 Born in Tasmania , Whittle completed twelve months active service during the Second Boer War , before returning to Australia and enlisting in the Royal Navy where he served for five years as a stoker . Re @-@ enlisting in the army , he was posted to the Army Service Corps , artillery , and Tasmanian Rifle Regiment prior to the outbreak of the First World War . Transferring to the Australian Imperial Force in 1915 , Whittle joined the 12th Battalion in Egypt and embarked for the Western Front the following year . During an attack on the village of La Barque , Whittle rushed a German trench and forced the men from the position ; he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal as a result . 
