Harry Ritchie

My late Mother Shirley Weeks ( nee Ritchie ), Father Harry Ritchie MM ex 151 Oxide Street, Broken Hill, NSW, Australia Pte 732, 43rd Battalion, D Coy, Plt XV, 1916 - 1919 ( my Maternal Grandfather ) who was wounded 3 or more times in separate engagements during some of the fiercest fighting on the Western Front during WW1 :-
Pte. ( Rank questioned in Medical or Statement of Service Records www.naa.gov.au including page 4 of 39 )
No. 732, 43 rd Infantry Battalion ( June 1916 ) Unit, D Coy, Plt XV, possibly Machine Gunners Regiment, formed out of Broken Hill ?

* 1917Oct4 awarded MM during advance on Zonnebeke during the Battle of Broodseinde Cross Roads, 2nd Battle of Ypres ? ( 10 Military Medals & higher awards were awarded that same day to the 43rd Btn alone, mainly for engaging enemy machine guns &or pillboxes )

* 1917Oct12-17 prior Ypres Salient, shrapnel 1st wounding " RITCHIE WAS WOUNDED BY THE SAME SHELL AND RECOVERED " ( as per your Red Cross Notes & of eyewitness accounts for identification purposes of the dead &or missing in action ; on this occasion of : HO MAINLAND 2365 ) ;

* 1917Oct17 Passchendaele III ?, 3rd Battle of Ypres ? "gsw" to temple 2nd wounding page 29 of 39 naa records War Gratuity Schedule & Service Form
( probably by snipers whom had previously taken out 57 unsuspecting allied soldiers on 1 day 1917 October 10th Passchendaele II
" the dead and dying lay in piles. The wounded were numerous-unattended and weak, they groaned and moaned all over the place .... some had been there four days already .... "
Bean page 907 )

* 1918Jun1 Bonnay, Villers-Bretonneux, 'White Chateau', Amiens Road, SOURCE of this Comment Form : (as per your Red Cross Notes & of eyewitness accounts for identification purposes of the dead &or missing in action ; on this occasion of : JOHN EUGENE CURTIS 3034 ) ;

* 1918Sept1-2 Scutari Trench ( near Haut Allaines, North of Somme ) after Mont St Quentin "gsw" left shoulder 3rd wounding ( only VC action of 43rd Btn ) page 30 of 39 naa records War Gratuity Schedule & Service Form ;

if there was a " 1st " occasion it may not have been officially recorded due to lack of man power resources in Stretcher Bearers &/or
a Field Ambulance Clearing Station ( if any existed or survived ) ;
the " 1st occasion " may have occurred during some of the heaviest fighting of the France WWI Arena, notwithstanding that the ( International ) Red Cross only began,
in 1916 in earnest, to record wounded & POW " Colonial Boys ", & before which, a significant number of atrocities had already occurred on both sides,
as lethal confirmation of the 1st Industrial REVOLUTION murderous intent ;
( the 2nd was Microsoft Desktop Computers or " PC " & Software from the late 1970s onwards )

Also, there also seems to also be inconsistencies or new additions to :-
* London Gazette :-
28/1/1918 page 1404, position 50 ( www.awm.gov.au )
&/or
25/1/1918 4 th supplement No. 30498 ( www.naa.gov.au page 23 of 39 pages ) ?
* Commonwealth of Australia Gazette :-
27/6/1918 page 1391, position 47 ( www.awm.gov.au )
&/or
27/6/1918 No 95 ( www.naa.gov.au page 23 of 39 pages ) ?

Image believed to be Harry Ritchie ( my Maternal Grandfather )