History
Three brothers go to war and only one returns By Peter McCullough
W
hen the “Great War” ended in 1918, Australia had a population of less than five million. During the previous four years about 500,000 Australians wore some type of uniform and few families were untouched by events in distant lands. For 61,000 families, telegrams delivered the tragic news that a loved one had been lost. Some families had the misfortune to suffer bad news more than once: the Somers family of Mornington was one of those. Dr J L Edgeworth Somers was a much-loved and highly respected doctor in Mornington in the late 19th and early 20th century. He died in 1938. Three of his sons enlisted during the First World War, but two never returned. This story comes from records at the Australian War Memorial and the book 'Our Boys at the Front', published by the Mornington and District Historical Society. SOMERS, Noel Travers Edgeworth Enlisted 14/12/1914; killed in action 8/8/1915. Noel was a 21-year-old bank clerk and stated on enlistment that he had prior service, namely “Cadet Royal Navy 2 years” and “3
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years OIC Stonyhurst College”. He was in the 5th Reinforcements of the 14th Battalion, which left Melbourne on the Hororata on 17 April 1915, arriving at the Dardanelles on 9 July. On 8 August he was reported missing at Gallipoli: was he killed or had he been captured by the Turks? It would be a year before the answer was known. On 6 September 1915, Dr Somers wrote to the army enquiring as to “… the circumstances under which my son is posted as missing, and if you would give me your private opinion as to his chances of being alive and well though a prisoner, or to the greater likelihood of his being dead and not being discovered or identified. My boy had two chums named Friend and Greenwood (14th Battalion). Could I possibly have their relatives’ names and addresses so as through them to make some enquiries.” The names and addresses were supplied. In January 1916 the youngest son, Gervase Somers, wrote to the army stating that a list of prisoners captured by the Turks had been published in The Argus, but his brother’s name was not among them; was another list likely to appear? Although the Anzacs left Gallipoli in December 1915, the fate of Noel Somers remained unknown. Eventually a court of enquiry conducted by 4th Infantry