The Horror in France (cont’d)

Sgt. Lionel Frank Elliot, 56th Infantry Battalion. Compositor of Marrickville. Service record is not yet available, possibly relating to a court martial? RTA 13/12/18 aged 29, but later died as a result of his war service on 18/2/20.

Letter on Fromelles*, 3/8/16: 

we heard a wounded chap crying out, he was in ‘No Mans Land’ . . . I said ‘Who’s coming over’ another chap said ‘I’m on’ so over the parapet we crawled and out to the wounded man, we got to him without anything happening, but as soon as we lifted him to bring him in ‘ping’ a bullet went through the top of my hat** barely touching the scalp, so we had to lie low for awhile, when we started off again three shots were fired, so I thought it best to leave him until night. A Machine Gun had got him in the legs (4 wounds). He said he would be O.K. if he could get some water, and he wanted a smoke bad, so I gave him cigarettes and matches and promised him water and food, and then we run and crawled back to safety. The water and food went out as soon as we got back. I was a bit narked at not getting him in, but it would have been suicidal to attempt any further.

* Fromelles was possibly the most tragic event in Australian history, in which almost over 5,500 Australians became casualties with almost 2,000 killed in 24 hours.

**  During the battle Australians in the later attacking waves had worn slouch hats rather than steel helmets, the only important occasion in France when this was so.

Pte. Erle Oakley Neaves, 20th Infantry Battalion. Cashier of Glebe Point. He enlisted in May 1916 and served in action in Belgium. He was killed in his dugout during an enemy barrage on Broodseinde Ridge, Ypres Sector in Belgium on 6/11/17 aged 26.

Letter, 15/2/17: 

All my pals . . . I came over with are gone, but 7 out of 150 remain, its simply scientific murder, not war at all. As for seeing Germans its all lies you never get close enough to do that, unless in a charge. I keep smiling, but I tell you it takes some doing . . . the premonition I had when leaving Sydney, that I would never see home again still hangs about me—one would be unnatural to go through uninjured, if I get out of it with a leg and arm off I’ll be perfectly satisfied, so you will understand what it is like .. . so don’t get married till after the war.

Humanity

Capt. Robert James Henderson MC & Bar, 13th Infantry Battalion. Electrical engineer of Drummoyne. He enlisted aged 29 in June 1915. Served at Anzac, then in France in 1916 until receiving a gunshot wound in the thigh (9/16). He was wounded again in Belgium in June 1917, but returned to his unit later the same month! He was awarded the MC for coolness and courage on two occasions in August 1917 after his company had been caught in the open under a heavy barrage. He sustained a third MG wound in the thigh in front of Villers-Bretonneux on 30/4/18 and died of wounds on 13/5/18 at Etaples, aged 32. He was awarded posthumously, a Bar to his MC in September 1918 for conspicuous gallantry under heavy fire during the action that resulted in his fatal wounding.

Letter, 13/6/17: 

There are a whole lot of Germans buried in a cellar at Messines we heard them tapping and started to dig for them until they [the German artillery] started shelling like the devil we then dropped a message over their line by aeroplane telling him we were trying to release his men at Messines if he did not shell it however he must have thought we were pulling his foot for he continued to shell so that those poor beggars will just have to die of starvation etc. 

The Ugliness and the Ending

Pte. Thomas Joseph Cleary, 17th Infantry Battalion, then 2nd Pioneer Battalion. Electrician of Annandale. He enlisted aged 39 in October 1915. Served on active duty in France. RTA 20/5/19.

Diary, 24/1/18: 

at Flers the 27th Battalion had 7 German prisoners … [A lieutenant] shot all of them. He tried to shoot one of them with an automatic but the prisoner gripped his hand and the auto missed. He then shot the prisoner and all the rest with his service Revolver. The Cpl … had previously refused to do this. 

& on the Armistice, Diary, 11/11/18: 

The day of days … We had two victories today. we won the War and defeated the 5th Field Coy @ Soccer. The news of the Armistice was taken very coolly … nobody seemed to be able to realise it. 

Pte. Marshall Burrows, 4th Pioneer Battalion. Tram driver of Enmore. Served at Anzac with 1st Light Horse Regiment and suffered from dysentery. He was wounded in France and taken as a PoW on 18/1/18. RTA, 5/3/19. Died of Tuberculosis  and heart failure at Boddington Red Cross Sanatorium, Wentworth Falls on 24/8/19 aged 35.

Letter, 10/2/17:

I saw a battallion of 1000 men going up to go in . . . and within half an hour there was only 300 left . . . every where you would look you could see pieces of men dead and moaning, it was terrible I will never forget [it]. . . I expect if I go back I will see a bit more but I might be lucky enough not to see it l hope 1 do [not] because 1 have done my share and I dont want to see any more of it

Pte. Granville Bennett, 8th Machine Gun Company. Engineer’s ironmonger said to be  of Drummoyne, but I believe he was from Crows Nest. He enlisted aged 18 in November 1915. He died of gun shot wounds to the head, back, hand and face received in France, on 16/10/17 aged 20.

Diary, 12/10/16:

[T]he anniversary of Nurse Cavell’s* death, we sent gas over and at 7.30 p.m. . . . made a successful raid on the German trench . . . Many of our men left cards with “Remember Nurse Cavell” on in the Hun trenches. We also sent gas over later

* Nurse Edith Cavell was executed by the Germans in October 1915 for helping 200 Allied soldiers escape and return to their units in occupied Belgium.

Lt. Joseph Maxwell VC, MC & Bar, DCM, 18th Infantry Battalion. Boilermaker’s apprentice of Marrickville. Often said to be the second most decorated Australian soldier in the First World War. He enlisted in February 1915 and served at Anzac before heading to France in March 1916. He won a DCM at the 3rd battle of Ypres leading his platoon after his officer was killed. He was commissioned in the field and in March 1918 he was awarded the MC for a successful attack on a german position near Ploegsteert, Belgium. He was awarded a Bar to his MC in August 1918, leading his company (as the only surviving officer) and rescuing a tank crew in an offensive near Rainecourt, Northern France. His VC came in October 1918 after an attack on the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme line in France. He took charge of his company again, captured an enemy MG, silenced another MG and encouraged about 20 Germans to surrender, being briefly captured himself! He escaped with his men under heavy fire then re-organised his troops and captured that position. RTA 1/5/19. He died in 1967 aged 81.

From Bill Gammage’s The Broken Years (p230): Early in 1919 two Australian lieutenants stood in a line of men at Buckingham Palace, waiting to meet the King. The King had been delayed, and the two Australians were restless. ‘George is late on parade,’ one finally declared, ‘we’ll have to “crime” him.’ He was Joe Maxwell, come to receive the Victoria Cross. His mate was E. W. Mattner, [Lt & later Senator Mattner, MC, DCM, MM] and after the King had given him his third decoration for bravery in the field, the two chatted for a few minutes, while the King recalled his visit to Australia. In a busy Palace routine a discussion of that length was unusual, and when Lieutenant Mattner left the King the Lord Chamberlain*, heading a clutch of titled officials, pressed towards him, asking excitedly, ‘What did he say? What did he say?’ ‘Well,’ the young officer told them, ‘he said, “I’m sick of this turnout. Let’s go down to the corner pub and have a couple of beers.” ’ The Lord Chamberlain, shocked to the marrow, ‘dressed him down’.

* The Lord Chamberlain was William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst who served briefly with the Coldstream Guards as a Lt in the 1870s. He was regarded by his brother officers as ‘incurably dense’ and by other officials as almost illiterate.

Other sources: https://www.awm.gov.au/ 

https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/defence-and-war-service-records

https://adb.anu.edu.au/

Open source copy of The Broken Years (for downloading): https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/114783