Reuben Alfred Russell

   Cause of his death was War Wounds.

  General Notes:

!N.S.W.BDM Index Birth #6465-1890
(2) Died WWI
Occupation Labourer
Religion- Church of England

Reuben enlisted in the 1st AIF on 10th March 1916 at Cootamundra, NSW. He was sent to Liverpool for training. In June he was sent to the 14th Reinforcement Company of the 19th Battalion.

The 14th reinforcements departed Sydney on the "Wiltshire" on 22nd August 1916.

Reuben arrived in plymouth oon the 13th of October 1916 and was sent to the 5th Training Battalion. He was sent to France on the 6th of December and joined the 19th Battalion on the 19th of January. In February, he scalded his right foot and was sent back to England to recover. He rejoined the Battalion on 21st June 1917.

Reuben was kille in action near Ticker Copse near Peronne on the Western Front on 31 August 1918.

The 19th Battalion AIF.
Formed 27th April, 1915, by Lieutenant Colonel W.K.S. MacKenzie, DSO, VD a Sydney Barrister and former Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Brigade, Second Australian Division. After training in Egypt the Battalion arrived at ANZAC Cove on 21st August 1915 and entred the line at Hill Sixty the following day. From the 18th September until the evacuation the unit was responsible for the defence of Popes Hill, one of the most critical points in the ANZAC defence system. After re-organisation in Egypt the 19th Battalion was moved to France early in 1916. The first major action for the Battalion was Poiteres(not sure if this is correct) which was notable fro the fact that the German shelling was the most intense ever experienced by he AIF during the war and was accompanied by nearly continuous German counter attacks to recover their vital graound. 19th Battalion created a record by holding its sector for a period of 12 days. Casualties suffered by 1 ANZAC Corps in this battle amounted to 23,000 over a period of about 40 days. Possibly the most notable action of the 19th Battalion was it's capture and defence of the notorious 'Maze' defence system at Fleurs on 14th November 1916. The failure of flanking Battalions to reach their objectives left the unit out on its own, holding a salient deep within the German lines.

For two days and night sthe 19th Battalion held this postion against counter attacks and intense shelling, using German weapons so that their own .303 ammunition could be used to maintain their Lewis guns in action. Of the 451 all ranks who went into the attack, 381 became casualties. Other notable actions were at Second Bullecourt and at Third Ypres. It was towards the end of this atter battle that the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel C.R.A. Pye, DSO was killed in action on the 4th of October 1917. Moved from the Messines area as a result of the great German break through on the fifth Army front, 19th Battalion entred the line near Viller-Bretonneaux on 6th April 1918.

The next day the unit launched a counter attack upon the German positions in Hangard Wood and during the course of this action Lieutenant P.V. Storkey won the Victoria Cross for a daring series of acts which enabled the attack to succeed. 19th Battalion was constantly in the line during the period prior to the great British offensive, which was spearheaded byt the Australian and Canadian commander, Ludendorff, as "the black day of the German Army" and on this day and the days that followed as the German Army retreated fighting tenaciously for every position, 19th Battalion played and effective part.

During the great advance to the Hindenburg Line 19th Battalion, as part of the 5th Brigade, rushed the great fortress area of Mont St Quentin which was defenede by the Prussian Guards. General Rawlinson, commanding the British Fourth Army, described this as the "finest single feat of the war". The last action fought by the Battalion was the capture of the Beaurevoir Switch Line which breached the great Hindenburgh line of 4th October 1918. The Australian Corps was then withdrawn for rest and re-organisation, which involved the disbandment of that Battalion in each Brigade which was numerically the weakest in order that the remaining Battalions could be boughtup to strength. On the 10th October 1918 the 19th Battalion was one of eleven Battalions of the AIF to suffer this unhappy fate. Throughout the war the Battalion suffered 3,333 casualties.
(Andrew Graham)