A century on from the end of World War I we acknowledge their service …
Lest we forget.
Private Albert Henry Auhl
Born: 18 June 1896 Toolamba. Died: 29 July 1968 – Heidelberg
Enlisted: 30 May 1917, aged 20
Served: Western Front
Albert was a son of Robert and Sarah Auhl and brother of Fred Auhl, who operated a garage in Pakenham for many years.
The Auhls became pioneers in the Cockatoo/Gembrook West (Mount Burnett) area, where they had 110 acres at Cockatoo Creek. Not yet 21, he needed his parents’ permission to enlist in May 1917.
After training in England, Bert was taken on strength with the 5th Battalion in France in March 1918. In March and April, the 5th Battalion participated in battles on the Western Front to stop the Germans’ “Spring Offensive”.
On 10 August 1918, Bert was wounded in action near Lihons, where the Australians met with heavy enemy rifle and machine gun fire.
Bert suffered a gunshot wound to the right thigh and was invalided to hospital in Birmingham. This effectively ended his war.
He was returned to Australia in December 1918 and settled on a farm at Duncan’s Road Werribee, where he was particularly active in the local amateur swimming and football clubs.
Bert eventually left farming and moved to Melbourne and in 1950 married Sadie Phillips.
He continued to work well into old age and suffered from ill-health though, including depression, which he attributed to his war service.
This is an extract from Patrick Ferry’s book A Century After The Guns Fell Silent – Remembering the Pakenham District’s WWI Diggers 1914-18.
For more details on this and other profiles in the book, head to the website www.pakenhamww1.com
