Berthold Wiesner

[Mike Cecil]

Research can sometimes throw up the most curious - and sad - information not directly related to the line of inquiry.

Berthold is a case in point. A farmer from Ganmain, NSW, he served with the AIF on the Western Front and was wounded. He was on his way home to Australia aboard the hospital transport Corinthic in early 1918 when he went missing. The inquiry concluded he had gone overboard due to 'a state of despondency.'

The ship had departed Devonport, England on 10 January, and docked in Melbourne on 3 March, so Berthold went overboard only a few days before he was due to arrive in Melbourne, so probably somewhere across the Great Australian Bight.

Such losses at sea were not common, but certainly did occur. We can only wonder at their state of mind and what finally drove them to end their lives so close to home.

He is, quite rightly, recorded on the National ROH.

Mike