DIGGER

“Dedicated to Digger Heritage”

Photo: Members of 40th Battalion with a couple of ‘Ginger Beer’ (Engineer) mates. The photo was taken during the time the 3rd

Division wore their hat brims turned down. Courtesy of Jim Rouse, ‘40th Battalion AIF’ Facebook group administrator.

December 2015 No. 53

Magazine of the Families and Friends of the First AIF Inc

Edited by Graeme Hosken

ISSN 1834-8963

DIGGER 2 Issue 53

Families and Friends of the First AIF Inc

Patron-in-Chief: His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd)

Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia

Founder and Patron-in-Memoriam: John Laffin

Patrons-in-Memoriam: General Sir John Monash GCMG KCB VD and General Sir Harry Chauvel CGMG KCB

President: Jim Munro ABN 67 473 829 552 Secretary: Vacant

Trench talk

Graeme Hosken.

This issue DIGGER 53 marks the 100

th anniversary of the end of the Gallipoli Campaign, so it is fitting that we have

two first-hand accounts of the Evacuation in this issue. Being the festive season, we have two stories written

by nurses, describing how Christmas Day, 1915, was spent on Lemnos and at Harefield, UK. Part 1 of the

memoirs of a 29th Battalion private continues DIGGER’s practice of bringing you previously unpublished

material that allows us to understand the experiences of the individual soldier in the Great War. I hope that

you enjoy these and the other articles that make up our 53rd

edition. Please consider submitting an article for

a future issue of DIGGER. (Don’t forget our request for colour photos for DIGGER 54 – see page 25.)

New members Welcome to Barry Abley, Linda Bryett, Deej Eszenyi, Jill Hayes, Glenn Matthews, Noeleen Lloyd-Smith,

Helen Thompson and Stephen Thompson.

Season’s greetings The FFFAIF Committee of Management offers members and their families best wishes for a safe and

enjoyable holiday season and for ongoing good health and prosperity in the New Year.

Darwin soldiers For page fillers this issue, the Editor searched Trove for letters written by soldiers with a link to Darwin in

the Northern Territory. This search found two letters mentioning three Indigenous Australian brothers who

served in the AIF – the Garr boys. Only one brother made it home. See pages 17 and 68. Some longer

articles relating to Darwin soldiers will be featured in a future issue.

What do I do with my old DIGGERs? While the Editor would like to think that DIGGERs take up pride of place in members’ bookshelves, he is

also a realist and understands that space is limited in most homes. Some members are happy to read each

issue once or twice before disposing of their copy, often to a friend to read. Occasionally, the Editor has

spoken to a member (or non-renewing member) who wants to know what to do with their back issues of

DIGGER, rather than “throw them out”. Here are some suggestions: (1) contact your local secondary

school(s) to see if the librarian, the History faculty, or an individual History teacher (usually of Year 9)

would like them (2) donate them to a retirement village that has a reading room (3) spread them around the

waiting rooms of your doctor, dentist, pathologist … wherever people are forced to sit around twiddling their

thumbs and need something to read other than old copies of ‘New Idea’ or ‘Readers’ Digest’. (4) Return

copies in good condition to the Editor to meet the demand for back issues by new members. Giving away

your DIGGERs doesn’t exclude you from reading previous issues, as they can be downloaded as a pdf file

from our website using the member’s password to gain access. A reminder too, that you can nominate to

receive an electronic copy of DIGGER instead of (or as well as) the paper copy. Contact the Editor.

Did you receive COBBeR? The first issue of COBBeR, the FFFAIF’s digital magazine, was e-mailed out to members in September and

was well-received based on feedback from members. The second issue was e-mailed in November. If you

didn’t receive a copy of either issue and you have an e-mail address, then it is likely that we do not have your

current e-mail address in our database. Please provide your e-mail address to the Editor [see below] so that

you can receive the past and future copies of COBBeR.

Copyright © DIGGER 2015. All material in DIGGER is copyright. [Note: Opinions expressed by authors in this magazine are not necessarily those of the FFFAIF.]

Subject to the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, reproduction in any form is not permitted without written permission of the Editor or Author/s. DIGGER

is published four times per year and is available to members only. Images from the AWM are downloaded with kind permission of the eSales unit. Contributions of

possible articles and illustrative material for DIGGER and any feedback should be sent to Graeme Hosken, Editor of DIGGER, 2 Colony Crescent, Dubbo NSW 2830

or e-mailed to ghoskenaif@bigpond.com. Membership inquiries should be forwarded to Membership Secretary FFFAIF Inc, PO Box 4208, Oatley West NSW 2223

(Australia) or e-mail to membership@fffaif.org.au. Standard membership is $50 pa and concessional membership (students, under 18s, seniors) is $40 pa. Family

membership is $50 for the first member, then $30 for each additional member residing at the same address. Only one copy of DIGGER is included with each Family

Membership. Gift and two or three year memberships are available. A membership form can be downloaded from our website: www.fffaif.org.au. Telephone inquiries

can be made to 0401 467 819. Please leave a message if not answered and a committee member will return your call.

DIGGER 3 Issue 53

First ashore at Gallipoli Tim Lycett, Paradise Point.

In this article, Tim hopes to solve the ongoing puzzle – which sometimes becomes an argument – of who was

the first Australian to set foot ashore at the Landing on 25 April, 1915. Drawing on primary sources, Tim’s

research may finally settle the issue.

The contenders ebate still surrounds the identity of the first man ashore, as the first light of day began to break over

Anzac Cove on the morning of Sunday, 25th April, 1915. During the months approaching the

centenary commemorations, the debate seemed to move into top gear, with the communities of

Maryborough, Queensland, and Lismore, NSW, vying for Government grants to construct opposing

memorials stating ‘their man’ to have been the first ashore.1 But an analysis of all the available evidence

makes the declaration of one particular claimant almost indisputable.

Australia’s much respected official historian, CEW Bean, noted in the 1934 third edition preface of

Volume I – The Story of Anzac (‘Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918’) that he considered

the first man ashore to be Lieutenant Duncan Chapman, ‘A’ Company, 9th Battalion.

Bean based his conclusion on the evidence from two letters. One of these letters

was an account he had received earlier from Mr Fred Kemp, who served as 1010 Scout

Sergeant Frederick Charles Coe, 9th Battalion [right]:

We touched shore and Lieut. Chapman was the first ashore. I followed him and

we all got ashore. Wilson of the scouts was taking my pack off when the first shot

rang out: a pause: then seven more… .2

But it was only when Bean saw, reproduced in the ‘Reveille’ magazine, an extract from a

letter written by Chapman himself barely two months after the Landing, that he felt

confident enough to include his findings in the Official Histories.

I happened to be in the first boat that reached the shore and being

in the bow at the time, I was the first man to get ashore.3

Importantly, Bean noted a particular fact from Kemp’s

description. While narratives provided by men in the other row

boats heading for the beach recall the enemy rifle fire beginning

either prior to or just as their boats ground ashore, the account of

Kemp suggested that by the same time, the men from his boat had

already begun climbing onto the beach and were taking off their

packs. The clear inference from this is that they must have been

the first boat to reach the beach, and hence, Chapman the first

man to land.

Duncan Chapman [left] was born on 15 May, 1888, at

Maryborough, Queensland, to a Scottish immigrant father, Robert

Alexander Chapman and Australian-born mother, Eugenie Maude

nee Humphries. The eleventh of thirteen children to the couple,

Duncan’s mother died when he was only five years old and he

was brought up by his father.

Educated at the prestigious local Maryborough Boys

Grammar School, he went to work as a clerk for Moreton and

Moreton Solicitors in Maryborough before moving to Brisbane,

where by the time of his enlistment he was employed as a

paymaster and living in boarding accommodation at the former

country estate, ‘Whytecliffe’, in Albion.

It was during these years that Duncan had his first

experience with military service. While still living in the Maryborough area, he spent six months each with

local militia units, the Wide Bay Infantry Regiment and then the 3rd

Queensland (Kennedy) Regiment, so

D

DIGGER 4 Issue 53

named for Edmund Kennedy, an early explorer of that region. When settled in Brisbane he joined the 7th

Infantry (Moreton) Regiment, with whom he remained for three years, rising to the rank of lieutenant.

Only a fortnight after the outbreak of the Great War, Duncan Chapman made his way to the

recruiting office and applied for a commission in the AIF. He was accepted as a lieutenant with ‘C’

Company of Queensland’s 9th Battalion [3

rd Brigade]. He was the first of three Chapman brothers to enlist.

4

Leaving Australia aboard the transport ship SS Omrah in September, 1914, Duncan and the 9th

Battalion headed for Egypt to continue their training. It was while in Egypt that the previous ‘eight company’

structure of a battalion was reduced to form just four companies, and Duncan’s ‘C’ Company merged with

the original ‘A’ Company, to form the new ‘A’ Company of the 9th Battalion.

In early 1915, after a failed attempt by the British Navy to force the Dardanelles, it was decided that

an invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula was required to enable the naval breakthrough needed to knock Turkey

out of the war, and the Australians training in Egypt were among those appointed to the task.

In the morning of 24 April, 1915, the men of ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies, 9th Battalion, boarded the

battleship HMS Queen in Mudros Harbour and set sail for Gallipoli. Along with elements of the 10th and 11

th

Battalions, the 9th had been given the task of landing first and pushing the enemy inland. In the early hours of

the next morning they disembarked from the Queen into lifeboats towed by pinnaces, which took them to

within rowing distance of the then-dark shoreline. As the approaching mountainous terrain was silhouetted

by the first hint of the dawn sky, Chapman and his men manned the oars and rowed into history.

Not far away in another boat sat Lance Sergeant Joseph Stratford, a member of ‘B’ Company, 9th

Battalion. Together with Lieutenant Lancelot Jones5 and Private Studley Gahan

6, they too rowed

anxiously for the shore.

Stratford was a strapping 32 year old labourer from the Richmond River area of New South Wales.

Although on his attestation form Joseph stated he was born at Maitland, NSW, his official birth registration

states his birthplace to be Lismore, and his mother later claimed he was born ten kilometres northwest of

Lismore, at Goolmangar.7

Educated at the local Goonellabah Public School on the outskirts of

Lismore, and regularly attending the Methodist [now Uniting] Church there, Joe

also experienced previous military training in the local militia as a sergeant with

the NSW Scottish Rifles and then as a corporal with the NSW Lancers.

In 1906 he left Lismore and headed for northern Queensland, where he

settled and took up work on the cane fields. In October 1914 he was working

around Townsville, Queensland, and it is while here that he enlisted to go to

war. Joining the 1st Reinforcements of the 9

th Battalion, Stratford [left] was

attached to ‘B’ Company and aboard the first lifeboats from HMS Queen on the

morning of 25 April, 1915.

In one of the earliest published accounts of the

Landing, appearing in a multitude of newspapers throughout

Australia as early as 2 August, 1915, Private Studley Gahan

[right] made the following claim:

‘Joe Stratford was the first of the Australian troops ashore at Gallipoli.

Lieutenant Jones was the second, and I was the third’, says Private Studley

Gahan, a son of Councillor J Gahan of Collingwood, writing to his father from

the scene of action.8

Stratford himself never made any statement. Unfortunately, he was killed during the day of the Landing,

reportedly riddled by bullets when single-handedly charging an enemy machine-gun post, sometime during

the day. Some Stratford descendants believe he died while charging up the beach immediately after landing.9

Whatever the circumstance of his death, sadly, his body was never recovered.

Supporting evidence Newspaper articles about the search to identify the first man ashore began appearing the week after Gahan’s

claim emerged in 1915, and no doubt topical because of it. Although not specifically naming an individual,

many of the accounts were remarkably similar to Gahan’s version of events regarding Stratford:

The Australian officers at the front are endeavouring to ascertain the name of the first Australian

who reached the shore at Gallipoli. The consensus of testimony indicates that it was a little

DIGGER 5 Issue 53

Queenslander, who jumped into the sea in deep water and sank owing to the weight of his pack.

When he rose he discarded his pack and swam ashore, where he rushed a Turkish machine gun,

bayoneted all the Turks, and then fell riddled with bullets.10

Some tabloids were prepared to award the honour of being first ashore directly to Stratford. Expanding upon

the information already provided by Gahan, in their effort to offer readers more detail of Stratford’s

undoubted bravery, they inadvertently provided evidence that he wasn’t the first to set foot on Anzac Cove,

by suggesting that Turkish rifle and machine-gun fire had already begun:

Private J Stratford, of Queensland, was the first Australian soldier to get ashore at Gallipoli, it is

stated. He was in the leading boat, and with others jumped into the water up to his waist to get

ashore. Fixing bayonets as they waded ashore (the machine guns of the Turks had been turned upon

them by this time), Private Stratford was the first to reach the beach. With his comrades he made a

rush at the enemy and was riddled with bullets.11

A number of Stratford petitioners have made much of both his Red Cross Missing and Wounded file13

and

Roll of Honour circular13

, claiming both prove the distinction of being the first ashore belongs to him.

However, a close analysis of these documents doesn’t necessarily support their call.

In all, three accounts of Stratford’s death found in the pages of his Red Cross file14

mention him

being variously the first, one of the first, or the first New South Welshman to land at Gallipoli. However,

none of the soldiers who mention this fact actually witnessed the event and assert they are only recounting

what they read in the Australian newspapers – no doubt repeating Gahan’s account. Significantly, Stratford’s

own brother Alfred made a statement to the Red Cross about Joe’s death but never even mentioned the fact

that he was supposedly the first to land.

When compiling information for the Roll of Honour circular, Joe’s mother Alice wrote:

Stated by eye witnesses to be first Australian ashore on Gallipoli.15

However, there is no reference to qualify where she obtained this information or who the supposed

eyewitnesses might be. What we do know is that Alice received a letter of condolence from Studley Gahan in

which he no doubt reiterated his claim.16

Local recognition has also been utilised as a source of proof for the call to recognise Joe Stratford.

The Uniting Church at Lismore has a plaque to Joseph, stating him to be the first man ashore, and in 1939

the ‘Northern Star’ newspaper reported the opening of a new school in northern Queensland, named in

honour of Stratford, remarking that:

A signal honour has been paid to the memory of the late Sergeant Joseph Stratford, a Lismore

district native, who was the first Australian to land at Gallipoli, and was killed in action about

midday on the day of the landing.17

Sadly, neither of these Lismore memorials provides any further information or first-hand account to support

Stratford’s case and we can only assume their information was derived from Gahan’s public claim, so

prolifically reported in the newspapers of the time.

In concluding the case for Joseph Stratford, we are left with only one reported eyewitness account –

that of Studley Gahan. No other person ever confirmed Gahan’s story and it’s noteworthy that this includes

Lieutenant Lancelot Jones, who survived the war. He was reported by Gahan to be the second out of the

boat, and yet for some reason never offered his version of events.

In comparison, the primary evidence supporting Lieutenant Duncan Chapman is very different. Not

only do we have his own recollections written in one letter quoted by CEW Bean, in another earlier one sent

to his brother he additionally wrote:

To me was given the extreme honour of being the first man to put foot on the Peninsula, and to lead

a portion of the men up the hill on that now historic charge.18

Corroborating Chapman’s claim, and additional to Fred Kemp’s description provided to Bean, there are a

several other recorded accounts of men confirmed to have been in the same boat with him.

DIGGER 6 Issue 53

Private William Fisher [below left] wrote in a letter to his future wife, only one week after the

landing:

The Queenslanders had the honour to be the first to land and my company was the first

company to get there. I happened to be one of the rowers in the first boat. We reached the

beach about 4.30, and half of our chaps got out of the boat without anything happening. We

were just beginning to think that the Turks were not there when one shot was fired. Then

shots came from all directions.19

Norman Fox recorded the story given to him by his father, Frederick Fox, a young

private with ‘A’ Company [right] who was busy rowing to shore in Chapman’s boat:

My father told me, and he was quite definite, that his boat had landed first; they had

moved up the beach and dumped their packs and moved into assault the heights before

the Turks had fired one shot. He believed that his platoon (Lieut. Chapman in command

of the lighter) were the first troops ashore on that morning.20

Following Bean’s naming of Chapman as the first man ashore at Gallipoli in his 1934

‘Official History’, several Queensland-based newspapers ran an article21

containing

excerpts from Chapman’s letter to his brother as further proof that Bean was correct.

In response to the article, several letters from other soldiers present in the boat with Chapman on that

fateful morning appeared in subsequent editions and acknowledged Bean’s account to be accurate.

James Spiers [below left] recalled:

As one of No. 3 Platoon of the original 9th of which Lieutenant Chapman was in command,

and one of the oarsmen of the cutter that took us ashore on that memorable morning, I think

I can claim to know something about it, and I am quite positive that Lieutenant Chapman

was the first man to set foot on the beach. We got into the cutter from the ‘Queen’ and the

four boats containing ‘A’ Company, in common with the rest of the storming party, were

taken in tow by a steam pinnace and taken as close as possible to the shore. Then she cast

off and a few strokes of the oars put the bow ashore. Lieutenant Chapman was right forward

and hopped over and was followed quickly by the rest. Somewhere about 17 men were out of

the boat before the first rifle shot rang out. They sure made up for lost time after that, for the air

seemed pretty full of bullets for a bit. But we got there. I did not see Lieutenant Chapman till four

days later, when what was left of the 9th mustered on the beach. Talking over the landing afterwards,

it was the opinion of most of my cobbers that Lieutenant Chapman was the first man ashore by a

small margin.22

And the following week, Jim Bostock [below right] answered with his version of events:

I remember the whole affair just as if it had happened yesterday. Lieutenant

Chapman was in the bow of the boat and I was crouched alongside him, my

position at that time being signaller attached to No. 3 Platoon Commander, and as

such my duty was to be in close contact with Lieutenant Chapman so that I could

transmit or receive any messages. Glancing over the gunwale of the boat I could

dimly discern the other pinnaces and their boat tows, always slightly behind and to

the right of us. When the pinnace cast off we consequently had a slight lead and our

No. 1 boat naturally maintained an advantage over the others as soon as the

rowers commenced their work. I can remember Lieutenant Chapman calling “All

out!” and we immediately hopped over the side. I saw the lieutenant’s silhouette as he hopped

overboard and I followed him in water up to our waists, and we scrambled ashore. It was whilst

taking off my sodden pack on the beach that the first shot was fired, followed by the rattle of machine

guns that swept the beach, and it was there that I saw the first man killed – young Courtney23

– who

received a charge of machine-gun bullets across his forehead.24

DIGGER 7 Issue 53

Several years after this exchange of letters in the Queensland newspapers, a ‘Sydney

Morning Herald’ article covered a reunion of returned soldiers in 1939. The former

commanding officer of the ‘A’ Company landing party, Colonel Alfred Salisbury [left],

attended the function and offered his memories of that morning:

‘We were on the extreme right, and the naval officer commanding the whole landing was in

the boat towing ours,’ he said. ‘One of my subalterns, Lieutenant Duncan Chapman, was

the first officer ashore.’ 25

More recently, among the files of the 9th Battalion Association are recollections of

conversations members had with some of the then-surviving original Anzacs.

I spoke to two other men who were in Chapman’s boat and they backed the claim.

Jim Bostock and Bill Cleaver26

[right] were both in their mid to late seventies and

were discussing who among them was the first ashore after Chapman.27

Finally, when making application for his 50th Anniversary Gallipoli

Medallion, Archibald Reynolds [left] didn’t specifically name Chapman as

the first to land but confirms his being in the same boat, and states it was the first to reach

the shore:

I was in the first boat to land on Gallipoli – with James D Bostock who has been officially

credited as the second soldier to land on Gallipoli.28

Conclusion While just Gahan’s single call for Private Joseph Stratford to be named the first ashore cannot be completely

ignored, there can be no doubt that the huge volume of evidence very clearly supports the fact that

Lieutenant Duncan Chapman was the first Australian to set foot on Anzac Cove on 25 April, 1915 – just as

Charles Bean pronounced in the ‘Official History’.

While acknowledging that it was dark at the time and the boats made shore around a point at the

northern end of the cove, making it difficult to confirm who was first to land, CEW Bean and those in

Chapman’s boat overwhelmingly confirm that the Turks had not begun firing until the men from this boat

had already stepped onto the beach – the only ones to ever mention this fact.

It is therefore proper and fitting that the centenary memorial commemorating the first man ashore at

Gallipoli was constructed in Maryborough, Queensland, to Lieutenant Duncan Chapman.

But amid all the debate and township rivalry, what remains most important of all is to ensure that the

character of neither man is tarnished by the rush to claim bragging rights. By all accounts, Chapman was a

fine officer and an excellent leader of men, whilst those who witnessed Joe Stratford’s valiant attempt to

charge down a machine gun single-handedly, remarked that the bravery he displayed in death was worthy of

a Victoria Cross. It would be an injustice to see their memories disrespected by unnecessary centennial one-

upmanship.

As Duncan Chapman’s nephew keenly observed, It didn’t matter whether they were first or last off

those boats – they were all heroes.29

Aftermath As we have seen, Joe Stratford never survived the first day at Gallipoli and his remains have never been

identified.

After surviving the landing, Duncan Chapman was later promoted to captain and continued to

command his men in the fighting on the Peninsula. Late in the campaign he became ill and was evacuated to

hospital, never again to set foot at Anzac Cove. He managed to return to the 9th Battalion in Egypt after

they’d been withdrawn from Gallipoli, but with the arrival of new reinforcements from Australia and the

formation of new infantry divisions, Chapman soon found himself promoted to the rank of major and

transferred to the 45th Battalion. Not long afterwards, the Australian divisions found themselves on the

Western Front of France and Belgium to finally face off against the German Army.

In August 1916, Chapman and the 45th Battalion were involved in the final push to capture the

Pozieres Heights on the Somme. A battle of ferocious intensity, it caused Charles Bean to record that

Pozieres Ridge is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth.

DIGGER 8 Issue 53

Duncan Chapman became part of that sacrifice. On 6 August,

1916, he was killed by an enemy shell that exploded on top of the trench he

was occupying. He, along with two other officers, was buried in a

battlefield grave just behind the trenches [right]. It is fortunate that this

grave was later located and the remains of Major Duncan Chapman were

exhumed and transferred to the Pozieres British Cemetery, Ovillers-La-

Boiselle, where they lie to this day.

In a despondent letter, his father Robert wrote to Army Base

Records in Melbourne for more details:

I received a telegram from my daughter Mrs Wearne that my son

Major Duncan K Chapman was killed in action. Kindly let me

know the particulars. It is a great blow to me in every way as he

was my sole support. Still, I gave him freely for the cause. Still we

are human and would almost grudge what we gave. My heart is not

very strong being 73 years of age.30

Endnotes: 1 Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Mar 2014 - http://www.smh.com.au/national/mystery-of-gallipolis-first-man-ashore-solved-20140228-

33qxp.html. 2 Bean, CEW - Official Histories, Volume 1, Preface to 3rd Edition 1934, letter from FC Kemp (aka 1010 Sergeant FC Coe, 9th Bn). 3 Lieut D Chapman, 9th Bn - extract from letter. Facsimile held in archives of Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum, Qld. 4 Capt Sydney Jackson Chapman MC, 9th Bn and 4080 Pte Frederick James Chapman, 17th Bn. 5 Lieut Lancelot Alban Jones (later Capt), 9th Bn. 6 1200 Private Studley Gahan, 9th Bn, 1st Reinf. 7 AWM, Roll of Honour circular - http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1068839--720-.PDF. 8 Barrier Miner, 2 Aug 1915 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/3242076?zoomLevel=1. 9 Northern Star, 6 Feb 2012 - http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/was-sgt-stratford-first-ashore/1261524/. 10 Glen Innes Examiner, 5 Aug 1915 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/5303363. 11 Bairnsdale Advertiser, 4 Aug 1915 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/7221828?zoomLevel=1. 12 Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Mar 2014 - http://www.smh.com.au/national/mystery-of-gallipolis-first-man-ashore-solved-20140228-

33qxp.html. 13 Kevin Hogan, Federal Member for Page - http://www.kevinhogan.com.au/lismore-man-led-charge-anzac-cove/. 14 AWM, Red Cross Missing and Wounded files - http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1058646--1-.PDF. 15 AWM, Roll of Honour circular - http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1068839--720-.PDF. 16 Northern Star, 29 Nov 1916 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/8677002?zoomLevel=1. 17 Northern Star, 4 Oct 1939 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/10597741?zoomLevel=1. 18 ‘The First Man…’ - http://www.docstoc.com/docs/84251645/Anzac-Centenary-submission-attachment-by-Robert-Gill. 19 362 Pte WA Fisher, 9th Bn. Brisbane Courier, 11 June 1915 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/1586270?zoomLevel=1. 20 389 Pte FY Fox, 9th Bn - http://www.foxfamilyhistory.com/wheeler/fyfox.htm. 21 Townsville Daily Bulletin, 16 Jan 1934 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/5540937?zoomLevel=1. 22 364 Pte JR Spiers, 9th Bn. Letter to The Telegraph, 18th Jan, 1934 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/19278373?zoomLevel=1. 23 307 Pte Thomas Joseph Courtney, 9th Bn. Although Courtney is officially recorded as having been killed in action on 2 May, 1915,

a letter from his father included in his service file questions this as he received correspondence from several of his son’s comrades

stating he was killed at the landing. Additionally, a notation written on one copy of his B103 also sought to correct the official date

and revised it to 25 Apr, 1915. Along with Bostock’s 1934 newspaper account, it’s clear Courtney lost his life at the landing and was

very likely the first Australian killed at Gallipoli. 24 1109 Pte JD Bostock, 9th Bn. Letter to The Telegraph, 24th Jan 1934 -

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/19278588?zoomLevel=1. 25 Colonel AG Salisbury CMG, DSO and Bar, 9th Bn. SMH, 26 Apr 1939

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/1172349?zoomLevel=1. 26 627 Pte W Cleaver, 9th Bn. 27 ‘Anzac Day’ - http://www.kevgillett.net/?p=2641. 28 1171 Pte AH Reynolds, 9th Bn - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=11991574. 29 Daily Telegraph, 24 Apr 2012 - http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/eerie-calm-before-bloody-horror-of-gallipoli-

began/story-e6freuzr-1226336626696. 30 Robert Alexander Chapman (d. 1919) - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3232413.

Postscript by the Editor The current consensus amongst military historians is that the Turkish defenders were not equipped with

machine guns at the time the Australians landed. David Cameron, author of ‘25 April 1915’ (2007) has

changed his view since publishing his book on the Landing, and is now also of the view that there were no

Turkish machine guns defending the beach on the morning of the 25th [personal conversation]. It is likely

that the inexperienced Australians mistook heavy rifle fire for machine-gun fire.

DIGGER 9 Issue 53

Christmas in Harefield Hospital, 1915 Nurse Helena (‘Trixie’) Chadwick, 1

st AAH, Harefield.

Contributed by Frev Ford, Montrose.

AUSTRALIAN HOSPITAL – CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT Sister T Chadwick, of Stawell, who is on the staff of Harefield Hospital, England, writes a very interesting

account of the manner in which Christmas was celebrated at the Australian hospital. Her description is as

follows:

he Xmas festivities are over so I must commence my letter writing again. We had a glorious time here

and the weather was not at all bad. It was showery, but, really I often wonder if I am in England, as

you would not imagine such mild weather for December.

Well, our Xmas day dawned fine and sunny. The patients were all agog over the best decorated

ward, for which a prize was awarded. Some of the boys had been decorating and preparing for some weeks,

but, on the Monday of Xmas week, nothing had been attempted in Ward 14. However, the next day the two

youngest boys in the ward began to think out a scheme. They bought red crinkled paper and, on each panel

between the windows, they decided to place the names of their victories printed on the red paper in white

cotton wool with the brigade and colours that accomplished the deed. Then a spray of laurel was placed

above and below the panels. Then holly sprays were put on the beams and a large red banner with “A Merrie

[sic] Xmas” in cotton wool and holly was suspended from the ceiling.

Left: This photo is of Ward 14 at

Harefield Hospital. Though it is

not attributed to a particular year,

the banner and other decorations

imply that it could be the 1915

scene described above. [Note the

different spelling of ‘Merry’ to

how Trixie spelt it.] If it is 1915,

then the nurse is quite likely to be

Trixie Chadwick. AWM

P00162.051.

A big map of Australia was then sketched. It was outlined with blue ribbon and the Kangaroo and

Emu were placed in the centre of the map with two flags crossed over them, and our rising sun badge with

“Home Sweet Home” printed in blue ribbon. The stars were cut out and a Southern Cross formed at the side

of the map. The last panel in the ward had a cotton wool cross with a laurel wreath underneath and a half

circle round it. “In memory of our Fallen Pals” was written on this.

It has not snowed here at Xmas for some years, so we decided to have some artificial snow sprinkled

all over the ward and greenery, but had bad luck and a good joke at the same time. One of the patients went

up to London and purchased some snow. On returning in the train, dressed in khaki, he got into conversation

with an old gentleman who was greatly interested in Australians. Well, on his return to Harefield, there was

great excitement. The parcel of snow was opened up, and imagine the dismay when instead of snow the

parcel was found to contain boots, evidently the old gentleman’s property.

However, not to be baulked, the patient set off to Rickmanworth where he was able to obtain a

substitute – the frosty stuff you sprinkle on greenery – and this we had to make the best of.

The wards were judged on Xmas morning by the Colonel, Major and Matron. When the judges

appeared at my ward a patient, in his uniform, called out “Men of Ward 14, attention!” Then he explained all

the designs to the judges. First of all, we had the German flag, originally a French flag with the blue changed

to black, stretched over the rubber door mat with “Please wipe here” written on it. The idea took on and the

mat was well stamped on. All the details of the decorative scheme were pointed out and there were tears in

some eyes, as it was all so in-keeping with what our boys had been through.

T

DIGGER 10 Issue 53

The results of the competition were to be announced at dinner time in the mess room. However, at

one o’clock it was announced that no result had been arrived at as it was such a difficult task to decide out of

27 wards, but it would be known at tea time.

The Xmas dinner was great. The Sisters and all the VADs waited on the boys. The tables looked

very nice. Each plate had its menu sent from Australia. All the patients who had friends or relations in

England were allowed out, so we only had about 250 for dinner. Photographers were present, and great

speeches were made.

At tea time we all appeared again, and the Colonel then announced that as the wards were all so well

done, and they had such difficulty in deciding on the three best, it had been suggested that seven 1st prizes of

£1 each, and a second of 10/6 be awarded. So there was great excitement and cheering when the awards were

made. Ward 14 was one of the seven, but they were not given in order of merit but numerically, as 7, 14, 16,

24, 25, 26 and 27. Then as Ward 2 had been solely decorated by one man – all the other patients being bed

cases – they gave it a special prize.

Mr Leake then presented every patient, sister and doctor with a bullet lead pencil with “Harefield,

1915” written on them. Each patient also received a parcel of cigarettes, pipes, tobacco, sweets, etc., also a

Christmas card from General Birdwood. It was a happy time!

There were prizes for all sorts of things including the best limerick, which was as follows:

The head of the staff is the Colonel,

Whose ideas are strictly nocturnal,

He suddenly said,

“Eight thirty to bed,”

One would think that his cares were paternal.

This was greeted with smiles by the Colonel as he had just made a new regulation that all had to be

indoors by 6 o’clock and in bed by 8.30.

A big caricature was executed by one of the patients (a professional from the Sydney ‘Bulletin’)

depicting one of the boys tied by the leg with a very short piece of rope. It was a splendid sketch, and greatly

sought after. I shall send along snaps of the prize-taking wards, but really the photographs do not do them

justice as you miss the colours.

Ward 14 was simplicity itself, and was thought the most original. The finishing touch of frosting

sprinkled over the beds, floor and decorations gave it a pretty aspect.

Ward 27 had a very good show indeed. One of its patients, a professional cartoonist, did some

excellent drawings. They had a mi-mi [aboriginal hut], with a fire arranged at the door and a dead bunny

lying by it. On the mi-mi, was a picture of two aboriginals, a man and a woman, beautifully executed, with

the notice “King Billie and Queen Mary lib’ ere.” Extra good talent was shown by many of the patients.

The boys gave the village children a great time. They made a collection amongst themselves and

treated the children to a Xmas tree and spread [below, AWM H16674]. It was so thoughtful of them, I

thought. I was anxious to get this letter finished to catch

next mail when an unforeseen thing happened. It had

been very windy, and a tent which had been erected

under some elms near my ward had a wonderful

escape. A big elm had fallen just close to the huts, and we

were all at the windows watching the great trees sway

when there was a crack, and a huge elm fell right across

the front of the tent, escaping it by about a foot. The

architect decided Ward 13 next to us would have to go,

so all the patients were transferred.

The wind howled all night, and next morning

Ward 14 was doomed. Orders were given for everyone to

leave the ward at once, as a big elm tree was swaying

alongside, and was expected to fall at any minute. All my

patients were transferred to different wards, and as I had not yet had furlough I was given a week, and

decided to go to Scotland.

Source: ‘Stawell News and Pleasant Creek Chronicle’ (Vic), Saturday, 11 March, 1916.

DIGGER 11 Issue 53

The Evacuation of Gallipoli Letter from George Mundy, 3

rd Battalion.

Contributed by Barrie Brewer, Bonnet Bay.

rivate 2245 George Mundy, 3rd

Battalion, describes his departure from Gallipoli in a letter to Ned

Orr (still training in Australia).

Tel-el-Kebir

20th Jan 1916

Dear Ned

Hope that you and Amor are OK as it leaves me at present. Received your letters of 13th Oct,

11th and 23

rd Nov and 6

th Dec, and all per one mail, as all our mail operations were suspended for

some time on account of our shifting, as you can see by the above address that we are back in Egypt

again.

You will have heard ere now about the evacuation of Turkey by the Allied forces which were

there. I can tell you it was an eye opener and well worth seeing; you cannot imagine how such a big

army of men could be withdrawn from right under the enemy’s nose (as the trenches were only a few

yards distance from each other) without them knowing till long after they were well on their way to

Lemnos where they took them to first. But, of course, if you had seen the way trench warfare is

carried out you would know, as you might never see one of the enemy for a month or more, and all

you can do is to pot at their loopholes and throw bombs at each other’s trenches, the rest being done

by artillery, and our own side as well, except when an advance is being made.

Well, they split us into parties, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. ‘A’ party left one night, everything, of

course, being done by dark. ‘B’ and ‘C’ parties the next night, within a few hours of each other. We

all had our feet padded, were not allowed to smoke or talk, and we had to have our packs only half

full so we would be travelling light. We also had to hold onto each other’s entrenching tool handles

as we went down the hill to the boats so as to keep in touch with each other, and the way everybody

did their part and realised the seriousness of the move was a credit to the army. But best of all was

the part the navy played in embarking us on trawlers, each one filled so there was not room for

another man and transferring us to steamers which were waiting for us, was absolutely marvellous.

There was an enormous amount of stores of every kind and bombs, etc destroyed and

dumped. Besides a few old guns which weren’t worth shifting, being too old, and were blown up by

us so that Jacky Turk would find nothing much of any use to him when he did come over. But what

did hurt us was to see the trenches we had to leave, after putting so much of the very hardest work

into the making of them, and the worst of all, the graveyards containing the sinister remains and sole

memories of the mates and brothers, etc, of many of them, and to think of them having fought so well

and died, all in vain.

Well Ned, it is all for the best at this stage, but what a series of blunders for a foremost

nation to make, as the whole movements in Gallipoli were, from start to finish. At any rate, the Turks

got a bit of a hiding from us even after we had left. We had tunnels under their trenches in parts, and

enough explosives were put in them to nearly split the Peninsula in two, which was done when all

were safely off, upon which, when they charged what had been our lines, the navy opened up on

them, in one part absolutely annihilating them.

One thing that was amusing and sounds incredible was the setting of some rifles to go off at

certain intervals after we were off, by having a tin tied to a trigger and another with water dripping

into this one, so that when a nine pound pressure of water accumulated in the tin on the trigger it

went off, thus making them think we were sniping at them. Another thing that aided the success of the

movement was this: a couple of weeks before the Evacuation they ordered that no firing was to be

done by anyone, artillery included, for a couple of days, and to keep out of sight of aeroplanes, etc

so that it would appear we had left. The Turks sent a man over here and there unarmed to find out

what we were doing, knowing, of course, that he would be taken captive if we were still there, so you

can see how this would help final operations.

I don’t think that there is much more of importance to tell you, except that we had a week or

so of snow over there, which formed a pretty sight; also a week of extreme discomfiture as it was

premature and we were unprepared for it. We also struck very unusual weather in Egypt for a

fortnight or more, as it rained pretty heavy at intervals and also very cold winds. We are camped on

P

DIGGER 12 Issue 53

an old battlefield, as you can see by the name, and this battle was, I believe, the only time in history

that the ‘British Square’ was broken, which was done by the Dervishes.

Well Ned, it is seldom I get a chance to write at such length but I made the best of the

opportunity because I am having it posted in Cairo, as the blue ‘Active Service’ envelopes are

obsolete and all letters are censored and we are not allowed to mention the Evacuation of the place,

where we are, or the date. So will close now with best wishes and expecting to see you here soon.

I remain

Your Sincere Pal

George.

PS. If you are able I would like you to pass this home per Amor as I don’t think I will have the

chance to tell this much as well. George.

Endnotes: (1) George Mundy was killed on 19 August, 1916. He was profiled in DIGGER 47, along with

his brother Amor Mundy (Pte 5156, 1st Bn, KIA 23 July, 1916). (2) Edward (‘Ned’) Orr embarked on 1

April, 1916, as Private 5190, 1st Battalion. He was a dairyman of Haberfield. Ned and Amor embarked

together on the SS Makarini.

Hated to leave: Diggers at Anzac Captain Ken Millar, MC, 2

nd Battalion, describes the Evacuation.

Contributed by Patric Millar, Glen Innes.

t was not until after the snowstorm and blizzard had swept the Peninsula, and we realised that life there

in the winter would be impossible, that credence gained ground for the ‘furphies’ that evacuation of the

troops was intended.

The staff work and organisation for the Evacuation were perfect in all details. But it is not my

purpose to deal with that phase, except to add my tribute, as a humble sergeant of the line, to the brains and

ability of General Brudenell White – that good Australian – to whom much of the credit for the success is

due.

To the old hands of the battalion, the idea of running away from Abdul was abhorrent. We had

beaten him at every meeting. We were well-entrenched to resist any attack on his part, and after May 18 we

would have welcomed any fresh attentions from him.

Then again there was the question of our dead mates. The Gallipoli campaign was a totally different

proposition to that of France. We lived at Gallipoli, with our dead alongside of us. Owing to the lack of space

our cemeteries were always under our eyes. The hardest feature of the Evacuation was in leaving those dead

comrades behind. They had died facing the impossible, and to us they had bequeathed a sacred trust – to

carry on and succeed. First the Landing thinned out the battalion, and we buried the dead alongside of us;

then May 18 took its toll, and the awful carnage of the ‘Pine’ filled a cemetery above Shrapnel Gully.

Jack Murphy, in his notes for our history [‘Nulli Secundus’], states that as his party stole away

from the line they took off their hats passing the crosses, and old hard-bitten Anzacs wept silent tears and felt

the remorse of a man having let his mates down. [Possibly CSM 2002 John Murphy MM, 2nd

Bn.]

The first duty I can remember in connection with the actual preparation for leaving was the arduous

work of going down to the beach in full marching order just before dawn and returning again just at

visibility. The idea was to give the Turk the impression that the activity among the boats was due to

reinforcements arriving; not, as was the case, the taking of men and stores away.

This was a good scheme, but very hard on the troops who ‘played’ route marching up and down

those steep hills. The next puzzler for old Turk was the periods of absolute silence. It was uncanny and

nerve-wracking to be on Gallipoli and not hear one shot fired from a rifle on our side for days. Then there

would be periods when shots would be fired at a given time in the morning or night or at mixed times.

I am hazy about the actual final arrangements for the taking off of the troops, but the plans were

based on those which obtained among the other battalions, companies being divided into different parties,

and leaving on different nights.

The last party from the 2nd

Bn comprised only 14 or 15 men, each of three companies providing an

officer and two other ranks, the other company two other ranks, the balance consisting of the CO (Cass), his

adjutant (Taylor), with one or two runners. Despite that these figures are correct, 40 officers and other ranks

claim to have been in the last party.

Many arguments were provoked over the choice of the last party personnel. Old friends and mates

quarrelled and disputed length of service and seniority, and the company commanders had a torrid time

I

DIGGER 13 Issue 53

making and holding on to their selections. Volunteers were called for to make the final rearguard, and I

remember the splendid fellows – mates of mine of old ‘C’ Company – who quickly, and without hesitation,

clamoured for the honour of staying behind. To the best of my knowledge more than half the battalion were

evacuated by the second last night, leaving in the line the ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ parties of picked, fit men.

The ‘A’ party, which was the main body, pulled out immediately it became dark, and at intervals the

‘B’ and ‘C’ parties left. Then commenced the strangest, most anxious time that I put in during the whole war.

The battalion was holding Queensland Villas and Tassy Post, the trenches being so deep and well-dug that it

was necessary to have artificial light in the day time. The firing bays were reached by going up a few steps

from the trench. I do not remember having seen in France a better made system of trenches than these.

Normally, our company of some 120 men were too few for the length of line we held, and after the

‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ parties withdrew the silence hung like a pall. L/Cpl EH Kelly, a long lean ex-drover, was

my selected companion for the night. We had been section mates at Mena, and shared blankets there. Kelly’s

Gallipoli record was splendid. He had landed and ‘boxed on’ through the whole campaign, and it was fitting

that he should be left to see it out. [WOII 753 Ernest Herbert Kelly, 2nd

Bn, RTA 3/12/18.]

The orders to us were to start from the middle of our company sector, one to move to the right, the

other to the left, and fire one shot from each firing bay, until we connected with the man on our flank, and

then work back again until we met, and keep this up until withdrawn.

The only thing that worried Kelly and I was Lone Pine and Quinn’s Post. We knew all about the

Pine system, and understood that Quinn’s was even closer to the Turk. The Pine was only a matter of yards,

and the combatants could toss back each other’s bombs if they were quick enough. We wanted to know how

ever troops could be withdrawn from these places without Abdul waking up to it, and if Kelly is as grey as I

am now, I am sure that thinking about the Pine that night and wondering how best to save one’s skin without

disgrace, laid the foundation of it!

The longest of nights has an end, and a runner going past to the left to

bring in ‘D’ Company warned me to be ready to follow them to ‘B’ sap. Along

came Captain Rowlands, Jack O’Connell [later Lieut, John F O’Connell]

and Bailey [unidentified] from ‘D’ with Kelly, and we assembled in the sap.

Colonel Cass called the roll, the senior of each company answering, and with-

out a further word he checked us out of the sap and led us to the beach. We

were challenged at several points, and checked off, but there was no delay, and

on reaching Watson’s Pier we immediately embarked, after throwing our

bombs into the sea.

As the boat pushed off a mine burst in our old line, and the Turks

opened rifle fire right along the front. The bullets whined and spattered round

the barge, and we made our last ‘duck’ to the Turkish fire, and left to the

enemy his native land, which he had so gallantly defended.

Right: Ken Millar.

Source of article: ‘Reveille’, December 1, 1932.

_________________________________________________________________

Bringing in the prisoners Extract from ‘Randwick to Hargicourt’ [3

rd Bn History] by Eric Wren.

During the Hermies ‘stunt’ [April 9, 1917], one of ‘C’ Company’s runners, Fred Kennaugh [6300 Frederick

Joseph Kennaugh, farmer from Lismore, KIA 4.5.17, aged 21], was given a bunch of about thirty Fritz

prisoners to take in to headquarters. He arrived there sitting up on a stretcher carried by two of his prisoners

while the others marched ahead, and with his hands in his pockets. The officer to whom he handed over his

prisoners wanted to know what he meant by coming in like that, and was told that that was the easiest way he

could think of on the spur of the moment, and that it kept some of his prisoners busy and gave him a good

view of the others. When told of the risk he ran by having his hands in his pockets, and no weapon, he

removed his hands and showed a Mills bomb in either hand. “What’ll I do with these,” he asked, “now I’ve

finished with them?” “Throw them down,” said the officer. Kennaugh prepared to do so and asked, “Can you

run?” “Yes,” replied the officer. “Why?” “Then run like b…….,” said Ken, as he threw them, “because the

pins are out.” It is said that the officer broke “evens” in the rush to safety, and that Ken, although a

professional runner, was a very bad second. – As told by Pte W Atkins [possibly Pte 3002 Stanley Atkin.]

The hunt for dad’s trench Graham Hutchinson, Allambie Heights, youngest son of Pte Robert Hutchinson, 8

th Battalion,

with Tim Leslie, Australian Broadcasting Commission.

IGGER 24, September 2006, published the story of the ‘Trench Photo’, showing five soldiers of the

8th Battalion in a captured Turkish gun pit on Bolton Ridge on 26 April, 1915. The soldier in the

peaked hat in the front of the photo is my father, Private 571 Robert (‘Bob’) Hutchinson of the 8th

Battalion, 2nd

Brigade. The article told of how the owner of the camera that took the photo, Jim Bryant, lost

the camera in the battle for Krithia on 8 May, 1915. Years later, the rusted camera was returned to Jim

Bryant’s mother, as her address was inside the leather carry case.

The camera remained there until 1958, when it was observed that a film was still in the old camera,

and when processed, the Trench Photo and other photos were exposed. The Australian War Memorial heard

of the photos existence, and as the negatives were in such good condition, thousands of posters of the Trench

Photo were printed. The photo has also appeared on the covers of books and in articles written about the

Gallipoli campaign.

I visited Gallipoli for the Anzac Day service in 2000 and went to where I thought was the extreme

right end of Bolton’s Ridge, which I was told was the trench’s location. However, in later years I came

across maps in books showing trench locations on the first day of the Landing and realised that the trench

was 200 metres further south. So, with the assistance of the helpful staff of the AWM, I was able to obtain

coordinates of the trench’s location (40.222334, 26.280620 on Google Maps), about 400 metres south of

Shell Green Cemetery.

When the Federal Government announced that a ballot would be held for the attendance of 8 000

Australians and 2 000 New Zealanders to attend the 100th anniversary of the Landing at Gallipoli, on 25

April, 2015, my family encouraged me to apply, and my youngest son Bryce, and his wife, Nicci, advised me

that they would accompany me if my application was successful.

So I applied for a pass as a ‘direct descendant’ and was successful in obtaining a pass for myself and

for Bryce as my ‘carer’. As only two passes were allotted to each applicant, Nicci had to watch the ceremony

on television from our tour operator’s hotel in Eceabat on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

I must give the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Ticketek ten out of ten for the capable and

efficient manner in which they planned and arranged the event. We were sent numerous bulletins advising us

what to expect of 25 April, the terrain to be covered, and the delays to be expected with 10 000 people trying

to enter and exit a confined area under strict Turkish security. Anyone with complaints obviously didn’t read

these bulletins.

We arrived in Turkey on 20 April and we commenced a three-day tour of the battlefields with RSL

tours of Eceabat, before attending the Anzac [North Beach] and Lone Pine ceremonies on Anzac Day. Prior

to the ceremony, we wanted to locate my dad’s trench.

Before we all left Australia for Turkey, we had been contacted by Mr Tim Leslie of the ABC News

Service, who had heard of our quest. He wished to accompany us on our search for the trench and we agreed.

Tim Leslie contacted us at our Eceabat hotel and arranged for an ABC vehicle to pick us up and take

us close to the trench location.

It was agreed that Bryce, Nicci, Tim and his film crew would leave me with the ABC vehicle at

Brighton Beach, while they scaled up to Bolton’s Ridge, to ascertain if I would be able to make the climb

through the dense scrub. Both teams had the trench coordinates in their portable satellite receivers [GPSs]

and were able to find the trench’s location. However, they needed me with my photographic evidence to

verify the site. They all agreed that the terrain and thick vegetation was too much for an 80 year old to scale,

but Tim Leslie was able to successfully find easier access through a cornfield off the Lone Pine Road, up a

ridge, and again through scrub and old Turkish trenches.

Tim came back to me in the ABC car and we drove to the cornfield where we met up with Bryce,

Nicci, ABC correspondent Phil Williams and ABC cameraman Cameron Bauer. (Phil Williams had a

personal interest in our quest as he originally came from Dimboola, Victoria, where George Clements lived

and near where my father was born.)

Tim led Bryce, Nicci and myself up the ridge towards the trench site, whilst Cameron filmed our trip

with Phil operating the ‘drone camera’ which buzzed within two feet of our heads. Bryce and Nicci followed

me closely, assisting me through the scrub and the uneven surfaces, terrified that I may fall into an old

Turkish trench.

We finally made it to the trench site and with the photographic evidence I had, and knowledge of its

location, I was able to verify that we had reached the site of the trench. It was quite emotional for us to stand

D

DIGGER 15 Issue 53

in the same spot which my dad was photographed in 100 years ago. Depressions in the ground were still

evident. It was about 200 metres south of where I thought it was on my 2000 visit, so I was very pleased to

finally locate it.

The video of our trip to the Trench Photo site was on ABC News at 2.25 pm on 24 April, 2015.

Perhaps our trip to locate the trench can be best described by reading Tim Leslie’s article on the ABC

website: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-24/gallipoli-2015-hunt-for-dads-trench/6407036, reprinted

here with Tim’s permission.

The hunt for dad’s trench Report and photographs by Tim Leslie, ABC

There is not much to distinguish the steep incline off the road above this section of Anzac Cove but

Graham Hutchinson is not deterred: he knows that what he’s looking for is somewhere in the dense

scrub rising steeply above him.

Bryce Hutchinson looks nervously at his 80 year old father but he won’t try to dissuade him from

what lies ahead. He knows that when Graham gets an idea in his head there's no stopping him.

A photo lies dormant “I don’t know if it’s the best idea for an 80-year-old to be climbing these hills but I know dad well

enough to know he’ll do it one way or the other,” Bryce said.

Father and son, along with Bryce’s wife Nicci, are visiting Gallipoli for the centenary of the

landings and are standing not far from where Graham’s father Robert ‘Bob’ Hutchinson charged

ashore with members of the 8th Australian Infantry Battalion.

In Graham's bag is a black-and-white photo showing five

Australian soldiers in a captured Turkish gun pit, and the trio’s

quest to find that very spot has led them here.

A century of rain has washed away much of the evidence of

World War I; by rights they have no chance of finding the

trench where the photo was taken, but then by rights this photo

shouldn’t even exist.

It was snapped days after the Anzac Day offensive by a passing

soldier, documenting an early victory in a campaign that would

end in stalemate.

Bob and the owner of the camera, Jim Bryant, were part of the

company that took the pit in the heavy fighting of the first day,

and in the photo Bob can be seen in the front, peaked cap on,

eating a tin of bully beef.

But Jim lost the camera on the battlefield at Krithia, the scene of

disastrous offensives across open ground that saw thousands of

soldiers mowed down by Turkish machine guns.

Bob was wounded at the second battle of Krithia, shot in the leg,

his time at Gallipoli over, although he did return to the war,

serving in Egypt with the Light Horse Brigade.

The camera lay untouched on the battlefield for four years, when it was anonymously sent home to

Jim’s mother, whose name and

address were inside the leather

case.

Rusted shut from years of

exposure, the camera remained

unopened until 1958, when it

was taken to a professional

photo lab to see if any of the

photos on the roll inside had

survived.

What emerged, 43 years after

the camera was dropped on the

battlefield, were pristine

Gallipoli images, including this

DIGGER 16 Issue 53

photo of the five in the trench, and a photo looking south from the mouth of the trench towards the

long sweep that is Brighton Beach.

Graham hopes those two photos will be enough to identify the location, which his research has told

him was the only gun pit in the area.

The trench photo, so close to lost, has gone on to become an iconic image of Gallipoli, gracing the

covers of books and posters around the nation.

Scouring the ridge For Graham, the photo has been a presence almost his entire adult life, and he has long wanted to

retrace his father’s steps to this fateful outcrop.

Jim Bryant, the camera’s owner, returned to Gallipoli in 1978 but his ill-health forced him to a halt

10 metres below the spot where he posed with Bob all those years ago.

And this is not the first time

Graham has searched the rugged

terrain of Gallipoli for the

trench; in 2000 he thought he had

found it, however based on

information he has discovered in

the intervening 15 years he now

knows he was tantalisingly close,

just 100 metres away from where

he needed to be.

All this is in Graham’s mind as

he watches Bryce clamber up the

slope. The younger man is tasked

with combing the area for anything that resembles the U-shaped trench the photo was taken in.

At the crest of the hill, Bryce is worried. He knows they’re near the spot but the way up is

treacherous. He and Nicci were forced to pull themselves up the slope, grabbing onto the wiry

underbrush.

Fortunately there’s a path along the ridgeline that looks more inviting, and a farmer’s field, green

with spring growth, offers a gentler incline to reach the ridge.

“I can’t be the one to stop him, if dad can’t make it up it’s got to be him that decides when he's had

enough,” Bryce says.

There’s a faint catch in his voice as he says this, and it’s clear all the Hutchinsons have a lot riding

on this day.

“This has given him something to look forward to, it’s kept him busy, he’s been working towards

today for a long time.”

And there's no stopping Graham. He leads the trek up the slope, shaking off helping hands, sensing

the solution to a mystery 100 years in the making.

Passing the baton The top of the ridge is pitted and rough with

shallow gullies, the remains of the Turkish

defences that once ran along the hill.

Towards the peak the dense thickets of pine

trees give way to low undergrowth and the

trio emerge to a brilliant view to the south.

It’s clear this is the place. While the trench

walls are long gone, a deep depression

remains at the top of the bluff.

For Graham, Bryce and Nicci, the emotion of

the moment is too much. For them, this spot holds as much significance as Lone Pine or Shrapnel

Valley.

“These two,” Graham says blinking back tears, “they’ve just helped me so much to get here, they

worry about me, well don’t any more – I’ve done it.

“I probably won’t be able to get here on my 100th but at least I've done it on my 80

th.”

This may mark the end of the journey Graham has been on his entire adult life, however it is just the

beginning for Bryce.

DIGGER 17 Issue 53

“It’s very, very humbling to be standing where my grandfather was but the baton’s been passed to

me and maybe one day I’ll be able to bring my boys here, to see where their great-grandfather

went.”

It’s only long after they get to the bottom of the hill that Bryce

realises with a laugh, “we didn’t even get a photo of the trench”.

_______________________________________________________

This footage received much publicity in the ‘Wimmera Mail Times’

in Horsham. As part of the 100th anniversary of the Anzac Landing at

Gallipoli, project managers, researchers and editors of the Horsham

Historical Society, Gillian and John Francis, produced two volumes

called ‘Strewth’, totalling over 800 pages detailing 2 500 local

soldiers on the roll call list, 450 locals who died in the war, and 149

who were decorated. The Horsham Historical Society honoured the

men in the trench by placing the Trench Photo on the cover of

Volume I.

Should anyone desire a copy of ‘Strewth’, it can be ordered

through the Horsham Historical Society, PO Box 1113, Horsham,

Victoria, 3400.

Endnote: The soldiers in the Trench Photo, front to back are: Pte 556 Ted Freeman; Pte 553 George

Clements; Pte 527 James Bryant; Pte 617 Sam Wilson and Pte 571 Bob Hutchinson, all of ‘A’ Company,

8th Battalion. Their profiles appeared in DIGGERs 25, 26 and 27.

Letter from 2nd Lieutenant Lesley Sydney Dummer, 41st Battalion Found on Trove by the Editor.

A long and interesting letter, dated Salisbury Plain, November 22, 1916, has been received by Mr WCP Bell

from Lieutenant LS Dummer (since gone to the Western Front). We have space for only one extract:

At Cape Town, wearied of being kept without leave, several of the lads broke through the wharf

guard and got away up to town. In this connection one old Darwinite (Matthew Garr) especially

distinguished himself, and he was ordered to forfeit 28 days pay.

He was, as far as I know, the only Darwinite (except myself) on

board. Matt [right, AWM H06115] was in the same company as I,

and in my platoon, and so I saw quite a lot of him. Except the

above outbreak, he was a good soldier and gave little trouble.

When we reached England he was still suffering from the penalty

contracted at Cape Town, so the boys sent round the hat and

provided him with the wherewithal to spend his four days

disembarkation leave in London. I cannot attempt to give you an

account of London as seen through Matt Garr’s eyes. All I can say

is that his novel recitations of his impressions and experiences

caused us all endless amusement.

When we had been here (Salisbury Plain) a month or so, a draft

was being formed to reinforce the 47th and 53

rd Battalions, and

Matt volunteered to go. His reason was that it was twice more

better to be killed and push up daisies in France than to sit down in

England with no money. I have not heard of him since he left, but I

am sure he will acquit himself well in the firing line …

The weather is very wintry and unpleasant as I write, but on the whole I’ve had a good time in

England … I left Australia a sergeant, and am now awaiting my commission, which should be

gazetted tomorrow. Please convey my kind regards to all my many friends in Darwin.

Source: ‘Northern Territory Times and Gazette’, 8 March, 1917.

Endnotes: (1) Lesley Dummer enlisted 8 November, 1915, and returned to Australia, 24 August, 1918. (2)

Private 428 Matthew Garr served with the 41st and 47

th Battalions before his death on 29 September, 1917.

DIGGER 18 Issue 53

Abner Gilchrist Dalzell, RAN, ANMEF, RANBT, AFC, AIS, AAC: where duty leads and when fate calls

Greg Swinden, Evatt.

bner Gilchrist Dalzell was born at Latrobe, Tasmania, on or about 10 June, 1887, the only child of

George Gilchrist Dalzell (mining battery manager) and Minnie Dalzell (nee Montieth), who were

married on 3 August, 1886.

George Dalzell later moved to the Ballarat area and was remarried to Mary Jane Odgers in 1892.

Abner worked as a miner, although he later claimed he had service in the Royal Navy but no service record

can be located under his name. It is possible he did serve in the Royal Navy or Australasian Naval Forces but

under an assumed name.

He enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 20 November 1911, at Williamstown Naval

Depot, Victoria, for a seven year period of service, as an ordinary seaman (service number 1311). Abner was

described on enlistment as 5’7½” tall with dark brown hair, grey eyes, a fresh complexion and with tattoos

on his left forearm. His next of kin was listed as his father, then working at the mining town of Scotchmans

Lead (also known as Yarrowee) near Ballarat. Abner served at Williamstown until late June 1912, before

joining the destroyer HMAS Parramatta on 1 July, 1912. He was not a perfect sailor and was sentenced to

seven days in the cells at Williamstown (21-27 March, 1912) for ill-discipline.

Parramatta had just completed a refit at Williamstown and

was soon dispatched on a three month cruise (July – October 1912) to

South Australian and Victorian ports to ‘show the flag’ of the newly

created RAN. Abner was promoted to able seaman on 9 November,

1912. The destroyer undertook a similar cruise in May – August 1913

to Brisbane, Thursday Island, Cooktown, Cairns, Townsville and

Gladstone before returning to Williamstown on 16 August. The next

day Abner was posted ashore to the Williamstown Depot (now named

HMAS Cerberus). Right: HMAS Parramatta, 1920. AWM 301140l.

Abner Gilchrist had married Mary Bradley Robertson, at Fitzroy, on 29 January, 1913, and on 21

November, 1913, he purchased his discharge from the RAN at the cost of five pounds.

When war broke out in August 1914, Abner quickly offered his services again to the navy and was

enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) as an able seaman (service

number 48). Dalzell was one of 500 men who enlisted in the naval component of the force in mid-August,

and was soon on his way north to German New Guinea in the auxiliary cruiser/troopship HMAS Berrima.

The ANMEF landed at Herbertshohe and Kabakaul, near Rabaul, on 11 September, 1914, and after a day of

hard fighting captured the German wireless station at Bitapaka late in the evening.

Six members of the landing force were killed in action (including five naval personnel) and several

wounded. It is not known what role Able Seaman Dalzell played in the landing but he then became part of

the occupation force at Rabaul until he returned to Australia in mid-February 1915 and was discharged in

early March.

Abner and Mary’s first child, a boy who they named Gilchrist, was born at Carlton on 16 February,

1916. Soon after, Abner decided to re-enlist and joined the RAN Bridging Train, at Port Melbourne on 1

June, 1916, as an able seaman driver. He was then sent to the Bridging Train reinforcement camp at Seymour

in northern Victoria for training.

Despite his naval background, he chose to transfer to the newly created No. 2 Squadron of the

Australian Flying Corps, as a private (service number 666) on 6 September, 1916. Abner embarked for

overseas service in the troopship Ulysses, at Melbourne on 25 October, 1916, with the 18 officers and 230

men of 2 Squadron. While in port on 17-18 November, 1916 (possibly in South Africa), he was absent

without leave and was admonished for his transgression.

The Ulysses arrived at Plymouth, UK, on 28 December, 1916, and 2 Squadron was renamed 3

Squadron AFC when it was discovered a 2 Squadron AFC already existed in the Middle East. The squadron

was renamed again in March 1917 as 67 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, but eventually became 3 Squadron

again in January, 1918. The squadron was sent to South Carlton in Lincolnshire for training.

On 9 January, 1917, Abner was sent to complete the one-month aircraft riggers course at

Netheravon, Wiltshire (near the Salisbury Plain). On completion of this course he returned to his squadron

and was promoted to aircraftsman 2nd

class on 28 February, 1917, and the following day was advanced to

A

DIGGER 19 Issue 53

aircraftsman 1st class. As a result of his extensive prior service he was promoted to corporal on 11 March,

1917, and then on 1 May, 1917, was promoted to sergeant.

During the afternoon of 18 June, 1917, at South Carlton, an RE 8 aircraft piloted by a Sergeant RE

Holmes (believed to be a Royal Flying Corps pilot) crashed and caught fire. Sergeant Dalzell and three other

Australian airmen (Thomas Carmody, Cyril Lee and Vincent Smith) made a gallant rescue attempt, and

despite being beaten back by flames, they eventually dragged Holmes from the burning wreckage. All four

rescuers were badly burned, but Holmes survived the crash and recovered from his injuries. As a result of

their actions, all four men were awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for Gallantry (MSM) which was

announced in the London Gazette on 21 August, 1917.

No. 3 Squadron moved across to France in

late August 1917 and eventually settled at their new

aerodrome at Savy (Picardy Region) on 10

September. Flying RE 8 aircraft, the squadron

provided support to British and Canadian ground

forces near Arras.

In November 1917 the squadron moved to

Flanders to support Australian troops and also

conducted photo reconnaissance flights and the

dropping of propaganda leaflets. In April 1918 the

squadron moved again; this time to the Somme

Valley to provide artillery spotting support during

the German Spring Offensive. On 21 April, 1918, 3

Squadron personnel were involved in the recovery of the remains of Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen

(‘The Red Baron’) who was shot down that day. Dalzell is recorded by the Australian War Memorial as one

of the men involved in that activity. On 17 May, 1918, Abner Dalzell was remustered as a sergeant

mechanic. Above: Officers and men of No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps posing in front of RE8

Aircraft B2271. AWM P00355.026. The final months of the war saw 3 Squadron carrying out experiments in aerial supply methods for

ground troops, noise diversion operations in support of the battle of Hamel, and the dropping of smoke

bombs and reconnaissance duties during the attacks on the Hindenburg Line. The squadron remained in

France after the Armistice and in late February 1919 began to move back to England where it was based at

Hurdcott Camp near Salisbury.

Sergeant Mechanic Dalzell departed France in early March 1919, and following some leave in

England, embarked with the rest of his squadron in the troopship Kaiser I Hind at Southampton on 6 May,

1919. They arrived at Port Adelaide on 16 June, 1919, and Abner was discharged from the AFC on 24 June,

1919. Three months later, on 15 September, 1919, he enlisted as a sergeant (service number 143) in the

Australian Instructional Service (AIS) at the Central Flying School at Laverton.

The AIS was disbanded on 31 December, 1919, and the next day became the Australian Air Corps

(AAC), the fore-runner of the Royal Australian Air Force. Sergeant Dalzell transferred to the AAC and was

allocated service number 13 on 1 January, 1920.

Mary and Abner’s second child, a son who they named Desmond, was born at Carlton on 31 May,

1920. On 23 September, 1920, however, tragedy struck the family when Abner Dalzell failed to return from

a flight over Bass Strait. The events leading up to this are as follows.

On 21 August, 1920, the three-masted 400 tonne schooner

Amelia J, under the command of Captain George Atwell with a crew of

12, sailed from Newcastle for Hobart with a cargo of coal, but she failed

to arrive. The vessel was last seen off Jervis Bay, NSW, by the crew of

the SS Melbourne on 5 September, 1920. Her owners then arranged for

the SS Musgrave to conduct a search of the Furneaux Island Group,

beginning what was then the largest search for a missing vessel yet

conducted in Australia. Right: The schooner Amelia J. Source:

http://theavocharchive.org.s3.amazonaws.com/330.jpg.

The Commonwealth Government initially refused to send a warship to join the search, but the public

outcry was so great that the submarine depot ship HMAS Platypus, based at Geelong, was sent to investigate

the Furneaux Islands, then considered to be the most likely spot the vessel may have come to grief.

On 23 September, 1920, two Australian Air Corps De Havilland 9A biplanes took off from Point

Cook to conduct a search of the Furneaux Group. The flight plan for the two aircraft was that they were to go

DIGGER 20 Issue 53

from Melbourne, via Wilson’s Promontory, to Flinders Island. They were to also search other islands in Bass

Strait and then head down the east coast of Tasmania to Hobart.

One of the aircraft (E8616), flown by Major William John Stutt, with Sergeant Abner Dalzell as

observer and mechanic, was last seen flying into heavy cloud on the north-western coast of Cape Barren

Island that afternoon. The aircraft failed to reach Hobart and the search was then widened to include both the

missing aircraft and the schooner. Soon after, the barquentine Southern Cross was also reported missing near

King Island and the search for her began as well.

The destroyer HMAS Swordsman later replaced Platypus and further searches centred on the

Furneaux Group were also carried out by the SS Dolphin, the motor launch Toroa, and the SS Melbourne.

No trace of either vessels or aircraft was ever found. The search for Stutt and Dalzell was called off on 18

October, 1920, and a court of inquiry, held on 16 November, 1920, stated both men lost their lives whilst in

performance of a military duty.

Dalzell and Stutt were subsequently listed as missing believed killed on 23 September, 1920. As

both men died prior to 31 August, 1921, their names are now recorded (as of 2014) by the Commonwealth

War Graves Commission in the Australian Book of Remembrance held in Canberra.

It was originally believed that Stutt and Dalzell’s aircraft went down in Bass Strait but, in the 1990s,

evidence came to light that they may have crashed near St Helens in north-eastern Tasmania. In the 1950s a

14 year old boy wandering in bushland found various items but did not know what they were. Some 40 years

later he saw an aircraft radiator in a Museum in Queensland, and recognised it as very similar to the item he

had seen as a boy. By then, however, he could not remember exactly where he had seen it. Perhaps the

aircraft wreckage, and the remains of Abner Dalzell and William Stutt, lie in the dense and rugged bushland

of north-eastern Tasmania, waiting patiently to be found.

Endnotes: (1) Abner’s date of birth on his RAN Service record states 12 June, 1889, but his marriage

certificate and AIF service records indicate his date of birth was 10 June, 1887. (2) Abner had two half-

sisters, Constance Lillian Dalzell (born 1897) and Vera Esther May Dalzell (born 1905), and a half-brother,

George William Odgers Dalzell (born 1900). George William Odgers Dalzell joined the RAN on 29 March,

1920, and was ‘Discharged Engagement Expired’, as an acting stoker petty officer, on 28 March 1927. (3)

Mary Dalzell married Percy Adams in 1926, although both sons retained their father’s surname. Gilchrist

Dalzell and Desmond Dalzell both joined the Royal Australian Navy on 5 July, 1938, as stokers and saw

service throughout World War II. Desmond was a leading stoker when he was discharged ‘Permanently

Unfit for Naval Service’ on 4 May, 1948, and Gilchrist was a chief petty officer stoker who was ‘Discharged

Engagement Expired’ on 4 July, 1960.

Postscript by the Editor Below: Section of German MG08 machine-gun ammunition belt with bullet: Baron Manfred von

Richthofen, Geschwader 1, German Air Service. Section of cotton webbing ammunition belt from one of the

two Luft Maschinen Gewehr (LMG) 08/15s fitted to

Baron Manfred von Richthofen’s Fokker Dr I aircraft.

Frank Ronald Rawlinson, enlisted in the AIF in

August 1916, and served as 424A 2nd

Class Air

Mechanic with 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps.

Richthofen’s body and the remains of his aircraft were

brought to the airfield of 3 Sqn at Bertangles on the

evening of 21 April, 1918. Rawlinson together with 666

Sergeant Abner Gilchrist Dalzell and 569 Corporal

Edward James McCarty assisted with the removal of

clothing from the body and Rawlinson obtained a

section of the overalls and part of a belt as souvenirs. He

also obtained several items from the Fokker Triplane.

These were all donated to the Memorial by him in 1960. A letter describing the circumstances is held on File

749/084/005. Apart from confirming the origin of these relics the letter also confirms that von Richthofen

was wearing a parachute and harness when he was shot down over Australian positions near Corbie. A

number of secondary sources questioned the use of a ground style ammunition belt rather than the

Parabellum-type belt. Research to date does not support this position and Rawlinson’s access to both the

body and aircraft allowed him to collect a number of significant and uncontested relics which supports the

provenance of the belt section. Image and text from AWM website for REL/00927.

DIGGER 21 Issue 53

The bravery medals of 2659 Chard Neve, 12th Battalion: revisited Graeme Hosken, Dubbo.

n DIGGER 11, I presented the story of Private Chard Hillston

Neve who served with the 26th Battalion (Qld) and the 12

th

Battalion (SA/WA/Tas). Chard Neve came to my attention as

the most decorated soldier on the Adelong (NSW) war memorial

[right], with a DCM and a MM next to his name.

However, on researching Neve I could find no mention in

his service record or on the AWM website of Neve being so

awarded for bravery. In fact, my summary of his service from

DIGGER 11 reads:

Chard Hillston Neve’s personal dossier revealed that his

service was characterised by frequent sickness and

considerable time away from his unit. Between 1916 and

1918, he suffered from typhoid, venereal disease (twice),

mumps, trench feet, influenza, and finally, a sprained back

(originally reported as ‘wounded’ but later amended). In

January 1919 he went AWL for a short time.

I came to the conclusion that Neve’s claims to the medals were

somewhat dubious, but still hoped that evidence might be found to

confirm that he did, in fact, receive the DCM and MM mentioned on

his home-town memorial.

Since June 2005 my thoughts have returned to Neve from time to time, so having some spare hours,

I decided to re-open my ‘cold case’ using the Trove website.

One thought I had was perhaps Neve did not return to Adelong after his discharge (as he enlisted in

Queensland and did not serve in NSW units), and that his parents may have been confused and ‘dobbed him

in’ for the medals when the community was gathering names for the memorial’s marble tablets. Chard Neve

may have therefore been unaware of the bravery awards ‘bestowed’ on him and could not be blamed for any

claim to the decorations.

However, Trove showed that not only did Neve come back to Adelong but that he was feted as a

hero upon his return.

Below are extracts from my Trove search results, details from Neve’s service record and my

comments on each newspaper clipping.

Pte Chard Neve, son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Neve, of ‘Mt Pleasant’, writes saying he has had a bad time from

trench feet. He was in hospital for some time and then went back on-duty as a stretcher-bearer, but the feet

gave way again and he was sent to hospital on 23rd

February. [‘Tumut Advocate and Farmers and Settlers’

Adviser’, 20 March, 1917.]

Record: Neve served in the field with the 12th Battalion in France between 4 August 1916 and 9

November 1916, when he was transferred to hospital in Etretat with a sprained back. He was

returned to base details, classified ‘A’, until 18 December when he was admitted to the 26th GH with

“the effects of cold feet”. On 31 January, 1917, Neve was admitted to the 18th GH at Camiers with

mumps. He was admitted to hospital in England on 23 February, the reason not stated on his casualty

form, but a Base Records letter dated 6 March, 1917, told his parents that he was in hospital

“suffering from trench feet”.

Comment: There is no evidence in his service record of Neve returning to duty after his first bout of

a foot condition. Being admitted to hospital with the “effects of cold feet” while being stationed in a

base depot would not be the common way of contracting trench feet (which usually resulted from

duty in the waterlogged front-line trenches). However, the cable from March does support Neve’s

claim that he had trench feet at least once.

Information to the effect that Pte Chard Neve, son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Neve, of ‘Mt Pleasant’, had been

seriously wounded, and was in hospital in Birmingham, has come to hand by cable. Pte Neve had been

fighting in France for a long time. [‘Tumut Advocate and Farmers and Settlers’ Adviser’, 15 October, 1918.]

I

DIGGER 22 Issue 53

Record: Neve did not rejoin his unit until 22 November, 1917, and served with the 12th Battalion

through until 15 June, 1918. After a bout of influenza he returned to the battalion on 26 July. On 18

September 1918 he was “wounded in action”, suffering a “strained back”. Though classified as a

wound at first, this entry was later amended to not being the result of wounding, and described only

as “mild”, rather than serious.

Comments: The service record gives no indication that Neve’s strained back was ever considered to

be a “serious” wound, and the later amendment to his injury not being a wound implies that the

condition wasn’t a result of enemy action. In fact, a telegram was sent to the Neves on 5 October,

1918, informing them that their son “previously reported wounded, now reported not wounded, but

sick”. This official notification was not used to correct the newspaper item published some days later

on the 15th. Were Chard’s parents deliberately glamorising their son’s service? In Chard’s defence

though, on 18 September, the 12th Battalion was engaged in an advance east of Jeancourt. If Chard

was working as a stretcher-bearer, he may have ‘put his back out’ while engaged in his duties.

Since the beginning of 1916, Neve had been in the field for 12 months out of a possible 33, so it does

seem somewhat of an overstatement to say that he had been “fighting in France for a long time”.

Private Chard Neve, son of Mr. and Mrs. J Neve [sic], of ‘Mt. Pleasant’, Adelong, returned home from the

war on Thursday last. Pte Neve is to be congratulated as being the most decorated man from Adelong,

having won the DCM and MM. A large number of people welcomed him on his return – and his official

welcome will come later. [‘Albury Banner and Wodonga Express’, 13 June, 1919.]

Record: Neve disembarked from the Medic in Sydney on 1 June, 1919. He arrived back in Adelong

on 5 June for his first visit, mentioned above. Neve was discharged from the AIF on 25 July. A

formal welcome home was held in September for Neve and other local returned soldiers [see

newspaper article below].

Comment: This is the first mention in the press of Neve being a decorated soldier and, indeed,

Adelong’s “most decorated man”. This statement was published after Neve returned home, so Neve

must have not advised otherwise regarding this claim to fame when back in Adelong.

BACK HOME. Mount Adrah Extends Glad Hand to their Soldiers. [From our Correspondent.] Last Wednesday was another great day in the history of Mount Adrah, the occasion being the welcoming

home of returned men, and it was one of the most successful ever held here. It eventuated in Crain’s

woolshed and the decorations did credit to the artists. Over 200 people were present and they represented

the whole district, Billapalap, Sharp’s Creek, Wondalga, The Grove, Adelong, Ellerslie, Mount Pleasant,

Yabtree, Deltroit, Happy Valley, Mundarlo, Tumblong, etc.

Mr RW Prowse chaired the vast gathering, and opened proceeding with the singing of ‘God Save the

King’ and then ‘Home Sweet Home’ was rendered as about 30 returned soldiers entered the building. The

next order from the Chairman was for all to be seated and do justice to the good supper provided. Mr

Prowse, in extending words of welcome to the returned men, said it gave him the greatest pleasure to be

there to assist the Mount Adrah folk in welcoming them home. “We should feel proud of such returned

heroes as Mark Spicer, MM, and Chard Neve, DCM and MM” said the Chairman. “They don't show any

signs of going through the hard experience which they were all aware they had done.” He was glad, too, to

see his old mate Jim Edmundson so fit and well. They knew that Corporal P Crain could have reached home

a good while ago, but he preferred to stick and see it out, and he did so.

He congratulated the men on their spirit of patriotism and was pleased to see them home again. Mr

RH Prowse (Adelong), said he was pleased to be there and to have the honour of proposing “The Guests,”

our returned heroes. The returned men were worthy of all they could do for them. As to their fighting

abilities, they knew that the German would sooner meet anyone on the battlefield than the Australians, for

they always defeated them whenever they met. Our men on all fronts had held their own against the picked

troops of the enemy. They had proved, too, by their prowess on the battlefield that they could uphold the

worthiest traditions of their forefathers in support of their King and Empire. He joined with the Mount Adrah

people in extending a cordial welcome home to the returned heroes.

Mr W Jamieson (Tumblong) said it gave him great pleasure to be present, and he congratulated the

people of Mount Adrah on doing what they said they would do – to look after the welfare of the returned

men. He (the speaker) had done his best to give them a good send-off and he was proud and pleased to

welcome them back. He was pleased to see their men go forward and fight for the King and Empire, and to

DIGGER 23 Issue 53

make such a name “for themselves and for Australia”. Somehow one could not talk to the men as he used to

do before the war, as he is not in touch with their entirely changed methods. He referred to the splendid

opening before the men in the way of settling on the land, and said he would be only too pleased to explain

the repatriation scheme to them after the meeting. Mr Jamieson’s speech was well received.

The Chairman then called on Mr Burkinshaw (Adelong) to make the presentations. Mr Burkinshaw

said that it was an honour to be called upon to present the medals to the returned men, whom he hoped

would enjoy years of prosperity. The speaker praised the ladies for all the good things provided and on the

tastefully decorated building. “It is one of the best ‘turnouts’ that I have ever witnessed in my life,” he

added. He claimed personal friendship with the five returned heroes, and thanked them for what they had

done for us on the other side. He then presented each of the men with a gold Albert [a pocket watch chain]

and medal, on behalf the people of Mt. Adrah and district, as a small token of esteem and appreciation, and

the colours of your respective battalions show on your well-earned medals. The recipients of the presents

were:- Mark Spicer, MM, of Mundarlo; Gnr Edmundson, Mount Adrah; Chard Neve, DCM and MM,

Mount Pleasant; Corp P Crain, Mount Adrah; Pte W Prowse, Nacki Creek. Cheers were then given in right

good style for the returned heroes.

All the men returned thanks for the cordial welcome and presentation tendered them. Chard Neve

expressed appreciation at the work of the Red Cross Society and thanked them for the parcels they could

not have received elsewhere. The next duty devolving upon our Chairman was one of much feeling, namely,

to present memorial tablets to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Whiting (Mt. Pleasant) and Mr. and Mrs. James

Whiting on behalf of their fallen Henry and Walter – who had laid down their lives for the Empire. Mr

Rowland Whiting thanked the people on behalf of his parents and aunt and uncle. The day was beautifully

fine and a splendid night followed for dancing, which was kept up until the early morning. A hearty vote of

thanks to our worthy Chairman put the finishing touch on one of the most successful functions ever held at

Mt. Adrah. [‘The Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser’, 19

September, 1919.]

Records: There is no mention in Chard Neve’s service record of him being recommended for, or

awarded, the DCM and MM. There are no letters to the family with reference to the awards being

granted or gazetted, and there is no reference to a MM and DCM in any official letters to or from

Neve after the war, nor in any margin notes in his file.

There are no entries for Neve in the ‘Honours and Awards’ section of the AWM website, or any

awards on the nominal roll after his name. Neve is not mentioned in the 12th Battalion History index,

which is surprising for a soldier who was supposedly awarded two bravery medals. Nor is he listed

in the book, ‘For Distinguished Conduct and Meritorious Service’ by Leonard Barton, NSW MHS, a

roll of all DCM winners from 1899 to 1920.

Comments: Evidence of Neve being a decorated soldier is not found in any of the normal sources or

records. Yet, the newspaper reports show that he was present at public welcomes where he was

praised as a ‘returned hero’ and a dual bravery medal recipient. Neve did not take the opportunity

presented at those times to inform the well-wishers that he was not the recipient of the two bravery

awards.

How could the folk of Adelong have come to believe that Neve had

won the DCM and MM? If the town knew of his ‘awards’ before

his first return to Adelong, and without any letters or cables from

the army informing his parents that their son had been decorated,

Neve must have lied to his parents about his bravery awards in

letters home. (The thought had occurred to me that Neve had

perhaps mentioned a ‘DCM’ in a letter home, meaning a ‘divisional

court martial’, but he does not appear to have been court-martialled.

This removes the slight chance that his parents had misunderstood

the abbreviation and Chard was too embarrassed to correct their

mistake on his first visit.)

If the town did not discover his hero status until his return, then

Neve himself must have announced it at that time. As he had served

with an ‘Outer States’ battalion he may have taken the gamble that

no-one in NSW would find out that he was not the decorated

soldier he made himself out to be.

Above right: C Neve also appears on the Tumblong war memorial – without any bravery awards.

DIGGER 24 Issue 53

The marriages of Mr. Chard Neve to Miss May Cheetham, of Tumblong, and Mr. Jim Neve to Miss Sylvia

Cheetham will take place shortly at Adelong. [‘The Tumut Advocate and Farmers and Settlers’ Adviser’, 10

May 1921.]

Records: Chard appears to have married in a ‘double wedding’ where he and his brother (Jim was

20 at the time) married two sisters (or cousins) on the same day. However, there is no record on the

NSW BDM website of this marriage between Chard and May taking place, nor for one between Jim

and Sylvia. Instead, Heather ‘Frev’ Ford found Chard married a Mary Christina (‘Mollie’)

Strokarck at St James Church, Turramurra, on 28 April 1925. (Mary’s maiden name was McLeod,

and she was born in 1879. Her parents seem to have once lived in the Gundagai area, so Chard

probably knew her when he resided in the district.) Mary had married John Strokarck in 1899, and

was a widow when she married Chard; John having died on 11 September, 1919. Chard was born in

1896, so was 17 years younger than his wife. James A Neve married Esther Diamond at Adelong in

1926.

In June 1937, correspondence in his service record shows that Chard Neve was residing at Antienne,

Muswellbrook, NSW.

Frev found that Mary Christina Neve died on 12 July, 1954. Mary was from 10 Daintrey Crescent,

Randwick East, which was the recorded address for Chard (then working as a carpenter) in 1958.

Mary was cremated in the Eastern Suburbs Crematorium. Chard Neve passed away on 29 March,

1967, at the age of 71 years. At the time he was living in Campbelltown, NSW. Frev was not able to

find a resting place for Chard Neve. She suggested that Neve may be buried in Campbelltown

cemetery or was possibly also cremated in the Eastern Suburbs Crematorium (and his ashes placed

with his wife’s).

Comments: The lack of a marriage record for Chard and May, and Jim and Sylvia, is baffling. Why

did both marriages not proceed? Did May discover that Chard was not the war hero she thought he

was? [Note that the soldier two above Chard’s name on the Tumblong memorial is ‘H Cheetham’,

who was KIA. Pte 7715 Henry Thomas Cheetham was the same age as Chard but served with the

45th Bn. A BDM search showed that he was not the brother of May and Sylvia Cheetham, so was

possibly a cousin. Interestingly, Henry Cheetham was killed on the same day (at Brie, south of

Peronne) that Chard strained his back.]

I have so far been unsuccessful in locating Neve’s final resting place to discover the wording on a

headstone or grave plaque, where it is possible the DCM and MM may be mentioned.

Contacting the Honours and Awards Directorate Before I could reach a final conclusion into Neve’s claims to the MM and DCM, I needed to check whether

anything appears in the Army’s records. This would remove my nagging doubt that he may have been a

recipient, but the paperwork never ended up in the usual documents which are open to the public.

I sent an e-mail to the Honours and Awards Directorate in Canberra, and after a wait of several

months, received the following reply:

Thank you for your email of 5 May 2015 regarding 2659 Private Chard Hillston Neve and the

inscription on the Adelong War Memorial which purports to show him as a recipient of the

Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and the Military Medal (MM).

I can advise the Directorate of Honours and Awards does not have a record of Private Neve being

awarded the DCM or MM. In the context of recommendations for such awards, we are reliant on the

contemporaneous records now held by the Australian War Memorial which are searchable on their

Honours and Awards database. However, irrespective of that, one would expect to find official

notification of these awards in ‘The London Gazette’ and, as you correctly indicated, notations and

related correspondence on the member’s AIF record, which in this case are silent in relation to

Private Neve receiving any decorations.

Published sources, such as Michael Maton’s ‘A Roll of Imperial Honours Bestowed on Australians

1901-1989’ (published by the author in 2001) similarly do not list Private Neve as a recipient of the

DCM or MM.

A search of The London Gazette (http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/) for the period identified one

soldier named Neve who received the DCM and another four who received the MM. All of these

awards were to British servicemen …

DIGGER 25 Issue 53

Closing the case The AIF service records for infantrymen are very thorough, and the chance that a soldier was awarded two

bravery medals without any supporting evidence, especially in ‘The London Gazette’ and the AWM

database, is, in my opinion, implausible, if not impossible. I am now convinced that the town of Adelong has

a significant error on its war memorial, and that their ‘most decorated man’ made fraudulent claims to the

DCM and MM.

A copy of this article has been sent to a representative of the RSL in Adelong, who has promised to

raise the matter with fellow RSL sub-branch members, and consider what actions they might take.

_____________________________________________________________________

Christmas on Lemnos, 1915 Sister EB Taylor, AANS.

Contributed by Frev Ford, Montrose.

On December 26, Nurse Taylor wrote:

must tell you about the way we spent Christmas. To begin with, it was a perfect day, just like spring. It

was really remarkable after all the fearful weather we had to endure. Everybody seemed happy. The

sisters did all they could to make the patients happy and I’m sure they were successful.

The Turks thought they would give us a surprise and so they dropped 17 bombs close to where the

16th Battalion was camped and also near where the battleship Agamemnon was lying. Some stables were

destroyed and plenty of earth flew up, but no further damage was done. Was it not wonderful? It might just

as easily have been upon us.

I think we were happy, too, because all the boys got off the Peninsula safely. Thousands of them

spent Christmas on this island with us while many had already departed for Egypt.

We did not get any of our parcels or presents. We are told they were not loaded, but were sent back

to Egypt. The boys in camp received their billies, also puddings and cake. There was great merriment over

the contents of the billies. They all enjoyed themselves like school boys.

Right: Members of ‘C’ Section, 7th Field Ambulance,

unpacking their Christmas billies outside their tent lines at

Lemnos Island. Each billy has a kangaroo symbol on the side.

On Christmas Eve there was much singing of carols,

and we had nice services today (Sunday) and yesterday

(Christmas Day). It was my duty to be at work all day, but

many visitors came to my ward to see me. We entertained a

tremendous crowd of officers and boys at afternoon tea in our

mess tent. In fact the crowd was too big to get inside and most

of them were outside.

Two days before Christmas it rained heavily and we were all paddling about in gum boots. On

Christmas Eve it was so cold that the roads and paths were hard and slippery. It was almost like walking on

ice, but Christmas Day was just perfect.

The nurses had their Christmas Day as it were today. There was not time for our Christmas dinner

yesterday, so we had it today instead. The turkeys were brought to us from England by steamer, and the

nurses made the plum puddings, and all was very nice indeed. The nurses cooked Christmas dinner for the

patients. It was marvellous how they got the things together. The patients all had khaki bags filled with

presents, also small tins like tea tins, and altogether we were all as happy as could be.

Source: ‘The Maitland Daily Mercury’ (NSW), Saturday, 18 March, 1916 (p9).

Colour photos sought for DIGGER 54 The next issue of DIGGER (March 2016) is our annual issue featuring a colour photo on the cover and a

double-page centrespread of colour photos. This year our photos came from Gallipoli, so in 2016 the Editor

is looking for coloured photographs relating to the AIF in 1916. If you have travelled to the battlefields and

cemeteries around Fromelles, Pozieres, Flers or Romani, or visited the Salisbury Plain, then you may have

some ‘artistic’ and/or moving photos to contribute. E-mail your best photos to the Editor as .jpg files by 15

January (ghoskenaif@bigpond.com). Photos that miss out on being included in DIGGER for space reasons

can be used in an issue of COBBeR. The March 2015 colour issue was very popular, so let’s do it again!

I

DIGGER 26 Issue 53

The Bolitho brothers go to war, Part 1: Private 733 Arthur Bolitho, 7th Battalion

Jenny Chapman (nee Bolitho), Morphett Vale, with Trevor Munro, Dubbo.

Four Bolitho brothers from Victoria enlisted in the AIF. Jenny will bring the stories of the Bolitho boys to

readers over several issues.

y grandfather, Samuel Henry Bolitho, and his brothers, Arthur, Frank Lucas and Leonard, all

enlisted in and served with the AIF in World War I. They were the sons of William Bolitho and

Ellen Shard and were all born in Bendigo, Victoria.

Their father, William Bolitho, arrived in Victoria in

March 1871, aged 17, on board the Cospatrick [right] with his

widowed mother Charlotte and four of his seven siblings. They

came from St Just, a tin mining area near Penzance in Cornwall.

His father, James Bolitho, a tin miner, died after falling

from a cliff near his home, leaving his wife Charlotte with five

children to provide for; not an easy task in a time of no social

benefits. Walter and James, two of William’s older brothers, had

made the journey to Australia two years before and had already

established themselves with jobs in Bendigo on the goldfields.

Thus, they were able to send for their mother and siblings to follow them to the ‘land of opportunity’.

Over the following years, William [left] and his three older brothers all

established themselves as well-respected members of the mining fraternity in the

town, all working as mine captains as well as being captains of the local fire-fighting

brigade. William was the manager of the Great Southern Mine from 1893 to 1912

(when it closed down), and was very highly regarded in the town. He died on 22

May, 1914, aged 60, of pulmonary tuberculosis (the ‘Miner’s Disease’), leaving a

wife and 10 children to mourn him.

Their mother, Ellen Shard [right] was born in

1859 near Geelong, Victoria. She was the daughter of a

convict, Charles Shard, who was transported to Van

Diemen’s Land in 1831 after being convicted of theft. On

her mother’s side she was a great granddaughter of two

First Fleet convicts, Nathaniel Lucas and Olivia Gascoyne, who arrived at Botany

Bay on 26 January 1788, went to Norfolk Island with the First Settlement led by

Philip Gidley King, married there and founded a dynasty, which now has

descendants numbered in their thousands.

None of the family made their fortunes monetarily but all built good lives in their adopted country.

Thus, Samuel Henry and his three brothers were born as first-generation Australians; children of working

class parents. All in all the family numbered 14, of whom 12 reached adulthood – my father said that his

grandparents had “their own cricket team although some of the 12 were girls!”

Private 733 Arthur Bolitho, 7th Battalion AIF When war was declared, my great uncle Arthur was the first Bolitho boy to enlist, on 18 August, 1914, in his

hometown of Bendigo. He had served time with the 8th Battalion (militia), Bendigo, but his time had expired.

In doing this he would have already have had weapons training and been used to drill and army procedures.

The local paper described Arthur as being a prominent junior footballer in

Bendigo. No doubt like many other young men, he was expecting to experience

excitement, adventure and see places in the world that he would never have been

able to visit in normal times. Arthur was posted to the 7th Battalion, Australian

Imperial Force.

The 7th Battalion was amongst the first infantry units raised for the AIF

after war was declared and was recruited from Victoria. Along with the 5th, 6

th and

8th Battalions, it formed the 2

nd Brigade. The battalion was raised by Lieutenant

Colonel HE (‘Pompey’) Elliott [right] within a fortnight of the declaration of war

in August 1914 and embarked just two months later.

M

DIGGER 27 Issue 53

On enlistment, Arthur [left] was aged 23 years and seven

months and stood 5’8” inches tall. He weighed 10 stone 8 pounds.

Arthur had a dark complexion with brown eyes and black hair and his

religion was Church of England. He was single, naming his mother

Ellen as his next of kin and his occupation was given as carter. His

CO, ‘Pompey’ Elliott, signed his attestation paper.

Arthur became part of ‘G’ Company of the 7th Battalion. One

of the ‘Bendigonian boys’ wrote home about some of his mates within

the company. The tent mates were known as the ‘Boobaroos’:

Well to tell you of my pals. Firstly we have Jim Berry; … then W

Boucher, orderly to Major Hart; A Mitchell; ‘Bumble’ Bolitho, of

Quarry Hill fame; P Gellon; G Ninnis; our clown, ‘Patsy’ Spelling,

really a born comedian, wasted here and seen service at home and in

India … Holland (we are getting the tent made bigger), he sleeps with

his knees up; D Garden, now a sergeant, and Ky. Curtayne, war

correspondent …

Jim likes jam. Boucher is going well, and Mitchell, also ‘Bumble’,

talks of sauce all day. ‘Pud’ Gellon talks of football. Transport driver

Ninnis talks of horses and them forming fours (at night in his sleep), and ‘Patsy’, well, he is a

mystery. He is our signaller, and warm at his work; signals in for rations too often … Sergeant

Garden is all there for physical exercises, and first to wash in the morning; he is doing good work.

‘Ky’ only talks of fires, and sighs for his old trombone.

Less than two months after his

enlistment, Arthur embarked from

Melbourne. The battalion is shown

here marching through the City of

Melbourne on the way to the docks

[right]. With the 7th Battalion on

board, the HMAT Hororata

[below] sailed to war. After a brief

stop at Albany in Western

Australia, the ship proceeded in

convoy to Egypt, where it arrived

on 2 December, 1914.

Upon its arrival at Alexandria,

the 7th Battalion remained on board the

Hororata for a further four days; the

men being put to work scrubbing the

ship during that time. On 6 December

the battalion finally disembarked. The

battalion then entrained to Cairo, where

the battalion boarded trams that

conveyed the men to Mena Camp.

Over the next four months they

were camped near the pyramids and

there carried out intensive training. No

doubt like any other young men, Arthur and his friends would have visited Cairo and observed the night life,

as well as visiting and climbing the pyramids. The men soon became very eager to see some real action.

On 20 December, 1914, the battalion moved by tram into Cairo, arriving at Kasr el Nil Barracks

where they had breakfast. Later that morning the 3rd

and 7th Battalions lined the road to the Sultan’s Palace

for a royal procession. Members of ‘G’ Company (Arthur’s company) are shown on the next page.

Lieutenants Connelly and De Ravin are standing in front of their men as they await the Sultan’s arrival

[source: Ron Austin’s book, ‘Our Dear Old Battalion’]. At the completion of the procession the 7th Battalion

were taken back to their Mena Camp aboard trams, while the 3rd

Battalion (New South Welshmen) had to

march the 15 miles back to Mena.

DIGGER 28 Issue 53

Left: Men of ‘G’ Company, 7th Battalion.

The photo below also comes from Ron Austin’s

‘Our Dear Old Battalion’. It shows the men of

‘G’ Company in front of the Sphinx in

December 1914.

On 1 January, 1915, the number of

companies within a battalion was reduced from

eight to four. ‘G’ and ‘H’ Companies combined

to form the new ‘D’ Company. Lieutenants

Davey and Denehy joined Connelly and De

Ravin as platoon commanders.

On 5 April the 7th Battalion moved

back to Alexandria, where the bulk of the

battalion boarded the Galeka [below]. The

remainder of the men boarded the Clan

McGillivray and the Maihalia. The ships

sailed, their destination a staging ‘base’ at

Lemnos Island, as the battalion prepared to

take part in the landing at The Dardanelles.

On 25 April, 1915, Arthur took part in the Landing at

Gallipoli as part of the second wave. On that day he was

severely wounded in the left shoulder and side and, after

spending some time in the casualty clearing area on shore, he was finally transferred to the hospital ship

Gascon [below right] moored offshore. The Gascon sailed for Alexandria with the badly wounded from the

Landing, transporting them to No. 15 General Hospital situated in that city.

On 7 May, Arthur was taken on board the hospital ship

Letitia [below], which sailed for England, arriving there two

weeks later. He was admitted to the 1st Southern General

Hospital in Edgbaston, near Birmingham, and his serious

wounds continued to be treated over the next six months. He

was to take no further part in the war.

Arthur gave a

description of his

medical care in a

letter that his family passed onto their local newspaper, ‘The

Bendigonian’:

I was sent to the hospital ship ‘Gascon’, and in the evening we

left for Alexandria. After staying in Egypt for eight days, we

were taken to another hospital ship, the ‘Letitia’, and brought to

England. We had quite an exciting voyage, as when we were four hours out from Gibraltar we had

some excitement. About 1.30 am I was awakened by the sounding of the ship’s foghorn, and about a

quarter of an hour later was nearly thrown out of my ‘bunk’ by an awful bump. We all rushed up on

deck, and saw the ship’s boats being swung out. It was an awful night as the fog was terribly thick,

and it was difficult to see ten yards ahead. We were sent below and told that everything was alright.

The trouble was a collision [with] an Italian ship, which crossed our bows, and was struck

amidships. She sank in seven minutes, but happily the whole of the crew was saved. Our bow was

knocked about somewhat and we had to stay in Gibraltar for 36 hours while it was made strong

DIGGER 29 Issue 53

enough to bring us here. We never struck anything else during the remainder of the voyage, but it

was ‘some rough’ crossing the Bay of Biscay.

Arthur’s file only shows him receiving

treatment at Edgbaston, but after

treatment, and upon beginning to recover,

he (like many Aussie soldiers) was

transferred to Harefield to recuperate. In a

letter Arthur described No. 1 Australian

Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield Park. He

wrote:

This hospital is purely Australian, with

Australian doctors, sisters, and orderlies,

and all the patients are Australian. They

are a happy crowd, and quite cheerful

under the circumstances. We had wards

built with 21 beds in each, and they are

quite comfortable …

In a later letter Arthur described his wounding:

We had driven the Turks back three miles and had followed them up, when I ‘stopped one’. I was

lying behind a small bush when I got hit in the side, close to the arm, and the bullet stopped lower

down in my ribs. I was going to better cover to get the wound dressed, when I had a ‘daylight’ hole

bored through me, the bullet going in my back below the left shoulder and coming out near the

shoulder blade.

‘Our Dear Old Battalion’ gives a brief account of the time just before Arthur would have been wounded. The

book simply quotes the writer as a “soldier from ‘D’ Company”:

Once ashore the Platoon Sergeant Ted Ault, ordered us to split as we neared what was afterwards

called the Pimple; Ault, Fred Pearson, Jackie Thompson, Bill Burt, Bill Stewart being amongst

those who went to the left, while Bush Teasdale, Bumble Bolitho, Peter Cox and myself and others

went to the right. I never saw any of the left party again.

Left: Map

showing the

location of the

Pimple near

Lone Pine.

DIGGER 30 Issue 53

On 7 November, 1915, Arthur

embarked from England on board HS Runic

[right], bound for home. He was discharged on

5 May, 1916, returning to civilian life in

Bendigo less than two years after he left as an

enthusiastic young soldier. He was awarded all

three service medals.

After his return to civilian life, Arthur

joined the Railways, where he worked for many

years. In 1920 he met and married Belinda Mary Ellis. They continued to live in Bendigo and had five

children over the next 13 years. Despite the bad wounds he suffered fighting for his country, Arthur lived to

the ripe old age of 80 and passed away on 18 September, 1971.

Endnotes: (1) Arthur kept one of the bullets that injured him and had it attached to a

watch chain, which he wore for several years after the war. (2) Arthur’s mother, Ellen,

appears to have given each of her sons a small Bible before

they left for overseas. The New Testament was simply

inscribed: “To Arthur from all at home on the eve of his

departure 7th Sept 1914”. Arthur’s son, Arthur Aubrey

(‘Aub’) Bolitho [left] enlisted on 1 December, 1942, to serve

in the RAAF in WWII. He served until 22 January, 1946,

and was discharged holding the rank of Warrant Officer. He

also carried the Bible throughout World War II.

Subsequently, Aub’s son, Private Peter William Bolitho [right] served in Vietnam

from 1969 to 1970 with the 5th Battalion RAR. Once again, the precious little Bible

accompanied a Bolitho during his time overseas – a veteran of three wars! Below:

Bible cover and inside cover.

_______________________________________________________________

here’s nothing like leaving a thing where you’ll know where to find it when it’s wanted. Our battery

captain’s groom is a strong believer in this idea. He was recently coming down with the captain from

the gun-pits when cries of distress were heard coming from a shell hole. The horse-valet went over to

get the strength of things. When he returned he reported that a padre had fallen into the hole and was bogged

up to his neck in the mud. “Why didn’t you help him out?” asked the captain. “Didn’t think there was any

hurry – we don’t need him till Sunday.” – “KIWI KING.”

Source: ‘Aussie’, No. 6, August 1918.

T

DIGGER 31 Issue 53

The death of Private 319 Walter Warwick Fraser, 14th Battalion Contributed by Bryan MacKenzie, Swan Hill.

alter (‘Wally’) Warwick Fraser of Footscray, Victoria, was killed in action of 1 May, 1915, at

the age of 19 years. Below is an extract from a letter written to Walter’s brother, William Arthur

Fraser. William [later 12295, 10th Field Ambulance] would also be killed in the war, on 11

August, 1918 [see profile below]. The author of the letter is unknown, but it possibly the lieutenant in charge

of Wally’s platoon.

Mr WA Fraser

Corporal Mayman has asked me to write the particulars of your brother’s death so that he may

forward it to you. I fought in the same trench as Wally and know that as a fighter he was second to

none. The previous attack to the one in which Wally was killed lasted long enough for him to ruin

two rifles, he used them so rapidly. He was simply careless of cover and held the enemy in absolute

contempt.

In his last action he used his last cartridge and said just before firing, “I will go out for a spell when

I use the last one”. He had only fired when he was hit clean through the head and death must have

been instantaneous.

We buried him a few yards from where he fought his hardest fight. Captain Gillison, Chaplain 14th

Bn, reading the burial service. He lies on the crest of ‘Courtney’s Post’, alongside four of his pals in

death, as he was alongside them in the firing line.

Wally never altered and was as happy in the trenches as he was all through the training. I did not

know him in private life but he must have been a very popular lad with that happy nature of his. He

certainly caused absolutely no trouble to his officers and NCOs and a clean sheet right through in

his record. I would like to have a platoon of Wally Frasers.

It is a severe blow to you and your relatives but it must be a wonderful consolation to know that your

brother died gloriously in action, facing the enemy – the death a patriotic man like Wal would

choose above others. I extend my deepest sympathy …

Walter Fraser is commemorated in Courtney’s and Steel’s Post Cemetery, Gallipoli. His name is on a special

memorial to 58 soldiers believed to be buried there amongst 160 unidentified burials.

Private 12295 William Arthur Fraser, 10th Field Ambulance Graeme Hosken, Dubbo. Photo courtesy of Bryan MacKenzie.

William Arthur Fraser did not enlist until 8 March, 1916. He

was a 27 year old clerk, who stood 6’ tall and weighed 160

pounds. He was engaged to Bella Ross of Albert Street,

Footscray. William had experience with the Australian

Garrison Artillery and had been on the instructional staff for a

short period prior to enlisting in the AIF.

William [right] arrived in the UK in August 1916 as

part of the 10th Field Ambulance. He was wounded in action on

12 October, 1917, with gun shot wounds to the thigh, face and

shoulder. He rejoined his unit on 29 November, 1917.

Private Fraser was killed on 11 August, 1918, while

working as a stretcher-bearer. He was buried in an isolated

grave ¾ mile south of Proyart and 9 miles ESE of Corbie.

After the war he was reburied in Heath Cemetery, near

Harbonnieres.

The RCWM files reveal that Fraser was with the 57th

Battalion attempting to encircle Proyart when the Germans

opened with machine-gun fire. Fraser was hit in the head and

killed instantly. It is believed he was buried by men of the 20th

Battalion. A cross was placed over his grave by Lieutenant

Kenneth John Campbell MC, 33rd

Bn, who knew William’s

parents and fiancée personally.

W

DIGGER 32 Issue 53

Private 82 James Sheehan, 30th Battalion AIF Graeme Hosken, Dubbo, with Heather ‘Frev’ Ford, Montrose, and Brenda Leece, Manly.

ames (‘Jim’) Patrick Sheehan was born in Emerald Hill, Victoria, and was the son of James Francis*

and Mary Ann Sheehan. He enlisted in the AIF at Albury, NSW, on 2 August, 1915, at the age of 33

years and nine months. He had been working as a draper and may also have had experience as a

commercial traveller/salesman. He gave his uncle, Mr William Machin, of 26 Denbigh Road, Armadale

(Vic) as his next of kin, as both his parents were deceased.

When he enlisted, Jim was recorded as being 5’8” tall and weighing 136 pounds. His complexion

was fair, and he had blue eyes and light brown hair. Jim was Roman Catholic. Between 3 and 17 August, Jim

was allocated to the 5th Reinforcements for the 19

th Battalion. He then spent ten days training with the Depot

Signals, before being reallocated to the 30th Battalion (8

th Brigade, later to form part of the 5

th Division) on

27 August.

Following training at Liverpool Camp, Jim embarked on the Beltana on 9 November, 1915, and

arrived in Egypt on 11 December. While at Ferry Post on the Suez Canal, on 1 April, 1916, he was detached

for duty at a school of instruction at Zeitoun. On 14 April, upon his return to Ferry Post, he was admitted to

hospital. He was transferred to the 3rd

AGH in Abbassia, suffering from haemorrhoids.

Jim was discharged on 27 April to the convalescent depot at Montazah but the same day was

admitted to the British Red Cross Hospital (also at Montazah). By 15 May, Jim was classified as ‘A’ and was

discharged to the 8th Training Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir. On 25 May he rejoined the 30

th Battalion at Ferry

Post.

The 5th Division then began its move to France and the Western Front, so on 16 June, Jim embarked

on the Hororata at Alexandria. He arrived in Marseilles on 23 June then entrained for the ‘Nursery Sector’

around Armentieres.

Private James Sheehan was killed in action on 20 July, 1916, at Fromelles. He was buried at Rue-

Petillon Military Cemetery, 2¾ miles east of Laventie, 4 miles southwest of Armentieres, by Reverend TJ

King, in Plot I, Row K, Grave 41. His age is recorded as being 38.

Note: * The CWGC grave register at Rue-Petillon records that Jim was the son of John Patrick Sheehan.

Reason for this discrepancy is not known. (The Sheehan family history is very complicated.)

* * *

Jim had a brother who also served in the AIF – 10295 John W Sheehan, 2nd

DAC/4th FAB. In July, 1925,

John wrote to Base Records:

Marion Downs

Boulia

Queensland

Dear Sir

I thank you kindly for the trouble you have taken to locate my address, re my late brother’s

memorial. It is rather hard for me to fill in the details, as there was only 4 of us, two brothers & two

sisters, we having lost our parents when I was seven months old. Therefore I have just filled in what

I could remember, as were all brought up with different relations & never did see one another till

previous to the war. However, Mrs Machin, ‘Lheydon Bois’, Denbigh Road, Armadale, could

enlighten you, as she was my mother’s sister.

With regard to extra inscription on headstone, I don’t quite understand, but you could add: ‘Brother

of Dvr JW Sheehan, 4th FAB & Mrs J Griffin, Beaconsfield, Victoria’. I would pay for this.

In future if you wish to communicate with me please record the following address: c/- L Sheehan,

724 Malvern Road, Armadale, Vic. My foster brother is always in touch with me. By the way, I have

not received my late brother’s Bronze Medal yet …

I remain

Yours respectfully

John W Sheehan

P.S. Please do not record this address, as I am always on the move droving cattle.

After the war, the army communicated with Mr William Machin, Mrs Griffin and John Sheehan regarding

next-of-kin details and the distribution of medals.

* * *

J

DIGGER 33 Issue 53

I began the search for ‘Jim Sheehan’ as a result of receiving a letter from member, Brenda Leece, who

wrote:

My great grandfather, FJ Kirby, owned ‘Wyseworth’ Station, Howlong, NSW (Howlong is near

Albury). I have a lovely photo of a group at a garden party in ‘Wyseworth’ garden in 1911. It

includes my great grandparents, their daughters and my young mother, who identified some of the

guests in the photo, including a man named Jim Sheehan. According to my late mother, Jim

Sheehan was my great aunt Anne Kirby’s fiancé, but he was killed in World War I, and Anne never

married. Presumably Jim Sheehan lived in the district and perhaps he worked on ‘Wyseworth’. I

would love to know more about him and his war service.

Above: Jim Sheehan is sitting (on the ground) in the front row. Annie Kirby, his fiancée, is standing behind

him, third from left in the back row. Frances and Jane Kirby are seated on the right of the second row.

Kathleen Kirby (Brenda’s mother) is second from the right, back row. The young girl on Jim’s right is Eileen

Kirby, Kathleen’s sister.

My search for Jim began with the AWM’s nominal roll, using it to identify all the ‘James Sheehans’ who

were killed in the war – there were three of them. Next, I went to naa.gov.au and searched for the James

Sheehans, taking note of their place of birth and enlistment.

Private 82 James Sheehan enlisted in Albury, so he was the closest geographically to Howlong. If he

was ‘Jim’, I hoped to find Miss Anne Kirby’s name in his service record – if not as next of kin, but as a

correspondent with Base Records, enquiring about her fiancé and his fate.

However, I found no mention of Howlong or Miss Kirby in his record and was about to cross him

off the list and move on, but before doing so decided to check his ROH circular on the AWM website.

Success! John Sheehan had written, in answer to the questions regarding what town and district the deceased

was chiefly connected to: Howling [sic] and Albury, respectively.

At the bottom of the page is the space for entering: ‘Names and Addresses of any other persons to

whom reference could be made by the Historian for further information’. Here, John wrote: Miss Kirby,

Howling, NSW.

DIGGER 34 Issue 53

John also provided details on Jim’s death: OC called for volunteers to carry dispatch. He was the

first, accepted, when going over parapet, H.E. caught him. (This I got in a personal note from Lieut Facey,

30th Bn. )

A death notice for Jim was placed in the ‘Albury Banner and Wodonga Express’, 29 September,

1916. It reads:

SHEEHAN – Killed in action at Chartroux [sic], France, on July 19 [sic], 1916, Corporal [sic]

Signaller James Sheehan, 30th Battalion, late of Howlong, NSW. Deeply mourned and loved by all

who knew him; aged 33 years. – R.I.P.

Incredibly, I noticed that the entry in the Deaths Notices below Jim’s was that of the mother of his fiancée!

KIRBY – On September 19, at her residence, ‘Wyseworth’, Howlong, NSW, Jane, the beloved wife

of Francis Joseph Kirby, and dearly-loved mother of Frank, Charlie, Joseph, Richard, John,

Frances, Jenny, Mary and Annie, and twin daughter of the late James and Alice McCoy, Goulburn

River, Kyabram, a native of Melbourne; aged 72 years. — R.I.P.

Presumably, Miss Anne Kirby (‘Annie’) decided to have her late fiancé’s death notice published at the same

time as her mother’s.

Endnotes: (1) There does not appear to be a Chartroux in France;

perhaps the Kirbys meant Fleurbaix. (2) Though Jim has the rank of

corporal in the death notice and on one IWGC form, there is no evidence

that he received promotion beyond private. (3) It is interesting that the

death notice gives the date of Jim’s death as 19 July. This is certainly

possible at Fromelles, but without a Red Cross file to check, the official

date of death remains as 20 July. (4) For Jim’s body to have been

recovered for burial at Rue-Petillon, it is likely that he was killed close to

the Australian ‘parapet’ [breastwork], rather than in the German line. (5)

2nd

Lieutenant John Henry Facey, 30th Bn, enlisted 15/4/15 and

discharged 22/6/18. (6) The age of 38 years for Jim on the CWGC

cemetery register seems to be an error. (7) Frank Kirby [born 1864] is

Brenda’s grandfather. (8) According to Trove, a drapery store opened in

Howlong in 1898, so possibly this is where Jim Sheehan was working

prior to enlistment. (9) John Sheehan’s suggested epitaph was inscribed

on Jim’s headstone. (10) Photo of Jim’s headstone [right] courtesy of

member Matt Smith, Australian War Graves Photographic Archive:

www.australianwargraves.org.

___________________________________________________________________

thought that when I arrived in France I would be able to settle for good the real pronunciation of the

name of a town about which there was discussion in every bar in Australia; but I have only got further

bushed. It is usually called Yeepree, Yeeps, Yeepray, Iprey, Wipes, Wipers, Yeepers, Eprey, Epers and

Ippers; and I have even heard a man, who had some aitches to spare, style it ‘Hips’. The native inhabitants

can give no enlightenment; they have been confused by the various pronunciations of the visiting soldiers,

and are prepared to let you have it whichever way you like. As I waited for my change in an estaminet, I

tacked the proprietress on the question.

“Is it Eprey?” I asked.

“Eprey, m’sieur.”

“Or is it Yeeprey?”

“Yeeprey, m’sieur.”

Finally I got impatient and asked: “Is it Woolloomooloo?”

“It is whatever m’sieur desires,” she answered.

I discovered the reason for the blandness when I got outside and remembered that she had taken the

opportunity to forget my change. As the soldiers, who don’t care a darn (some of them manage to turn a

name like Wytschaete into “Why-chattie”), the correct pronunciation is a matter that will have to be settled

elsewhere – like a lot of other things. – “HAMER.”

Source: ‘Aussie’, No. 5, June 1918.

I

DIGGER 35 Issue 53

Recruitment in 1914 Article from ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’, 22 September 1914.

Source: trove.nla.gov.au.

OUR TROOPS. RECRUITING CHANGED. COUNTRY ENROLMENTS.

The new arrangements for recruiting from the country came into operation yesterday, and there was a

marked improvement in the number of these men coming forward. It is now no longer necessary for

applicants to pay their own fares to Sydney and have a receipt in order to get a refund at this end. When

passed by local Government Medical Officers the men are given a pass, as ordinarily used by the Police

Department, the Commonwealth Government subsequently making good the amount to the Railway

Department. These passes can be obtained at any country police station.

In the case of those under 21 years of age the written consent of parent or guardian is required. With

this, Lieutenant Colonel Antill, the enrolling officer, is prepared to take men under 19 years of age – the

limit first provided – but they must be over 18 years. The acceptance of applicants, particularly these minors,

is a matter left to his discretion.

Left: Volunteers queuing to enlist outside Victoria Barracks,

Sydney, 1914-1918. AWM A03406.

The service will accept married men and widowers

with children provided they can state that they are aware that

no separation allowance will be issued either before or after

embarkation and that they signify, on the form of attestation

their willingness to allot at least two-fifths of their pay (not

including deferred pay) while abroad to their wives, or in the

case of a wife and children at least three-fifths. Applicants for

enrolment are not to be over 45 years of age and must of

course be of the required physique. Privates are to receive, while in Australia 4s per diem

and 1s per diem deferred pay, and while abroad 5s per diem

and 1s per diem deferred pay. The period of service is to be for the duration of the war and four months

thereafter, unless the men are sooner lawfully discharged, dismissed or removed. No members of either

Commonwealth or State Public Service are to be accepted without their departmental head being first

consulted.

Intending recruits from the metropolitan area can apply as usual at the barracks and be allocated to

duty, subject to their passing the medical examinations, which after tomorrow will be conducted at the

Rosehill Racecourse. Batches will be sent away by train leaving each day at about 3 p.m. The recruits will

then be taken in hand by the different officers and placed in their respective ranks. A matter of interest to city

men is the requirement of good artisans for the Army Service Corps. Fifty-five men were sent there

yesterday as drivers. Now word has been received to enlist men (not too heavy) who are qualified saddle or

harness makers and others who are good at tent making.

THE PRESENT VACANCIES The ranks of the artillery and engineers are filled as far as the New South Wales quota of the second

contingent is concerned but the other branches to make up the 3 000, have vacancies for over 1 000

altogether. The enrolling officer is being inundated with letters from country applicants seeking advice, and

he wishes it to be made public that the police everywhere have been instructed what to do. Men cannot, he

says, pick their jobs. What they are required to do is to get their medical certificate of fitness and a free pass

to Sydney. Their services will thereafter be placed to the best advantage. All cannot go to the Light Horse,

the Army Medical Corps or the Army Service Corps, but men will not be sent to the infantry if they are

specially qualified for these other divisions.

As to those who want commissions in the expeditionary forces it is pointed out that it is no use

applying to the enrolling officer for these as many are doing. Colonel Antill does not doubt that some of the

applicants are deserving of appointment but all he can do is to have their names registered. It rests with the

DIGGER 36 Issue 53

officers commanding the respective divisions to select those considered to be most suitable, and make

recommendations accordingly to headquarters.

Right: Recruits undergoing medical examination at

Victoria Barracks, Sydney, 1914-1918. AWM

A03616.

STEADY ENROLMENT Yesterday’s enrolments did not constitute a record but

the total (270) was a distinct improvement. The country

was well represented and all the men were of excellent

physique. One applicant was from the Northern

Territory. He said he had been doing “kangarooing and

driving,” and being in Sydney he thought he would

“give a look in.” “Can you ride a rough horse?” asked

the colonel. “I must have slipped a lot if I can’t,” was

the quaint reply. “We shoot kangaroos on horseback-

and,” he continued “I can cook and track.” He was sent to the light horse.

Another man could “shoot a bullock on sight.” “Can you ride?” the officer asked of another. “I

cannot say that I am exactly a sticking plaster, but I can stick on as well as most of them.” “You look it,” said

the officer who included him also in the light horse. A man who had driven live horses in George Street and

four in a plough was sent to the Army Service Corps. This corps benefited also by a physically strong man,

who was designated a stretcher-bearer. A hod-carrier, equally powerful, was sent to the ammunition column.

In reply to the colonel he said, “He did not care how heavy the shells might be so long as some good might

be done with them.” A ‘bushman’ from Gosford was sent to the infantry. An undergraduate never added

“Sir” to his replies and was told to cultivate the habit. He was sent to the infantry. The day’s total included

about a dozen men who had served in the Boer War.

The 1st Infantry Brigade exercised yesterday at the Kensington Racecourse, there being no route

march.

ROUTE MARCH TODAY The 2

nd Battalion of the 1

st Infantry Brigade will leave the Kensington racecourse this morning at 8 o’clock

for a route march via the Central Railway Station to Harris Street. The force, which should pass the station at

about 9.15, is expected to return to camp in time for lunch. Colonel Braund will be in command.

Mr Dunn MLA, will, the enrolling officer says, be eligible for inclusion in the Light Horse Brigade

when he has completed his private arrangements. Dr A Mark Stanton of Granville has been gazetted

captain in the Army Medical Corps of the Commonwealth defence forces, and has been attached to the 20th

Regiment with headquarters at Parramatta. Mr William Barry, son of Senior-Sergeant Barry of the North

Sydney police, who is leaving with the expeditionary force, was yesterday presented with a purse of

sovereigns at a social gathering in the North Sydney School of Arts.

Left: New recruits moving through the army camp

lines at Liverpool, New South Wales, c1914. AWM

H03358.

CIVIL SERVANTS VOLUNTEER The Minister for Public Health stated yesterday that

nearly 10 per cent of the general staff attached to the

administration of the Lunacy Department has been

accepted for service with the Expeditionary Forces.

The male staffs of the various hospitals for the

insane exclusive of officers comprise 586 men and

53 of them are going to the war. One of the matrons,

Miss Pocock, of Gladesville is going to the front

having joined the Army Medical Service, in which she served during the South African War.

Endnote: Thanks to branchesofourfamily.wordpress.com for bringing this article to the Editor’s notice.

DIGGER 37 Issue 53

The Great War diaries of 2063 Lance Corporal William Dalton Lycett, 4th Field Ambulance, 15th Aust. Light Railway Operating Coy, AIF

Part 4: The Landing to 18 May Transcribed by grandson, Tim Lycett, Paradise Point, and edited by Graeme Hosken, Dubbo.

Sunday 25th April, 1915 Was awakened this morning about 4.30 am by the sound of heavy

firing. We were at the entrance to the Dardanelles and our fleet was

bombarding the enemy’s forts and batteries; we were right in among

our cruisers. The first of the landing party went ashore about 7 am

and some hot fighting ensued. The ‘Lizzie’ (Queen Elizabeth) put

some of her big shells in and it was a magnificent sight, though

awful. Our fleet made the hills a hell of fire, a wonderful scene, none

of our ships seemed to be hit. [Here William is describing the

landing of the British troops at Cape Helles, not the Anzacs – Ed.]

We steamed about 12 miles up the outside of the ‘Gallipoli’

Peninsula about 10 am and we expect to land here soon. Fleet is

bombarding the coast all along. Some Australian troops landed at

this point this morning and have been fighting all day. [William is

now off Anzac Cove.] The sound of rifles has not ceased; same with

ships guns till about 8 pm. Hydroplanes and an observation balloon

have been up all day. No firing going on at present. The sight of a

lifetime.

Monday 26th April, 1915 Still anchored about one mile from beach. Was called out at 2 am this morning as a report had arrived that

our troops had suffered rather heavily and some of the wounded had to be brought on our ship. This report

proved to be untrue (we were informed about 8 am) and our troops were in a very good position. Eight of our

men (stretcher-bearers) went ashore when the 2 am report came and we arranged a temporary hospital,

operating and dressing rooms on our ship. I have been watching the fighting all the day. The ‘Lizzie’ opened

up at 6 am and with about nine other cruisers raked the hills with shell. A lot more of our troops landed, also

some field artillery which have now got a good position on top of one of the hills. I can see them flashing as

they fire and they are going a treat. Incessant rifle and machine-gun firing all day. Sea aeroplane and balloon

have been up. The ‘Lizzie’s’ shells are awful. Beautiful weather. Below left: The morning of the landing at

Anzac Cove. The British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth (right) sits at anchor off the Gallipoli Peninsula

while a torpedo boat tows troops ashore on small boats. AWM C01619.

Tuesday 27th April, 1915 Reveille at 5.30 am, parade at 6 am. Firing had been

going on all night. I watched our ships shelling the

hills all morning and could also see two of our

batteries of field artillery in the hills shelling the

Turks. Rumours that the enemy is retreating are

about; we are all anxious to get ashore. The Turks

have put a lot of shrapnel along the beach today.

Was watching the firing this afternoon when eight

shells dropped in quick succession not far from our

ship. Two dropped in the water about 100 yards

from us and on each side of the transport next to us,

but none of them hit any ships. Our ship

immediately steamed out about another mile from

the shore, also the other transports, out of range.

Wind blowing up tonight. Our bearers went ashore about 8 pm.

Wednesday 28th April, 1915 Reveille 5.30 am, no parade until 9 am. The firing on shore did not sound so severe this morning and our

ships were not bombarding so much. At 9 am we paraded and the colonel addressed us, told us might

possibly use our transport as a field hospital for a few days, dismissed us and told us to rest all day as they

might bring wounded on board tonight and we might have to work all night. This afternoon our fleet

DIGGER 38 Issue 53

bombarded the coast a little further up and we heard that our troops had advanced and got a good position.

Wrote four letters this afternoon. It is just after 6 pm now and we have just received orders to prepare to land

tonight. Left SS Californian about 7.30 pm and went on board a trawler (mine sweeper) which is to land us.

Thursday 29th April, 1915 On the trawler all night, rained hard, was very cold; snatched a little sleep in a barge moored alongside our

trawler. Landed about 8 am and very glad indeed. Several shells fell in the water while we were waiting to

land and a few rifle bullets hit the trawler, but no-one was injured. Unloaded our stores and took up position

in first range of hills. The beach is crowded with soldiers and stores and is a strange sight. The fleet is

shelling the next range over our heads, and Turks bullets have been whistling over our heads all day; feel

quite used to them tonight. Saw several of our troops wounded. Took a walk to top of hill and watched some

of our Ghurkha batteries shelling enemy; bullets all over place. One of our bearers slight wound in thigh.

Rifles and all kinds of equipment are lying all over hills. Have only been getting position fixed today.

Friday 30th April, 1915 Was looking after patient with pneumonia all night, so got no sleep. A very cold night, bullets were whistling

over us all night and about 3 am some Turkish guns fired shells over us for about half an hour. They all fell

in the sea about 200 yards behind us. Took our patient down to clearing hospital at 10 am. Bullets been

humming over us all day and occasional shells burst over our position. Our fleet continue shelling the enemy

over our heads. One patient in this evening, young Englishman, shell burst in trench and buried him, was got

out and found to be uninjured by shell but stone deaf and found to be suffering greatly from shock. Saw

several bad wounds today. Had three good meals, plenty bacon and bully beef. Want sleep, pretty tired.

Saturday 1st May, 1915 Was awakened by heavy shell fire about 4.15

am. The Turks were putting shrapnel over us,

most of it going in the sea. One spent bullet

dropped on the fellow lying alongside me, but

did no harm. Had to go on at our dressing

station at 5.15 am, 17 wounded men had come

in during night, none serious. Sent them all to

clearing hospital at 10 am. Was assisting at

dressing station on beach for a couple of hours

before I had dinner. Not many casualties this

morning, such as were, were mostly serious.

Several died, two were shot while working on

beach. Shot and shell being over and all round

us all day. Barricaded our dugouts against

shell splinters. Heard that C Howlett [Spr 60 Cecil William Robert Howlett, 1st FCE] had been wounded.

Above: Shells from a Turkish artillery battery, known as Beachy Bill, bursting over an area above Anzac

Cove occupied by the 4th Australian Field Ambulance. This photo was taken later in the Campaign. AWM

H01377. Sunday 2nd May, 1915 Pretty quiet all night, only a few shells from the enemy and not so much rifle fire; our boys have driven them

back. Up at 6 am. Have been at fatigue work all day, pick and shovel work. Eleven Turks were captured not

far from our dug-out this morning. Have got about 18 patients in our hospital, most of them pure exhaustion,

three or four slightly wounded. Some of our troops have been horribly mutilated by shrapnel. Three more of

our corps have been wounded today. Am in fine health myself. Reinforcements arrived last night. Heard

rumour that Goeben had been sunk by submarine AE2. At 8 pm four of us volunteered to go to trenches and

help stretcher-bearers. Was out till 2 am, brought one of our own corps in, shot through arm and chest. Was a

perfect hell. Bearer work most dangerous of all. Everyone praising bearers for brave work.

Monday 3rd May, 1915 Got in 2 am this morning from doing bearer work. Wonder we have any bearers left, have to go through and

carry patients through a valley and along a creek bed where bullets are falling like rain and where the

enemy’s snipers are concealed. One of our bearers was shot dead during night. About 7 am shrapnel fell all

round our dug-out and two fellows sleeping next to me were both hit on the feet with shrapnel bullets,

fortunately spent, only bruised. At 9 am went on hospital, lot of patients, mostly dysentery and exhaustion.

Was busy till 5 pm. Shrapnel fell all round our camp during afternoon; 12 men were wounded round us and 1

killed. Our troops took a hill early this morning but lost a terrible lot of men; they are having a hard and

nerve wracking time. Things pretty quiet tonight. Feel fine myself.

DIGGER 39 Issue 53

Tuesday 4th May, 1915 Up at 6 am. Cooked bacon and fried biscuits for breakfast. After breakfast went down to the dressing station

on beach but practically no wounded were coming in so tried to find some pals in other regiments but could

get no news of them. Nothing doing after dinner so had a sleep till 5 pm. Had tea and went out for a look

round. The British marines on our left flank were busily trenching and barricading in expectation of a night

attack by the Turks. It was a very poor attack and was easily beaten off. Had it been much, another fellow

and myself had arranged to go and help repel it. Paid visit to battery of New Zealand artillery, the crew of

which we have made friends with, but nothing was doing. Three more of our corps were badly wounded.

Left: The initial camp site above Anzac Cove of the 4th Australian Field Ambulance. AWM H12548L.

Wednesday 5th May, 1915 Got up at 7 am, had breakfast, our day for fatigue

duty. Were shifted out of our dug-out and had to dig

another further up the gully. Firing not so severe

again today, enemy seem quietened. Had an issue of

cigarettes and tobacco. Two more of our corps were

severely wounded today, also Captain Jeffries

[Lewis William Jeffries, 4th FA] of ‘B’ Section.

More reinforcements arrived today for some of the

Australian battalions. Not so many wounded

brought in today. Our boys are doing splendid but

are having to fight fiercely. It seems awful when

one walks along the beach and sees the number of

graves of our boys and one is thankful to be alive. The Australian 2nd

Brigade and about 5 000 New

Zealanders were taken in boats tonight and I believe are going to land about four miles further along the

coast. [The 2nd

Brigade was being moved to Cape Helles to take part in the battle for Krithia –Ed.]

Thursday 6th May, 1915 Up at 6 am, had breakfast, then as nothing was doing with us, took a walk along the beach. Saw a Turkish

major come in on horseback and surrender. While on beach Turks opened enfilading fire with shrapnel on it.

The shells passed over me and about 17 mules and a dozen

men were wounded within 100 yards of me. The mules and

men left had to clear from beach till our batteries silenced

the enemies. Had a rest this afternoon. Our troops are

advancing and doing splendid. The troops taken a few miles

up the coast last night have landed and from reports are also

doing well. The Turks gave us a taste of their shrapnel in the

gully where we are camped this evening, but did no damage.

On duty at hospital at 5 pm. A very lively rifle fire is going

on tonight. Right: ‘Mule Park’, showing a line of mules

with their attendant, and Australian soldiers in the

background, possibly from the 4th Australian Field Ambulance. AWM 0116.011.

Friday 7th May, 1915 Finished at hospital at 1 am and turned in about 1.30 am. Had about 20 patients: slight wounds and influenza.

Got up about 9 am. Turks shelled us pretty heavily this morning but no-one injured before dinner. After

dinner they continued shelling us; they had a good range, shells falling all round us. One shell (shrapnel) fell

within a yard of our hospital tent, luckily only one man was injured. One of our bearers was severely

wounded in both legs. Had to keep under cover till 4 pm when the shelling ceased. About 4.30 pm went

down to beach and had a swim, was wanting a bath pretty badly; also could do with a change of

underclothes. We have to wash ourselves in sea water. All freshwater has to be bought from Malta in boats.

Fairly quiet tonight.

Saturday 8th May, 1915 Up at 6 am and cooked my breakfast: a couple of rashers of ham and some biscuits (pretty hard). After

breakfast had a walk round to see if I could hear any news. Could hear nothing except that our troops are

doing well. After dinner went down for a swim and enjoyed it thoroughly, except that I had to cut it short as

the Turks started shelling the beach with shrapnel and some fell in the water. Two men were killed on the

beach and a few wounded. One of our fellows was wounded this evening while shaving: the cap of a shell

drove into his dug-out and hit him on the thigh. On at hospital at 5 pm, have 21 patients. A lively rifle fire

started about 10 pm and is still continuing.

DIGGER 40 Issue 53

Sunday 9th May, 1915 Off duty from hospital at 1 am and turned

in, things were quiet about this time. Was up

again at 9 am; a few shells passed over us

this morning but fell in the sea. The Turks

shelled our camp all afternoon and we had

to keep under cover. One shell hit one of our

corps, killing him instantly and wounding

another. This shell failed to burst. Had it not

been so tragic, an amusing incident

occurred. The shell buried itself in the earth

unexploded and one of our men ran and

picked it up, carrying it to where a crowd

were taking cover. They all ran away

shouting for him to bury it, he put it down at

his feet and looked amazed, evidently

wondering where the danger lay. It was

taken to headquarters and unloaded. Three

more of our corps were wounded this evening. Above: A church service being held at the 4th Field

Ambulance’s original position at Anzac. Photo: William Lycett collection.

Monday 10th May, 1915 Hard fighting took place during the night and our bearers were called out at 3 am to bring the wounded in. I

got up at 6 am, things had quietened down by this time. I believe the Turks’ casualties were very heavy and

our own are by no means light. Three more of our corps were wounded this morning; two of them severely

and one slightly. Not much doing today, had a swim in the sea this morning. Also heard of the sinking of the

Lusitania. Not been shelled so much today. Was on picket this evening for about an hour, looking after some

stuff on the beach. Had to take cover as some shrapnel started to burst all round us for about half an hour, our

boats soon silenced them. While an Australian was being buried this evening a shell fell right in his grave

without exploding.

Tuesday 11th May, 1915 Have had nothing at all to do today. Got up at 7 am and had breakfast. Had a walk round this morning to see

what was doing. Very few casualties came in today. After dinner the Turks shelled our camp again but did

very little damage and did not injure anyone in our camp. They also shelled the beach and four men were

slightly wounded; our batteries and fleet replied and succeeded in silencing the enemy. Wrote a few short

letters this afternoon as there is a mail leaving on Friday. Had news of seven German destroyers being sunk

in the North Sea. General Sir Ian Hamilton’s letter of congratulations to our troops was posted up today. A

brisk rifle fire is going on tonight.

Wednesday 12th May, 1915 On duty at hospital at 1 am this morning, 25 patients, none serious. Came off duty at 9 am. Rained hard all

night, up to knees in mud and most of our boys flooded out of their dug-outs. Heaviest firing of big guns

been going on all night since we have been here. Our ships and batteries must have been creating an inferno

somewhere amongst the enemy. Turned in after 9 am and had a sleep; been a miserable day raining on and

off all time and up to knees in mud. Made a shelter out of our waterproof sheets, kept us dry. Few shrapnel

fell round us at intervals. Heard that the British troops that landed at entrance to Dardanelles are nearing us

and hemming the enemy between our forces.

Thursday 13th May, 1915 Was on picket from 12 midnight till 3 am looking after medical panniers on beach. Turned in at 3.30 am and

slept till 6 am. A few shells dropped round our camp today, no one injured. Commenced to fix up a dressing

station on beach at 10 am; had it ready for treating patients by 2.30 pm when I was told off to rest till 6 pm

At 6 pm I went on duty at dressing station. Two doctors (captains) and four of us in attendance, have treated

23 wounds up to 9 pm. Heard British battleship Goliath has been sunk in Dardanelles. Australian light horse

arrived today to reinforce our troops as infantry. A few spies are being caught amongst our troops, I believe.

All ships off coast have all lights out tonight, talk of two German submarines. Rifle firing all night.

Friday 14th May, 1915 Came off duty at dressing station at 6 am. Treated 35 patients, all kinds of wounds: hand grenade, shrapnel

and rifle bullet. Two that were brought in proved fatal, one shot through the brain and one through the spine.

Had breakfast and turned in about 7 am. Slept till 1 pm. A battery is mounted on the right just above us and

DIGGER 41 Issue 53

has been troubling the enemy considerably. They tried to dislodge it this afternoon as the gully where we are

camped was full of bursting shrapnel for about three hours; however, no-one was injured and our battery

remains intact. Went and had a swim about 5 pm, we are having lovely weather. Have not heard how the

boys in trenches are getting on today. Turned in at 9 pm, roused out five minutes later to go to dressing

station.

Saturday 15th May, 1915 Was at dressing station all night, nothing doing till 3 am when 27 wounded were brought in. Our boys had

charged another hill during night. Redressed the wounds and sent men on board hospital ship, all pretty bad

cases, some will have to have amputation. Were relieved at 6.30 am. Turned in at 7.30 am; could not sleep as

Turks shelled our camp consistently. One shell burst by the hospital, wounding two patients and one of our

stretcher-bearers. Went for swim this afternoon, had to cut it short as shells started to fall in water. Heard this

evening that Italy has joined the Allies. Went on duty at 6 pm. Nothing doing till 10 pm when about 20

wounded were brought in, mostly wounded by hand grenades which cause terrible wounds.

Sunday 16th May, 1915 Not much doing after rush last night till 4.30 am this

morning, when about a dozen more were brought in.

We re-dress wounds and send men on to hospital

ship. Most of the men take their injuries in good

spirit and bear the pain wonderfully. One man was

brought in with thigh shattered by grenade,

unconscious, eventually died; a terrible wound.

Extracted bullet from another man’s thigh, right

through, ½ inch from other side, never made a

sound. Turks shelling beach at 7 am. Turned in 8

am. Went for swim 5 pm. Turks shelled beach and

our camp about 5.30 pm. Two shells hit a mine-

sweeper but did not sink it. Another shell fell about

six yards from our dug-out, blowing a stone about

30 lb weight into our dugout. The stone grazed leg

of one of our boys. On duty at dressing station 7.30 pm. Above: 1103 Staff Sergeant James August Yeates

(left) and 1005 Corporal Frederick Walter Chenu inside an operating theatre of the 4th Australian Field

Ambulance on the Gallipoli Peninsula. AWM C00660. Monday 17th May, 1915 Twenty-nine wounded brought in during night. Rifle fire was going on incessantly. Four six inch Howitzers

were landed during night and are being put in position today. Off duty 8 am. Turks put about 20 shells over

us about 8.30 am. Turned in, slept till 2.30 pm. A lot of Indians of the mule transport corps with their mules

have camped in the gully where we are today. They are fine chaps and make great friends with those who are

friendly towards them. Our ships bombarded the Turks on our left flank today. Turks replied for a short time

without effect, can’t touch our Cruisers. On duty 8 pm. Had word today two of our bearers who were

wounded had died on hospital ship. Only couple of wounded brought to us up to 12 midnight.

Tuesday 18th May, 1915 Came off duty at 8 am. Had about a dozen wounded during night. Turks put about 20 shells on beach about

5.30 am. Turned in at 9 am. At 5.30 am Turks started shelling the beach and the gully where our camp is,

keeping the bombardment up for about and hour and half. Pieces of shrapnel fell in our dug-out and one shell

just cleared our hospital. Heaviest bombardment we have had since landing, yet very few were injured.

Noticeable that Turks are using black powder today in their shells. What few wounded have been brought in

have looked worse than really were; nearly all had their faces burned and skin blackened by black powder in

enemy’s shells. On duty 8 pm. Very quiet up to 12 midnight.

Continued in the next issue of DIGGER.

ur prize section dope was trying to put the hard word on the Quarter Bloke for a tin of butter. “But I

gave you a large tin of butter the day before yesterday,” said the QM, testily, “you don’t want to

make it too hot!” “You didn’t give me a large tin of butter – it was a small tin.” “You dopey cow, I

gave you a large tin of butter and a small tin of axle grease!” “Cripes! Then I’ve eaten the ruddy axle grease

and put the butter on the axles!” – “DUCKBOARD HARRIER.”

Source: ‘Aussie’, No. 6, August 1918.

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DIGGER 42 Issue 53

Remarkable revelations about the main culprit at The Nek Ross McMullin, Clifton Hill.

A slightly different version of this article was first published in ‘The Australian’ on 7 August, 2015. Thanks

to News Limited for approval to publish it in ‘DIGGER’.

n 7 August 1915, Australian lighthorsemen climbed out of their trenches at The Nek and attempted

to advance towards the Turkish lines. They had no chance. Most were mown down straightaway.

Casualties amounted to 372, including no fewer than 234 fatalities.

The ill-fated charge has become familiar to later Australians as a result of Peter Weir’s celebrated

film Gallipoli, which re-created an unsuccessful attempt to stop the carnage.

After the first two waves of the Victorian 8th Light Horse were slaughtered, it was obvious that the

Western Australians of the 10th Light Horse, who were to follow, would also be annihilated. So their

commander, Lieutenant Colonel Noel Brazier, called a halt to the operation. But when he arrived at brigade

headquarters and emphasised the futility of persisting, he was overruled

by an intransigent officer, the brigade major, Lieutenant Colonel Jack

Antill [right, AWM A01465]

Antill, who had planned the operation, told Brazier that a

marker flag carried by the Victorians had been seen in the Turkish

trenches, and the Western Australians should get forward to assist.

Brazier knew this was preposterous and said so – he had seen no such

flag, and even if someone had, any Victorian presence in the Turkish

lines must have been minimal and swiftly overwhelmed. But Antill

would not listen. “Push on!” he roared.

The Western Australians knew where Brazier had gone and

why. Among those waiting tensely for the verdict were Wilfred

Harper, a popular farmer, his brother Gresley, a talented barrister, and

their friend Phipps Turnbull, the West’s fourth Rhodes Scholar.

When Brazier reappeared, his ashen face foreshadowed his

announcement. “I’m sorry lads, but the order is to go”, he confirmed.

The Western Australians shook hands with their friends, said goodbye,

and prepared for the fate they felt was inevitable. A 23 year old farmhand turned to his mate: “Goodbye

cobber, God bless you” – his last words, which ended up on his headstone and, decades later, as the title of a

book.

These were the moments – movingly depicted in Peter Weir’s film – that would make the charge at

The Nek renowned. The Western Australians expected to die, and accepted their fate. Those in the third line,

when called on, ascended together. They did so because they believed that their sacrificial contribution

would enable other Anzacs in other attacks to triumph in the sweeping August offensive.

Many belonged to the best-known families in their state. Some, like Phipps Turnbull and the Harper

brothers, had outstanding promise. But they clambered into the open with the rest.

Turnbull was hit straightaway, and fell back gravely wounded. He lay dying on the dirt floor of the

trench, preoccupied with the terrible shock in store for his loved ones.

Wilfred Harper had resolved to meet death by running towards the enemy as fast as possible. He

expected to be cut down immediately, like Turnbull. But he somehow avoided the lethal torrent of fire from

the Turks, as well as the bodies and scattered weaponry littering No-man’s land, and built up impressive pace

across the rough and uneven terrain with its dips and holes and spiky bushes.

‘Gres’ Harper may have emulated his younger brother, despite being hampered by a severe ankle

injury. A comrade wrote that Gres had “charged with them dragging his foot”. Another survivor of the

charge reported that he saw two dead men “lying on the Turkish parapet” who “looked like the Harper

brothers”.

Peter Weir had struggled for years to find a way to make a film about Gallipoli. He read widely,

explored the Anzac site, and discarded numerous drafts because none was compelling enough for the special

story he wanted to tell. Then one day he consulted Charles Bean’s Official History again, and a passage

jumped out at him: Wilfred Harper “was last seen running forward like a schoolboy in a foot-race, with all

the speed he could compass”. This was an exhilarating epiphany – he suddenly sensed that here was his

story. Eventually, that Bean sentence became a motif for Weir’s widely acclaimed film.

O

DIGGER 43 Issue 53

Not everyone acclaimed it, though. Some critics took a dim view of what they saw as the film’s

depiction of Gallipoli as blinkered British officers sending noble Australians to their deaths. At the heart of

their criticism was the scene where the officer based on Antill insists to the character based on Brazier that

the 10th Light Horse had to continue the murderous operation. Weir’s adviser, the esteemed historian Bill

Gammage, maintained that the Antill character was given an appropriate accent for an educated Australian of

that era, but to the unimpressed critics he sounded British.

Antill was abrasive, aggressive and authoritarian. Empathy and

perceptiveness were not prominent. Exuding self-confidence, but not as good

as he thought he was, Antill was widely disliked and known as ‘Bull’ or ‘the

Bullant’. After the Gallipoli evacuation he made a claim of cringeworthy

crassness: he observed that 90 officers in his brigade had served at Gallipoli,

and he was the only one who had gone right through the campaign. It

evidently escaped him that he had wiped out a lot of them himself. [Left:

Colonel JM Antill of 3rd

Australian Light Horse Brigade, on Rhododendron

Spur, September 1915. AWM G01330.] What happened to him after the evacuation has become of particular

interest since the recent publication of JC Barrie’s reminiscences. John

Charles Barrie, an original AIF officer, compiled an account of his war

experiences during the 1930s that remained in his family’s possession until

his grand-daughter had it published earlier this year as Memoirs of an Anzac.

According to AIF records, Antill’s post-Gallipoli service was limited

and unremarkable. Initially, he continued in the Light Horse, accompanying

his brigade to the Sinai Desert, but did not see much action. Aware the

Western Front was where the real action was, he welcomed his transfer to

France as an infantry brigadier. But he lasted only a couple of months before

being evacuated sick, and he never returned to the Front. For a while he commanded training formations in

England, but he was sent home to Australia and his AIF involvement concluded with the end of the war still

a year away.

Memoirs of an Anzac indicates there was more to it than that. Barrie, an

8th Battalion officer, was wounded at the Gallipoli Landing and did not rejoin

his unit until July 1916. Antill arrived in France two months later to

command the 2nd

Brigade, the formation that included the 5th, 6

th and 7

th

Battalions together with Barrie’s 8th. Right: Studio portrait of John Charles

Barrie. Source: ‘Memoirs of an Anzac’, Scribe.

Barrie describes amusing vignettes, such as the new brigadier’s quirky

obsession with cooks’ rifles and his determination to teach officers how to

ride, unaware that most already could and were so offended by his obnoxious

“lesson” that they pretended to lose control of their horses – “I knew you

damned infantrymen couldn’t ride”, Antill fumed.

These episodes were trifles, though, compared to the alarm Antill

instilled when the 2nd

Brigade was ordered to attack in the Somme sector.

Opinionated as ever, and characteristically disinclined to defer to those with

more experience in France, Antill proposed to transform conventional

communications: he would reorganise telephone wires, dispense with runners, and rely on marker flags –

shades of The Nek! – that he would observe himself from his headquarters. This was bizarrely impractical at

the Western Front, not only with modern artillery, but also, Barrie felt, with brigade headquarters well

behind the front and the possibility of hills in between.

Antill’s battalion commanders feared a disaster. Something had to be done. Barrie’s commander,

Lieutenant Colonel Graham Coulter, sensed an opportunity when Antill began “coughing and spluttering”

with what Barrie described as a cold. According to Barrie, Coulter devised a plan and implemented it with

the assistance of Barrie and an admired 8th officer, Lieutenant Tas Mummery.

After insisting that Barrie and Mummery had to swear an oath of secrecy, Coulter arranged for them to

summon the other three battalion commanders to a meeting that Coulter ensured would remain secret by

stationing Mummery as a guard outside. Barrie also had to arrange for a certain doctor to attend this meeting

half an hour after it began.

The preliminary meeting was brief. It was obvious that Coulter had swiftly succeeded in convincing the

other colonels to adopt his plan. When the doctor arrived, Barrie ushered him in, and saw the four colonels

DIGGER 44 Issue 53

“sitting at a table, looking very solemn”. The doctor, who “had not been long at the front”, was taken aback

to find himself “sworn to secrecy” and then bluntly told by these grim-faced, experienced colonels that it was

up to him to save the brigade by ensuring that its incompetent commander was urgently removed. It was his

duty to diagnose Antill’s minor cold as a serious illness.

The doctor, according to Barrie, was startled but persuaded. Barrie was subsequently told that the

doctor proceeded to brigade headquarters, saw Antill, told him his illness looked perturbing (despite Antill’s

protests that it was just a cold), returned next morning, again took Antill’s temperature – which, as before,

showed normal – soberly pronounced that it was essential to have Antill evacuated immediately (“Sorry, sir,

even generals must bow to a doctor’s orders”), and had him taken away in an ambulance that the doctor had

arranged to have waiting nearby. And, Barrie concluded, “we never saw him again”.

To Barrie, writing in the 1930s, this “little drama” was “one of the epics of the war”, yet only the few

surviving participants knew about it. In his memoirs he preserved their anonymity by telling the story

without naming names – apart from Mummery, who was killed in 1917. Barrie gave the doctor a

pseudonym, “Captain Clear”, and did not identify any of the colonels, even his own. (Barrie was in fact

repeatedly scathing about Coulter without naming him, but praised the way Coulter had spearheaded Antill’s

removal.)

Who were the others involved? Carl Jess was commanding the

7th Battalion, and succeeded Antill as acting brigadier until a successor

was appointed. The other battalions were led by John Walstab (5th)

and CWD Daly (6th). The identity of Captain Clear remains unclear.

[Right: Informal portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Wells

Didier Daly, 6th Battalion (left) and Lt Col Carl Herman Jess, 7

th

Battalion (right), in front of the 6th Battalion Headquarters, December

1916. AWM E00077.]

Barrie’s epic drama is not fully corroborated in the official

records – for example, the date of Antill’s departure with “bronchitis”

is stated to have been more than a week after Coulter went on leave to

London – but these records were not always chronologically accurate.

Moreover, in view of the sequence of events, there were possibly other

doctors besides Captain Clear who deemed Antill’s illness to be more

than a cold, so it may have become a more significant illness than it

had initially seemed.

Still, Barrie’s account has the ring of authenticity. That these

experienced officers in Antill’s brigade were so alarmed that they took

the action Barrie describes in his lively memoirs is new and arresting

confirmation of the incompetence of the main culprit in the devastating slaughter of the 10th Light Horse one

hundred years ago. The final entry in Antill’s Record of Officer’s Service states that the reason for the

termination of his appointment was “S.N.L.R.” – that is, ‘Services No Longer Required’.

Endnotes: (1) Ross McMullin’s Farewell, Dear People: Biographies of Australia’s Lost Generation, which

was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History, includes biographies of the Harper brothers

and Phipps Turnbull. (2) Dr McMullin provided an introduction and elaborative footnotes for JC Barrie’s

Memoirs of an Anzac. The Editor found Memoirs of an Anzac to be an excellent read. Barrie’s honesty is

refreshing, making it one of the better first-person accounts of the war released in recent times.

THE SOUTH COAST WARATAH RECRUITING MARCH 1915 ALAN CLARK

REPRINT: This very updated edition of an earlier book by Clark contains biographical information on those who marched. The original march started in Nowra, walked up the Illawarra coast through Sutherland to Sydney, gathering recruits as they went.

[ 138 PAGES – PAPERBACK ]

$39 Postage free We have a regular free catalogue – why not join our mailing list?

WAR BOOK SHOP 13 Veronica Place, Loftus NSW 2232

Phone: 02 9542 6771 Fax: 02 9542 6787 E-mail: warbookshop@bigpond.com

DIGGER 45 Issue 53

Diary of Private 4393 Alexander Wallace, 29th Battalion (Part 1) Contributed by Stephanie Smyth, Adelong. Edited by Graeme Hosken, Dubbo.

Introduction Alexander (‘Alex’) Wallace was the son of Maurice and Margaret Wallace of Adelong, where Alex was also

living and working as a labourer. He officially enlisted in the AIF at Cootamundra on 10 May, 1916, at the

age of 27 years and three months. Alex stood 5’6½” tall and weighed 150 pounds. He had fair complexion,

blue eyes and brown hair, and was Roman Catholic. In this issue, we begin his story taken from the diary he

kept. Additional details have been added [in bold inside square brackets] by the Editor. Sub-headings have

been added and minor alterations made to spelling and punctuation by the Editor. Some dates were amended

as they did not correlate with the unit war diary – Alex was sometimes out by a day.

Training and embarkation The writer joined the ranks of our great army on the eighth day of May, 1916, and after undergoing a severe

training test in that never-to-be-forgotten place in NSW (Cootamundra by name), I journeyed to Goulburn

and went into camp in the showground in that place, where we were drilled unmercifully. [At first he was

allocated to ‘B’ Company of the 2nd

Battalion at Cootamundra, then to ‘A’ Company at Goulburn on

22 June. On his return from the light horse at Menangle in September, Alexander was transferred to

the 29th

Battalion, 8th

Brigade, 5th

Division. The 29th

was a Victorian unit but, after its losses at

Fromelles, it seems that reinforcements were also drawn from NSW – Ed.]

I was detailed with a number of others to go to Duntroon [Canberra], trench digging for a fortnight.

We had a great time there as the scran [food] was excellent and everything up to the knocker. But it only

lasted a fortnight; we then went back to Goulburn.

One day [4 August] a captain came from Sydney and picked a number of us for the light horse. We

were then packed off to Menangle. We then handed in our infantry gear and then became gentlemen of the

light horse. This was a very good camp, plenty to eat and nice and clean.

After we had been there about a week we underwent a riding test, which was very funny. Some of

the lads were not the best of riders and the horses were very poor jumpers. Some would not jump at all,

others would put their forequarters over and drag the hind. The first man that went was a sailor. He rode the

jump at a great pace and the horse propped, but Jack [unidentified] did not wait for the horse. He went head

first over the jump. But he had another try and succeeded. If the colonel saw any catch at the saddle to hold

on, he would make him get down.

The colonel had a beautiful black horse, his coat shone like satin. He was the best jumper there, and

the biggest rogue; he would lie down at the command and before you had time to mount him, he would jump

up and undergo a series of plunges, rears and sidesteps, and he would not stop until he had unseated the rider

– and he always did it. He was very fat and, of course, he had to be ridden bare-backed. He threw one chap

fourteen times and, of course, he passed.

There was also another mare called ‘Fudie’, and she was used for the same purpose. She used to race

at the first jump and clear it, then run off the next and bolt with her head down close to the ground. She used

to get rid of all her riders until one day a mate of mine – a Monaro boy – who was an excellent horseman,

said he would ride her over the three jumps and, of course, the colonel said let him have a go. He mounted

bareback, and had a nice little hunting crop in his hand and he used it to some order. She tried all her tricks,

but the hunting crop used to come down on her flanks and he put her over the three jumps for the first time.

The old colonel was greatly pleased and said the last jump was the longest he had ever seen done in his life.

Well, we nearly all passed bar a few, and they were put into the Camel Corps. They had a number of

camels in the camp; the horses used to go mad at their approach. One

had a young one, which died while we were there. Right: Menangle

Park, NSW, 1916. Members of the AIF training as reinforcements for

the Australian Camel Corps. AWM H16693.

We had a very good time in Menangle and used to make a trip

to Sydney a couple of times a week.

Our time was getting short to go overseas, so one day [28

September] we got word to say we were to go back into the infantry,

so we had to hand in the light horse equipment and don the infantry

gear once more.

One day we received orders to be prepared to go to Sydney to be reviewed. So a few days after, we

got ready and caught a train to Sydney, and when the people saw the train loaded with troops (as there was a

DIGGER 46 Issue 53

lot from Goulburn and Cootamundra) they thought we were sailing. Talk about fun! We cooeed and waved

hats and they waved everything handy, tablecloths etc and all the engines were cock-a-doodle-dooing and the

ferries took it up in the harbour. It was a great uproar.

We were marched to Moore Park and received by BG Ramchottie

[Gustave Ramaciotti, law clerk, later Major General, OC Sydney District].

He stopped in front of our company, which was a fine body of men, and said,

Men, I congratulate you for keeping up the traditions of the Light Horse, for

you volunteered to go into the Infantry. That’s what men before you have done

and many were at the Landing at Gallipoli and made a name for the Light

Horse, and I am not afraid that you boys will do just as well. You have left your

horses, but I am sending a recommendation to England with you, so if there are

any men wanted for the cavalry, you’re the men for the job.

[Right: Colonel Ramaciotti, NSW Commandant, inspecting troops in Sydney.

Source: alh-research.tripod.com.]

The best of the joke was, we never volunteered – we were put into the

infantry and asked no questions.

After we marched past the great man, we marched through the main

streets of the city. Ten thousand strong, the biggest parade ever seen in Sydney

up to that time. The people gave us a great reception and crowded the streets so

much they broke our formation and the consequence was we ended in a rabble.

After that we went through a course of musketry on the Liverpool rifle

range, were granted ten days leave and ordered to be ready to sail very soon,

about November 3rd

, 1916.

The day before we left for Sydney, the colonel, whose name was Linchan [possibly Lincoln], sent

for the company to give a speech before we went. He said, Men, you are about to sail to one of the greatest

wars of modern times and will have to fight a desperate foe, who will stop at nothing to gain his ends. You

men are going there to keep up the good name of Australia. I hope and feel sure you will. Only wish I could

go with you, but that’s not to be. Some of you will come back. Some of you will never come back. All I can

wish you is good luck and Godspeed to you. And he disappeared, and just as well, as he was not popular.

On 2 November we were sent to Sydney to embark on HMS Afric on the following day. We camped

in the Showground in some sheep pens that night and they fell us in and marched us off to catch the boat. But

early as the hour was, thousands of people came out of their homes to bid us goodbye. Many walked

amongst us and carried our gear.

It was a very peculiar march indeed!

When we arrived at the wharf the civilians

were not allowed on the wharf until all the soldiers

were aboard, and then they let them on. They came

in like a flock of sheep and they stayed there

throwing up fruit and cigarettes, and when the boat

was ready to put off from the wharf, they threw up

hundreds of red, white and blue streamers. The

troops were crowded on every inch of the boat: on

deck, some were up the masts as far as they could

get, and when the boat started to move cheer after

cheer went into the air. Many of the women fainted

and cried, so did some of the troops. The ship

looked pretty with all the streamers on it. Right:

The Afric, which was sunk in 1917. Source: http://www.flotilla-australia.com/images/Afric-01.jpg.

At last we got away from the wharf and dropped anchor in the harbour, where we remained until

about midday and were visited by many small craft, who threw us cigarettes and fruit and wished us all kinds

of good luck, with tears in their eyes.

So at midday we steered for the Heads, followed by a number of small craft with girls [aboard].

They followed us as far as they dared and when they left us, some of them were wet as far as the waist as the

water was breaking over their boat. We then steered for the open sea and our beautiful harbour was soon a

speck in the distance.

I wondered myself if it would be the last time we would see it, and many of that boat load will never

see it again. Others will see it, but as physical wrecks, broken in health and spirit.

DIGGER 47 Issue 53

The voyage We were not long at sea before we found out the motion of the waves disagreed with our stomachs, and the

consequence was the biggest part of His Majesty’s troops were in a deplorable condition with sea sickness

and they lay everywhere on deck. Some of them lay down for days. The sea was very angry in the Bight and

the waves used to break right over her, with the result we had to close down the hatches, which gave the sick

troops a vent, to an awfully muggy smell, enough to turn a dog off his milk, but we struck calm weather

before we reached Adelaide and the sea sick men found their legs and appetites.

The conditions on the boat were deplorable. We were packed like sardines in a tin between decks, as

it was rather cold at night to sleep on deck. At last we drew into Outer Harbour, Adelaide. We took a supply

of fresh water on there and seven hundred soldiers.

We went ashore for a route march. A great number of civilians came to bid their menfolk goodbye

and they stayed there until dark, said goodbye and shook hands about 20 times, and as we were not pulling

out until midnight, they left.

Next day found us well out at sea and also found most of the Adelaide chaps seasick. We were given

orders that no man was to strike a match after sundown, no smoking and no lights aglow. A miserable state

of affairs.

We were all supplied with life belts and were given orders never to be without them; if so, we could

be crimed. We were all told off to certain life boats in case of accident. By the time we were out a few days

we struck very good weather and the sea was as smooth as glass. It was a great treat and I think we were the

only boat on the ocean at that time. The best shots were picked and placed on different posts on deck to

watch for enemy submarines, night and day, and sometimes it was that dark that you could not see your hand

before you, let alone a sub.

At last we reached Durban [South Africa] for the purpose of taking on coal and water. We had great

fun here amongst the blacks. We used to throw pennies on the wharf and watch them scramble for them, and

when they got nicely in a heap we would throw a bucket of cold water over them. They would up and off,

looking back over their shoulders. They are a powerful-built race, but very dirty and wear only loin cloths.

They would do anything for pennies. They are splendid divers and will dive for hours after pennies; we gave

them plenty of work.

We got ashore here and had a very good time, for

Durban is a fairly large town, and there is a good many

English people here. The Zulus draw the rickshaws

themselves. They are a splendid type of black and are great

runners. They dress up in all kinds of funny ways; some

wear bullock’s horns on their heads and some feathers, and

they do look peculiar. Most of the boys went for a ride in

the rickshaws and enjoyed themselves immensely.

We got plenty of cheap fruit here: pineapples;

oranges and bananas. The officer took us for a route march

on the beach and we went in for a surf as there is a nice

beach here. We stayed about a week. The heat was

something terrible and when the coaling was finished we

again put to sea. Left: Two Australian soldiers in a

rickshaw in Durban. http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/down-memory-lane-in-rickshaw.html.

We had boxing on board and all kinds of sports, and when we reached the Equator we had a canvas

bath erected on deck for the troops to bathe in, but it did not last long, as one of our chaps dived into it

thinking the water was deep and struck the deck and died a few hours later.

Of course, we buried him at sea. He was rolled up in canvas and huge weights placed at his feet and

he was brought out on a flat board. The clergyman leading the troops lined the rails, they took him to

starboard where a firing party was lined up, who sprang to attention and presented arms. They placed him

with one end of the board to clear the side. The clergyman said a prayer, they removed the flag and raised the

board gently and he slid off into the sea. The boat had almost stopped for the occasion. The firing party fired

a volley, the bugler blew the Last Post, the firing party presented arms, and all was over.

We then went below and the officers called us together and told us it was the usual thing that when

anyone died at sea to put up his personal belongings for sale by auction; the proceeds sent to his relatives.

One of the boys who had been an auctioneer in civilian life put them up and they were sold and resold

dozens of times. The sale and a collection realised about three hundred pounds, which amount was

forwarded to his wife and children.

DIGGER 48 Issue 53

Our next port of call was Cape Town. We were here ordered to coal the boat and all the men were

detailed off for the job, with the promise that we could go ashore. We placed 800 tons of coal on, and about

half the men went ashore. It was very hot here, but we had plenty of fruit fairly cheap and when the coaling

was finished we again put to sea. We were about eight hours out when they turned around and put back to

Cape Town, arriving there very early in the morning. We stayed about 15 minutes and put to sea again.

The next port we called at was Decca Tierra Larnu, a French settlement [probably Dakar, Senegal].

We stayed here seven days but were not allowed to land and had Christmas dinner in port, and it was very

poor. Some of the boys tried to swim ashore, but they failed. Two reached terra firma and were detained by

the French police and taken back to the boat. One, a Russian, who tried to swim it, got into difficulties and

was nearly drowned. A passing boat in port, seeing his plight, launched a life boat and rescued him. [This

was 4405 Joseph Kleshenko, a 24 year old mechanic from the Seamen’s Mission Home, Sydney. See

next article.]

On Christmas Eve things nearly reached a crisis, as the boys tried to lower a boat and put to shore

but someone (in authority) saw them and gave them away. A guard was placed on the boat with instructions

to fire on anyone attempting to take the boats. At this, the boys got ferocious and they cooeed and sang songs

and kicked up an awful row. The offices came and spoke to them, but without any avail. Armed guards were

placed on different stations. The officers were afraid to retire, so this kept up until about 1 o’clock in the

morning, so the colonel came below, flashing a revolver and pleaded for a hearing. So he gave a speech and

things quietened down.

With coaling completed, we put to sea again. We had

now picked up with more transports, ten in number, with

Diggers on board. They sailed in two lines. We were second

from the front and all went well until one day after dinner.

We were sailing quietly along and someone sang out, “Man

overboard!” In a few seconds it went all over the boat and we

swung out of line and stopped. The boats behind stopped and

a boat was lowered, with some trouble, as there was a big

swell on, but in good time another boat followed suit. It was

a good bit of work and the boat behind us got to the man first

and picked him up. He was fetched back from where he

jumped off and it turned out to be the Russian. He had a life

belt on. It appears he was suffering from ear trouble and said

he jumped overboard to get on the other boat, as the doctor

was better on that boat. He was placed under arrest and

watched for the rest of the voyage.

The next day it was in orders, that any man feeling

inclined to go over the side would not be picked up, as

submarines may sink the boats while they stopped to pick

him up.

So now we were approaching the English coast. The

weather was getting very cold and windy, the sea rough. We

were told to keep a sharp lookout for subs, but all went well.

The night before we were to reach port, we were paid a visit

by some British destroyers. They fairly raced through the

water and at last it got dark and terrible rough and the

following morning there was not a boat to be seen. They all

took a different course during the night. That day we pulled

into Plymouth [9 January, 1917].

Left: Studio photo of Alex Wallace. Courtesy of Bruce

Wallace.

Arrival in England After dinner we received our orders to be ready to move and a lighter drew alongside and we boarded the

lighter. The troops were in high spirits and they sang songs, cheered the nurses, hooted the colonel and the

quack. We were then taken ashore, and shortly after dark we were placed on a train and our first stop was

Exeter, where the mayoress of the town supplied us with tea and cake; a treat as it was terrible cold.

DIGGER 49 Issue 53

We then travelled until daylight, and then alighted. There was a big frost on the ground and we

found it difficult to keep our feet and the cold was intense. The name of the place was Fovant. They gave us

a drink of tea and something to eat and then took us to huts and told us to have a little sleep, and it was a

little, as they pulled us out in about an hour and told us to go on medical inspection. We were examined and

inoculated and told we would have 24 hours no duty. We were glad when night came to get to sleep. We

were given five blankets to a man and that was hardly enough.

Hurdcott Camp On the following day (11 January, 1917) we were taken out on the parade ground in the charge of an RSM.

He lined us up in two ranks and roared out Attention! We sprung to it, our heels met like one man. He ran his

eye over us as if he was about to buy us and then stood us at ease. Next we see a drove of red tape [a staff

officer] coming our way and when he arrived, he sprung us to attention and said, Pay attention to orders,

saluted and stood to attention again. The red tape gave a bit of a speech, the usual one about playing the

game etc and then dismissed us.

The next morning they had us out on the parade ground and put us through a performance on ground

that was like glass with ice. In the evening we went on a route march, about eight miles, full pack, and it was

too much of a good thing, as we had been on the boat for over nine weeks and our feet were very tender. We

were very glad to get back.

They were very strict here and would crime you for nothing. Every man must shave every morning

and sometimes the pipes were frozen and we could not get water, but no excuses here. With that, drilling in

the cold and standing about, it was terrible, and they kept us going all the time. We were well fed up with it

and breaking our necks to go to France.

Leave in London We were told we would get four days leave to London. They told about 150 of us off and at last we started,

in the charge of an officer (whom we nicknamed ‘Droopy’). We marched and caught the train at Wilton, four

miles, and we got off at Victoria Station. Droopy was leading and he lost the rest in an underground passage

and he didn’t know what to do, as we were to report to AIF Headquarters. We said to him to let us go here

and at last he did.

We had four very good days. The first day we caught a tram and put in the time visiting the most

important parts of the city, such as the Tower, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Madam Legards’

[Tussaud’s] Waxworks and the King’s Stables. It was well worth the trip and we had an aged lady as a guide

and she knew every inch of London.

We also saw the London Zoo but were disappointed with it. On the last day of our visit we were

invited to see that great play, ‘Chu Chin Chow’. It was very good and the music excellent.

Back to camp We were sorry to have to return to camp, and when we returned they put us through a course of shooting,

bomb throwing and physical jerks – what we detested. They used to march us to the parade ground after

breakfast and the ground was frozen with frost and they would halt us and say, Take off your puttees and

tunics and hats, and they would put us through a series of rapid movements etc. They would not allow us to

wear overcoats, but as the weather got a little warmer, they made us wear them (the way of the army!).

To be continued in the next issue of DIGGER.

DIGGER Quiz No. 53: ‘Campbell’s challenge’: The RAN and the First Convoy Maurice has been reading the Official History, Volume IX: The Royal Australian Navy, by AW Jose (which

he highly recommends) to come up with this issue’s questions. Answers are on page 56.

1. How many German warships were operating in the Pacific in July 1914?

2. What were the names of these ships?

3. How many ships made up the first convoy that left Australia?

4. How long did the engagement between the Emden and HMAS Sydney last?

5. In its second salvo of 15 shells fired at the Emden by the Sydney, how many shells actually exploded?

6. Where did HMAS Sydney proceed after the destruction of the Emden to offload the wounded?

7. How many ships were in the RAN in 1914?

8. What was the number of naval personnel in the RAN in 1918?

DIGGER 50 Issue 53

Pte 1140/5795/4405 Joseph Kleshenko, 8th LHR/17th Bn/1st Bn/29th Bn Graeme Hosken, Dubbo.

oseph Kleshenko appears twice in Alex Wallace’s diary [see previous article]: firstly as the ‘Russian’

who tried to swim ashore from the Afric at Dakar, and secondly when he jumped overboard to swim to

another ship mid-ocean to supposedly see a better doctor. He sounded like an ‘interesting’ man, so I

thought I would investigate his service in the AIF. His service record turned out to be 138 pages long, so it

was a bigger job than I anticipated!

Kleshenko was born in Dubno, Russia, and gave his next of kin as his father, Venel Kleshenko of

Kief [Kiev], Russia, when he enlisted in Sydney on 8 June, 1915, giving his age as 23 years and six months

and his occupation as engineer. He was described as having ‘imperfect knowledge of English’ but his

enlistment was approved by Colonel Hawkes, assistant adjutant, 3rd

Military District [Victoria].

Kleshenko was allocated as trooper 1140 to the 8th Reinforcements to the 8

th Light Horse Regiment

at Seymour, Victoria. He was in the Seymour Depot from 8 June until being transferred to No. 1 ‘Squad’ on

18 August. However, he broke camp the day before and went AWL and was recorded as ‘not known’ to the

light horse reinforcements.

Kleshenko seems to have ‘done a runner’ from Victoria and next fronted at the Town Hall, Sydney,

on 25 August, 1915, where he volunteered for the AIF as a sailor with three years service in the Russian

Reserve and nine months service in the American Army. He arrived in Holdsworthy Camp two days later,

but does not appear to have been allocated to a unit.

On 1 September he was in trouble for disobeying the lawful command of an NCO and using

threatening language. The next day he was absent from parade.

On 6 September, 1915, Kleshenko wrote a statement:

I was handed over to the Provost Marshal yesterday for being absent from Parade and using

threatening language. I was made very angry by the men calling me German. I am a Russian and

produced my passport. I have been ill with internal complaint, and have to frequently attend the

latrine.

I have been in camp since the 27th August. The reason I was absent from morning parade was that I

was in the latrines. There is something the matter with my legs and if I march for any distance my

legs swell and I have to sit down. My feet and legs were not inspected when I enlisted.

I did not go to the doctor in camp about my leg as I thought I might be thrown out.

Kleshenko was discharged ‘medically unfit’ on 8 September, 1915. This was due to a medical report from

the day before, where it was ascertained that Kleshenko was disabled by a bullet wound to the right leg

(ankle) which had been inflicted in 1905 during the Russian-Japanese war. If Kleshenko was 23 years as he

stated on enlistment, then he must have been 13 years old in 1905 – this might explain his age being recorded

as 27 years on this form (making him 17 in 1905). The Medical Board recommended Kleshenko be

discharged as the disability was permanent.

He enlisted in the AIF for the third time on 8 November, 1915. Joseph was then aged 23 years and

six months (though later the same day, he was recorded as 23 years and ten months), and stated he was a

naturalised British subject and an engineer. He also stated he had been wounded on Gallipoli when serving

with the 6th LHR and was re-enlisting as his wounds had healed. (This was obviously a lie.) He stood 5’9”

tall, weighed 166 pounds, and had fresh complexion, blue eyes and dark brown hair.

Between 8 November and 14 December, 1915, he was allocated to the 10th Reinforcements to the

17th

Battalion. However, on the latter date he was discharged, ‘as unlikely to become an efficient soldier’,

with ‘indifferent’ conduct.

Another attestation form was completed on 18 December, 1915, showing that he had served with the

17th Battalion until 14 December. This time he was allocated to the 18

th Reinforcements for the 1

st Battalion.

As this set of papers is otherwise blank and labelled ‘cover only’, it is hard to understand why this form was

created.

Undeterred, Kleshenko again fronted to enlist at Goulburn on 12 January, 1916, and this time was

allocated to the 17th Reinforcements to the 1

st Battalion as private 5795. His father’s address was written this

time as Varkobür, Durck, Vollinya, Russia. Kleshenko stated that he had served in the Russian Army for

two years and eight months. He was now aged 25 years and one month!

Joseph trained at Goulburn from 12 January to 13 March, 1916, and was then transferred to

Liverpool, where he was moved between ‘B’ and ‘C’ Companies several times prior to 16 May. On 18 May

he was fined for being AWL for two days.

J

DIGGER 51 Issue 53

Kleshenko embarked on 3 June, 1916, on the Kyarra, but was disembarked (sick, conjunctivitis) at

Durban on 30 June. A South African official wrote to the Camp Commandant at Congella on 11 July, 1916,

saying that:

This man [Kleshenko] has twice broken out of camp and I shall be glad if you will kindly deal with

the case. Being a member of the Australian Imperial Forces [sic] he is out of my jurisdiction.

He has been a patient in hospital suffering from conjunctivitis but is quite fit to be sent to Congella

Detail Camp and can be seen daily by the Medical Officer to have his eyes attended to.

After several more bouts of absconding and being abusive and threatening to hospital staff, Kleshenko was

loaded onto the Suffolk in August for return to Australia. On 7 September, 1916, he arrived in Australia and

was discharged on 28 September, 1916, as a ‘disciplinary case’. His record was marked ‘not eligible’ for any

service medals.

Incredibly, Joseph Kleshenko enlisted again in the AIF at the Showground Camp, Sydney, on 18

October, 1916, and was accepted as Private 4405 in the 11th Reinforcements to the 29

th Battalion. This time

he was recorded as 23 years and ten months old, and was now a mechanic. His next of kin was changed to

his sister, Venel Zaxmon, of Selo Ulbarol, Russia. He stated that he had served in the AIF for 340 days and

his services had ‘no longer been required’ (another lie). Kleshenko was a recruit at the RASG until 20

October, when he was transferred to the light horse at Menangle. [He was thus following the same steps as

Alex Wallace, but about one month after Alex.]

Like Alex Wallace, he was transferred back to the infantry and sailed on the Persic as part of the 11th

Reinforcements for the 29th Battalion on 3 November, 1916. It was on this voyage that the two incidents

Alex described occurred. Alex wrote how the reason for Kleshenko jumping overboard was to see the doctor

on another ship about his ‘ear trouble’. Kleshenko was admitted to the Afric’s hospital on 27 December,

1916, with chronic otitis media, which would coincide with the incident and – according to Alex, but not his

service record – Joseph’s subsequent arrest and detention for the rest of the voyage. However, it appears

Joseph was released from the ship’s hospital on 31 December.

Kleshenko disembarked at Plymouth on 9 January, 1917, but was admitted to hospital at Fovant the

next day with inflammation to the middle ear. He was discharged five days later but went back to hospital at

Tidworth on 5 February. Kleshenko marched into Perham Downs on 28 February, classified B1a. On 27

April he was reclassified as B2a.

While at Perham Downs, UK, Kleshenko went AWL from 24 June 1917 to 30 June. He was

confined to camp for one week and docked seven days pay.

On 9 July, Joseph was classified as C1. Nine days later he was admitted to the 2nd

Auxiliary Hospital

at Southall suffering otorrhoea. He was discharged on 25 August and given three days leave before reporting

to the Training Depot at Perham Downs. On 8 October, 1917, he was moved from Weymouth to Sutton

Veny.

Around this time in 1917, Joseph Kleshenko married Ethel Bateman, and his next of kin was

changed to Ethel Kleshenko of 62 Coral Street, Manchester, England.

On 10 January, 1918, Joseph was returned to Australia on the Corinthic. He landed in Melbourne on

3 March and was transhipped on the Port Darwin back to Sydney. He was discharged on 8 June, 1918, with

‘deafness otorrhoea’.

A report written on 30 August, 1917, at Perham Downs indicates that Kleshenko’s deafness may

have been caused by an incident of ‘ordinary military service’ aboard the Afric:

Dived into water on board the boat every morning. Was made to dive every morning. Hit his head

one day. Left ear became painful and began to discharge.

A later 1918 report though carries the words: Otorrhoea and deafness: says this was prior

enlistment.

On 22 May, 1918, Ethel Kleshenko wrote to Base Records from her Manchester address, asking if

they knew the current whereabouts of her husband. The army replied in the negative. Whether the couple

ever reunited in Australia is not known, but Joseph remarried twice in Australia (in 1938 and 1943).

At the end of the war, Kleshenko was ruled eligible for the British War Medal (only).

So ended the military service of Joseph Kleshenko. Despite enlisting five times in the AIF he never

reached the front line.

Endnotes: (1) There are many variations in the spelling of the Russian place names in the records. As I

could not find some places on the Internet it is likely that they are spelt incorrectly on the attestation papers.

(2) Frev has found information on Kleshenko’s post-war life, which will be in a postscript in DIGGER 54.

DIGGER 52 Issue 53

‘Most conspicuous bravery’: The First World War experiences of Sergeant 3970 Martin O’Meara VC, 16th Battalion

Contributed by Noreen O’Meara, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK.

Pinjarra (WA) FFFAIF member, Sandra Playle, is the administrator of the Facebook Group, ‘When WW1

came to Western Australia’. Sandra organised a military history writing competition which was judged by a

panel. As part of their prize, the first and second-placed entries will be published in DIGGER. This issue,

Noreen O’Meara tells the story of her great uncle, Martin O’Meara, who was awarded the Victoria Cross

for his bravery at Mouquet Farm. This essay was awarded first place.

2015 is the one hundredth anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign, the first action of the First World War that

involved Australian and New Zealand troops. It was during this bloody battle that the Anzac legend was

born1.

Despite the fact that the campaign ended in defeat, the Australians and New Zealanders displayed

great courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and mateship. They also showed a contempt of danger that

drew the admiration of soldiers from other armies, and proved themselves the equal of anyone on the

battlefield. These qualities came to be seen as the Anzac Spirit, and many believe that they remain important

elements of the collective Australian identity2.

It is therefore appropriate that in this Anzac centenary

year we remember one particular soldier who displayed that

spirit in abundance, and who brought glory to his battalion and

to Australia by being awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest

decoration for gallantry that can be awarded to Commonwealth

armed forces. His name was Martin O’Meara, a soldier with

the 16th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force (AIF), and my

grandfather’s youngest brother [right, AWM H12763].

Using military records, repatriation records, battalion

diaries and contemporary newspaper reports, this paper will

provide an exploration of Martin O’Meara’s time on the Western

Front during the First World War, particularly of his

involvement in the battles around Pozieres and Mouquet Farm,

where his courageous actions earned him the Victoria Cross. It

will also explore the terrible long-term effects the war had on

Martin’s mental health.

Before looking at Martin’s military exploits, I would

like to briefly outline his life before he joined the army. Martin

was born on 6 November, 1885, the youngest surviving child of

Margaret and Michael O’Meara. The couple and their seven

children lived on a tiny farm of about fifteen acres at Lissernane in the Parish of Lorrha, in County

Tipperary, Ireland. Theirs would have been a tough existence; as well as the seven children who survived to

adulthood, another four children died in infancy from a variety of conditions associated with poverty.

As the youngest child of the family, Martin’s only possibility of escaping such poverty was to leave

home and seek his fortune elsewhere. Little is known about this period of Martin’s life, but a story that has

been handed down by the family and neighbours is that Martin worked his passage to Australia by stoking

the boilers in a ship’s engine room. He is thought to have arrived in South Australia in 1911 or 1912, and

worked there for some time, before moving to Western Australia, where he worked as a sleeper-cutter for the

railway line that was being constructed through the bush. It is likely that Martin moved around a lot, taking

on work wherever it was available, but there is evidence that although of a reserved nature, he was popular

with friends and workmates. In a newspaper report from 12 September, 1916, a Mr HH Payne described him

as:

As good a mate....as any man could be – a hearty, generous chap, strong and willing, but as gentle

and good-natured as they are made.3

Another newspaper report of the time described him as warm, fair-minded and charitable, and also stated that

he was a devout Catholic.4

DIGGER 53 Issue 53

When the war broke out, Martin took the decision to answer the call to arms, and on 19 August,

1915, he enlisted with the 12th Reinforcements to the 16

th Battalion at Blackboy Hill camp. After training,

Martin and the other reinforcements left Australia for Egypt on 22 December, 1915, where they joined the

main body of the 16th Battalion, which had recently returned from the Gallipoli campaign.

Once in Egypt, the new recruits continued with their training before setting sail for the Western

Front, arriving in Marseilles on 9 June, 1916. From there they travelled to Northern France, where the great

Somme Offensive was about to begin.

The Somme Offensive had been planned by the commanders of the Allied armies in December 1915,

as a way of demoralising Germany and sapping it of its resources, as well as a means of gaining territory5.

The original plan was for the bulk of the attack to be carried out by the French, but as a result of the German

Verdun offensive at the start of 1916, most French resources were diverted there, with the result that the

majority of the attack was carried out by the armies of the British Empire.

The attack began on a 30 km front from north of the Somme River between Arras and Albert6. The

Offensive continued until 18 November, when it was called off, the armies brought to a halt by the appalling

weather conditions. By the end of the Offensive the allies had gained just 12 km of ground, at a terrible cost

of over half a million casualties.

The major contribution of Australian troops to the Somme Offensive was in the fighting around

Pozieres and Mouquet Farm between 23 July and 3 September7. Both places saw bitter fighting involving the

1st, 2

nd and 4

th Australian Divisions.

After taking and defending Pozieres, at a huge cost in terms of casualties, the Australians’ next target

was Mouquet Farm, and beyond it the German stronghold of Thiepval. It was while his battalion was

engaged with the German Army in the fierce battle around Mouquet Farm that Martin O’Meara performed

the heroic acts which earned him the Victoria Cross.

Martin’s role within the battalion was that of a scout. The job of a scout was to go out into No-man’s

land, often under cover of darkness, in order to spy on the enemy, report on conditions, and attempt to take

some prisoners in the hope that they might be induced to talk about any planned enemy actions. It was an

important role, but was also a highly dangerous job and not for the faint-hearted. One officer described it like

this:

The first night “out there”! The memory of it still quickens the pulse and makes the cheek grow

pale. How my teeth chattered, my heart beat almost to suffocation – every splash of a rat was an

enemy scout and every blade of grass magnified itself as a post of their barbed wire.8

While carrying out this dangerous work, Martin managed to bring back to safety many wounded comrades

from No-man’s land in indescribable conditions, and brought up much needed supplies while his battalion

was pinned down by the enemy. For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation reads:

For most conspicuous bravery. During four days of very heavy fighting, he repeatedly went out and

brought in wounded officers and men from “no man’s land” under intense artillery and machine-

gun fire. He also volunteered and carried up ammunition and bombs through a heavy barrage to a

portion of the trenches which was being heavily shelled at the time. He showed throughout an utter

contempt of danger and undoubtedly saved many lives.9

For a soldier to be considered for a Victoria Cross, their act of bravery has to be witnessed by several

officers, who must write statements describing what they saw. The eye-witness reports of the officers who

saw Martin carrying out his acts of bravery are revealing, not only for the way that they demonstrate

Martin’s selfless heroism, but also for their vivid descriptions of the battle that was raging during those four

days.

For example, Lieutenant Frank Wadge [later Capt, MC & Bar, 16th Bn] stated that at the time that

Martin was carrying out his work of mercy, the high explosive shrapnel and machine-gun fire was “intense

beyond description”. Major Percy Black, himself a highly decorated officer10

, described how the trench that

his company had been occupying was so heavily shelled that eventually it was completely obliterated.

Lieutenant WJ Lynas [later Capt, DSO, MC & 2 Bars, 16th Bn] stated that he needed more ammunition and

bombs, as the existing supply had been buried by the explosions. He would not detail anyone for the job of

collecting more since it was too dangerous, and the “perfect hail” of shells was destroying the parapet of the

trench, but that on his own initiative Martin braved the barrage twice to bring back much needed supplies.

He described Martin as the most fearless and gallant soldier he had ever seen, always cheerful and optimistic

and prepared to volunteer for any job. He ended his statement by writing:

DIGGER 54 Issue 53

This man has been responsible for the evacuation of at least twenty men under conditions that are

indescribable.

Lieutenant Colonel EA Drake-Brockman wrote that he had witnessed Martin voluntarily returning into a

heavy barrage to rescue injured colleagues, in spite of the fact that he had reached a position of relative

safety. He also mentioned a note that Martin had succeeded in passing to Lieutenant Lynas during the heat of

the battle. ‘The Zeehan and Dundas Herald’11

reported that the contents of the note were as follows:

Lieutenant Lynas, Scoutmaster.

Dear Sir, I am slightly wounded. All the wounded of the 16th Battalion are now in except two. I will

get those in tonight.

Yours truly

M O’Meara.

The newspaper article went on to state that the slight wound that Martin referred to meant the extraction of

several shrapnel pellets, and that he had at least one bullet lodged in his body, which at the time had not been

removed. Rather touchingly, it also stated that Lieutenant Lynas treasured the note above all possible

trophies of the war. It is understandable that the lieutenant valued that simple note so highly, as it seems to

sum up perfectly the single-minded determination that Martin would have needed to go out repeatedly into

one of the most ferocious battles of the war to rescue his wounded mates, and for me it truly epitomises the

Anzac Spirit.

Now that we have heard what the officers of the 16th Battalion thought about Martin’s actions at the

battle for Mouquet Farm, it would be interesting to hear his own version of events. In an interview that he

gave on his return to Australia12

, Martin seemed to play down his bravery. He explained how the action at

Mouquet Farm was his first experience of war, and that he found it “pretty hot”. He went on to say:

We were carrying up ammunition under heavy shell fire – a sort of fatigue party – and of course a

lot of fellows were wounded. I went out to do what I could for the poor chaps that were lying all

around waiting for the stretcher-bearers, and helped a lot of them to get out of danger. I went down

to the cookers and got some hot tea and went out again with a stretcher and brought in more ... After

the first day’s fighting and while I was out on my own the battalion was relieved, so I just stayed

there by myself doing this little job.

In the same article, Martin described how he continued with this work of rescuing wounded colleagues until

he sustained what he described as a slight stomach wound. Martin’s army records show that he had, in fact,

sustained a severe gunshot wound to the abdomen that necessitated his transfer to a military hospital in

England. It was while he was recovering in hospital that he was told that he was to be awarded the Victoria

Cross. A memento of Martin treasured by my family is a photograph of him taken while he was in hospital,

surrounded by fellow wounded soldiers congratulating him on his award. That photograph [below, AWM

P10930.001] has recently been donated to the Australian War Memorial.

Left: Martin being congratulated by fellow

hospital patients in London.

Following his recuperation, Martin had a

period of leave and returned to his family

home in Ireland, before rejoining his battalion

in December, 191613

.

Martin’s army records show that he

received a gunshot wound to the face on 9

April, 1917. The 16th Battalion’s war diary

for this time records that this was two days

before a big attack on the Hindenburg Line14

.

This became known as the first Battle of

Bullecourt, after the village around which the

fighting took place.

The diary reveals that the battalion suffered heavy losses, in part because the promised support of

several tanks never materialised. It also sadly reported the death, on April 11th, of Major Percy Black, one of

the officers who had recommended Martin for the Victoria Cross. Martin’s injury must not have been too

DIGGER 55 Issue 53

severe because he was back with his battalion two weeks later. On 21 July, Martin returned briefly to

England to receive his Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace.

Back with his battalion, the war diary notes that the men were engaged in training on August 1st and

2nd

, 1917, prior to marching to the front line at Messines the next day15

. It records that between 3 and 8

August the line was heavily bombarded, and they suffered heavy casualties. Martin was one of those

casualties, receiving gunshot wounds to the buttock, back and right thigh.

These injuries necessitated his transfer to England, and they must have been serious as he spent two

months in hospital. Following his discharge from hospital, Martin had a period of leave, and he again visited

his family in Ireland. Apparently things did not go well for Martin on this trip, and he seems to have been

snubbed by some of the locals16

. This may have been in part due to the political situation in Ireland, where

the year before a rebellion by Irish nationalists had been brutally subdued by the British Army. But

interestingly there were also reports that Martin’s behaviour was reported by some to be strange16

. By now

Martin had had over a year’s active service on the Western Front; could it be that his experience of war was

beginning to affect his mental health?

Martin rejoined his battalion in January 1918, and was promoted to the rank of corporal and then

acting sergeant in March of the same year. It seems he was uncomfortable with the latter role, as just a month

later he was demoted to the rank of corporal at his own request. However, he was again promoted to the rank

of sergeant in August 1918, the day before his return to Australia. While it may seem strange that Martin

returned to Australia before the end of the war, he may have been among a group of Victoria Cross recipients

who returned to Australia before the cessation of hostilities, perhaps with the intention that they might have

been able to encourage enlistment back home.

Martin arrived back in Australia on 6 November, 1918, and spent a week at the isolation unit at

Woodman’s Point. There was a real fear that returning soldiers would bring Spanish flu back with them and

that this could spread to the general population. It must have been hard for Martin to endure that long

journey back to Australia, knowing that there would be nobody to meet him, and that he had no home to call

his own. As he himself said when interviewed on his arrival home:

Where is my home? Why I haven’t one. Under any old gum tree I suppose is the best way to describe

it.12

It was during this week that Martin suffered a dramatic mental breakdown. While at Woodman’s Point he

gave a telephone interview by phone in which he sounds rational and coherent12

, yet his repatriation records

show that just days later he was transferred to Number 24 Auxiliary Hospital, and from there to Stromness

hospital, suffering from hallucinations and homicidal and suicidal tendencies17

.

Martin spent the remainder of his life in psychiatric hospitals, namely Claremont Hospital and

Lemnos Hospital. Many of Martin’s symptoms were typical of what we now know as post traumatic stress

disorder18

. Sadly, in Martin’s day this condition was not recognised, and he appears to have received no

treatment for his condition other than the most barbaric forms of mechanical and chemical restraint, which

must have made his condition much worse. This was a tragic end for a soldier who had ironically been

previously described as:

The one man of the battalion with nerves so perfectly under control that he does not turn his head

when a large shell bursts quite near him and his coolness and resource in danger are a by-word in

his regiment.11

There has recently been renewed interest in the exact cause of Martin’s mental breakdown, with one Western

Australian historian suggesting that not only might Martin have had a pre-existing psychiatric condition, but

that this condition might actually have helped him to perform his acts of heroism19

.

Whilst I recognise that it is the job of the historian to re-explore history in the light of new evidence,

the fact is that there is not one piece of evidence to support this historian’s theory. There is however ample

evidence that Martin’s shattering war experiences destroyed his health and caused his premature death, a

view borne out by the fact that his death was officially deemed to have been as a result of his war service.

Martin may have epitomised the Anzac spirit, but ultimately he paid a very high price for his

heroism. For him the war did not end on 11 November, 1918, but continued until his death on December 20

th,

1935.

Tragic stories like Martin’s were repeated countless times around the world during and after what at

the time was known as the war to end all wars. Some may question whether we should commemorate war,

but I believe it is right to remember the many brave men and women like Martin O’Meara who sacrificed so

much to give us the freedom that we take for granted today.

DIGGER 56 Issue 53

Left: Memorial to Martin O’Meara on the main street of

his birthplace of Lorrha, Ireland. Photo: Noreen

O’Meara.

Sources: 1 ‘Dawn of the Legend.’ Australian War Memorial. (Accessed 23.3.2015):

https://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/dawn/spirit/ 2 ‘Spirit of the Digger’. National Museum Australia. (Accessed 23.3.2015)

http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/nation/spirit_of_the_digger 3 ‘My Best Mate Martin O’Meara VC.’ The Daily News (Perth), 12th September 1916. (Accessed 18.4.2015)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/81725528 4 ‘WA’s Second VC an immigrant from Ireland.’ Kalgoorlie Miner, 19th September 1916. (Accessed 18.4.2015)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/92164748 5 Macdonald, L. (1983) ‘Somme.’ London. Penguin Books. 6 Firstworldwar.com. ‘The Battle of the Somme, 1916.’ (Accessed 8.5.2015)

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm 7 ‘Somme Offensive.’ Australian War Memorial. (Accessed 8.5.2015)

https://www.awm.gov.au/military-event/E158/ 8 ‘Nights in No-Man’s Land’ by Capt R Hugh Knyvett. Scribner’s Magazine, April 1918. (Accessed 8.5.2015)

http://jfredmacdonald.com/worldwarone1914-1918/australia-18nomans-land.html 9 Service records of Martin O’Meara, National Archives of Australia. (Accessed 18.4.2015)

http://naa12.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1935366&S=1 10 ‘Percy Black’, DSO, DCM, CdeG, 16th Bn, Wikipedia. (Accessed 15.5.2015.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Black 11 ‘A Man of Mettle. A VC’s Letter.’ Zeehan and Dundas Herald, 2nd November 1916. (Accessed. 18.4.2015)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/84081380 12 ‘Martin O’Meara VC back in Western Australia. An interview by phone.’ The West Australian, 8th November 1918. (Accessed

4.4.2015) http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/27495136 13 ‘Modest Martin. The gallant O’Meara shrinks from the limelight.’ Sunday Times (Perth) 4.8.1918. (Accessed 15.5.2015)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/57994886 14 16th Battalion AIF War Diary, April 1917. Australian War Memorial. (Accessed 15.5.2015)

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1017528/?image=1&fullscreen=true#display-image-two 15 16th Battalion AIF war diary, August 1917. Australian War Memorial (Accessed 16.5.2015)

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1004813/?image=2&fullscreen=true#display-image 16 King, SJ (2012). ‘A Lorrha Miscellany’. 17 Repatriation records of Martin O’Meara. National Archives of Australia. (Accessed 16.5.2015)

http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=636070 18 Post traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Mayo Clinic. (Accessed 16.5.2015)

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/basics/symptoms/con-20022540 19 ‘WW1 Victoria Cross recipient may have mental illness to thank for bravery, WA historian says.’ (Accessed 24.3.2015)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-26/historian-debunks-myths-around-mentally-ill-war-hero/5833428.

Further Reading: ‘You don’t ever get over it’; Meet the British soldiers living with post-traumatic stress disorder. (Accessed 24.3.2015)

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/18/collateral-damage-ex-soldiers-living-with-ptsd.

Answers to DIGGER Quiz No. 53 1. There were six (6) German warships in its Pacific fleet. 2. They were the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Leipzig,

Nurnberg, Emden and Cormoran. 3. There were 38 troopships and four escorts: HMAS Sydney; HMAS

Melbourne; HMS Minotaur and the Japanese cruiser Ibuki. 4. The Emden fired the first shots at 9.40 am and

at 11.20 am the Sydney ceased firing as the Emden was beached on Cocos Island (= 1 hr 40m). 5. Five (5)

shells out of the 15 exploded. 6. The Sydney sailed to Colombo, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka]. 7. The RAN had 14

warships and two submarines (AE1 and AE2) in 1914. 8. In 1918, RAN personnel numbered 5 050.

DIGGER 57 Issue 53

Private 1305 Claude Silvester William Masterson, 33rd/3rd Battalions Compiled by Rod Carpenter, Callala Bay, from information provided by Trish Doyle.

laude Silvester William Masterson was born 23 October, 1891, at Bundarra, NSW, and died 1

August, 1982. Claude enlisted on 3 January, 1915, and was allocated to Home Defence at Liverpool

Camp. He met with an accident and received his discharge, but re-enlisted on 3 January, 1916, at

Armidale, NSW. His enlistment papers note he was 24 years 3 months old and his trade/calling was farmer.

At the time of his enlistment his address was given as Uralla, NSW.

Claude [right] joined the 33rd

Battalion with rank of private and he was

allocated to ‘D’ Company. After initial training at the Armidale depot camp the

33rd

Battalion moved to the Rutherford camp near Maitland in March 1916. On 3

May, 1916, the battalion entrained to Sydney for embarkation on the transport

ship Marathon for their voyage to Egypt via Albany, WA. This destination was

changed to England en-route, and Claude arrived at Lark Hill on 10 July, 1916.

On 16 September, Claude was transferred to the 3rd

Battalion (1st Brigade, 1

st

Division) from the 33rd

Battalion. He proceeded overseas to France on the same

date. Claude marched into the 1

st Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples,

France, on 17 September and was taken on strength of the 3rd

Battalion on the

29th in Belgium.

Claude was wounded in action on 9 April, 1917, at Hermies. He and a

comrade were left behind in the snow, both having sustained broken legs. When they were endeavouring to

get back to their own lines, two German soldiers took them prisoners, but when the Germans found that the

Australians both had broken legs they signalled the Australian stretcher-bearers, who came and carried

Claude and his comrade to the Australian lines. Claude was treated by the 3rd

Australian Field Ambulance,

then was moved to the 3rd

Casualty Clearing Station before being admitted to No. 11 Stationary Hospital at

Rouen, France, on the 11th.

Claude was evacuated to England aboard the hospital ship Aberdaron on 20 April and admitted to

the 1st Southern Hospital at Birmingham on the 22

nd. Masterson marched into the No. 1 Command Depot at

Perham Downs from Birmingham on 24 July, 1917. (He reported 16 days late and was charged with being

AWL.) Then, on 26 July he marched out to the No. 3 Command Depot at Hurdcott. At that depot he was

classified medically as B1a4 – ‘fit for overseas training camp when passed dentally fit’. Eight days of his

AWL sentence was remitted and he was released on 10 August.

Claude was admitted on 11 August, 1917, to the 1st Australian District Hospital at Bulford with VD

and was discharged after 11 days, to the No. 1 Command Depot.

Claude proceeded back overseas from the Overseas Training Brigade at the Sandhill Camp,

Longbridge Deverill to the 1st Australian Infantry Base Depot at Havre, France, on 10 November, 1917. He

marched out and rejoined the 3rd

Battalion on 20 November.

On 16 June, 1918, Claude reported sick and was treated by the 3rd

Australian Field Ambulance for

influenza. He was moved to the Casualty Clearing Station and admitted the 4th General Hospital at Camiers

(near Etaples). He was transferred to the 18th General Hospital at Camiers on the 18

th and was discharged to

the 6th Convalescent Depot on the 23

rd.

Claude marched out to the Australian General Base Depot at Havre on 26 June and then marched out

to rejoin the 3rd

on 7 July, 1918. At this time, all Australian divisions were located in the Somme River area

east of Amiens.

Claude was granted leave to Paris from 15 August to 28 August. He was detached from the 3rd

Battalion on 19 January, 1919, to the 1st Brigade for guard duties. He rejoined the battalion on 12 February

1919.

Claude marched out, on 5 April 1919, from the 3rd

Battalion to the Australian Infantry Base Depot

with Quota 27. This was the prelude for his demobilisation and then his final return to Australian. He

proceeded to England on 11 April and disembarked at Southampton then moved to No. 1 Group Camp at

Longbridge Deverill.

He embarked from England aboard the HT Aeneas on 31 May, 1919, for his return to Australia.

Claude disembarked on 12 July 1919 in Port Melbourne (3rd Military District). He was discharged from the

AIF in Sydney on 28 August 1919.

Source: Abridged by the Editor from a Digger profile on CD: ‘New England’s Own’, by Rod Carpenter.

C

DIGGER 58 Issue 53

Private 6320 Stanley Everard Stephens, 13th Battalion: a Coo-ee Helen Thompson, Dubbo.

tanley Everard Stephens was born in Melbourne, Victoria.

When he enlisted he gave his age as 24 years and eleven months,

his marital status as single, and his occupation as journalist. His

description on his medical was height 5 feet 7 inches, weight 136 lbs,

with a fair complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair. His religious

denomination was Church of England.

Stanley claimed to have previous military service with the

Naval Reserve and the New Guinea Expeditionary Force. He completed

his medical on 9 October, 1915, at Gilgandra (the day before the

commencement of the Coo-ee March), and was attested by Captain

Nicholas the same day. Right: Stanley Stephens, courtesy of M

Stephens.

Stanley Stephens joined the Coo-ee March as both a recruit and

as a special reporter to ‘The Farmer and Settler’, of which his father

Harry J Stephens was the editor.

On the march he was given the rank of acting sergeant, and was

appointed secretary of the travelling committee of control appointed for

the Coo-ee March at Stuart Town, with Major Wynne as chairman,

Captain Hitchen, QMS Lee, and Mr HT Blacket, during a visit by AH

Miller (secretary), and CH Richards and PJ MacManus, from the Gilgandra Recruiting Committee.1 In this

role he assisted with the day-to-day running of the march, and maintained the accounts.2

After completing the march he went to Liverpool Camp as reinforcement for the 13th Battalion and

was made acting company sergeant major on 16 November, 1915.

On 7 February, 1916, Acting CSM Stephens was sent to the Depot School for NCOs, then on

18 March, 1916, he was sent to the Officer School at Duntroon.

His father, Harry Stephens, wrote to AH Miller in a letter dated 9 March, 1916 (the day after most of

the Coo-ees embarked for Egypt on the HMAT A15 Star of England):

Stan is now at the officers’ school, which this week is at the Showground, Sydney, but next week

should be at Duntroon. The Coo-ees sailed on Wednesday morning. They spent the previous night at

the showground and Stan was with them right through and saw them off. He would have liked to go

with them, but I thought he ought not to miss the greater opportunity offered in the officers’ school.

He speaks of them as the finest of all the reinforcements that were reviewed the other afternoon.

They have done well so far, and there need be no doubt of the record they will put up when they join

the 13th in Egypt – one of the battalions that has done excellently in the Gallipoli fighting.

3

Stanley returned to the 13th Battalion on 10 May, 1916, as acting company sergeant major. On the

embarkation roll his rank was acting sergeant, and his address at time of enrolment was 25 Roslyn Gardens,

Darlinghurst, NSW. His next of kin was listed as his mother, Mrs E [Effie] Stephens, 19 Roslyn Gardens,

Darlinghurst.

Acting Sergeant Stephens departed Sydney on the HMAT A14 Euripides on 9 September, 1916, as a

20th Reinforcement to the 13

th Battalion [4

th Brigade, 4

th Division], and arrived in Plymouth, England, on 26

October, 1916. With him travelled fellow Coo-ees, Acting Sergeant Thomas W Dowd [later Lieut Thomas

Walter Dowd, 2nd

MG Bn, RTA 19/4/19] and Acting Corporal Francis Charles Finlayson [later Cpl

Finlayson, 13th Bn, KIA 4/2/17].

On 4 November, 1916, Stephens marched into the 4th Training Battalion at Codford, England. On 20

December, 1916, Stephens departed Folkestone aboard the SS Princess Clementine, bound for France. On 22

December, 1916, he arrived at the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples, France, where he reverted

to the rank of private.

‘The Farmer and Settler’ reported that:

Stan E Stephens, of the ‘Farmer and Settler’ staff, who left Sydney as sergeant-major of a

reinforcement company of the 13th Battalion, lost his n.c.o. [sic] rank as soon as he set foot in

France, because the Australian army there has a healthy regulation that gives precedence to men

that have earned their stripes.4

S

DIGGER 59 Issue 53

On 2 January, 1917, Private Stephens was taken on strength of the 13th Battalion at Ribemont, France.

Stanley described his first ‘baptism of fire’ going ‘over the top’ on a raid on a German trench in the front line

in the vicinity of Gueudecourt, France, on the night of 4 February, 1917, in a letter home that was published

in ‘The Farmer and Settler’ on 17 August, 1917.5 He wrote:

… Someone said: ‘Get ready’, and I was just wishing I was at home, or anywhere else in the wide

world, when a fervent ‘Ah!’ in the vicinity made me look around. A mess-tin full of rum was being

passed along. Everyone took a swig, and passed it on. There was plenty in it when it came to me, and

I just gulped down a couple of mouthfuls and handed it to Fin [Finlayson], when, ‘bang,’ ‘bang,’

‘screech,’ ‘screech,’ over our heads came some shells. Many men involuntarily ‘ducked,’ but were

reassured by someone saying: ‘They’re ours.’ So they were. The barrage had started – only a minute

to go! Thank Heaven for that rum. It pulled me together, stopped the nervous trembling that made

me afraid that everybody would notice me and think I was going to ‘squib’ it. I was cool enough to

notice things then, but still I glanced hatefully now and then at the top of the bank above me.

Somebody said: ‘Now!’ There was a bustle, and I found myself up in No-man’s land, jostling

someone to get around a shell-hole. The order had come simultaneously from both ends of our line,

so that we at the centre were a bit behind – a sag in the middle. Everything could be seen as clear as

day; the line stretched out to right and left. We crouched in our advance, moving slowly, picking our

way, with the shells shrieking over us, and bursting only a few yards in front of us. I thought about

the ‘backwash’. Why weren’t some of us killed? Would they knock our heads off if we stood up

straight? We were in semi-open order, perhaps five or six deep, and advancing slowly. Oh!, the

weight on my back from the heavy kit and the stooping. Yet I felt amused at the struggles of a chap

that was sitting down, softly cursing a piece of barbed wire – such silly, meaningless curses. Another

stumbled in front of me, and I nearly jabbed him with my bayonet. Then I looked around smartly, to

see if anyone was close enough behind me to treat me likewise.

The wire! We were up to it already. But the shells weren’t finished. They had made a good mess of it

I saw, as I stepped through from loop to loop. A piece caught me somewhere, but something gave

way and I was free again. No, the shells weren’t finished yet. ‘They are bursting behind me.’ I

exclaimed to myself, ‘Why on earth don’t I get killed? Are they charmed, so as to kill only Fritzes?’ I

caught the flash of another out of the tail of my eye, and then there was a straight line of intermittent

flashes in front. What’s this? At that moment I slid and scrambled down a steep, bank and found

myself in the German trench!

Our barrage was just lifting. A Fritz officer afterwards said: ‘I knew you were Australians; you

come in with your barrage; you are too quick for us.’ Yes, we went in with the barrage, instead of a

few moments after it – and without a casualty!

The details of this, my first hop-over, my baptism of fire, are indelibly printed on my memory. I shall

always remember the impressions made on me, down to the most trivial incident of the hop-over.

Thinking over it afterwards, I have tried to reason out why we got in with our barrage. It’s a good

fault, for it prevents the Germans from getting ready for us when the barrage lifts. The Germans

reckon that the Australians are always too quick for them that way. I certainly believe that a spirit of

‘don’t-care-a-damn’ was abroad; or, maybe, it was hereditary bloodthirstiness that came out in the

excitement, and made us, for the time being, all ‘hogs for stoush’. I think only the fear that we would

be killed by our own curtain of fire kept us from actually running. It wasn’t the rum, anyhow, as the

slanderous have asserted. The rum, I found out afterwards, was our first casualty, being broken in

the coming up, so that the only rum issued was half a demi-john to a small section of trench that I

happened to be in. The jar was found by a chap taking German prisoners back half an hour later,

still nearly half full.

Just by the way, I might mention that he gave this batch of Fritzes a nip each, and filled his own

water bottle before giving the remainder to the Victorians (the men holding the old front trench), and

bustling his herd back to Chalk Pit. The poor beggars wanted it! They were almost in a state of

collapse from our bombardment. I was to experience the same sort of bombardment very soon after.

DIGGER 60 Issue 53

To get back to it: the Fritzes that remained in the trench to meet us were still down their dugouts

when the first men hopped in. The trench was big, wide, and deep. They came up crying, ‘Mercy,

kamerad,’ whining and cowering in the bottom of the trench in a way that made me feel very brave;

and, I have no doubt, the same feelings were experienced by others. They were shooed off at once in

batches of ten or a dozen, as they were found, back to – somewhere. They were delighted to find that

they were to be prisoners, pointing back to our lines and saying, ‘Mercy, kamerad,’ and ‘Kamerad

good,’ etc. But they didn’t care about going over the top to go back. I helped one chap persuade his

lot to go. I don’t think I actually stuck it into them, but they went! Like a mob of sheep, once started

on their feet, they raced over the top and across No-man’s land for their very lives, the escort a good

last, laughing fit to burst, at their scurry.

Finlayson was separated from us in the hop-over, and entered the trench some distance on our right.

Lord and I were together. Our bombardment continued on the enemy reserves, and Fritz had

commenced ‘putting them into us’. The row was deafening, and we were having casualties; not very

many, but every now and then the order would be passed along for stretcher-bearers. Just as I

stepped down for a smoke (it would be about midnight) Fin came along the trench looking for us.

After yarning for a minute or two he went back to fetch his web gear and rifle, etc., up to our ‘possy’.

He and I had been mates for a long while, back in Kiama, and together with Lord, had run our

affairs on an ‘all in and share alike’ basis, since going into the line. He had only been gone about

ten minutes when another mate named Moss Paine [Sgt 6361 Moss Wyllie Paine, 13th Bn, POW

11/4/17 at Reincourt, RTA 17/3/19] came to tell me that Fin was killed. I went back along the trench

with Moss, but Fin had been hit in the chest with a piece of shell that exploded in the trench, and had

dropped without a word. Another good chap, Dave Whittingham (a tent mate at Duntroon), was hit

everywhere, and died in half an hour [Pte 6121 David Whittingham, 13th Bn, KIA 4/2/17]. Moss

Paine, who was standing between them – the three were talking together – was not touched.

Needless to say, I was much upset.

The little bit of a trench we took has ‘opened up the game’ on this front, seemingly. It was on a rise

that obstructed our observation of enemy lines; now the tables are turned.6

Three days later, on 7 February, 1917, Stephens was slightly wounded in action whilst the battalion was in

action near Gueudecourt, France. He was one of 51 wounded this day – another 21 members of the battalion

were killed. He rejoined his battalion on 15 February, 1917, whilst it was training and conducting fatigues at

Mametz, France.

Just over two months later, on 11 April, 1917, Private Stanley Stephens was reported ‘Missing in

Action’ during an attack on the Hindenburg Line near Bullecourt, France. He was one of 367 men from the

13th Battalion reported missing this day; another 25 were killed and 118 wounded.

After a Court of Inquiry was held by the battalion on 8 October, 1917, Stephens was officially listed

as ‘Killed in Action’.

Private Stephens has no known grave, and his name is commemorated on the Australian National

Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France.

Bottom right: Private Stephens’ name on the

Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France, top right.

Photographs: S & H Thompson, 7/9/2014.

Private Stephen’s name is also commemorated on

panel 71 on the Australian War Memorial’s First

World War Roll of Honour.

Sources: 1 ‘Our soldiers’, The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie

Advocate, 26 October, 1915, p2:

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article77601552. 2 ‘Gilgandra Recruiting Association’, Gilgandra Weekly, 10 December, 1915, p6: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-

article119922432. 3 Letter from HJ Stephens to AH Miller dated 9 March, 1915 in Alex Halden (Joe) Miller’s papers mainly relating to the

Gilgandra Coo-ee Recruitment March, New South Wales, 1912-1921, 1939. Gilgandra Coo-ee Recruitment March

correspondence and papers, 1915-1939.

DIGGER 61 Issue 53

4 ‘The soldiers that voted “No”’, The Farmer and Settler, April 1917, p2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116643546

5 ‘A baptism of fire’, The Farmer and Settler, 17 August, 1917, p2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116642518

6 Stanley Stephens’ letter is on Trove at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/116642518.

Endnote: For more on the men of the Coo-ee March, visit Helen’s blog at: cooeemarch1915.com.

_____________________________________________________________

Postscript: 26/1075 Francis Read, NZEF, buried in Cudal Cemetery A photo of Read’s headstone was featured in DIGGER 52. (Read had served with the NZEF.) Carol Sharp, a

volunteer research officer in the Orange Family History Group, read the Cudal cemetery article in the

Orange Library’s copy of DIGGER and forwarded the information below to the Editor.

Central Western Daily: 6/11/1959 – Dead in Shed. A farmer found a man dead in a shed on his

property at Cudal yesterday after he had gone to the shed to investigate why the man had not turned up for

work. The farmer, Mr Emby Garlick of ‘Brooklyn’, went to the shed about noon and found the man dead on

his bed. The man, Frank Read, 63, a returned World War I veteran had lived in the Cudal district for the last

29 to 30 years. For the past 12 years he had worked at ‘Brooklyn’ for Mr Garlick. Manildra police who went

to the shed said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. Police said Read had last

been seen at 8.30 pm on Wednesday, apparently in good health.

Central Western Daily: 12/11/1959: Obituary – Mr Frank Read. The death occurred this week of Mr

Frank Read well known resident of Cudal and district. Mr Read, who resided on the property of Mr EH

Garlick, of "Brooklyn" did not come to the residence as usual in the morning and investigations revealed that

he had died in his sleep during the night. Mr Garlick and son Ken were speaking to him at 8.30 the previous

night, when he appeared to be in his usual health. A doctor and police were called in but there were no

suspicious circumstances. Mr Read was born in Melbourne. He was 63 years of age. He enlisted for service

in the First World War from New Zealand. Mr Read was buried in the Church of England portion of the

Cudal cemetery after a service at St. James Church conducted by the Rev. AR Balchin. Following this

service, a service by the local branch of the RSL was conducted at the graveside by the president of the RSL

(Mr LM Stapleton) assisted by 20 ex-servicemen from the district.

2015 AGM report Jim Munro, Haberfield.

he Army Infantry Museum at Singleton was the venue for the 2015 Annual General Meeting on 24

October, 2015, attended by 34 members. The unconfirmed minutes of the meeting are in the Members

Area of the FFFAIF website www.fffaif.org.au. A post-AGM dinner was held at the Royal Hotel.

After nine years as President, Russell Curley stood down from the committee. Also not seeking re-election

were Robyn Ward (Treasurer), Kathryn Barton (Secretary), Lorraine Curley and Arline Ronsisvalle

(Committee Members). Vice-President Jim Munro outlined the development of the Association since its

formation on 4 July, 1998, and Incorporation in late 2002, and in particular during Russell’s Presidency since

October 2006. The unconfirmed minutes record these achievements, but are summarised as: growth in

numbers from 166 members to over 400; growth in funds from $6 000 in the bank to more than $45 000;

growth in DIGGER from 40 pages quarterly to 76 pages quarterly; development of a website, including a

secure members areas containing electronic versions of past versions of DIGGER; development of COBBeR,

an electronic supplement to DIGGER; a Facebook group and page; three highly acclaimed Western Front

Tours; exclusive rights to import the Rembrella poppy umbrella range, and Vice-Regal patronage. A vote of

thanks was unanimously passed recognising Russell’s service and outstanding leadership over the past 13

years, especially the past nine years as President. Certificates of Appreciation were presented to Russell and

retiring committee members Robyn Ward, Kathryn Barton, Lorraine Curley, Arline Ronsisvalle.

Nominations for the Committee of Management were received as follows: President: Jim Munro; Vice

President: Graeme Hosken; Ordinary Committee Members: Maurice Campbell; Margaret Snodgrass; Paul

Simadas and Chris Bryett. These members were elected to the positions unopposed. Further nominations

from the floor were called for the positions of Treasurer, Secretary and Ordinary Committee Member.

However, there were no nominations forthcoming and these three positions were declared to be Casual

Vacancies and may be filled in accordance with the provisions of the FFFAIF Constitution.

T

DIGGER 62 Issue 53

Diggers in the Coolac cemetery Graeme Hosken, Dubbo.

he Hume Highway now by-passes the village of Coolac, north of Gundagai in NSW. Consequently,

the Coolac cemetery is now away from the constant roar of motor vehicles heading between Sydney

and Melbourne. The park-like nature of the cemetery encouraged me to stop and wander amongst the

headstones, where I found the graves of a number of WWI veterans and a plaque honouring one son killed

on the Western Front. Here are their stories.

Private 5654 Darcy Thomas, 20th Battalion Died 2 August 1936 ‘His duty nobly done’ Darcy Thomas was a 33 year old contractor when he enlisted on 25 June

1916. Darcy was allocated to the 15th Reinforcements for the 20

th

Battalion. He embarked from Sydney on 9 September and arrived in the

UK on 26 October.

Darcy proceeded overseas to France on 13 December 1916 and

joined his unit on 25 January 1917. One month later he was admitted to

hospital with severe influenza and his condition was serious enough to

see him invalided to England.

Following treatment and leave, Darcy was reallocated to the 62nd

Battalion in April but was transferred back to the 20th when the idea of a

6th Division was abandoned. In October 1917, Darcy was admitted to

hospital with chronic bronchitis and asthma, and defective eyesight. The

decision was made to return Darcy to Australia for discharge, which

eventuated on 22 March 1918. Darcy was granted a fortnightly pension

of £2/5/-.

The provision of a War Graves headstone on Darcy Thomas’ grave indicates that his death was

attributed to his war service.

Driver 34731 Harold Pembrook Denne, 5th FAB Died 9th October 1951 ‘At rest’ Enlisting on 21 November, 1916, as a 31 year old station manager,

Harold Denne found himself allocated to the 5th Field Artillery Brigade.

He was posted to the 2nd

DAC and then to the 105th Battery after his

arrival in France in November, 1917.

In January 1918, Harold was admitted to hospital in the UK with

trench feet and didn’t return to France until July. He spent one month with the 2nd

DAC before returning to

the 5th FAB in August 1918. After a short period of AWL in the UK in June 1919, Harold returned to

Australia for discharge in September.

Harold Denne married Lily Tucker in Lockhart, NSW, in 1941. Presumably, he moved to live and

work in the Coolac area sometime after his marriage.

Driver 8818A William Hugh Tucker, AASC Died 3 May 1935 ‘At rest’ William Tucker was born in Totnes, England. He was married to Lily

and living in Pyrmont when he enlisted as a 29 year old motor

mechanic on 6th September, 1915. William was allocated to the 7

th

Reinforcements for the 4th Brigade Ammunition Reserve.

After arriving in Havre, he moved through a number of units:

the 5th Field Ambulance; 20

th Company ASC; 1

st Anzac Entrenching Battalion; the 4

th Ammunition Sub

Park; ‘K’ Ammunition Park; 6th Brigade Ammunition Park and the 6

th Australian Motorised Transport

Company. Apart from a bout of influenza and several AWLs, his service was uneventful.

Tucker returned to Australia in June 1919. After discharge, he and his wife moved to Jugiong, a

village further north of Coolac on the Hume Highway.

T

DIGGER 63 Issue 53

3003 Private Percy Wood, 19th Battalion Died 3 November 1919 ‘Loving son of EA & FG Wood He gave his life For his country’ Given a service number, a name and a unit on an OAWG headstone, I

expected to find Percy R Wood online within a minute. However, he did

not appear on the nominal roll, at Archives or on the AWM Roll of

Honour. Strange! I decided to search the CD that came with ‘The

Fighting Nineteenth’ and found him listed there as Percy Reuban

Woods. Back to the nominal roll, and sure enough, there he was, under

Woods. The final

determinant of his real

surname had to be his

service record, where

Percy would have

signed his name when

he was attested. Here I found that he did indeed sign as PR Woods

[above]. However, some doubt still lingered, as on the day he enlisted he filled out the ‘Application to enlist’

as Wood!

Percy was born in Willoughby, Sydney, in 1891. His father and next of kin was given as Ernest

Woods of Coolac, though Percy wanted recorded on his attestation paper ‘the answer to this question shall

not be construed as in the nature of a will’. He then added ‘c/o Mrs G Dabinett, 57 Morehead St, Redfern’.

Percy was a single, 24 year old labourer when he enlisted on 6 June, 1916, at Gundagai. From there,

Percy went to the Goulburn Depot, rather than Cootamundra, which was closer. On 4 September, Percy was

allocated to the 7th Reinforcements for the 56

th Battalion. Percy sailed on the Ascanius on 25 October, 1916.

For some reason, on 23 March, 1917, he was transferred from the 56th Battalion to the 19

th after one

month in France. Percy had two bouts of scabies and one of trench feet in 1917, before returning to his unit

in November.

Percy was gassed on 9 April, 1918, and was admitted to hospital in Rouen. He returned to his unit in

May. On 11 August he was wounded on the second occasion. He was admitted to the 5th General Hospital in

the UK, suffering from shrapnel wounds to the left forearm, right arm and nose. Percy did not return to the

Front and sailed for Australia on 24 December, 1918. He was discharged from the AIF on 21 April, 1919, as

a consequence of medical unfitness (he was still troubled by his gunshot wound to the left forearm, which

had ‘healed with some angular deformity’, resulting in limited movement at the wrist).

I was left with three mysteries about Percy.

Firstly, was he definitely a Woods or a Wood? Earlier I mentioned that he had signed as Percy

Woods. Surely, a person would know his own name! Yet, on page 20 of his service record is a letter to the

army from his mother, who writes her name twice as Wood. She was requesting information on her two sons:

Pte Percy Wood (spelling his given name as ‘Purce’) and Pte 3240 Sidney Wood, 55th Battalion. Also, on

forms recording his medical details after his return to

Australia, his name is written down as Wood, and as you

can see at right, he signed his name this time as Wood.

Percy’s brother, Sidney Arthur, is on the nominal roll as Wood.

My conclusion is that Percy was a Wood, thus the OAWG headstone is correct, while the majority of

the army’s records are wrong.

Why, then, did he sign his name as Woods on his attestation form? Was he tired of correcting people

about his surname and decided to ‘go with the flow’ and be a Woods? (Yet a look at the nominal roll shows

many more enlistments in the AIF with the surname of Wood than Woods.) Was he disguising his enlistment

from his family? We will most likely never know.

My second mystery was: what caused the death of Percy within five months of his discharge? The

War Graves headstone reveals that he died of war-related causes. Yet it is hard to imagine that he could die

of a fractured wrist, even if it didn’t heal perfectly.

Could it have been the effect of being gassed? Possibly, but his short, three-day stint in hospital in

April 1918 indicated that the gassing wasn’t severe; nor was gassing (or any lung problem) mentioned when

he was medically examined prior to being discharged. Could Percy have been so depressed that he took his

own life?

DIGGER 64 Issue 53

I thought I would check Trove to see if I could find any clues to his death, and once again, Trove

came up with the answer:

PERCY WOODS [sic]

A Coolac returned soldier, Mr Percy Woods, died in Cootamundra Hospital last week. Percy was

about 27 years of age, and never recovered from the awful effects of the Hun gas in France. He

developed phthisis [tuberculosis – Ed] on his return to Coolac, and slowly wasted away. Only a

short while back Coolac residents gave him a benefit and raised over £80 for him. He was the eldest

son of Mr and Mrs Wood [sic], former Coolac residents, and brother of Mrs Cooper, of Homer

Street, Gundagai. His remains were taken to Coolac for interment, the Rev HF Champion reading

the last prayers.

[‘Cootamundra Herald’, 10 November, 1919.]

With my second mystery solved, the final one was: why doesn’t Percy Reuban Wood appear on the roll of

honour? (I checked: he is not on the ROH as Woods.) According to the AWM website, to be eligible for

inclusion on the ROH, an individual must have died during service as a member of the Australian armed

forces; or as a result of that service … and died between 4 August, 1914, and 31 March, 1921. With a date

of death of 3 November, 1919, and the cause of his death being gassing, then Percy surely meets the criteria

for inclusion. As his epitaph states: … He gave his life for his country.

I contacted OAWG who confirmed that Percy Wood is recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves

Commission (CWGC) as Australian war dead of the First World War. On behalf of the CWGC, the OAWG

regularly inspects Percy’s grave and carries out scheduled maintenance. The CWGC records Percy’s grave

under ‘Coolac Anglican Cemetery’, and details can be accessed on website www.cwgc.org.

I forwarded my research to the AWM and asked if they could investigate why Percy Wood is not on

the ROH. His situation is being looked at, but it may take some time for the matter to be investigated due to a

backlog of inquiries. However, I am optimistic that the outcome will be favourable to Percy Wood.

14875 Driver John Russell Rugg, 2nd LHFA NX2298 2nd AIF 1939-41 60684 RAAF 1941-44 Died 22 March 1982 Aged 85 As you can see from his headstone, John Rugg had an uncommon record

of service in the armed forces. There can’t be too many who served in

the AIF, 2nd

AIF and the RAAF.

John Rugg served in the AIF from 8

January, 1916, to 16 May, 1919. Between 26

October, 1939, and 1941 he served with the 2/1

Field Ambulance in the Middle East. He then served as a sergeant in the RAAF at Point

Cook between 1941 and 1944. (He also served in the Militia between 1930 and 1933,

so he certainly did his bit for his country.)

Prior to enlistment in WWI, John Rugg was working as a stockman, though at

8st 7lb, he must have been more like a jockey. He was at first allocated to the infantry

(17th and 18

th Battalions) but transferred to the AMC on 23 January, 1916. John, aged

18 years, embarked from Australia on 19 August, 1916. On 14 September, on the

voyage, he was crimed for throwing a brush between decks and using obscene

language. On his arrival in Moascar, Egypt, he spent four weeks in No. 3 Isolation

Camp. On 20 October, Rugg marched out to the 1st LH Training Regiment and joined

his unit, the 2nd

Light Horse Field Ambulance, one month later.

John was admitted to hospital, sick, in July 1917, and again in March, 1918,

this time suffering from enteric fever. He rejoined his unit on 25 June at Wadi Obideh.

The next month he reverted to private on ceasing the duties of a driver. On 5

November, 1918, he was admitted to hospital with malaria. He embarked for return to

Australia on 26 January, 1919, and was discharged on 16 May. Right: Though the

service number doesn’t match, these photos were in John Rugg’s WWII dossier.

Presumably, they are photos of John in 1939. If not John, it may be FJ Dowdle, of Glen Innes, enl. 23/10/39.

John, aged 41 years, enlisted in WWII on 26 October, 1939. [John gave his age as 33 years on his

WWII attestation paper. He kept the same birth day, but took off eight years.] By then, he was working as a

DIGGER 65 Issue 53

telegraph linesman and was married to Emma and living at Alstonville, NSW. He was allocated to the 2/1

AAMC after initial appointment to the 39th Battalion at Ingleburn, and seems to have been given the role of

nursing orderly.

John embarked for the Middle East on 10 January, 1940. He went AWL at Kantara for two days – a

place he was familiar with from his first war, so perhaps he was showing the youngsters around! He fell ill

with renal colic in April, 1940, and was classified as permanently unfit in May. It wasn’t until November,

1940, that he was returned to Australia. A bout of spondylitis [back pain] delayed his discharge from the 2nd

AIF, which took place on 24 January 1941.

John enlisted in the RAAF on 28 August, 1941, and was discharged on 20 June, 1944. He was a

sergeant in the Signals School at the time of his discharge.

John and Emma moved around NSW and Victoria, where John had a variety of jobs. There is one

mention of a Gundagai address, but Rugg must have been living in the Coolac area when he died to have

been buried there. A ‘Cootamundra Herald’ article from 19 March, 1954, describes how ‘a well-known

Coolac resident’, John R Rugg, pleaded guilty and was fined for £3 for negligent driving and unlicensed

driving when he drove into a train at Coolac. His car was only slightly damaged.

4604 Lance Corporal Cecil Lawrence Taber, 54th Battalion KIA 15 May 1917 Bullecourt, France Aged 23 years Cecil Taber was born in Coolac in 1893 and was the

eldest child of William and Mary Taber of

‘Taberview’, Coolac. He stated he was a 22 year old

labourer when he enlisted on 27 December, 1915, and

was allocated to the 14th Reinforcements for the 18

th Battalion (5

th Brigade, 2

nd Division).

Cecil disembarked at Egypt on 22 March, 1916, and was reallocated to the 54th Battalion at Ferry

Post on 1 April. His unit arrived in France on 29 June, 1916, and Cecil survived the Battle of Fromelles

unscathed. He was admitted to hospital suffering from trench feet in December, 1916.

Between February and April, 1916, Cecil [right] was treated for a

septic foot at various medical centres. He rejoined the 54th Battalion on 22

April, 1917, only to be killed three weeks later, on 15 May, during the Second

Battle of Bullecourt.

The Red Cross files are in general agreement that Cecil was killed in

the Hindenburg Line in front of Reincourt, most likely by shellfire (though one

report says he was shot in the head while lying in a prone position). He was

buried where he fell, just over the parados of the trench. A cross was erected

over his grave by the Pioneers. Today, however, Cecil has no known grave and

he is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux National Memorial.

On 8 July, 1917, a memorial service was held for Cecil Taber in the

Coolac Church of England, led by Rev HF Champion. The next day Cecil’s

family placed a Death Notice in the Gundagai paper. It contained a verse:

Sudden change! At God’s command he fell,

He had no time to bid us farewell

Oh! Cecil dear! We miss you here,

From the home you loved so well.

Cecil’s grieving mother sent five despairing letters to Base Records, asking if

any of her son’s personal possessions had yet arrived in Australia and, if so,

pleaded for them to be sent to her. By 1919, nothing of Cecil’s had been found.

Mrs Taber’s request for a photo of Cecil’s grave could also not be met.

Cecil’s father, William, passed away in 1936. When Mary Ann Taber

passed away in 1953, she was survived by five sons and a daughter. The

family photo on the next page shows the Taber family. Cecil is standing, third from the right. His siblings, in

age order, in the photo are William, Hubert, Mildred and Clive. The photo was probably taken around 1905,

making Cecil around 12 years of age.

DIGGER 66 Issue 53

Below: Cecil’s plaque on his parent’s grave in the Coolac

cemetery. His father passed away in 1936 and his mother in

1953. The plaque must have been placed after 1939, as it

refers to the ‘First AIF’. The stonemason spelt Cecil’s

middle name of Lawrence incorrectly.

Above: Cecil Taber, is standing third from

right in this family portrait.

Right: The Coolac

Cemetery contains a

number of marble

headstones carved by

the famous master

stonemason, Rusconi.

Another reason to

stop and tour this

peaceful place.

_____________________________________________________________

Letter from Private 3051 William Garr, 4th Pioneer Battalion Found on Trove by the Editor.

Mr WCP Bell writes: The attached letter from the late William Garr may be of interest, seeing that Garr has

since been killed. There were three Garr boys who went to the front. William has been killed. Glamor has

been wounded, and some interesting notes re Matthew will reach you in some letters I now have. Will send

these later.

Somewhere in France,

25.10.16

Dear Miss Ponce,

I received your letter dated the 26th July, and was very glad to hear from you. I often wondered if

you ever thought of me since I have been away. No-one knows how pleased I was when I got your

letter. I saw my brother Matthew here in France and he has just removed from London; he is a lucky

fellow, and I am unlucky, but hope to see that big city some day. Poor Glamor has been wounded; I

don’t know how long ago but I don’t think it was a very dangerous wound or I would have heard

more about him.

I hope you are all well at home. Give my best respects to all my old friends and tell them I hope to be

back shortly in dear old Sunny Darwin Town.

I must ring off now, with a Happy Xmas to you all, and God bless you.

From your old friend,

William.

Source: ‘Northern Territory Times and Gazette’, 1 February, 1917.

Endnotes: (1) The author of the letter, Private 3051 William Garr, was born on Thursday Island, Qld, in

1893. He served with the 4th Pioneer Battalion until his death on 30 November, 1916, in the Zonnebeke area.

(2) Private 428 Matthew Garr, born 1889, was killed on 29 September, 1917 [see previous letter by

2nd

/Lieut Dummer, page 17]. (3) Private 4417 Glamor Garr served with the 26th Battalion. He survived

the war and passed away in 1973. He was also born in 1893 but his birthplace is recorded as Darwin, NT, so

may not have been William’s twin. It is possible, though, that either Glamor or William was uncertain of his

birthplace. (4) The population of Darwin in WWI was around 1 200 people.

DIGGER 67 Issue 53

Cpl 5710 Laurence Hotham Howie, 3rd FCE: war artist Judith Green, Fitzroy, SA, with thanks to Mary Howie.

aurence Hotham Howie (1876-1963) was born on 22 August, 1876, at Norwood, Adelaide. He was

the eldest son of George Cullen Howie and Clara Jane, nee Hotham. Laurie attended local schools and

in 1891 was enrolled at Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, where he studied art under James Ashton.

After leaving Prince Alfred he entered the School of Design and qualified as an art teacher. In 1892 he

attended the South Australian School of Mines, and gained certificates in Electrical Engineering and

Carpentry. In 1893 he became an assistant teacher at the School of Design where the principal was Harry P

Gill. On 28 January, 1895, Laurie was awarded his Art Class Teacher’s Certificate and in 1912 he was

appointed Chief Assistant.

Laurie enlisted on 28 August, 1915, as corporal 5710 in the 14th

Reinforcements to the 3rd

Field Company Engineers, and embarked on the

Runic on 20 January, 1916. [Right: Photo of Laurence Hotham Howie from

https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/biog-pics/howie-laurence-h.jpg.]

He took a tiny box of paints with him and small pieces of paper that he

could carry in his pocket. He recorded Egyptian scenes and wrote in one of his

letters:

The C.O. wants me to do a set of water colours for him and I’m also

doing a set for someone else. However, I find a hot tent not very

conducive to good work, the colours dry at once almost, so that is

difficult to put a wash on properly, even on a small piece of paper.

Laurie kept up a correspondence with his family, Art School staff and with his fiancée, Janet Davidson. In

June, 1916, Laurie was sent to the Western Front and wrote home:

Slept in stables, horses one side, men the other ... the fourteen mile march I enjoyed as we did not

have to carry our packs or blankets.

Laurie always marvelled at the way French farmers carried on their farm work so close to the fighting.

Laurie saw a sign outside a French farmhouse, “Baths done here” and decided to “be done”. The farmer’s

wife boiled up the hot water on an outside fire and led Laurie to a stable containing two goats. Laurie wrote:

I don’t know if Madame thought I made a third, being willing to pay her a franc for a couple of

buckets of warm water.

Laurie carried a very small sketch book which could fit in the pocket of his uniform

and a tiny paint box (with basic colours) only 3 cm x 7 cm with a ring on the end

[left], which fitted over his left thumb. With these he produced tiny paintings from

which he was able to paint larger versions. As he became known as an artist in the

unit, he was given permission to carry larger sketchbooks, so the majority of his

war time paintings are 12 cm x 15 cm. All paintings had to be stamped by the

censor before he sent them to a family member in London. He recorded in his

paintings the terrible winter of 1916-17 and wrote in a letter:

The water falling from a big pipe above some raised tanks had frozen ... so that

there was a mass of ice from the high pipe to the ground and all over the supports

of the tanks. A bright sun had melted the snow on the exposed hill, so that the dark

showed up the glittering ice and made a pretty sight. Men were busy breaking it up

with pick-axes and carrying it away in cooks’ dixies to be melted for tea.

Each year, the soldiers were invited to submit designs for the FCE’s Christmas cards. Laurie’s designs for

the 1916, ’17 and ’18 Christmas cards were chosen and were printed at Aldershot. The 1917 card shows the

duckboards over the channels with shell bursts in the background. The 1918 card, ‘Writing Home’, shows

the compacted earth barriers built around the tents in an effort to keep out the cold.

After the Armistice, Laurie was appointed an official war artist and worked in the AIF War Records

section in London under the sculptor, C Web Gilbert. He spent 18 months in London and France painting

war scenes and the studies which were later used to construct dioramas at the Australian War Memorial,

Canberra. In 1920 the War Memorial acquired two pen drawings, a sketch-book and twelve water-colours

from his visits to the battlefields.

L

DIGGER 68 Issue 53

His fiancée, Janet Davidson, came to London and they were married at St Saviour’s Church,

Alexandra Park, London, on 17 July, 1919. They embarked for return to Australia on Bahia Castello on 17

April, 1920. Laurie was discharged on 16 September, 1920, at Adelaide and he was appointed principal of

the School of Arts and Crafts in Adelaide.

Laurie retired as principal in 1941. He continued painting and doing woodcraft; he loved sailing and

the sea and painted beautiful, peaceful seascapes. He had a very happy marriage and family life with Janet

and their two daughters. Laurie died from heart trouble on 18 October, 1963. In 1978 a memorial exhibition

of his work was held in the South Australian School of Art. The WWI dioramas, for which he drew most of

the preliminary studies, are regarded as the Australian War Memorial’s treasures.

Artwork from the Front by Laurie Howie

Endnotes: (1) Illustrations and text courtesy of Mary Hotham Howie, author of ‘Laurie’s World – The Life

and Art of LH Howie’, printed by Graphic Print Group, Adelaide, 2007. (2) Additional artwork by Laurie

Howie will be featured in COBBeR 2, where more space is available and colour images can be used.

Clockwise from top left:

Detail from 1916

Christmas card; Ruins of

the Cathedral at Bapaume,

1917; Lille Gate, Ypres,

1917; Observation balloon

hidden in the wood for

night-time, Favreuil, 1917;

Observation balloon

moving forward, Ypres,

1917; Ruins of St Pierre,

Ypres, 1917.

DIGGER 69 Issue 53

‘Your Friend, the Enemy’: Gallipoli Centenary Art Exhibition Bathurst FFFAIF member John Payne writes about an exhibition of art works done on the Gallipoli

battlefields by 15 modern ‘Anzac artists’, and the response of the President of the Bathurst RSL Sub-branch

to the theme of the exhibition.

The idea of an area of land that holds memory has always fascinated me, and I don’t think

anywhere has a greater significance for that than Gallipoli ... the fact that you can go to this

place, and they are literally still there. They are the earth now. It's quite a novel concept, really ...

Euan Macleod.

Everyone immediately not only falls for the drama of the landscape, but is also touched by the

unbelievable story of what happened here. This incredible ancient land, and such a beautiful

place, has this Australian history dubbed over it, like watching a foreign film with an Australian

accent sort of layered over the top of it ... Luke Sciberras.

I really didn’t know what to expect. Actually it was very beautiful. You were walking on dead

men’s bones ... and yet you are looking at the sea, the sunshine, the terrain ... it would have been

like it is now, 100 years ago, before this battle – or battles – took place ... Idris Murphy.

hese are the words of three of the 15 artists from Australia and New Zealand who made art works on

the Gallipoli Peninsula almost 100 years after the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. After a short two-day

visit by nine artists in 2013, a contingent of 15 artists, many of them return visitors, went to the

Gallipoli Peninsula for eight days in April/May 2014, where they found accommodation at the nearby town

of Eceabat. They were accompanied by: Brad Manera, Senior Historian at the Anzac Memorial in Sydney;

John McDonald, art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald; documentary filmmaker Bruce Inglis; journalist

James Compton, and King Street Gallery owner, Robert Linnegar, who was a main enthusiast for the

project. There was no sponsorship involved for the artists – they all paid their own way.

In the course of the eight days, after having a military history orientation each morning from Brad

Manera at a different location on the Peninsula, the artists worked en plein air on their many and varied

interpretations of different sites of significance in the ANZAC Gallipoli campaign. Many of these works

were later completed in studios back in Australia and New Zealand.

Titled Your Friend, The Enemy, the exhibition was shown concurrently at the SH Ervin Gallery in

Sydney (curated by John McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald art critic) and the ANU Drill Hall Gallery in

Canberra (curated by Terence Maloon). It was also shown at the same time at the Goulburn Regional Art

Gallery as part of an exhibition titled A SALUTE: Aussie soldier from 1915 meets Young Turk in 2015. This

exhibition acknowledged and honoured the World War I contribution of people from the Goulburn region,

both on the home front and abroad.

Family connections Many of those involved in the project had direct family connections with Gallipoli. Jonathan Throsby is a

descendant of Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges, who commanded the 1st Australian Division

at Gallipoli, where he died of wounds on 18 May, 1915. Bridges was a soldier of many ‘firsts’ and ‘onlys’.

He was the first commandant of Duntroon, the first Australian to reach the rank of major general, the first to

command a division, the first to receive a knighthood, and the first major general to be killed during the war.

He was the only Australian WWI soldier whose body was repatriated, and his horse, Sandy, was the only one

of the 136 000 horses sent overseas to be returned to Australia.

Amanda Penrose-Hart had a relative who fought with the British troops at Gallipoli. Stanley

Palmer’s father served at Gallipoli with the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment. Bruce Inglis, who filmed

the 2014 painting expedition, carried with him copies of diaries written by his grandfather during rest periods

in Shrapnel Gully and Monash Gully.

Private Albert Champion, the great uncle of Steve Lopes, was, at age 20, among the first to enlist

in New South Wales when recruiting started. He was with the 3rd

Battalion (NSW) when they landed at

Gallipoli just before midday on April 25, 1915. He survived the initial battles, was evacuated sick with

tonsillitis in June and July, and was back at Anzac Cove in time for the Battle of Lone Pine. In the second

week of the battle he suffered grenade fragment wounds to his right hand in one of the bombing duels. He

was evacuated to Egypt, and subsequently to England.

T

DIGGER 70 Issue 53

Journalist James Compton’s great uncle Max was shot through the arm at Gallipoli on the exact

date that the 2014 group arrived there. After recuperation, his uncle rejoined his unit, and died the following

year in the Battle of the Somme.

While Deirdre Bean is not related to WWI war correspondent and historian CEW Bean, she had

several family connections through her husband Andrew, who accompanied her to Gallipoli in 2013.

Andrew’s great uncle, Sgt Roger Palmer of the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment, died at the age of 22 in

the first wave at Lone Pine on August 7, 1915. Another great uncle, Max Stewart, fought at Gallipoli and

later died in France in 1917, while his great-aunt Elsie Stewart was a nurse on Imbros – where she attended

to casualties from Gallipoli – and later at Abbassia in Egypt. Elsie and Max Stewart’s elder brother, George

Stewart DCM, had already been killed at Loos in 1915, fighting in the British Army.

Above: Deirdre Bean, Lee Enfield. 303 (holly oak)

Art critic John McDonald’s great uncle, Private James W Booley, of the 14th Australian Infantry Battalion,

died at the age of 28 on August 8, 1915 (the day following Andrew Bean’s great-uncle’s death) in the assault

on Chunuk Bair. Neither Sergeant Palmer or Private Booley have a known grave.

Exhibition title: Your Friend, The Enemy The exhibition’s title, Your Friend, The Enemy, was taken from a letter written from Gallipoli, dated

September 18, 1915, by Idris Charles Pike, the grandfather of artist Idris Murphy. Pike, a cabinetmaker

from Leichhardt, enlisted at Liverpool, NSW, on 16 March, 1915, at the age of 19 years and two months,

shortly after the establishment of the 17th Battalion, to which he was appointed.

His military service – from which he emerged

relatively unscathed, with only a perforated eardrum from

“shell concussion” in August 1918 – paralleled that of his

battalion, which, according to the AWM website, “was raised

at Liverpool in New South Wales in March 1915 as part of the

5th Brigade. It left Australia in early May, trained in Egypt

from mid-June until mid-August, and on 20 August landed at

Anzac Cove. At Gallipoli the battalion participated in the last

action of the August Offensive, the attack on Hill 60, before

settling into defensive routine in the trenches. For a short

period part of the 17th garrisoned Pope’s Hill, but for most of

its time on the Peninsula the 17th Battalion was responsible for

the defence of Quinn’s Post, one of the most contested

positions along the entire ANZAC front. The battalion was

evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915.”

In the course of the war, Pike wrote over 100 letters to

his sweetheart Violet, whom he married after the war. These

letters have only recently come to light. Above right: Idris Murphy, Still Evening Light, The Nek.

While the temporary truce at Gallipoli of 24 May, 1915 is well-documented, one of Pike’s letters,

dated September 18, 1915, describes another short informal truce between the Turks and the Anzacs, during

which time notes and goods were exchanged. Pike’s description of this event reads:

We had some fun in the trenches this morning, as you know only a few yards separates us from the

Turks, so we threw some tinned beef and jam over to them, they soon raked them in to their trenches,

and in return they threw tobacco and cigarette papers. A couple of the parcels had notes in them

written in French, one ran something to this effect. “Your Friends the Enemy. We received your

preserved meat, and send in return tobacco – would be pleased if you could send souvenir, and we

will do the same, could you spare a good knife we would be pleased. Your soldier Friends Turks.”

We threw them a knife and got some more tobacco and papers. We finished up with a message

DIGGER 71 Issue 53

saying that we were going to end the armistice in a quarter of an hour by throwing a bomb and after

that it was on as usual. By the way they write you can see they have a great respect for us.

Gallipoli Evening 2013, one of the paintings done by Idris Murphy on his first Gallipoli visit, was the

winner of the 2014 Gallipoli Art Prize, which is sponsored by the Gallipoli Memorial Club. A particularly

moving segment of Bruce Inglis’ video is when Brad Manera takes Idris Murphy to the approximate spot

where Pike would have written his letter, and Murphy reads the letter to the camera. He then proceeds to do

an impressionistic painting of the scene.

Bathurst exhibition In June I was privileged to see the exhibition that was curated by John McDonald at the Bathurst Regional

Art Gallery (BRAG). The Bathurst exhibition featured 68 paintings, 15 miniature paintings done inside

vintage cigarette tins, two assemblages, and a 15 minute video documenting the eight-day 2014 painting

expedition at Gallipoli.

John McDonald best describes the variety of artistic responses to Gallipoli:

The three New Zealand-based artists, Michael Sheldon, John Walsh and Stanley Palmer, showed a

deep concern with history, in works populated with the ghostly figures of soldiers. Guy Maestri, who

struggled to find his rhythm on the trip, has produced a striking series of symbolic still life paintings,

incorporating skulls, dead birds and wattle branches. Deirdre Bean, known as a botanical artist,

was never expected to make conventional landscapes. Instead she concentrated on the minutiae of

the battlefield, picking out flowers and insects, and eventually discarded bullets. The other artists –

Steve Lopez, Euan Macleod, Idris Murphy, Michael Nock, Amanda Penrose Hart, Luke Sciberras

and Jonathan Throsby – stuck gamely to the landscape, although their approaches were predictably

diverse. Sciberras and Throsby embraced forms of abstraction, albeit with obvious roots in the

physical world. Lopez, Nock and Penrose-Hart took a more naturalistic approach. Macleod and

Murphy, arguably the most experienced artist-travellers in the group, also created the most

individualistic work ... Murphy has produced a set of introverted pictures that make no concessions

to the picture-postcard views we encountered, and no overt references to the battles fought. Yet they

skilfully capture the atmosphere and ambiguity of those sites. Macleod’s imagination sat in a

different direction, in a surprising suite of paintings that use the Gallipoli landscape as an arena in

which two faceless giants battle for supremacy.

Landscape artist Leo Robba replicated one of the activities that some of the Anzacs

used to pass the time; that of doing small paintings inside empty cigarette tins. The

Bathurst exhibition displayed 15 of his miniature paintings of Gallipoli monuments

and the landscape, done on the inside bases of vintage tins of the brands of

cigarettes that the Anzacs and Turkish soldiers would have smoked, including

‘Navy Cut’, ‘Champion Ruby’, ‘Log Cabin’, ‘Sobranie Virginia No. 24’ and

‘Abdulla Turcos’. Right: Leo Robba, Rain Coming/Farmlands Gallipoli 2014. Oil

paint on vintage cigarette tin.

Mixed media artist Amanda O’Doherty made assemblages out of everyday

items of the time, such as vintage morphine and other medicine bottles, dominoes, a

nurse’s feeding cup, and ink bottles.

Peter O’Doherty did tonal landscape paintings in which he attempted to

capture both the modern day eeriness and serenity of the site, which I believe he

was most successful in doing.

Bathurst opening night Art critic John McDonald, accompanied by artists Amanda Penrose-Hart, Luke Sciberras and Euan Macleod,

was present at BRAG to introduce and open the exhibition. All spoke of the special “spirit of place” evoked

by Gallipoli.

One unusual aspect for an opening night of an art exhibition was that David Mills, President of the

Bathurst RSL Sub-Branch, was invited to address the opening night’s audience. His moving speech on the

theme of the exhibition, which received resounding applause from the 120+ audience, is quoted in full:

Henry Longfellow wrote: “lf we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find sorrow

and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”

DIGGER 72 Issue 53

We can dream that this would be a reality, but alas, we live in a time when war, far from being

eliminated from the planet, is a continuing fact of life for many. As awful as war is, it’s still being

fought by human beings, and they don’t just check their humanity at the door. Sometimes, right in

the heat of battle, sympathy and simple human kindness breaks through. Spontaneous truces occur

when groups of soldiers decide they just can’t take it anymore.

Many unofficial truces have been declared. Probably one of the best known was the 1914 Christmas

Day truce on the Western Front. Another such truce, recently dramatised on TV, occurred on 24

May, 1915, at Gallipoli, when a day-long ceasefire was arranged by the troops. The Australian and

Turkish soldiers came out of their trenches together to bury the dead. It was hard, sweaty work, but

in between, the soldiers struck up quite a remarkable friendship. They started by exchanging

greetings and cigarettes, before they began to swap badges like players at the end of a soccer game.

This human respect, this display of basic humanity was described in Idris Pike’s letters, writing

about the closeness of the Turkish trenches, describing the traffic of goods between the Australians,

New Zealanders and Turks, and bore witness to an extraordinary relationship between enemies. He

documented how the Turks would haul tobacco and papers over No-man’s land into the ANZAC

trenches in exchange for biscuits and jam. On one particular occasion, the Turks politely wrote a

note in French, thanking the Australians for the goods, signing off “from your friend, the enemy”.

And of course we should not forget the nurses who served, and died tending to the wounded,

regardless of nationality.

Some may say that this is celebrating war. No. I believe that these veterans, as do most veterans,

knew that war is not glorious, not to be celebrated, so clearly expressed by Pompey Elliott, a

solicitor turned soldier, who in 1915 found himself at a charnel house called Lone Pine. There, high

on a hill on Gallipoli, Elliott’s men won four Victoria Crosses in a day. Months afterwards, Elliott

wrote home and told a colleague some of what had happened there. “When anyone speaks to you of

the glory of war,” he wrote, “picture to yourself a narrow line of trenches two and sometimes three

deep with bodies mangled and torn beyond description by the bombs ... Live among this for days ...

This is war and such is glory – whatever the novelists may say.”

“This is war and such is glory”... Pompey Elliott, who was to end his own life.

Can we but wonder why ordinary men, regardless of country, religion or political fervour, found

time to show their humanity to each other, displaying those honourable personal characteristics that

we espouse as part of the national Australian character?

I have stood at the base of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s statue at Gallipoli, looking out across the now

peaceful Peninsula, to Gallipoli beach, feeling the carnage that occurred, the lives lost and those

that remain there forever. (Addressing John Macdonald) John I think you wrote, “It is a landscape

of memory in which the impressions of the senses cannot be divorced from thoughts of the past. I

have empathy with the artists who participated in this project and the difficult task that it must have

been to interpret what Gallipoli was, and is, all about. What a task, however, I believe artists in

creating art, consciously or not, are attempting to communicate at a powerful emotional level to

those within their own culture, and that the best work transcends our cultural matrix and speaks

directly to our common humanity.”

In the words of an old soldier, you did good, Digger.

A hundred years later “your friend, the enemy” is a perfect description of the bond that exists

between Australia, New Zealand and Turkey – former antagonists, united in their desire to

commemorate a brutal campaign fought on behalf of two great powers. The events at Gallipoli

played a major role in shaping the national self-perceptions of all three countries. Australia and

New Zealand believed they had earned their right to nationhood in this “baptism of blood”, while

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who rose to prominence with his success in the Dardanelles, would go on to

be the founder of a new secular state.

Above the beach at Gallipoli is a memorial with the words of Kemal Ataturk. Can I leave you with

his words?

“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly

country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us

where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers, who sent their sons from

faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace;

after having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.”

I cannot think of finer nor kinder words that could be said by a former foe ... indeed, “your friend

the enemy.”

DIGGER 73 Issue 53

Concert A week after the official opening of the exhibition in Bathurst, a special concert titled “Once, Our

Comrades” was performed at BRAG by the Unzenstein Chamber Orchestra, featuring two violins, a cello,

a guitar, and a Russian mandolin called a domra, which to me sounds like a cross between a mandolin and a

Greek bouzouki. The concert took place in a gallery where the 50 plus audience was surrounded by over 30

of the paintings from the exhibition. The musical works that were performed were inspired by and dedicated

to the sacrifices made by those who go to war. The program included two new works, Silent Valley and

Once, Our Comrades, composed by the orchestra’s guitarist, Bosnian-born M Giga Jelesnovic, plus other

works that had a tonal quality which evoked the feeling of inner sadness, loss and emptiness that one feels

when visiting battle sites. For me, listening to the

sad, almost Oriental music, and looking at the

various painterly interpretations of Gallipoli

surrounding the audience, it certainly brought back

very strongly those emotions that my wife and I

experienced on our initial visit to Gallipoli in 1968,

and again on a return visit in 2010.

Right: Unzenstein Chamber Orchestra performing

in front of three Gallipoli paintings, from left: Idris

Pike’s Still Evening Light, The Nek; and Stanley

Palmer’s Phantom Graves, Anzac Cove, and Turkish

Fort, Kilid Bahr. Photograph Emma Hill, Bathurst

Regional Art Gallery.

Book and video I highly commend the special edition of the Artist Profile publication about the project titled Your Friend,

The Enemy – An Artist Odyssey to Gallipoli 100 Years On. Edited by John MacDonald, its 130 pages contain

an introductory essay by Brad Manera about earlier war artists at Gallipoli; chapters on each of the artists

involved, including many colour illustrations of their paintings done at Gallipoli; a report on the 2014

‘invasion’ of Gallipoli by the Anzac artists; and a concluding essay by John MacDonald titled ANZAC

Evolution, which traces the way that Australians have told themselves the Anzac story over the century, and

the way that artists have responded to Gallipoli during that period.

It is stocked by many art galleries, or may be purchased online for $27.95 including postage. It is

quite difficult to find on the website, so follow this pathway: log on to mymagazine.com.au; on the left side

of the page click on ‘Category’, then ‘Art’, then ‘Artist Profile’, then ‘Back and Special Issues’. Excerpts of

Bruce Inglis’ documentary video may be viewed via Vimeo.

Sources: (1) Quotes from the three artists at the beginning of this article are from Bruce Inglis’ 15 minute video which

is part of the exhibition.

(2) Details of the artists’ Gallipoli family connections were in the main taken from Your Friend, The Enemy

– An Artist Odyssey to Gallipoli 100 Years On, Artist Profile, nextmedia Pty Ltd, St Leonards, 2015, as is the

long quote by John MacDonald about the nature of the various artworks in the exhibition.

(3) The quote about the 17th Battalion is from the Australian War Memorial website.

(4) The text of David Mills’ speech is quoted with his permission.

___________________________________________________________________

he great Australian national game of “Two-up” has been played in some queer places, and under

strange conditions. Recently, one of our patrols was considerably overdue, and I was detailed as one

of a search party. We dodged about evading flares and shell holes for some time. Suddenly we saw

the shadowy figures of a number of men standing silently in the darkness. “Fritzes!” said someone, and we

all ducked into shell holes. Fritz’s next flare revealed a small party, all stooping and gazing intently on the

ground. Then one of them cried softly and exultantly, “Two heads are right!” picked up the pennies and

pocketed his winnings. It was the lost patrol. They were making their bets and tossing the coins in the

darkness, and then waiting for the light from a flare to see the result. – “FEN.”

Source: ‘Aussie’, No. 6, August 1918.

T

DIGGER 74 Issue 53

Lance Corporal 68 Harry Bowden, MM & Bar 14th Field Ambulance, AIF

Graeme Hosken, Dubbo.

enry (‘Harry’) Bowden was a 19 year old grocer from Walcha, NSW, when he enlisted on 21 May,

1915, at Mackay in Queensland, and was allocated to the 31st Battalion. Harry embarked on the

Bakara on 9 November, 1915, and was transferred to the 14th Field Ambulance at the Suez Canal on

17 March, 1916. He moved to France on 19 June and presumably took part in the Battle of Fromelles three

weeks later.

Harry was wounded on 1 October, 1917 [Polygon Wood

area], but remained on duty. The next day he was sent to the 2nd

Army Rest Camp for 13 days leave. He was promoted to lance

corporal on 28 November, 1917. On 9 March, 1918, Harry

proceeded on leave to the UK, returning to his unit 17 days later.

Six days after the Armistice, Bowden again went on leave

to the UK, until 3 December. On 14 January, 1919, Harry arrived

at the AAMC’s No. 2 Depot in England to await his return to

Australia. He sailed on the Plassy on 17 March, arriving in Sydney

on 3 May. Harry was discharged from the AIF on 25 June, 1919.

During his time on active service, Harry Bowden was

decorated twice and commended once in 1st Anzac Routine Orders.

The latter was for gallant services rendered by Bowden around

October, 1917. Harry enquired in 1920 as to whether this equated

to a Mention in Despatches (MID) but was advised that this was

not the case, as his name did not appear in the ‘London Gazette’.

Right: Studio portrait of 68 Private Henry (‘Harry’) Bowden,

Headquarters, 31st Battalion, of Walcha, NSW, aged 19 years.

AWM DA11649.

Harry was recommended for the DCM but awarded a MM for the following: At about 8.30 pm on

evening of 13/5/17 [Second Battle of Bullecourt], near the Regimental Aid Post at C.4.b., this stretcher-

bearer was taking shelter in a dugout by the railway embankment from an extremely heavy enemy barrage of

fire when a shell directly hit another small dugout about 20 yards away and buried a solder of the 2/2

London Regiment. Notwithstanding the extremely heavy shrapnel and high explosive shell fire, and a

machine gun which was playing over this area, this soldier, in company with another of his squad, left his

shelter and immediately went to the buried man’s assistance. Together, though completely exposed

themselves, they dug the man out with their hands and then carried him a distance of about 50 yards to the

Regimental aid Post.

His Bar to the Military Medal was for most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during the

capture of Peronne on 1/9/18. Although twice buried by shell fire before the attack commenced, he gallantly

remained at duty. For more than 24 hours he carried with his squad, and during that time assisted scores of

wounded to safe places. The excellent conduct of this man, his untiring energy, his cheerfulness and

unfailing courage set a most inspiring example and put great heart into his tired comrades. [Maj Gen E

Tivey, Commander of the 5th Division.]

Post-war, Harry lived at addresses in: Walcha (1920); William Street,

Rose Bay (1920); ‘Broughton’, 11 Halcyon Avenue, Wahroonga (1933) and

‘Glen Morrison’, Junction Road, Wahroonga (1949). His widow, Doris, wrote

to the Army seeking the ‘Simpson Donkey medal’ in 1968 from 27 Alma

Avenue, Woy Woy.

Left: Studio portrait of two brothers, 67 Private Frederick James Bowden

(left) and 68 Pte Harry Bowden, both of Headquarters, 31st Battalion.

Frederick enlisted on 25 May, 1915, and Henry enlisted on 21 May, 1915.

Frederick returned to Australia on 8 May, 1919, with the 14th Field Ambulance.

AWM DA11652. The brothers are also pictured with a mate in AWM

DA11653.

H

DIGGER 75 Issue 53

EETTCCHHEEDD IINN SSTTOONNEE ((Edited by Russell Curley with additional detail sourced from CWGC by Jim Corkery.)

This is the fifty-second in a series of extracts, from John Laffin’s “We Will Remember Them – AIF Epitaphs

of World War 1”, which will appear in successive issues of ‘DIGGER’.

Place names in bold type are cemetery names

The No. 1 Australian Command Depot was at Sutton Veny from the end of 1916 to October

1919. There was also a hutted military hospital of more than 1200 beds at Sutton Veny for much of

the war and No. 1 Australian General Hospital was stationed there after the Armistice.

It is particularly sad that these great men and women, some of whom had survived the

terrible conditions and slaughter on the battlefield, were to die in Sutton Veny of sickness on their

way home. The cemetery contains 168 First World War burials, 167 of them in a plot at the north-

west corner of the church. Of these, 143 are Australian. [https://suttonveny.co.uk/war-cemetery.html]

Continued next issue.

OH FOR A TOUCH

OF A VANISHED HAND

AND THE SOUND OF

A VOICE THAT IS STILL

Pte E. Rose, 12th Bn, 1-6-18 (aged 16)

Sutton Veny (St John) Churchyard, England

IN MEMORY OF DEAR JIM

ADOPTED SON OF

W & J WOOD OF NORTHCOTE

Pte E. J. Smiley, 59th Bn, 30-12-17 (25)

Sutton Veny (St John) Churchyard, England

A SOLDIER AND A MAN HE DIED

DEARLY BELOVED SON OF

MR & MRS PEGRAM

BREDBO NSW

Pte A. G. Pegram, 55th Bn, 28-9-17 (19)

Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium

IN MEMORY

OF THE LOVED SON OF

MR & MRS GREVILLE OF BALLARAT

OUR HERO

Pte C. T. Greville, 60th Bn, 4-7-18 (19)

Mericourt-L’Abbe, France

SACRED TO MEMORY.

SECOND SON OF THE LATE

DR ALFRED KEENAN OF SYDNEY

Pte C. Keenan, 16th Bn, 11-4-17 (19)

Queant Road Cemetery, France

DEAR BROTHER OF

CAPTAIN LAURENCE HURLEY CALLINAN

BURIED AT ROUEN

2/Lt F. P. Callinan, Field Arty, 6-5-17 (22)

Grevillers British Cemetery, France

BELOVED SON

OF GEO AND A. WILSON

WILLIAMSTOWN, S. AUSTRALIA

DUTY DONE

Pte H. W. Wilson, 32nd

Bn, 2-12-16 (20)

AIF Burial Ground, France

DEARLY LOVED SON OF

W. & M. HARTLEY

OF KILKENNY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Capt W. G. Hartley, 48th Bn, 9-8-16 (22)

Puchevillers British Cemetery, France

BELOVED SON OF C & E GREEN

BURRA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

L/Cpl H. Temperley Green, 10th Bn, 30-7-18 (27)

Borre British Cemetery, France

THIRD ELDEST

DEARLY BELOVED SON OF

MR. & MRS FRED LYONS

‘AT REST’

Pte R. L. Lyons, M-G Corps, 4-10-17 (24)

Nine Elms British Cemetery, Belgium

Frederick and Maria Elizabeth Lyons lived at ‘Mon Repos’, Bruce Street, South Kensington, Sydney, NSW.

ERECTED BY HIS COMRADES

OF WHOM

THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY

Sgt C. S. Hall, 14th Bn, 22-6-17 (24)

Harefield (St Mary) Churchyard, England

DIGGER 76 Issue 53

‘Dedicated to Digger Heritage’

The purpose of the FFFAIF is to commemorate the service, sacrifice, courage and

suffering of the First Australian Imperial Force of the Great War 1914-1918 and of their

families and friends.

DIGGER 53 Contents

Articles First ashore at Gallipoli, Tim Lycett 3-8 Christmas in Harefield, 1915, Nurse H Chadwick AANS, contrib. by Heather ‘Frev’ Ford 9-10 The evacuation of Gallipoli, Pte 2245 George Mundy, 3

rd Bn, contrib. by Barrie Brewer 11-12

Hated to leave (the evacuation of Gallipoli), Ken Millar, 2nd

Bn, contrib. by Patric Millar 12-13 Bringing in the prisoners, Captain Eric Wren, 3

rd Bn History: ‘Randwick to Hargicourt’ 13

The hunt for dad’s trench, Graham Hutchinson and Tim Leslie (ABC) 14-17 Letter: 2/Lieut Lesley Dummer, 41

st Bn, ‘NT Times and Gazette’, found on Trove 17

Abner Dalzell, RAN, ANMEF, RANBT, AFC, AIS, AAC, Greg Swinden 18-20 The bravery awards of Chard Neve revisited, 12

th Bn, Graeme Hosken 21-25

Christmas on Lemnos, 1915, Sister E Taylor, AANS, contrib. by Heather ‘Frev’ Ford 25 Pte 733 Arthur Bolitho, 7

th Bn, Jenny Chapman and Trevor Munro 26-30

Letter re: Pte 319 Walter Fraser, 14th

Bn, unknown author, contrib. by Bryan MacKenzie 31 Pte 12295 William Fraser, 10

th FAmb, Graeme Hosken and Bryan MacKenzie 31

Pte 82 James Sheehan, 30th

Bn, Graeme Hosken, with thanks to ‘Frev’ Ford and Brenda Leece 32-34 AIF Recruitment in 1914, ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ article, 22/9/1914 35-36 Diaries of L/Cpl William Lycett, 4

th FAmb/15

th LROC, Part 4, contributed by Tim Lycett 37-41

Lieut Col Jack Antill, 3rd

LH & 2nd

Inf Bdes: the main culprit at The Nek, Ross McMullin 42-44 Diary of Pte 4393 Alexander Wallace, 29

th Bn, Part 1, courtesy of Stephanie Smyth 45-49

Pte Joseph Kleshenko, 8th

LHR, 17th

, 1st, 29

th Bns, Graeme Hosken 50-51

Sgt 3970 Martin O’Meara VC, 16th

Bn, Noreen O’Meara 52-56 Pte 1305 Claude Masterson, 33

rd/3

rd Bns, Rod Carpenter, with thanks to Trish Doyle 57

Pte 6320 Stanley Stephens (a Coo-ee), 13th

Bn, Helen Thompson 58-61 Postscript to article in DIGGER 52: Francis Read, NZEF, contrib. by Carol Sharp 61 2015 AGM report, Jim Munro 61 Diggers in the Coolac cemetery, Graeme Hosken 62-66 Letter: Pte 3051 William Garr, 4

th Pnr Bn, ‘NT Times and Gazette’, found on Trove 66

Cpl 5710 Laurence Howie, 3rd

FCE: war artist, Judith Green 67-68 ‘Your Friend, the Enemy’ (art exhibition report), John Payne 69-73 L/Cpl 68 Harry Bowden MM & Bar, 14

th FAmb, Graeme Hosken 74

Regular features Trench Talk and Contact/Membership details 2 DIGGER Quiz No. 53: The RAN and the First Convoy, Maurice Campbell 49 Answers to DIGGER Quiz 56 Etched in Stone, Russell Curley and Jim Corkery 75

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