyrexia (fever). This was a short stay before spending a few days at the 6th Convalescent Depot.
On the 15th of June, Arthur was taken on strength with the 19th Battalion. In July 1916, as part of the 2nd Division’s relief of the 1st Division, the battalion arrived at Pozieres, where it took part in the Battle of Pozieres. It was during this changeover that Arthur was wounded on the 26th of July, by shell fragments in his shoulder. Initially, Arthur was taken to the No. 1 Australian Field Ambulance where his wound was redressed (it having been initially dressed by the stretcher-bearers). He was then taken in a field ambulance to the 26th General Hospital in Etaples. During the following week, Arthur’s wound sufficiently healed for him to be transferred to the No. 6 Convalescent Depot where he was discharged to duty “Class A”.
Ten days later Arthur returned to further duty and was sent back to his Battalion. Over the next two months, he would attend two courses. From the 11th to the 15th of October he attended a Pigeon course. This course involved being trained to use homing pigeons as a means of sending messages. Pigeons in the field were housed in boxes and were handled and trained according to a strict routine. For example, they were fed once per day, normally half an hour before sunset, and were not fed for at least 24 hours after leaving the loft. Pigeons were not released less than half an hour before sunset, or before sunrise, or in fog as this would decrease their ability to navigate. Messages were generally sent in duplicate by two separate birds released at an interval of one minute. Often messages were encoded in case the birds fell into enemy hands. Arthur would have learned how to care for the birds and send messages.
The second course that Arthur attended was to learn how to use a trench mortar. Although there were a variety of sizes of trench mortars, the standard mortar used by the AIF in the field was the Stokes 3-inch trench mortar. This 47 kg piece of equipment required at least two men to carry and operate it. A trained operator could use the mortar to send a 4 kg shell over 600 m towards a target. Arthur returned to his unit on the 28th of January 1917.
During the first two days of May, the Battalion was preparing for an attack along the Hindenburg Line, to the right of Bullecourt. At 1255 hours on the 3rd of May, they moved forward through Noreevil to the jumping-off positions. The various waves moved forward of the lines but started to move too much to the left in order to keep in touch with the Battalion on that flank. A change was made to the direction of attack but resulted in too much bunching up of groups of men. There was also some disorganisation due to a number of the later waves moving off too soon. The Germans brought heavy machine gun fire to bear and this was the cause of many casualties, Arthur being one with a gunshot wound to the left hand. He initially passed through No.3 Casualty Clearing Station before being taken to No.1 Australian General Hospital at Rouen. After a couple of days he was transferred to the 4th Infantry Base Depot and, finally on the 11th of May, the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples. Here he stayed for about one month before rejoining his unit, the 19th Battalion. He was given one week's leave and spent the time in England, arriving back at his unit on the 9th of August 1917.
The month of October 1917, saw the Battalion moving to the region around Wippenhoek, Belgium. Early on the 4th of October, it moved off and found itself at Anzac Spur along the Westhoek Ridge. Shelling by the Germans saw the Battalion CO Lieutenant Colonel Pye DSO fatally wounded. The following week saw the Battalion heavily involved in fighting in this area. They were finally removed from the line and billeted in the village of Steenvoorde where they rested and reorganised. A move to Ypres during the third week of October found them working on the light railway system that was used for the transport of supplies throughout the front.
Although the Battalion’s War Diary recorded the unit as working on the Light Railway during October, Arthur’s service records indicate that he was wounded with gunshot wounds to the thigh and chest. He was initially sent to the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, before being sent on to the 17th Casualty Clearing Station and finally the 20th General Hospital at Camiers, France, on the last day of October 1917. Katherine, Arthur’s mother, received a telegram dated the 27th of December 1917, that stated that the condition of Private Arthur Ahrens had slightly improved.
However, Arthur succumbed to his wounds and died on the 21st of December. We can only wonder how Katherine took the conflicting reports of her son’s health. Arthur was buried at Mont Huon LeTreport with his service being presided over by the Rev. H. C. Sandall.
On the 3rd of June 1918, Katherine, now living at Macedon in Victoria, wrote to the Officer in Charge at the Base Records, asking whether she could be forwarded any particulars about Arthur’s death to her. Nothing was sent. In October 1918, nearly one year after Arthur’s death, a parcel wrapped in brown paper arrived on Katherine’s doorstep. It contained Arthur’s personal effects. This consisted of a metal watch and strap, fountain pen, metal mirror, spectacles in a case, pipe, 3 badges, 2 coins, photos, letters, cards, 2 handkerchiefs, and a wallet.
Arthur is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Thowgla State School Roll of Honour, and the Corryong War Memorial. For his service during the First World War, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
