Private Whinfield’s Story

David Horace Whinfield was a private in the Australian Imperial Force during the Great War of 1914-1918. He was a stretcher bearer in the 60th Battalion and was there for the battle of the Somme, Bapaume, first and second Bullecourt, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Messines, Villers-Bretonneux and the battle for Amiens, Harbonnières, Péronne and the taking of the great German defence system, the Hindenburg Line. With luck on his side, he was never once sick, gassed, wounded or on light duties. His loyalty and commitment to the AIF and his country were steadfast.

Horace Whinfield’s granddaughter, Robyn Whinfield, has written a book about Horace, his family and his experience of being a soldier on the Western Front for the years 1917 and 1918.

The book is based on Horace’s private diaries that he meticulously wrote during those perilous years. Horace wrote about the life of a soldier, not the blood and guts of battle but his day-to-day insightful observations and happenings. He experienced the brutality of the war but he stayed focused on each day—balanced and resilient—his determination to do his duty and take his chances was testament to his character. This book is an important narrative history of Horace Whinfield and his family but it is also a story of survival—how Horace and his brothers, Jim and Bert, felt blessed that they had survived the Great War. Horace was a proud Victorian: his war service cemented his view that there was ‘only one place’—Australia, his home.