Basil Middleton Fenwick (C 1900) was born on 2nd September 1885 at Leeds, Yorkshire. He was the son of C.R. Fenwick of Penrydding in Yorkshire and when war broke out he was living at Nannine in Western Australia, working as a prospector.
Basil enrolled with the army on 5th October 1914 and served in the West Australian Light Horse; information gleaned from The Haileyburian at the time of his death cites a man of extraordinary courage.
Incredible bravery – throwing bombs back at the enemy
In the language of the time, Anthony Lefroy (C 1895) (later Sir Anthony Lefroy, MC) who also lived in Western Australia wrote “he amused himself by catching bombs and returning them to the Turks”.
Another wrote that Fenwick threw back at least five such bombs before becoming “rather severely” wounded despite being unaware of his wounds until he returned to his own trench.
In a letter to Basil’s father, his commanding officer wrote, “it may be a consolation to you to know that he was on my recommendation especially mentioned for conspicuous bravery; he was promoted to sergeant a few days before our great charge, August 7 (in which he was killed), and I had him picked out for a commission”.
Basil was killed in action on 7th August 2015 at Galllipoli, aged 29.
Image of Basil courtesy of Discovering Anzacs, a website of the National Archive of Australia
About the Roll of Honour
The information in this article forms part of a wider project for Old Haileyburians to submit information of family members who died on military service and who are commemorated in our Roll of Honour. Our Roll of Honour page enables you also to supply information about your own family members who died on active service.