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Cover image: Fred Daw (second from right) with unknown serviceman, and members of Daw family on the James Street Jetty
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
In our memories they shall dwell Forever lost where they fell Those returned with many scars
Mind body soul pain of heart
The Esperance District Honor Roll, located in the Esperance RSL Sub Branch building, 2025
Introduction
This book is an attempt to bring back into living memory the stories of all the local men who signed up for the First World War. It doesn’t include the names of all those who served in the war who lived in Esperance before or after the war, instead focusing on those who are included on the Honor Roll.
The Honor Roll, having been constructed by a local carpenter immediately after the war, is possibly the most accurate list of those who served from this area.
We know there are those who served and moved here afterwards, and others who lived here as children but moved away before the war began. There are a number of others who may have lived in the area at the time of the war, and those we know of whose names aren’t on the Honor Roll are included in a later chapter.
We have also included information about the servicemen that may be considered unsavory or inappropriate. We chose to do this because deeds (or misdeeds) and events prior to the war give us an understanding of who the person was, and what may have influenced them to sign up or to behave a certain way. Crimes, venereal disease and other illnesses during the war may have impacted the remainder of their service as well as their post war experience.
If any mistakes have been made in the writing of this book, whether large or small, we offer our sincere apologies, and would appreciate any corrections offered. We have tried our best to stick to the facts with the sources available to us. Because of this, the stories are all incomplete to varying degrees.
We know there is more to each one of the men than you will read here, and we hope that people may come forward with their own knowledge, and their own stories to share. We hope that this book is just a beginning.
Many people have helped with the production of this book. Carolyn Davies, Lynda Horn, Jen Ford, Nick Kleinig, Karli Florisson and Rachel Tyrrell have all contributed more than their fair share.
Of course, we could not have come this far without the help of family members of some of the servicemen. So many personal stories would be forgotten and photographs lost if it weren’t for the them.
We would like to thank them all, but in particular the following:
Nancy and Trevor Phillips
Eric Heenan
Margaret Sanderson
Peter Logan
Lorraine Bale
Maureen Webster
Gordon Oma
Mike and Ellen Gibbs
The Tyrrell family
Ron Addison
Ron Moon
Laurie Jenkins
John and Ruth Elliott
Jill and Lester Abdullah
James (Jim) Robert Sinclar, seated on right chair, and staff of the Esperance Post Office, circa 1896
Esperance Museum ELH-P3360
Community
Esperance Before the War
In 1911 the population of Esperance was 132. This would have been in the town site area and would not have included the local Aboriginal population. The town at that time was a small coastal village, whose population then, as now, swelled during the summer months as people from further inland, particularly the Goldfields, came to escape the heat and enjoy the beaches. Many of the farming families in the district owned or rented houses in Esperance, and all were a part of the community, whether they were included in the population count or not.
The highest population the town had ever recorded was in 1896 when numbers swelled to 1600, thanks to the gold rush in Norseman and the prospect of a railway being built connecting that town to Esperance. Instead, the railway was put in linking Norseman to Coolgardie, after which more people went to the Goldfields via Perth instead of Esperance. By 1901 the population was between 400 and 500 people, and it continued to slowly decline. By 1916 the population was sitting around 250 people.
There were numerous sporting clubs in the town, such as the turf club, rifle club, cricket, croquet and tennis clubs. These were established during the late 1890’s when the population of Esperance was at its peak. By the outbreak of the war, they still remained active.
The Bijou Theatre (also known as the Bijou Hall) was a popular venue, being used for weddings and birthday parties as well as town meetings, socials and concerts. The Esperance Agricultural and Horticultural Show was held there annually as well.
The community was a tight knit one, but not without its ups and downs, and many of these were reported in the Norseman and Kalgoorlie newspapers. Despite this, local residents managed to get along for the simple reason that they had to. Their children attended the only school in town, they all shopped at the same few stores, and they attended many of the same social functions. Inevitably, their sons and brothers served in the war together.
Esperance Roads Board and Ministerial party at the Roads Board Office (now the RSL building), after ‘Turning the first sod’ of the railway. Circa 1916 Esperance Museum ELH-P317
Methodist Sunday school, teachers (L) Miss Faith Douglas (R) Miss Gladys Peek and pupils Esperance Museum ELH-P1011
When War was declared on 4th August 1914, the Australian Navy was immediately placed under British command, and four Esperance boys who were already serving with the Navy found themselves at war. Within the month two more local lads had signed up with the Army, and there followed a steady flow after that.
At this time in Esperance, the chance of full-time work was at a low. Some of the young men of the district had found work building the road between Esperance and Norseman, others worked as telegraph linesmen, and a few were employed by local families such as the Dempsters on their various properties and the McCarthy family on their salt mining operations. Quite a few of them were working in the Goldfields at the time, cutting wood for the mines or working at the mines themselves.
Some were farmers with their own properties, but not all of them had been fully cleared of bush, and infrastructure was at a minimum, with the farms still to reach their full potential. The opportunity for these men to earn a steady income while having an adventure overseas was looking good, especially if it meant they would have savings to put into their farms on their return.
As local men enlisted, their friends and families usually gave them a send-off, more often than not these were in the form of a social at the Bijou.
During the War
Within days of the declaration of war, Mr Andrew Dempster as the candidate for the Country Party, was promoting Esperance Harbour as a site for a fortified base for the home fleet to shelter in, with the potential for a railway connecting Esperance to the Trans-line. In October, the local branch of the Australian Labour Foundation (ALF) got busy, writing to the Minister for Defence to request that the Esperance harbour be fortified, as they believed the harbour would be an ideal place to anchor all sized vessels belonging to the nations now at war with England. The Esperance ALF also wrote to the Eastern Goldfields Council of the ALF, asking for support to urge the Minister for Defence on the necessity of building the railway from Esperance to the Goldfields for military purposes. (Nothing appears to have eventuated from these requests, which may also have stemmed from the long-held desire in the area for the railway connecting Esperance to Norseman. The railway had been promised when mining was at a peak in the 1890’s, but for various reasons it was not built until 1927.)
In September 1914 a squad of twenty men from the 88th Regiment, a brigade of the Citizens Military Force arrived in Esperance to guard the wireless station, which had been built in 1913 on Dempster Head. The station was manned by wireless operators and night watchmen throughout the war, and
these men became popular members of the community, holding local events and impressing some of the local ladies.
In September 1914, Esperance residents began raising funds for the war effort with the Road Board Chairman, Mr Edward J McCarthy Snr and secretary Mr William G McLean, being appointed collectors for the War Fund. The Esperance Road Board immediately donated £10 to the fund.
In 1915 a local Red Cross Association was formed by some Esperance ladies, with Mrs E J McCarthy elected as President. Their first fundraiser was held in November, and took the form of a gift evening, with people bringing donations of money or material for making useful articles for the sick and wounded. Throughout the war this branch of the Red Cross sent many hospital items including pneumonia jackets, bed linen, bandages, pyjamas, swabs, face washers and slings as well as clothing including flannel shirts, balaclavas, socks and mittens. In January 1916 Mr Charles Sandell, a radio operator stationed in Esperance, gave a lecture on his experiences during Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic expedition. The proceeds of the lecture were donated to the Esperance Sandbag Fund. Mr Sandell married Esperance girl Amy Daw and became a well-known local identity.
The schoolchildren were encouraged to collect tins and bottles for recycling, and many a sock and sleeping helmet was knitted by them and sent overseas (a sleeping helmet being similar to a balaclava but with an open face).
The community as a whole actively raised donations for various funds throughout the war. All the local sporting clubs held fundraisers, as did the radio station staff, Road Board and other groups. People also gave from their own pockets – In 1916 Charles E Dempster donated a horse to be raffled as a fundraiser for the Belgian Fund and in 1918 Mr Alexander Paterson Turnbull of Lynburn Station donated a fleece of wool to be made into items for the Red Cross.
As the war went on for longer than any of them expected, the Esperance community rallied together, holding fundraisers, sharing letters from the front and supporting each other when a loved one was wounded, missing or killed.
By March 1917 locals were already raising funds for the Returned Soldiers and Sailors League, in preparation for the end of the war, and for those who would be returning home sick and wounded.
After the War
The first Esperance recruit to return to Esperance was Frank Wood in the winter of 1916. Almost a year later Bert Dickinson returned, and there followed a trickle of wounded and sick young men. By the Armistice on 11th November 1918, twelve Esperance men had already returned or were on their way home, and twenty were dead. The remaining men who had survived the war returned within a couple of years. All of them were grieving for lost friends and thirteen of those who returned had lost a brother.
Most of those who came back to Esperance were welcomed with a social occasion, usually at the Bijou and sometimes along with other servicemen who had returned at the same time. At these events, songs were sung, toasts were proposed and speeches were given, often by the servicemen themselves, although some were content to let others do the talking for them.
Since 1915 the Western Australian state government had worked to introduce a scheme to settle returned soldiers on farms. In WA more than 5,000 took up farms through the scheme, known as the Soldier Settlement Scheme. By 1929 just over 3,500 remained on their properties. There were several reasons for the decline - many of the blocks they were allocated were not in fertile areas with reliable rainfall. Also, for men suffering health problems due to their service, some of them with little or no agricultural experience, the work proved too difficult. Having said that, some did make a success of it, even struggling through the Great Depression. A number of Esperance servicemen applied for land under the scheme, but only a few were still on their farms after the Depression.
On Sunday 20th July 1919 a ceremony was held to dedicate Norfolk Pine trees to the men who lost their lives during the war. After the dedication to eighteen men (the two Doak brothers were not included at this stage as they hadn’t lived in Esperance) carried out by Mr Edward J McCarthy, the trees were handed into the care of the parents and friends of the men. These trees were planted near the intersection of William Street and the Esplanade.
In December 1919, the Esperance Honor Roll was completed by Mr William George Hearn, local undertaker and carpenter. The board, which was made of jarrah, has 75 names on it, those who died being marked with a star. At 4pm on Christmas Day, the board was unveiled at the Road Board Office by Kate Doust, mother of four sons who served in the war. As she drew the flag from the board, Mrs Doust said she trusted the nation would never forget the names on the Honor Roll. The Honor Roll still hangs in the same position in the former Road Board Office, which is now home to the Esperance branch of the Returned Servicemen’s League.
Inside the Bijou Hall (the Bijou Theatre), Horticultural and Floracultural Society show, circa 1900
Esperance Museum ELH-P624
Construction of the Esperance War Memorial, circa 1925.
(L) Tom Giles, (R) Bruce Baker Esperance Museum ELH-P1625
By March 1922, a Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Fund had been established, and fundraising was already underway. A committee, which included the mothers of several of the men who had died, was established to decide what form the Memorial would take. By the end of 1923 the committee had chosen a design by Messrs Baker and Matthews, of Perth, which would be built with Donnybrook freestone. The Memorial was built in 1925 close to the Esperance Fire Station, not far from the Road Board Office (now the RSL building).
In 1974 the War Memorial was moved to its current position further east along Dempster Street. Along with the RSL building and the Norfolk pines that surround them, it has now been placed on the State Heritage Register.
Many of the returned servicemen did not settle back in Esperance. Some successfully applied for land in other areas of the state, while others when prospecting in the Goldfields or took jobs wherever they could find them.
On 10th February 1933, a charter was granted to establish a sub-branch of the RSL in Esperance. They took on the care and maintenance of the War Memorial, as well as being actively involved in community affairs. Two of the most active members of the RSL at the time were Gerry Probert, who had served in the war with the 28th Battalion AIF, and Merv Cartledge, of the 16th Battalion AIF.
In 1949 a memorial tablet was added to commemorate the local men who died in the Second World War, many of whom have family in the district today.
Moving the War Memorial to the current location, 1974 Esperance Museum ELH-P4174
The War Memorial and RSL building on the far right, 2025
Signing Up
Meeting the Standards
At the beginning of the war in August 1914, army recruits had to be aged between 19 and 38 years and they had to be a minimum of 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) tall.
As the war dragged on, the enlistment standards were eased to allow more men to sign up. During the first year, about a third of men who tried to enlist were turned away. Many of these men were able to successfully enlist later in the war.
In June 1915 the age range and minimum height requirements were changed to between 18 and 45 years and 5 ft 2in (157 cm). In April 1917 the height was lowered again to 5 feet (152cm).
Those who were aged between 18 and 21 years of age needed their parents’ consent to enlist.
The ages of the Esperance recruits ranged from 17 to almost 43 years. At least nine of them altered their ages at enlistment – mostly because they were too young, but it appears to be common for men who have previously been discharged medically unfit to make a few changes to their details when they enlisted again.
The tallest recruit on the Esperance Honor Roll was Felix Moran, who was an impressive 6 ft 8 inches. The shortest was Bill Jones at 5 ft 2 inches. The average height of all the local recruits was 5 ft 6 inches.
Casualties
Of the 75 men whose names are on the Honor Board, twenty died during their service.
Only three of the men who served overseas returned home without officially being wounded or ill. This doesn’t mean they were never sick or injured, only that it wasn’t considered serious enough for them to receive treatment or for the incident to be recorded. The mental scars can only be speculated at – so many of those who returned never spoke of the war. In one instance, in conversation
with the granddaughter of one of the servicemen, it emerged that while she knew her grandfather had served she had no idea that he had lost a brother to the war.
When a recruit died during their service, the contents of their kit were sent to their next of kin. Unfortunately, these didn’t always make it home with some being stolen on the way and others not being sent at all. In fact, of the 20 Esperance men who died, six of their families never received their possessions. It is also interesting to note the difference between the contents of the kits of the officers and the lower ranks - the former containing ‘luxury’ items such as pyjamas, socks, mittens, gloves and underpants to name a few, while the latter generally contained the basic necessities, photos, and the odd souvenir.
In 1920, it was decided that all next-of-kin of all Australian servicemen and women whose deaths were attributed to the war would receive a memorial plaque and scroll as a memento, and to comfort them.
The plaques, also known as a ‘Dead Man’s Penny’, were produced at the Memorial Plaque Factory in Acton, London, or the Woolwich Arsenal in Greater London. The plaque had the name of the deceased, with no rank or honours given, to show that the sacrifice of all those who had died was equal.
In Australia, many of the memorial scrolls were sent out to families first, in 1921, and the first plaques were sent in 1922.
Illnesses
The most common illnesses were respiratory. One Esperance man, Frank Dunn, was hospitalised with broncho-pneumonia on his arrival in England from Australia in January 1917. After 8 months in England he was invalided home without having been to the field. Ernie Eggeling arrived in England in March 1917. He was hospitalised shortly afterwards, and died on 5 May of broncho-pneumonia and measles. Jack Orr, who had signed up and sailed with Ernie, contracted measles at the same time but survived the illness - only to be killed in action 5 months later.
While not a crime, venereal disease was certainly treated as one, at least early in the war - the sufferer’s pay was docked for the amount of time they were off duty. This was because VD was seen as being self-inflicted and it meant a loss of trained servicemen for the six-week period that treatment usually took. Medical staff also felt that they were being drawn away from more essential duties such as treating the wounded and those suffering from other infectious diseases.
It is believed that one in seven Australian soldiers contracted venereal disease during the First World War. Almost as soon as Australian troops arrived at Egypt to train for the Gallipoli campaign, men were being admitted to hospital with VD. Once the troops arrived in Europe, most of their infections occurred while they were on leave in England.
Ten Esperance men were treated for venereal disease while serving in the war. While two of them were older and married before they left Australia, it is fair to assume that the others, who averaged 21 years of age, had sought experiences that weren’t available to them in the isolated region around Esperance Bay. Recruits were warned about the risks of associating with prostitutes but far away from home, and caught up having fun with their mates on leave, it’s easy to understand how the infections occurred.
On the following page is an explanation of some of the ailments suffered by Esperance recruits.
Medical Glossary
Blepharitis: Inflammation of the eyelids.
Catarrhal enteritis: Inflammation of the intestines.
Cerebrospinal meningitis: An infection, often epidemic and sometimes fatal infection in the brain and spinal cord. It can be bacterial or viral.
Enteric fever: Typhoid fever.
Furunculosis: Boils.
Myalgia: Chronic and/or severe muscle pain, possibly caused by infections, poor nutrition, and often the symptom of something else, such as trench fever.
Orchitis: Inflammation of one or both of the testicles.
Pleurisy: Inflammation of the pleura (the membrane that lines each half of the thorax and is folded back over the surface of the lung). It is characterised by sudden onset, painful and difficult breathing, and fluid leaking into the pleural cavity (a fluid filled space surrounding the lungs).
Phthisis: Any wasting disease. Commonly associated with pulmonary tuberculosis.
Pyrexia: Fever.
Quinsy: An abscess on or around a tonsil.
Rheumatism: Generic term to describe pain of unknown origin, affecting the connective and muscular tissues and joints.
Scabies: A highly contagious, itchy skin infection, caused by Sarcoptes scabiei, an itch mite which burrows into the skin.
Shell shock: Now recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms ranged from fatigue, irritability, headaches and lack of concentration to facial tics, diarrhoea, hysteria or catatonia.
Syphilis: An infectious venereal disease. At the time of the First World War, successful treatment was still in its early stages, and 10% of cases were expected to die as a result of the disease within 40 years of infection.
Trench fever: Fever passed on by Bartonella quintana (Rochalimaea quintana or Rickettsia quintana), found in the stomach walls of body lice.
Trench foot: Caused by prolonged exposure to wet and unsanitary conditions. The sufferer’s feet would become numb, turn red and swell, often developing blisters and open sores. If left untreated trench foot usually resulted in gangrene, which required amputation. In an attempt to minimise trench foot soldiers were paired together, each soldier responsible for his partner’s feet, ensuring that wet socks were removed at the end of each day and dried.
Typhoid fever: A life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium salmonella typhi. Usually spread through contaminated food or water. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation or diarrhoea.
Recovering, (L) Unknown, (R) James B Orr.
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
Excerpt from the service record of Joseph Irvine [Doak]
Source NAA: B2455, IRVINE JOSEPH
Crimes
Twenty-seven of the Esperance recruits were charged with a total of 48 crimes during the war. The most common, with 30 instances, was being Absent Without Leave (AWL), followed by disobedience, with 8 cases. Being absent without leave could entail deliberately leaving camp without permission and staying away for days, or simply being late returning from leave. Disobedience could range from deliberately refusing to obey an order to forgetting to bring your kit to parade.
During the war, the British Army executed just over 300 allied soldiers. The only crimes that could bring this punishment were mutiny, desertion to the enemy and providing the enemy with information or correspondence. The Australian Army did not execute any of its’ soldiers.
The most common punishment appears to have been the forfeiture of their pay, but occasionally they were confined to barracks, given extra fatigue (meaning extra physical duties above the normal requirements) or sentenced to Field Punishment No 1 or 2.
Field Punishment No 1 involved heavy labour, while possibly being restrained in handcuffs or fetters and being chained to a post or wheel. No 2 was the same, but without being chained to a fixed object.
Occurrences of crime appear to rise in numbers during periods of increased activity at the front. It seemed that heavy fighting, and all those things associated with it (lack of sleep, extreme discomfort, pain, the loss of comrades and the risk of death) may have led the men to behave more recklessly than usual.
Opening of the Bijou Theatre, 1896
Source State Library of Western Australia slwa_b_2511912_1
The Servicemen
The Esperance Honor Board displays the names of seventy-five young men. Five of those, who enlisted in 1918 did not serve overseas. There were other Esperance locals who applied to enlist in the war but for various reasons were refused.
Relationships
Of the seventy-five men, there were twenty sets of brothers, one pair of halfbrothers and two sets of cousins.
From their diaries, correspondence, newspaper articles and service records we can see that most of the men who enlisted from Esperance would have known each other – Esperance being the small farming community that it was. A number of the men went to school together, others worked for or with each other. Many received combined farewells when they left for the war and were welcomed home together on their return.
In time, many of the men became related through marriage – their own, or members of their family.
A diagram of some of these relationships can be seen on the following page. This is one of several examples of the way local families became connected to each other. This particular diagram shows us how 20 Esperance servicemen wound up in the same family tree. The servicemen are highlighted.
Local Family Relationships Servicemen
Laurence & Margaret SINCLAIR
• Edith
• Jessie
• Ernest • Julia
• Mary
• Ethel
• Leslie
• Laurence
Siblings
James & Margaret SINCLAIR
• Malcolm
• Olaf
John & Margaret COOK
• Wilfred
• Alex
• Harry
• Max
• Malcolm
• Cecilia
• Charles
• Jessie
• Margaret
• Philip
• Lindsay
• Ethel
John & Jane TAYLOR
William
Maria
Lucy
John
Sydney
James & Alice JONES • Harry
Bert
Letty
Bill
Alice
Elsie
Roy
Jim
David & Mary
EVANS
Jack
William David
Elizabeth
Ellen
George
Fred
Frank
Harry Ernest
John & Isabella
WOOD
• Ethel
• Harold
• Minnie
• Alex
• Frank
• Nellie
Andrew & Mary Ann DUNN
• Tom
• Grace
• Bill
• Katie
• Maryann
• Jim
• Frank
• George
• Ernie
• Harry
• Rosie
• Charlie
• Sydney
James & Annie LEWIS
• Eleanor
• Margaret (Sharpe)
• Jim
• Daisy (Walker)
• Percy • Charles • Lydia
• Archie
Michael & Josephine
HEENAN
• Neville
Mary
Ierne
Eric
Esmond
Kevin
Doreen
James & Lilias TOWNSEND
• Jessie (McKenna)
• William
Frank
Doug
Harry
Henry & Sara
JENKINS
• Harry
Gladys
Norman
Madge
Essie • Sadie
Thomas
Ned
Gwen
ASHTON, John William
Service Number 511
Birth 1879, South Australia*
Next of Kin J G Carter, Esperance Bay (Stepfather)
Enlistment
20 August 1914, Kalgoorlie, WA
Age at enlistment 36
Description
Occupation
Embarkation
Height: 5’ 6“
Weight: 138lb
Chest: 36 / 38“
Battery Hand
Hair: Red
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
2 Nov 1914, HMAT Ascanius A11, Fremantle
Rank Private / Sergeant Unit 11th Battalion
Served at Gallipoli, Egypt, Europe
Returned to Australia
28 September 1918 per Carpentaria
*1879 according to the SA BDM indexes. In 1941 in a letter of evidence Ashton claims to have been born on 16 August 1873.
ELH-P-Daw
(L) Frank Ball, (C) Keith Daw, (R) John Ashton Esperance Museum
John Ashton (Jack) was the first child of William and Charlotte Ashton. Jack’s father William had died in the early 1890’s, and his mother married Joshua George Carter in 1893. By the turn of the century Jack had moved to Western Australia with his mother, stepfather and brother William. Joshua Carter took up land in the Myrup area, west of what is now Hicks Road. He named the property Federal Farm.
Charlotte Carter died in Esperance on the 2nd of December 1920 aged 63 years and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery.
Following Charlotte’s death, Joshua Carter put Federal Farm up for sale and returned to South Australia where he remarried. He died in Moonta, SA, in 1935.
At the time of his enlistment, Jack was working at Hannan’s Central Battery in Kalgoorlie. Prior to this, he had spent some time working on the Trans Australian Railway, which began construction began in 1912.
After serving in Egypt, with the 11th Battalion, Jack embarked for Gallipoli and took part in the Gallipoli landings on the 25th of April 1915. He served on the Gallipoli Peninsular until late August when he contracted influenza and was evacuated to hospital in Lemnos and then England. He returned to his unit in Egypt in February 1916.
In April 1916, Jack arrived in France with his unit, and on the 20th of May that year he was appointed Lance Corporal.
In March 1917, Jack Ashton was sentenced to ten days Field Punishment No 2 (see page 13) for being AWL – he was also forfeited 47 days’ pay. In January 1918 he was appointed Sergeant.
During his service Jack spent at least ten months in hospital for various reasons, including a gunshot wound, shell shock, myalgia, trench fever and rheumatism, which eventually led to him being medically discharged and returning to Australia in 1918.
After his return, he was welcomed home by his workmates at the Hannan’s Central Battery in Kalgoorlie.
Kalgoorlie Miner, Saturday 5 October 1918
Soldiers Welcome Home — Yesterday afternoon at the Hannan’s Central battery a welcome home was tendered, to Sergeant Jack Ashton by his former work mates, and he was presented with a beautiful gold watch from Mr. Cavalier, and a gold chain from the men. Mr. W. Crow, in making the presentation, eulogised the sergeant as a soldier, and spoke of the high esteem in which he was held by his work mates. Mr. Truman and Mr. Cavalier supported his remarks. Sergeant Ashton
Section of map - Esperance to Lake Gore, east to Stockyard Creek, north to Fleming Grove.
Highlighted Myrup AA Lot 9 Esperance Museum ELH-M1d
suitably replied and his health was then drunk. The guest, who has just returned suffering from rheumatism, left Australia with the original 11th Battalion, and was in the landing at Gallipoli. He remained there until the evacuation, and later fought in France. He also had the unenviable experience of being on a torpedo transport returning home.
In 1919 Jack Ashton applied for a block of land at Myrup under the Soldier Settlement Scheme. He was successful but because of his rheumatism he was only deemed fit for a small or an improved holding, and not for heavy labour.
He purchased Myrup AA Lot 9. The farm, which was already cleared had a small house and stable and was close to his mother and stepfather’s property. However, due to his inability to undertake heavy labour, and perhaps also because his mother and stepfather were no longer nearby, Jack left the farm in 1923, and in June of that year it was up for sale.
During the late 1920’s he was working as a horse-driver and ganger on the construction of the Norseman – Salmon Gums railway. He also spent time prospecting and undertaking temporary work in the Goldfields into the 1930’s.
He travelled to Perth in 1941, intending to volunteer at the Garrison Battalion, but he was rejected as unfit.
After this Jack became the licensee of the Mt Lawley Billiard Hall, at 6 Grosvenor Rd, Mt Lawley. He held the license for 2 years before transferring it to his friend Syd Ellis on the 13th of August 1943.
A short time later, on the 31st of August 1943, at the age of 70, Jack Ashton died from a carcinoma of the stomach, and asthenia. He was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.
BAKER, William Leslie
Service Number
10857
Birth 1890, Mt Korong, Victoria (WAGR card says 5.10.91)
Embarkation 5 January 1916, HMAT Afric A19, Melbourne
Rank Private
Unit
6th Battery, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Served at France
Returned to Australia 6 October 1919, per Paheka
William Leslie Baker (Les) was the fourth child born to William Edward Johnson (Bill) and Sarah Jane Baker.
The Bakers moved to Western Australia from Victoria in the late 1890’s and settled in Norseman, where Bill had mining interests. At the beginning of January 1903, the Bakers’ house burned down with all their possessions. Sarah sustained burns to her arms while trying to save some of their belongings. Only six months later, Sarah died suddenly of a haemorrhage.
In 1912 Bill Baker purchased farming land near Scaddan, which he sold in 1919 when he purchased land at Dalyup. He married again that year, to a Dalyup girl, Esther ‘Lulu’ Rowse. (Lulu married Henry Eggeling after Bill Baker died and she became well known and liked in the Esperance community).
In his youth, Les Baker was a competent cyclist, taking part in races in Norseman. In 1909 he applied for a miner’s homestead lease of 20 acres on the boundary of the Norseman town site but was not successful.
On the 6th of May 1915 Les married Grace Davey in Esperance.
At the time of his enlistment, Les was living in Esperance and employed as a labourer. He was sent to Victoria for training before embarking from Melbourne in January 1916, arriving in Cairo, Egypt, on the 10th of February.
In March Les was hospitalised with tonsillitis, re-joining his unit after six days. The unit left Egypt later that month, arriving in France on the 2nd of April. During that month Les was awarded 14 days Field Punishment No 2 for disobeying orders and insubordination to a Non-Commissioned Officer.
In July Les was awarded five days confinement to barracks for drunkenness while on active duty, and in December he again received Field Punishment No 2, this time for only 7 days, after being AWL for 22 hours.
Prior to his return to Australia, he was given three months’ leave to attend a wool classing course in Scotland.
When he eventually returned, Les was welcomed home by Esperance residents with a social at the Bijou on the 29th of May 1919. His wife Grace had given birth to their first child, a boy, in 1916 while Les was overseas. After the war the couple had two more children - another son and a daughter.
In 1920, Les and his brother Frank applied for land under the Soldier’s Settlement Scheme, and were successful – purchasing Preston AA, Lots 280, 55, 66, near Brookhampton, WA. By 1923 they had left the property and it was up for sale.
During the rest of the 1920’s, Les worked for the WA Government Railways in the Tramways Branch, until his resignation in 1929. In the 1930’s Les and his brother Bruce met with a former neighbour from Dalyup, John Forrest,
Baker’s Western Australian Government Railways employment card
Source State Records Office Cons 2293
who introduced them to water-boring, and financed their first boring rig. The brothers left their families in Perth and headed to the northern pastoral areas, sinking bores. In 1936 Les was based at Carnarvon, and Grace and the children joined him there. Shortly afterwards, Grace won £3000 on a horse race. They hosted a party to celebrate, and Grace bought a tea and coffee house in Carnarvon.
In 1937 Les was elected to the Carnarvon Municipal Council, serving until mid-1939. He sold his water boring plant shortly after being elected. In 1940 Grace sold her café and the family moved to Geraldton. By 1943 the Bakers had returned to Perth.
William Leslie Baker died in Perth on the 24th of May 1967, aged 77. His ashes were scattered in Karrakatta Cemetery. His wife Grace died on the 3rd of March 1971, and her ashes were also scattered at Karrakatta.
BAKER, Francis Robert
Service Number
2717 / 2344
Birth 15 November 1896, Wedderburn, Victoria
Next of Kin
William Edward Baker (father), Esperance
Enlistment 19 June 1915, Albany
Age at enlistment 18 years, 6 months
Description Height: 5’ 6 ¾“
Weight: 147lb
Chest: 34 / 37“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Yellowish
Complexion: Medium
25 June 1915, HMAT Karoola A63, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
11th Battalion / 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Served at Gallipoli, France
Returned to Australia 28 February 1919 per Anchises
Francis Baker - Western Mail, 10 March 1916, pg30
Source TROVE
Francis Robert Baker (Frank) was the fifth surviving child born to Bill and Sarah Baker. He travelled to Albany to enlist along with another Esperance recruit, Felix Moran.
He arrived at Gallipoli as part of the 11th Battalion, 7th Reinforcements in August 1915, and served there until the evacuation that December.
In March 1916, Frank was transferred to the Division Artillery Company and allotted the new service number 2717. He was then transferred to the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, where he was appointed as a driver.
After his return to Australia, he was welcomed home with fellow serviceman Keith Daw, at a social held at the Bijou in Esperance, in June 1919.
In 1920 Frank and his brother Les applied for land under the Soldier’s Settlement Scheme, and were successful – purchasing Preston AA, Lots 280, 55, 66, near Brookhampton, WA.
By 1923 they had left the property and it was up for sale. After this Frank moved to South Australia. In 1929 he married Doris Breen in Adelaide. They had at least one child.
In May 1941, Frank enlisted for service in World War 2, serving as a recruiting sergeant in the Citizens Military Force and was discharged on the 1st of October 1948.
He died in Adelaide on the 7th of January 1955, aged 58, and was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery, Adelaide.
BASEDEN, Frederick Ernest
Service Number 5346
Birth 1889, Queensland
Next of Kin
Father: Frederick Baseden, Ravensthorpe
Enlistment 24 January 1916, Perth
Age at enlistment 26 years, 4 months
Description
Height: 5’ 7 ½“
Weight: 155lb
Chest: 36 - 38“
Occupation Miner
Embarkation
Hair: Black
Eyes: Hazel
Complexion: Dark
17 April 1916, HMAT Aeneas A60, Fremantle
Rank Sergeant
Unit 11th Battalion AIF
Served at France
Returned to Australia 8 July 1919, per Somali
Baseden outing to Murchison River, 1938-39. (L) Unknown, (C) Fred Baseden, (R) Unknown Supplied by Melony Hyde
Frederick Ernest Baseden was the second child of Frederick Baseden and Elizabeth Baseden. The family, originally from Queensland but recently from South Australia, had arrived in Esperance during the late 1890’s. Fred Snr worked as a painter, builder and sign writer. They had a store in Dempster St, Esperance, and also spent some time living and working in Ravensthorpe. Fred Snr and his son Frank also worked occasionally as shearers, while Elizabeth was generally undertaking home duties – although during the 1920’s she was a nurse in Esperance, possibly at the local hospital.
By the time of his enlistment Frederick Ernest Baseden was living in Northam and was self-employed as a painter. He left Fremantle on the 17th of April 1916 on the HMAT Aeneas. He arrived in England on the 9th of August 1916 and joined his unit in France on the 22nd of August. On the 3rd of March 1918, he was hospitalised with scabies, re-joining his battalion 10 days later. On the 5th of December 1918, Fred was appointed Lance Corporal. On the 11th of July 1919, he was mentioned in Despatches in the “London Gazette”.
After the war Fred followed in his father’s footsteps and started up his own painting business in Northam, WA. He remained in Northam until the 1950’s when he moved to Perth and continued his occupation as a painter.
In 1957 Fred Baseden married Emma Maude Hyde in Perth, but they had no children. Emma died on the 4th of August 1958 in Perth and Fred died from cardiac failure in Hollywood Hospital in Perth on the 13th of September 1971. They are both buried at the Midland Cemetery.
BASEDEN, Jack
Service Number 7096
Birth 1898, Esperance
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Father: Frederick Baseden, Ravensthorpe
28 August 1916, Perth
Age at enlistment 18 years, 7 months
Description
Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 140 lb
Chest: 31 - 34”
Occupation Butcher
Embarkation
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Fresh
23 December 1916, HMAT Berrima A35, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
16th Battalion AIF
Served at France
Returned to Australia
22 January 1919, per City of Exeter
Jack Baseden
Supplied by Melony Hyde
Jack Baseden was the fifth child of Frederick and Elizabeth Baseden. At the time of his enlistment, he was working as a butcher in Ravensthorpe, where his parents were also residing.
Jack departed Fremantle on the HMAT Berrima on the 23rd of December 1916. Also on the ship were three other Esperance recruits – Jim and Bill Dunn and Keith Daw. Jack arrived in England on the 24th of February 1917, joining his unit in France on the 17th of June that year.
On the 19th of December 1917, Jack was detached to the 4th Australian Division Power Buzzer School, re-joining his unit on the 3rd of January 1918. In February 1918 he attended the 4th Division Signalling School.
On the 8th of August 1918 he was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his right hand. He was then evacuated to England, where he was treated in several hospitals. In December 1918, while at Sutton Veny, Jack was court martialled for being AWL from the 21st of November until the 5th of December. He was forfeited 34 days’ pay.
After the war, Jack moved to Northam, where he set up as a butcher with his brother Frank and wife Eleanor (nee Love), whom he had married in Perth in 1921.
During the 1930’s and 40’s, Jack worked as a butcher in Toodyay, Youanmi and Boulder, as well as moving to Geraldton for a short time for a brief stint as a fisherman. By 1954 Jack and Eleanor were living in Maylands.
Jack died on the 4th of July 1974 and is memorialised at Karrakatta Cemetery.
BLAKE, Robert Henry
Service Number 6052
Birth 9 June 1880, Wentworth, NSW
Next of Kin
Father: Andrew James Blake, C/o Mrs George Randell, Mundijong, WA
Enlistment 15 February 1916, Albany, WA
Age at enlistment 35 years 6 months
Description Height: 5’ 5 ½”
Weight: 123 lb
Chest: 32½-34½“
Occupation Grocer’s assistant
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Medium
Embarkation 9 Nov 1916, HMAT Argyllshire A8, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 28th Battalion
Served at France, Belgium
Returned to Australia 24 July 1919, H T Ormonde
Robert Blake
Esperance Museum ELH-P852
Robert Henry (Bob) Blake was the second child of Andrew and Elizabeth Blake.
Andrew Blake was a coach driver for Cobb & Co in the Wentworth district in New South Wales. His wife Elizabeth died in 1890 and in 1896 he moved his young family to Western Australia. He soon took on the mail run between Esperance and Norseman, until he retired in 1908.
In the early 1900’s when the family lived in Norseman, Bob Blake was a jockey and like his father, he also drove the mail coach between Norseman and Esperance.
At the time of his enlistment, Bob was a grocer’s assistant in Esperance. He had a sweetheart in town, a school teacher named Jane (also known as Jean) Gibson. The daughter of a local teamster, Jane was adored by her pupils, and one of them later wrote about how excited all the girls were for Miss Gibson’s fiancé to come back from the war and “claim her”.
Bob left Fremantle on the 9th of November 1916 on the HMAT Argyllshire, disembarking at Devonport, England on the 10th of January 1917. In March, he contracted mumps and was hospitalised for just over two weeks. On the 25th of April he left England for France and on the 2nd of May he joined the 28th Battalion in the field.
In August 1917 he was again hospitalised, this time with myalgia. He returned again to his unit, and served in France until April 1919, when he embarked for Australia with his brother Jack on the Ormonde. He was welcomed back to Esperance with another recruit, Richard Joyce McCarthy, by a large gathering of locals in the Bijou.
Bob Blake and Jane Gibson were married on the 3rd of May 1920 in Esperance. Bob’s best man was Bill Dunn, another local serviceman. The same year, Bob and Bill applied jointly for assistance from the Soldier Settlement Scheme to purchase several leases west of Esperance from Charles Edward Dempster. The application was denied, as the buildings were considered to be too scattered for economical working, the poisonous plants in the area would be a menace to stock, and the price Mr Dempster had put on the property was too excessive. They did however, take up property on the Oldfield River named Nairnup, as well as land on the Munglinup River. Their main farming enterprise was wool, which was transported to Starvation Bay with horses and wagons, then rowed out on small boats to meet the SS Kybra or Eucla.
Sadly, on the 8th of August 1929 Jane died at the age of 43 in Wickepin.
Robert Blake with racehorse Esperance Museum ELH-P868
Brooch on display at the Esperance Museum, sent from Robert to Jean Gibson.
Albany Advertiser Saturday 17 August 1929
Mrs. B. Blake passed away in the Wickepin hospital on August 8, after an operation. Ravensthorpe thus lost a valuable resident. With her husband she lived her life away from the centres of civilisation, at Naernup Station, 40 miles east of Ravensthorpe, on the Esperance Road. Mrs. Blake was noted for her hospitality to travellers on that lonely track.
Bob and Jane had no children, and he never remarried. He stayed on at Nairnup for many years with Bill Dunn, who also remained unmarried. Bob retained an interest in horse racing and he was remembered by friends and acquaintances as a good-natured man.
Bob died on the 1st of September 1960. He is memorialised in the Crematorium Rose Gardens at Karrakatta Cemetery, in Perth.
Nairnup is now held by descendants of the family of Jane Blake (nee Gibson).
BLAKE, Percy James
Service Number 4680
Birth 24 December 1884, Wentworth NSW
Next of Kin
Father: Mr A Blake, Mundijong
Enlistment 15 February 1916, Norseman
Age at enlistment 30
Description Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 154lb
Chest: 34 - 36”
Occupation Storekeeper
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
Embarkation 17 April 1916, HMAT Aeneas A60, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
28th Battalion AIF
Served at France, Belgium
Returned to Australia 8 July 1919 per HT Somali
Western Mail, undated Supplied by Wickepin History Group
Percy Blake was the fourth child of Andrew and Elizabeth Blake. Like his brother Bob, he spent some time as a jockey while the family were living in Norseman. Percy worked as a grocer’s assistant for Jerry Donovan and was an active community member.
He performed the duties of Master of Ceremonies at the Norseman Fire Brigade Ball in 1907, played in the Dundas football team and he was involved in the Norseman Turf Club. By 1913 Percy had moved to Esperance, where he again performed the role of MC, this time at the local Bachelors’ Ball at the Bijou.
In 1914 he was highly praised for his role in attempting to save two horses. Two men had been carting salt, and they had taken their horses and drays into the sea near the town jetty to wash the drays. The surf was too strong, and while the two men got back to shore, the horses were taken into the deeper water. Percy swam out and cut away the harnesses and the horses were brought back to shore, but only one survived.
At the time of his enlistment in early 1916, Percy Blake had a store on Andrew Street, Esperance, which he advertised for sale in the local newspapers. He was also an active member of the Esperance Rifle Club, and when he left to serve in the war, he was tendered a farewell at the home of the Captain, Benjamin Peek, as well as another send off at the Bijou.
Percy left Fremantle on board the HMAT Aeneas on the 17th of April 1916 –another Esperance recruit, Fred Baseden, was on the same ship. He joined his unit in France on the 28th of October 1916.
In November Percy was reported missing for two days but re-joined his unit apparently unwounded. Later that month Percy was hospitalised with pneumonia and was evacuated to England in December. In April 1917, when it seemed he was almost ready to return to the front, Percy contracted mumps. He didn’t return to his unit in France until the 14th of October 1917. Like his brother, Percy remained in France until April 1919, when he sailed for England to return to Australia. Although he arrived at Sutton Verney on the same day as Bob, Percy didn’t embark for Australia until June, on the Somali.
Percy arrived back in Esperance in July 1919. On the 28th of that month, along with several other Norseman and Esperance recruits, he was welcomed back to Norseman with a social at Norseman’s Criterion Theatre. Two days later the men were treated to a ‘smoke afternoon’ at the Norseman Croquet Club. Only a week later Percy was given yet another ‘Welcome Home’ – this occasion being a social at the Bijou in Esperance, along with Fred Baseden, George Doust, Jim Jones and Doug Townsend.
Kalgoorlie Miner, 1 February 1916, pg2
Source TROVE
Main street Wickepin
Supplied by Wickepin History Group
At the end of 1919 Percy bought a store in Wickepin, WA - The Wickepin Trading and Agency Co - where he sold ‘Grocery, Ironmongery, Drapery, Boots and Shoes, Patent Medicines and Produce of All Kinds’. Once again Percy became a dedicated community member, being involved in the local Agricultural Society as well as numerous sporting clubs. In 1926 he was one of two businessmen to erect a petrol pump outside his store.
On the 14th of March 1923 Percy married Ruby McKenzie at Harrismith, WA. They had one child, a daughter, in 1925.
In 1929 Percy sold the store in Wickepin but the Blakes remained in the town until 1934, when they moved to Victoria Park.
During the 1930’s Percy had interests in several mining leases in the Yilgarn region of WA, and in 1935 he was one of the directors of a new company, Hill End Gold Mines. He retained gold mining interests for many years.
On the 20th of March 1942 Percy enlisted for the Second World War. At that time, he was a director of the Coolgardie Brilliant Gold Mining Company, and was residing in Victoria Park.
He served as a Corporal and his last unit before discharge was the Divisional Records Office.
In 1942 the ‘Austerity Campaign’ was launched by the Australian Government (the idea being to encourage people to go without luxury or unnecessary items in order to save money, so that their savings could be utilised by the Government to keep the economy afloat. The war was estimated to be costing Australia £50 000 an hour). An ‘Austerity Loan’ was also set up, so that people could ‘lend’ money to the Australian Government.
Percy Blake, who was described in The Daily News on 28th November 1942 as an ‘unpretentious figure’ and who said “I think it is up to us all to help as much as we can,” donated £1000 to the Austerity Loan. A few months earlier he had paid £500 to the Liberty Loan, a similar fund, whereby the person paying the money received bonds which would mature after the war. This was at a time when the average annual Australian male salary was around £300.
Percy died on the 5th of January 1961 in Perth at the age of 76 and is memorialised at Karrakatta Cemetery. His wife Ruby died on the 11th of November 1981 aged 86 and shares Percy’s memorial.
CAVANAGH, Gordon James
Service Number 938
Birth
Next of Kin
Enlistment
30 June 1895, Hindmarsh, SA
Mother: Charlotte Cavanagh, 12 May St, Subiaco
13 January 1915, Perth, WA
Age at enlistment 19 years, 6 months
Description Height: 5’ 9 ½“
Weight: 154lb
Chest: 35½ - 37¾“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Red
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
26 April 1915, HMAT Hororata A20, Fremantle
Rank Gunner
Unit
10th Light Horse Brigade
Served at Gallipoli, Egypt, Europe
Returned to Australia 7 April 1919 per Anchises
Gordon Cavanagh
Supplied by Nancy and Trevor Phillips
Gordon Cavanagh was the third child of James and Charlotte Louisa Cavanagh.
The Cavanaghs arrived in Norseman from South Australia in 1896. James Cavanagh worked as a labourer and a clerk, and for some time in the early 1900’s the family ran the Grace Darling Hotel in Esperance as a boarding house. By the time their sons enlisted in the war, Charlotte had moved to Subiaco, while James was still in the Esperance district.
When Gordon was only 10 years old, he went droving sheep to Balbinia Station, owned by the Brooks family east of Esperance. He did this for several years, pushing sheep between Norseman, Southern Hills Station and Balladonia. By 1911 he was working at a mine near Ravensthorpe, before returning to Esperance to work at the McCarthy’s Standard Salt Company.
When he enlisted in January 1915, Gordon was a labourer, possibly still working for the McCarthy family. After undergoing training at Blackboy Hill, he left Fremantle with the 10th Light Horse for Egypt on the 26th of April 1915, the day after Australian and New Zealand troops had landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Gordon arrived at Gallipoli on the 13th of July 1915. On the 31st of July he was hospitalised with bronchitis, not returning to duty until the 17th of September. While this was unfortunate for Gordon, it may have saved his life – he was not present when his unit charged at The Nek on the 7th of August, where so many men were killed.
On the 28th of September he was in hospital again, this time with diarrhoea. He re-joined his unit on the 4th of October.
On the 17th of January 1916 while in Egypt, he was again hospitalised with bronchitis, returning to duty once again on the 8th of February.
In April 1916 Gordon was transferred from the 10th Light Horse to the 4th Division Artillery Brigade and sent to France.
On the 1st of February 1917, whilst on furlough in England, he was hospitalised with laryngitis. He also caught measles, returning to his unit in France on the 16th of March.
On the 20th of November 1917 he was presented with the Military Medal for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty”. When his granddaughter Maureen asked about this occasion Gordon said “I was just doing what needed to be done”.
Gordon returned to Australia in 1919 on board the Anchises, along with two other locals – Neville Heenan and Jim Doust. A reception was held by the Esperance District Roads Board at the Roads Board office on the 12th of
Supplied by Maureen Webster
Wedding notice, Sunday Times, 16 August 1925
Source TROVE
L) Gordon Cavanagh, (R) Robert Cavanagh
May 1919 for Gordon Cavanagh, Alex Wood and Neville Heenan. They were also given a public welcome the following night at the Bijou, which was a less formal event with music and dancing and attended by many of the Esperance people.
Soon after his homecoming Gordon went to Kalgoorlie where he worked underground for two years. In later life, Gordon claimed he had been nicknamed the ‘Two Year Man’, as he held many jobs but stayed with them for only two years.
In 1924 Gordon took up land at Warralakin, near Burracoppin, WA, close to his brother Mel. In October that year it was reported that he had bought a Brockway truck with a 1 ton trailer. By the following July, according to an article in the Westralian Worker newspaper, that truck had already covered 30,000 miles, and carted 15,000 bags of wheat, 300 tons of super, and about 20 houses weighing 8 tons each. As well as the carting business, the truck was also used to cart the local footballers to their game every Sunday.
On the 15th of July 1925 Gordon married Mary ‘Daisy’ Wall in Perth. He took her to live with him on the farm near Burracoppin, and on the 1st of August she was thrown a surprise party to welcome her to the district. The couple had four children – sadly the youngest child, Gladys, died of meningitis when she was only two years old. Gordon took up a conditional purchase block at Campion, east of Merredin. After several difficult years, they moved to Perth. They later farmed at Burracoppin and Cuballing, where they stayed until retiring to Subiaco.
Gordon remained connected to Esperance, and in 1953 when the family were still living at Cuballing, they visited Esperance for a holiday.
Gordon’s wife Daisy died on the 12th of July 1970 in Perth and is buried at Karrakatta. Gordon married again to Nellie Beals on the 5th of May 1971. He died on the 15th of August 1978 in Perth and was buried with his first wife Daisy at Karrakatta.
When asked by his granddaughter Maureen why he enlisted, Gordon replied that he “thought it would be a bit of fun and a way to travel and see the world.”
CAVANAGH, Robert Ashton
Service Number 2796
Birth 1898, Norseman, WA
Next of Kin
Mother: Mrs C Cavanagh, Subiaco (originally father James Cavanagh, but changed upon James’ death)
Enlistment 5 July 1915, Perth
Age at enlistment Approximately 17 years. (Attestation says 18yrs 6 months)
Description
Occupation
Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 127 lb
Chest: 33 - 35“
Grocer
Hair: Black
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Dark
Embarkation 5 Oct 1915, HMAT Hororata A20, Fremantle
Rank Private
Unit
51st Battalion AIF
Served at Egypt, France
Fate Killed in Action at Mouquet Farm, Pozieres, France. 3 September 1916
Memorial Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, VillersBretonneux, Picardie, France
Robert Cavanagh Supplied by Maureen Webster
Robert Ashton (Bob) Cavanagh was born at Norseman in 1898, the fourth child of James and Charlotte Cavanagh.
As a child, he attended the Esperance Primary School along with others who also later enlisted, and he also spent time fishing with a local fisherman, Peter Carpatus. According to Richard J McCarthy, Carpatus would say “The Bob, the Roy and the Pudden Dix, the bloody good fishers” (meaning Bob Cavanagh, Roy Jones and George Dickinson, who was also killed in action).
In 1913 Bob was employed by the Anderson family on their farm at Scaddan.
At the time of his enlistment, Bob, who was then working as a grocer, claimed to be 18 years and 6 months of age. He was actually a year younger. As he was under 21 Bob needed his parents’ permission to enlist. The necessary form in his military file appears to have been signed by both of his parents. However, according to a family story, Bob’s father James had signed the form, and his brother Reg had forged the signature of their mother Charlotte, who was living in Subiaco. She had not wanted Bob to go until he was older, and she was so upset she did not speak to her husband again. James was living near Esperance at that time – he died near Ravensthorpe in 1917.
Bob Cavanagh embarked from Fremantle with the 9th Reinforcements aboard HMAT Hororata on the 5th of October 1915 (the same ship his brother Gordon had travelled on six months earlier). In February 1916 he was transferred to the 51st Battalion and arrived in France for service on the Western Front on the 12th of June 1916.
On the 13th of August 1916, he was admitted to hospital with an unspecified illness, returning to his unit ten days later.
Bob was killed in action on the 3rd of September 1916, at Mouquet Farm, Pozieres, France.
In December 1917 Jack Blake, who was a close friend to the Cavanagh family, wrote to the Daw family in Ravensthorpe of the action at Mouquet Farm. In his letter, he tells them:
“It was there young Bob Cavanagh of Esperance lost his life. I told Len [Daw] in a previous letter of this affair. A fine performance for one so young.”
Bob is memorialised at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
Left: Letter from Charlotte Cavanagh, mother of Gordon and Robert, written to the Department of Repatriation
Source NAA: PP2/8, R7032.
“Sir - In answer to yours of the 10th received this morning: My Son was reported Killed in Action, September 3rd 1916: My Husband had left Esperance and was in the back Country at the time so did not receive word until about two months after, he took it very much to Heart, and Died soon after, at Ravensthorpe on January 17th 1917. I am
Yours Truly Charlotte Cavanagh”
CLATWORTHY, Robert
Service Number 1699a
Birth circa 1891, Esperance, WA (not registered)
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Mr Robert Clatworthy (father), Esperance Post Office, Esperance, WA
16 April 1915, Boulder, WA
Age at enlistment 23 years, 11 months
Description
Occupation
Embarkation
Rank
Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 152 lb
Chest: 34½ - 36½“
Station hand
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue Complexion: Fair
13 October 1915, HMAT Themistocles A32, Fremantle
Private / Gunner
Unit 10th Light Horse / 11th Field Artillery Brigade
Served at Egypt, France
Returned to Australia No record of him returning to Australia
Robert Clatworthy Jnr was the son of Robert Clatworthy Snr, an employee of the Dempster family, and Margaret, known also as Margaret Dempster or Margaret Fae. Margaret was the daughter of a Wudjari woman and a white man, and was also the mother of another serviceman, James Griffin.
Margaret died on the 14th of June 1904, apparently after falling from a horse, and was buried in the Esperance Cemetery. Shortly after her death, on the information of another Dempster employee, her husband was in court, charged with assaulting her. According to three witnesses that had been camped near the Clatworthy family at Dempster’s wool shed in May (a month prior to Margaret’s death), the couple had quarrelled, resulting in Robert Snr physically assaulting her. He was sentenced to four months imprisonment with hard labour. When he was taken from Esperance to go to prison in Fremantle, two of the three Clatworthy children – Joseph and Lily - were also on the boat headed for Swan Mission. They did not return to the district.
In early 1907 Robert Jnr, the eldest of the Clatworthy children, was taken by his half-brother James Griffin into the care of Francis James Daw, of Esperance. Robert was employed on Mr Daw’s orchard at Dalyup, where he looked after the stock. Some of Mr Daw’s neighbours apparently objected to this, and after the local Resident Magistrate became involved, Robert was sent to school in Esperance. It seems unlikely that he stayed at school for long – he was unable to read or write when he enlisted for the war in 1915.
At the time of his enlistment, he gave his occupation as a station hand (most likely for the Dempster Brothers, who had employed his parents and grandparents). He made his allotment payable to his brother, ‘Griffen Clatworthy’, later changing it to James Griffen, half-brother (see GRIFFIN, James).
He left Australia on the 13th of October that year on the HMAT Themistocles, arriving in Egypt in November 1915.
On the 18th of March 1916 at Heliopolis, Egypt, Robert left parade without permission. For this he was sentenced to 14 days detention. He was transferred to the 4th Division Artillery Company in April 1916 and in June that year was sent to France. In December, he was mustered as a gunner and transferred to the 11th Field Artillery Brigade.
On the 25th of October 1917 while in Belgium, Robert was wounded in the hand and evacuated to hospital, returning to his unit on the 11th of November. In February 1918 he was given a week leave to England.
In January 1918 Robert was found to be absent without leave for six hours and was awarded two days Field Punishment No 2. On the 5th of September 1918 he was awarded seven days Field Punishment No 2 and forfeited eight
Clatworthy’s journey to America New York US Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island) 1820-1957
Source ANCESTRY
Letter from Canada to Australian Base Records 1936
Source NAA: B2455. CLATEWORTHY R
days’ pay for being AWL again, this time for twelve hours overnight. However, Robert was not deterred, and on the 23rd of September he disappeared again. On the 10th of November, as he had still not returned a Court of Enquiry in the field declared him to be an illegal absentee. He was apprehended in Paris on the 10th of December, and Field General Court Martial was convened on the 25th of January 1919. Robert was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour. He was sent to the No 10 Military Prison at Dunkirk, France.
On the 14th of May 1919 Robert was found to be absent from the prison, and on the 27th of July 1920, he was discharged in consequence of illegal absence.
A month earlier, on the 5th of June 1920, Robert Clatworthy had stowed away on board the SS Ludlow Range headed to New York from Dundee. On the ships manifest, he stated that his intended destination was Australia. In a column titled “By Whom was passage paid?”, is the single word - ‘stowaway’.
In 1936, a letter was received at Base Records in Canberra from the Secretary of the Provincial Bureau of the Ex-Serviceman’s League in Vancouver, Canada. The letter was written on behalf of Robert Clatworthy requesting 3 years pay owed to him. An application for his certificate of service was also sent, as he claimed he had lost his copy while on a hunting trip. At this time, Robert was still unable to read or write, signing his name with an ‘x’, so the application form was filled in by another person on his behalf. His request for pay was denied. It seems unlikely Robert Clatworthy ever returned to Australia.
COOK, Malcolm Sinclair
Service Number
Birth
Next of Kin
Enlistment
3290
25 October 1885, Israelite Bay, WA
Mother: Mrs Margaret Cook, Israelite Bay, WA
22 August 1916, Blackboy Hill, WA
Age at enlistment 30 years, 9 months
Description Height: 5’ 6”
Weight: 9 S 6 lb
Chest: 32½ - 34½“
Occupation Grazier
Embarkation
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fresh
22 May 1917, HMAT Port Sydney A15, Fremantle
Rank Trooper Unit
10th Light Horse Brigade
Served at Middle East
Returned to Australia 4 August 1919 per Oxfordshire
Malcolm Cook
Esperance Museum ELH-P4349-64
Malcolm Cook was the sixth child of John and Margaret Ann (née Sinclair) Cook.
John Cook had first arrived in Esperance as an employee of the Dempster family, and later worked for Campbell Taylor at Lynburn Station, near Thomas River. He soon established his own pastoral station east of Balladonia named Noondoonia. John also became a lineman for the Telegraph Department, and he continued in this role until his death at Israelite Bay in 1912.
As a child Malcolm Cook attended the Esperance school, achieving the 7th Standard in 1903. After receiving his education, he remained in the Israelite Bay area – working as a station hand, trying his luck at mining for mica, and working at Noondoonia Station.
It has been said that when Malcolm went to enlist at Norseman in 1916, he rode his bicycle from the station – no mean feat, considering the distance of about 180km on unsealed tracks.
Like many other young men from isolated parts of the country, Malcolm Cook contracted measles while still training in Blackboy Hill. He served in the Middle East with the 10th Light Horse. In September 1917, while he was tying up a horse, Malcolm’s left index finger got caught in a rope and had to be amputated. He was able to return to service. In August 1918 he was diagnosed with Malaria, suffering a relapse in October. After his return to Australia in August he was hospitalised in Fremantle for two months, being treated for malaria, gastric trouble and problems with his eyes.
Malcolm Cook was welcomed home in October 1919 at a function held at the Criterion Theatre in Norseman, before returning to Noondoonia Station. He remained on the station along with his two unmarried brothers, for the rest of his life.
In 1942 Malcolm enlisted for the Second World War, serving as a Private with the 8th Battalion, Volunteer Defence Corps.
He never married but was well liked by neighbours and friends. On the 24th of September 1962, during shearing, Malcolm died suddenly while giving instructions to an employee. He was buried at Norseman. His death was found to be primarily due to coronary thrombosis. His sister Ethel Simmons wrote to the repatriation department requesting their help to fund his headstone, but she was refused on the grounds that his death was not due to war service.
DAW, Frederick Cozens
Service Number
Birth
3049
26 May 1889, Maitland, SA
Next of Kin Father, Francis James Daw, Esperance
Enlistment
28 December 1916, Esperance
Age at enlistment 28 years, 6 months
Description Height: 5'' 7"
Weight: 156 lb
Chest: 35¼ - 37“
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
29 January 1917, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 8 August 1918, per Matatua
Frederick Daw
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
Frederick Cozens (Fred) Daw was the ninth child of Francis James and Pollie Charlotte (née Cozens) Daw.
Francis Daw had established a store in Esperance in 1894, while the family were living in South Australia. They arrived in Esperance permanently in 1895, and soon after this their eldest son Francis Edgar had established a store at Ravensthorpe. The Daw family are well known as respected pioneers of the Esperance district, and many descendants live in the area today.
Fred Daw, in his younger years, bred horses for agricultural use, and would drove fifty at a time from Esperance to Katanning to be sold.
At the time of his enlistment, Fred was a farmer. He was given a send-off by the Esperance Rifle Club in December 1916, along with three other Esperance men – Jack Orr, Ernie Eggeling, and Les Sinclair. Jack, Ernie and Fred embarked together for England on the 29th of January 1917. Of the three men, Fred was the only one to return home.
Prior to his departure for the war, Fred became engaged to Katie Field in Perth. Fred and Katie had been seeing each other for several years, but it seems the engagement was broken off during Fred’s war service.
Shortly after his arrival in England, Fred was hospitalised with tonsillitis. Within a couple of months, he was fit again, and arrived at the front in August 1917. However, within two months he was seriously wounded in the back, causing temporary paralysis, and loss of control of his bladder and bowels, which took some months to improve. He was evacuated to England, and after spending time in hospital there he returned to Australia. He was then treated at the No 8 Australian General Hospital in Fremantle.
In September 1918 Fred travelled to Esperance and was welcomed home at a public reception at the Roads Board Office (now the RSL club room), followed by a public social three days later at the Grace Darling Hotel. He was still undergoing treatment for his injuries, and returned to Perth before being discharged on the 1st of December 1918.
He returned to his farm, where he bred horses for sale – in October 1920 fifty of Fred’s horses were up for auction at Katanning.
On the 13th of March 1923 Fred married Florence ‘Floss’ May Orr, sister of Jack, Jim and Bill (who also served in the war), at St Andrews Anglican Church in Esperance. The couple had five children.
Fred suffered from the effects of the shell wound he received at Passchendaele all his life. In 1933 an x-ray revealed the presence of a metallic object in the area of his first lumbar vertebrae. He was not operated on after he was wounded, and in 1933 it was decided not to remove the object.
Esperance Museum - ELH-P-Daw
L & R C Daw store, Andrew Street Esperance, circa 1940
Esperance Museum ELH-P1346
(L) Fred Daw, (R) Keith Daw
Fred and Floss Daw remained in Esperance. In the 1950’s, Fred was employed at the Daw family store in Esperance, which was then run by his brothers Raymond and Len.
Fred Daw died at Hollywood Repatriation Hospital on the 27th of January 1965, and was buried at Karrakatta. His wife, Florence, died on the 18th of September 1979 and is buried with him at Karrakatta.
DAW, Keith James
Service Number 6403
Birth 2 May 1894, Maitland, SA
Next of Kin Father, Francis James Daw, Esperance
Enlistment 8 November 1915, Kalgoorlie, WA
Age at enlistment 21 years, 5 months
Description Height: 5’ 6”
Weight: 148 lb
Chest: 35½“
Occupation Shop assistant
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Dark
Embarkation 23 Dec 1916, HMAT Berrima A35, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th / 27th / 41st Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 18 Jan 1919, per Nestor
Keith Daw
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
Keith Daw was the youngest child of Francis James and Pollie Daw. He was an active member of the Esperance community, being a member of the local Young Australia League (a youth organisation established in 1905) in his teens, and secretary of the Esperance Turf Club in 1914.
At the time of his enlistment on the 8th of November 1915, Keith was a shop assistant at his fathers’ store in Esperance.
Keith wrote to his family regularly during the war, and also kept a diary. On the 16th of October 1917 he was gassed, and evacuated to hospital in England. This was only six days after his brother Fred had been wounded. Keith returned to the front in June 1918, only to be gassed again a month later on the 22nd of July. This time it was suspected that Keith had deliberately exposed himself to gas, but an investigation revealed that this was not the case. Keith did not return to the front but went back to Australia on board the Nestor in January 1919.
On the 29th of May 1919, a welcome home social was held at the Bijou Theatre for Keith Daw and Les Baker, another Esperance recruit.
Keith married Martha ‘Millicent’ Lloyd in 1919, and they had two children.
The couple lived in Ravensthorpe for a while in the early 1920’s where Keith worked in his brother Edgar’s store, before managing a store at Red Lake in the Mallee north of Esperance. After this the family moved several times, eventually settling in Perth. Keith worked as a store manager for most of his working life.
In June 1942 Keith enlisted for the Second World War and served as a Private in the Home Guard, Fremantle Battalion.
Although his health suffered as a result of his exposure to gas, Keith lived to the age of 92, passing away at the Repatriation General Hospital on the 7th of March 1985. He is memorialised at Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth.
Invitation to Keith Daw to attend a welcome home gathering at the Bijou Hall Esperance Museum AC-2014/3640/13
DICKINSON, Herbert
Service Number 4490
Birth 13 July 1893, Perth, WA
Next of Kin
Mother: Emily Dickinson, Esperance Bay
Enlistment 1 November 1915, Blackboy Hill, WA
Age at enlistment 22 years, 2 months
Description Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 137lb
Chest: 34 - 36¾“
Occupation Labourer
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Brown Grey
Complexion: Fair
Embarkation 12 Feb 1916, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 11th Battalion / 51st Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 12 March 1917, per Beltana
Kalgoorlie Miner 10 July 1917, pg1
Source TROVE
Herbert (Bert) Dickinson was born as Herbert Seabrook, the first child of Emily Jane Seabrook. Bert’s father Herman Dickinson, a native of Lancashire, England, had arrived in Esperance around 1897. He was a watchmaker and set up a shop close to the centre of town.
Emily Jane Seabrook may have come to Esperance with Herman – she was certainly living in the town as Emily Dickinson by 1903. The couple did not marry and all three of their children’s births in Perth were registered under the surname Seabrook, with no father named. It is likely that Herman Dickinson was their natural father, as they were known throughout their childhood as Dickinson.
Herman’s character was well known in Esperance – he was known to shout at kids when he caught them looking in the window of his shop, “If you don’t want to buy a watch, keep your snotty nose out of my window!”
On one occasion Herman was charged with assaulting the local school teacher after inviting him to come to the back of the sand hill so he could (as the Norseman Times newspaper put it) “knock his --------- head off”. The argument was apparently over a dog, owned by Mr Ben Peek.
At the time of his enlistment on the 1st of November 1915, Bert Dickinson was working as a lumper for William George Hearne. He initially served with the 11th Battalion AIF and left Fremantle with that unit on the 12th of February 1916 on board the HMAT Miltiades along with another local recruit, Bill Shortland.
Soon afterwards, he was transferred to the 51st Battalion AIF. On the 3rd of September 1916 while in action at Mouquet Farm, Bert was shot in the right knee, and sent to Northampton War Hospital in England. This eventually led to him returning to Australia in March 1917. He spent a month in the No 8 Australian General Hospital before eventually returning to Esperance, where he was welcomed back at a fundraiser at the Bijou that December.
Bert was no longer able to work as a lumper or do any heavy labour at all. His right leg had healed an inch shorter than it should have been, and he was now fit only for clerical work.
Bert married Elsie Emily Shepherd Green in 1920 in Perth. They remained in Perth where Bert was employed as a clerk. They had three children, one of whom, Jack, was severely injured in the Second World War.
Elsie died on the 18th of April 1962. Bert Dickinson moved into a nursing home in Como in 1973 after suffering a stroke. He died on the 27th of January 1982, shortly after his right leg had been amputated above the knee. Bert and his wife are both memorialised in the Crematorium Rose Gardens at Karrakatta Cemetery.
DICKINSON, George Charles
Service Number 5843
Birth 1895, Perth, WA
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Mr Herman Dickinson (father), Esperance, WA
19 April 1916, Albany, WA
Age at enlistment 20 years, 4 months
Description Height: 5’ 5½“
Weight: 135 lb
Chest: 34½ - 36”
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Medium
13 October 1916, HMAT Suffolk A23, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 28th Battalion
Served at Europe
Fate Killed in Action, 3 May 1917, France Memorial Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, VillersBretonneux, Picardie, France
George Dickinson
Supplied by Nancy and Trevor Phillips
George Dickinson was the second child of Emily Seabrook. Like his brother Bert, George was born a Seabrook but took on the name of Herman Dickinson, assumed to be his natural father.
On the 21st of February 1916, George rescued a man, Ted Cooper, who had been washed off the rocks while fishing at West Beach. In August that year, George’s mother was presented with a Gold Medal for George, from Mr Cooper. By this time, George was undergoing training at Blackboy Hill but he returned shortly afterwards when he and another recruit, Jim Jones, were treated with a send-off at the Esperance Hotel. Mr Cooper made a speech at the occasion, toasting the health of both young men, and thanking George again for saving his life.
George enlisted in Albany on the 19th of April 1916. When he left Fremantle on the HMAT Suffolk on the 13th of October that year, he was one of six Esperance men on the ship. Also on board were Dick McCarthy, Phil Stewart, Frank Dunn, Jimmy Lewis and Jim Jones, who had enlisted with George in Albany.
George joined his unit in France on the 17th of January 1917. He was reported as missing on the 3rd of May 1917. On the 6th of August that year, with still no official news, his mother wrote to the military authorities after another local boy wrote in a letter that George had been shot. Later that month Emily was informed that George had indeed been killed in action.
On the 26th of January 1919, Emily Dickinson wrote the following letter, addressed to the Minister of Defence:
“Sir
Pardon the liberty me writing to you but I am seeking information of my dear son No 5843 Private George Dickinson 28th Battalion 7 Brigade was reported missing May 3rd 1917. August 27 had word he was killed. Seeing by papers that there a [sic] number being alive that were reported killed I am wondering if my dear son is one of them and lossed [sic] his memory, there was no one saw him killed or any of his belongings on body was seen. I should like to know more about him so if you see that all enquiries are made concerning him will be more than grateful as it very hard to bear. Thanking for the trouble I am giving,
I am, Sir
Most gratefully
Emily Dickinson”
Western Argus, 22 August 1916, pg6
Source TROVE
Another letter, this one to the Secretary of the War Graves Commission, dated 28th October 1920:
“Dear Sir
Some time ago you sent papers to be filled in for Graves of the Fallen. I have never had particulars of my dear son’s death. On May 3rd 1914 at Bullecourt he was reported missing, he was at a machine gun only two escaped out of his section. Some say he was blowned to pieces. At a meeting held at Bapaume it was decided he was killed in action that date so I have waited to see if any trace of my beloved son could be found so that I can have a stone erected in his memory. Kindly advise me.
I am truly gratefully
Emily Dickinson”
Sadly, George Dickinson’s remains were not found. Among the many notices placed in the newspapers in memory of George, was the following, published in the Western Mail on the 7th of May 1920.
DICKINSON. -In loving remembrance of Private George Dickinson, 28th Battalion, killed in action at Bullecourt, May 3, 1917.
As years roll on and changes come,
I’ll ne’er forget my dear old chum;
He risked his life a life to save,
And now he is sleeping with the brave.
Inserted by Ted Cooper, Esperance Bay.
DOAK, Christopher Charles
Service Number 716
Birth Circa 1874, New Zealand
Next of Kin
Mother: Mrs Irvine, c/o YMCA, Perth, WA
Enlistment 6 March 1916, Drill Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
Age at enlistment 42
Description
Height: 5’ 10¼“
Weight:
Chest: 34 - 37“
Complexion: Dark
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Blue
Tattoo marks on both arms
Occupation Boot and harness repairer
Embarkation
Rank Dresser
Unit
South African Veterinary Corps
Served at South Africa
Fate Died 16 April 1916
Memorial Johannesburg (Braamfontein) Cemetery
Brothers Christopher (Christy) and Joseph Doak did not live in Esperance, but their names are included on the Honor Board, probably because their mother Margaret Irvine lived in the district. She and her husband, George Irvine, had land at Dalyup, where they had been living since 1906. Here they grew fruit and vegetables which they sold in Norseman and Ravensthorpe. They also kept draft horses and goats, the skins of these being taken by Margaret to Kalgoorlie to sell.
Margaret Irvine was one of the mothers on the committee of mothers who decided what form the Esperance war memorial would take.
Both of the Doak brothers were born in New Zealand, but searches so far have not yielded a birth date or place for either of them. It is unclear exactly when Margaret and her sons moved to Australia from New Zealand, although we do know that Christy at least had arrived in Australia before 1901, when he enlisted in the Boer War.
According to Christy’s service records, he was born in either 1872, 1874 or 1878 in New Zealand. He served in the Boer War as a private in the 5th Mounted Infantry Contingent. His service record tells us that he was working as a butcher in Geraldton, was 20 years old and from Gisborne, New Zealand. After the Boer War, it appears Christy stayed in South Africa. He married there to Annie Bear and they had at least one child, but they were divorced by the time he enlisted in the Great War.
In March 1912 Christy Doak was imprisoned for six months for the illegal sale of alcohol. In October the same year, he received twelve months imprisonment for a similar offence. Then in 1914 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour, again for the illegal sale of alcohol. The following is a statement taken from the deportation documents:
“Came to South Africa during or shortly after the late Anglo-Boer War. Has for years been a confirmed liquor seller as his convictions will show. When not in gaol he lives with low class coloured persons. His associates in addition to coloured people are criminals and liquor sellers. In my opinion DOAK is a fit subject for deportation as men of his class are a menace to the community.”
The deportation order was confirmed by the Minister for the Interior on the 5th of November 1914 and a warrant issued for Christopher Doak’s arrest as an “undesirable inhabitant of the Union”.
Christy avoided being deported, joining the South African Expeditionary Force on the 6th of March 1916. On the 16th of April he died as a result of a self-administered morphine overdose and was buried in the Johannesburg (Braamfontein) Cemetery.
DOAK, Joseph Denver
(aka IRVINE, Joseph Denver)
Service Number
Birth
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Age at enlistment
Description
Occupation
Embarkation
14 November 1886, near Auckland, New Zealand
1) Agnes Jane Doak, Mandurah Rd, South Fremantle
2) Wife: Agnes Jane Irvine, 205 Mandurah Rd, South Fremantle
1) 25 Feb 1915, Blackboy Hill, WA
2) 10 Sep 1915, Holsworthy, NSW
1) 28 years, 3 months
2) 28 years
Height: 5 ‘8 ½“
Weight: 137 lb
Chest: 34 / 36½“
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Brown Complexion: Dark
1) Gas fitter & Engine Driver
2) Brass moulder & turner
30 Sep 1916, HMAT Aeneas A60, Sydney
Rank 1) Sergeant
2) 2nd Lieutenant
Unit
1) 11th Battalion AIF
2) 4th Battalion AIF
Served at France, Belgium
Fate Killed in Action, 4 October 1917, Belgium
Burial Tyne Cot Cemetery, Belgium
As Joseph enlisted twice the details on both of his attestations are included here.
Joseph Doak
Source TROVE from book Australia’s Fighting Sons of the Empire
Joseph Doak was the younger of the two Doak brothers. In the years before the war, he lived and worked in the Goldfields, at times being employed as a train driver or labourer. He had several brushes with the law, for various offences, including theft and the alleged assault of his landlady’s daughter (later his step daughter) when he was living at Gwalia in 1910.
Joseph Doak and his landlady, Agnes Jane Henning, had two children together – a son Denver Linden Henning (who died in infancy in 1912) and a daughter Dorothea Agnes Doak, born in March 1914. They were married on the 31st of May 1915 in Perth.
Joseph enlisted for the first time on the 25th of February 1915 at Perth. He was given the rank of Sergeant and assigned to the 11th Battalion AIF.
According to a statement made later by his widow, Joseph Doak was discharged after exchanging blows with another officer while still undergoing training. After this he went to New South Wales and enlisted again under the name of Joseph Irvine. This time he was assigned to the 4th Battalion AIF and given the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
On the 10th of September 1917, Joseph was charged at a General Court Martial in France with striking a soldier, and two other lesser charges. He was found guilty of the first charge only and sentenced to be “severely reprimanded” and “to take rank & precedence in the army as if his appointment bore date September 10 1917”.
Joseph Doak was killed in action on the 4th of October 1917 in Belgium, and buried on Broodseinde Ridge. In 1921, his body and many others were exhumed and reburied in Tyne Cot British Cemetery, Passchendaele.
Joseph’s widow did not remarry, passing away on the 10th of November 1948 at the age of 72. She is buried in Karrakatta.
Their daughter Dorothea Agnes Doak served during the Second World War.
DOUGLAS, Alan Ross
Service Number
Birth 1 Nov 1899, Esperance
Next of Kin
Mother: Mrs Alice Douglas, Esperance
Enlistment 27 July 1918, Esperance
Age at enlistment 18 years, 7 months
Description
Occupation
Embarkation
Height: 5’ 6 ⅝“
Weight: 9st 6 lb
Chest: 32 / 34”
Grocer’s Assistant
Did not leave Australia
Rank Private Unit
Served at Returned to Australia
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fresh
Alan Douglas
Supplied by Lorraine Bale
Alan Douglas was the fifth child of eight born to James and Alice Douglas. James was a teamster, who worked between Esperance and Coolgardie, taking supplies to the miners. He was the brother of Captain Fred Douglas, who was well known in Esperance and Albany for servicing the south coast of WA as the Captain of several vessels, including the Grace Darling and the Eucla. In 1906 James purchased a motor launch to carry sheep to graze on the islands of the Recherche Archipelago, which he did for several years. James Douglas died on the 8th of November 1914 in Esperance. His wife Alice died in 1939 in Esperance, and they are both buried in the Methodist portion of the Esperance Cemetery.
Alan Douglas was also involved in carting the sheep to the islands and continued doing so after his father’s death.
At the time of his enlistment in 1918, Alan was working as a grocer’s assistant. On the 21st of September 1918 the Esperance Road Board and the Recruiting Committee tendered him a farewell at the Road Board Office.
The war ended while he was still undergoing training, so he did not leave Australia.
During the 1920’s Alan worked as a fisherman, and for a few months in 1926 he was the licensee of the Esperance Hotel.
He was involved in local community affairs, acting as MC at several fundraisers, and being an active member of the racing club.
Alan Douglas married Leila Mary Doyle in 1925 in Esperance.
Around 1930 the couple moved to Geraldton where Alan worked as a postal lineman, and later to Perth where he continued working as a lineman until his retirement.
He died on the 3rd of July 1972 in Perth and is buried in Karrakatta. Alan and his wife had seven children.
DOUST, George Edward
Service Number 575
Birth 20 April 1887, Esperance
Next of Kin
Father: George William Doust, Emily St, Esperance
Enlistment 19 January 1916, Perth
Age at enlistment 28 years, 6 months
Description Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 143 lb
Chest: 35 - 37“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Black
Eyes: Dark Blue
Complexion: Fresh
6 June 1916, HMAT Suevic A29, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th Battalion
Served at France, Belgium
Returned to Australia 8 July 1919 per Somali
George Doust Esperance Museum ELH-P1129
George Edward Doust was the second child of George and Catherine ‘Kate’ (née Griffin) Doust.
George Doust Snr and his wife Kate were both employees of the Dempster family, having travelled with them to Esperance during the 1870’s. George was a shepherd, and Kate was the cook, as well as helping with other household chores. In December 1885, as there was no registry at Esperance, the couple travelled to Albany to marry. A telegram from their employer Andrew Dempster requesting a special licence enabled them to marry quickly so that they could return to their work in Esperance.
The Dousts lived in Emily Street, close to the Dempster’s homestead. They had twelve children, all of them born in the Esperance district. Four of their sons enlisted in the First World War. George and Kate Doust were both very well respected and popular with their employers and the local community, with George Snr serving as a municipal councillor during the late 1890’s. George also worked as a contractor, driving bullock teams, constructing fences and at one stage carting the mail between Norseman and Esperance. For a time, he was the local sanitary contractor for the town.
Kate Doust died at the age of 68 on the 20th of July 1931 in Esperance, and is buried in the local cemetery. In January the following year, after being treated to a send-off by the Esperance community, George left Esperance to live in Fremantle. Only two months later, he was fatally injured while riding his horse and leading a foal across the North Fremantle bridge. The foal ran in front of a tram and the horse he was riding shied, colliding with the tram and throwing George off. He died of his injuries later that evening in the Fremantle hospital, and was buried in the Fremantle cemetery. He was 73 years of age.
Prior to the war George Edward Doust (Jnr) worked as a farmhand for Mr A Chapman of Ravensthorpe, but at the time of his enlistment George was living in Esperance, employed as a labourer. He left Esperance to enlist on the 16th of January 1916 with another local recruit, Bob Blake, on board the SS Eucla. They were waved off by a crowd of locals on the jetty.
In November 1917 while in England, George was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, and then Temporary Corporal. In May 1918 he requested to return to the rank of Lance Corporal. In August he was again promoted to Temporary Corporal, and in November he successfully requested to return to the rank of Private.
George Doust returned to Esperance after the war. He was welcomed home alongside Percy Blake and three Norseman servicemen at a social in the Criterion Theatre in Norseman on the 28th of July. In August, a function was
Request from Temporary Corporal George Doust to be reverted to the rank of Private Source NAA: B2455, DOUST G E
held at the Bijou in Esperance to welcome George Doust, Percy Blake, Fred Baseden, Jim Jones and Doug Townsend home.
George then moved to the Blackwood district where he married Esther Hughes in 1921. The couple had a large family. George was a timber worker at the No 1 State Saw Mill at Manjimup (later renamed Deans Mill) for all of his working life. Heserved at home during World War Two as a Private in the 10th Garrison Battalion.
George died at the age of 81 on the 3rd of December 1968. His wife Esther died on the 15th of September 1999 at the age of 98, and they are both buried in the Manjimup Cemetery.
DOUST, James Alfred
Service Number
Birth
Next of Kin
56
18 Aug 1894, Esperance
Father: George Doust, Esperance Bay
Enlistment 25 February 1915, Blackboy Hill, WA
Age at enlistment 20 years, 6 months
Description Height: 5’ 5”
Weight: 145lb
Chest: 36 / 38“
Occupation Joiner
Embarkation
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Dark
12 July 1915, HMAT Ascanius A11, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
28th Battalion
Served at Gallipoli, France, Belgium
Returned to Australia 7 April 1919 per Anchises
James Doust
Supplied by Doust family
James Alfred (Jim) Doust was the sixth child of George and Kate Doust. As a child he attended the Esperance school, where he was known as ‘Monkey’ Doust and was known to occasionally skip school with his brother Jack.
At the time of his enlistment Jim was a joiner. After undergoing training, he left Fremantle on board the HMAT Ascanius on the 12th July 1915, en route to Gallipoli.
On the 20th Sep 1915 Jim, suffering from tonsillitis, was taken from Gallipoli and admitted to Mudros hospital. On the 26th of September he was transferred to the Hospital Ship Crampian and taken to Bristol, England, arriving in hospital there on the 11th of October.
By the 16th of March 1916, Jim had joined his unit in Egypt, but was again hospitalised, this time suffering from venereal disease. He left Egypt in May 1916 and was with his unit in France by August. In early November he found himself in hospital in England after being shot in the left arm. At the end of December, while still recovering from his wound Jim was found to be absent without leave and was given 48 hours detention and forfeited seven days’ pay. Shortly after this, in January 1917, Jim contracted mumps. He didn’t return to his unit until October 1917.
After this Jim seems to have stayed out of hospital and out of trouble until the end of the war. At the time of the Armistice, he had recently returned to the front from leave in England. On the 18th of January 1919 he left France for England, and a few days later he embarked for home.
In May 1919 Jim Doust was welcomed home with a function at the Criterion Theatre in Norseman, followed by a public welcome at the Bijou in Esperance.
On the 30th of December 1925 Jim married Alice Mears in Northam, where they remained for many years and raised four children.
Jim worked for the Western Australian Government Railways for almost thirty years. He was working for the WAGR as a fitter when he enlisted for the Second World War in February 1941 and served as a Private in the 10th Garrison Battalion.
Jim died on the 20th of September 1979 at the age of 85, and Alice died aged 80 on the 3rd of October 1975. They are both buried in the Northam cemetery.
DOUST, Clarence John
Service Number
Navy: 3711
Army: 2948
Birth 5 March 1896, Esperance
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Age at enlistment
Mother, Mrs Kate Doust, Esperance
Navy: 7 March 1914
Army: 28 June 1915, Liverpool, New South Wales
Navy: 18 years
Army: 19 years (Attestation paper states 22 years, 4 months)
Description - Navy Height: 5’ 3 ¾ “
Eyes: Blue
Description - Army Height: 5’ 3 ½“
Weight: 126 lb
Chest: 32½ - 34½“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Rank
Unit
Hair: Brown Complexion: Fresh
Hair: Dark
Eyes: Brown Complexion: Fresh
Army: 30 Sep 1915, HMAT Argyllshire A8, Sydney
Navy: Stoker
Army: Private
Navy: Ship – HMAS Encounter Army: 53rd Battalion
Served at Egypt, France, Belgium
Fate Killed in action, 19 October 1917, Belgium
Memorial Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium
Clarence Doust, Western Mail, 10 May 1918, pg5 Source TROVE
Clarence John (Jack) Doust was the seventh child of George and Kate Doust. His birth was unregistered for some reason, but he was baptised on the 29th of June 1896 in St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Esperance. As a child he attended the Esperance school, where he was nicknamed ‘Plucky’. When he was ten he wrote to the Children’s Corner in The Western Mail newspaper, noting that he didn’t like school because he got ‘the stick’ too much.
Jack commenced service with the Royal Australian Navy on the 7th of March 1914. When war was declared in August that year he was serving as a stoker on the HMAS Encounter.
The ship headed North from Sydney and took part in the Australian operation to capture German New Guinea, escorting the transport and store ships as well as providing covering fire during the advance of the Military Expeditionary force from Herbertshöhe (now Kokopo) to Toma, in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. In October the Encounter began patrolling the area of Fiji-Samoa, continuing the patrols into 1915.
On the 28th of June 1915 while the Encounter was undergoing a refit at Sydney, Jack Doust left the navy and enlisted in the army under the name of James Griffiths. At the time he was 19, and should have needed his parents’ permission to enlist, but he claimed to be 22 years and 4 months of age. His assumed name leads us to believe that he left the navy without permission, and did not want to be caught! At first Jack served in the 1st battalion AIF, until the 19th of February 1916, when he was transferred to the 53rd battalion AIF.
In July of 1916, in France, he suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, and was transferred to Kitchener’s Hospital in England. By mid-October, Jack was on his way back to his battalion. From the 2nd of February 1917 until the end of March, he was in the Field Hospital with a sore neck. In June he was hospitalised again, suffering from trench fever. He re-joined his unit on the 29th of June, and on that day he was charged with insolence to a superior officer, for which the punishment was 14 days Field Punishment No 2. This punishment usually involved hard labour while possibly being restrained with handcuffs or fetters.
On the 6th of July, Jack was charged with being absent without leave from 9.00am on the 18th of June until 9.00 am on the 19th of June. For that offence he was awarded three days Field Punishment No 2 and the loss of two days’ pay.
Jack was killed in action on the 19th of October 1917 in Belgium. His body was not recovered, and he is memorialised at the Menin Gate memorial, Ypres.
In 1921 at a meeting of the Esperance Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Fund the chairman, Mr W E “Barney” Hughes, presented George Doust with his son Jack’s 1914 – 1915 Star medal.
DOUST, Ernest Henry Esperance
Service Number 156
Birth 12 December 1899, Esperance
Next of Kin
Father: George Doust, Emily St, Esperance
Enlistment 17 September 1917, Katanning, WA
Age at enlistment 21 years, 7 months (actual age 17 years and 9 months)
Returned to Australia 17 Aug 1919, per Dunluce Castle
Ernest Doust, Western Mail, 10 May 1918, pg5
Source TROVE
Ernest Henry Esperance (Harry) Doust was the ninth child of George and Kate Doust.
When he enlisted in Katanning on the 17th of September 1917, Harry gave his age as 21 years and 7 months. In fact, he was not quite 18 years old. At the time, he was working as a labourer.
On the 4th of November 1917, while Harry was home on leave, Charles Dempster hosted a farewell for him at the Dempster family homestead, where he was presented with a silver mounted pipe and purse. The following Monday night he was given a public send-off at the Bijou.
Harry served with the 1st Machine Gun Squadron. He sailed from Fremantle on the 23rd of November 1917, aboard the Canberra, arriving in Suez on the 21st of December.
Harry spent a great deal of time in hospital during his service - from the 29th of December 1917 until the 19th of January 1918 he was in hospital in Moascar, Egypt, with mumps. He was later hospitalised in Port Said with pyrexia (fever) for several months, and by the end of 1918 with malaria.
Harry returned to Australia in July 1919 on board the hospital ship Dunluce Castle and was transferred to the No 8 Australian General Hospital in Fremantle. By the 13th of October 1919 he was considered non-infectious, and was recommended for discharge from the AIF.
After the war, Harry Doust remained in Esperance until he moved to the Pemberton area, where he married Susannah Emily White in 1929. He was a timber worker for many years and when he signed up for the Second World War in 1941, he was a mill hand.
He served as a Private in the 10th Garrison Battalion until being discharged in 1944. Harry and his wife moved to Perth in the 1970’s, where Susannah Doust died at the age of 78 on the 16th of August 1978, and Harry died aged 93 on the 19th of October 1993. They are both memorialised in the Pemberton Cemetery.
DUNN, William Henry
Service Number
6982
Birth 24 November 1888, Albany
Next of Kin
Mr Andrew Dunn, Esperance (father)
Enlistment 8 August 1916, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 27 years, 9 months
Description Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 131 lb
Chest: 36”
Occupation
Embarkation
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
Station Hand
23 Dec 1916, HMAT Berrima A35, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 11th Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 4 May 1918 per Orontes
William Dunn at Nairnup Esperance Museum ELH-P3163
William Henry (Bill) Dunn was the fourth child of fifteen born to Andrew and Mary Ann (née Hatton) Dunn.
Andrew Dunn first came to the district in the late 1870’s, as an employee of Campbell Taylor at Lynburn Station, near Thomas River. In 1886 he and his wife took on the conditional purchase of Boyatup Station at Boyatup Swamp, about 40 km east of Esperance. They did not move onto Boyatup to live until 1895. There, the family built a timber and iron homestead. They farmed sheep and cattle on the property and lived off the land as much as they couldthey hunted kangaroos for meat and skins. They also treated wallaby skins with salt and alum, then trimmed them and sewed them into rugs backed with calico, to use for bedding and to line the deck chairs they had in the house. They raised Cape Barren geese as poultry, and had an extensive orchard and vegetable garden. The sons of the family were known to catch the odd wild turkey, or bustard, for Christmas dinner. Many of their descendants still live in the Esperance district.
Prior to the war Bill Dunn had worked as a shearer and station hand.
With his unit, he arrived at Devonport, England, on the 16th of February 1917. He had several illnesses, leading to short stays in hospital in England, before arriving in France in June 1917.
According to a column in the Norseman Times on the 15th of December 1917, shortly after Bill’s arrival in France, he heard that the 28th battalion - his brother Jim’s unit - had arrived. One night he was making his way to where they were camped when he met another soldier in the dark. While asking the man for directions to the 28th, he realised it was Jim. Several months after Bill’s arrival, and before the above was published, Jim was killed in action in Belgium.
On the 13th of October 1917, ten days after Jim’s death, Bill was wounded. He was transferred to hospital in Birmingham, England on the 5th of November aboard the Panama. On the 10th of March 1918 he was returned to Australia with shrapnel wounds in the left buttock and right thigh.
A welcome social at the Bijou Hall was held for Bill Dunn by the Esperance residents, and one was also held in Norseman at the Criterion Theatre. At the time, he was on six months leave, and was hoping for a successful operation on his legs, so that he could return to the front. However, due to the end of the war in November 1918 Bill did not return to service.
After the war, Bill took up land at Nairnup, west of Esperance, with another local recruit, Bob Blake, and they farmed there together for many years.
He never married. According to a family member he spent a lot of time in hospital, due to the injuries he received during the war. He died on the 11th of June 1957 and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery.
DUNN, James Richard
Service Number 3369a
Birth 3 October 1894, Albany
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Age at enlistment
Description
Occupation
Embarkation
Andrew Dunn, Esperance (father)
1) 17 April 1916, Blackboy Hill
2) 8 Nov 1916, Norseman
1) 21 years, 6 months
2) 22 years, 1 month
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 11 st 9 lb
Chest: 35 / 37”
1) Wood cutter
2) Horse driver
Hair: dark
Eyes: Blue Complexion: Fair
23 Dec 1916, HMAT Berrima A35, Fremantle
Rank Private
Unit 28th Battalion
Served at Europe
Fate
Killed in action 4 October 1917
Memorial Ypres (Menin Gate), Belgium
James Dunn
Supplied by the Tyrrell family
James Richard (Jim) Dunn was the seventh child of Andrew and Mary Ann Dunn. Jim’s Oven Road, north of the Dunns’ Boyatup property is named after him. The Dunn family grazed stock on an area north of the homestead and the boys would take turns camping out with the animals.
Jim apparently built himself a camp oven so that he could make his own bread, and the property the oven was on became known as ‘Jim’s Oven’. Another version of the story is that the family would go for picnics a few miles from their home and cook damper in a small fire on a flat granite rock and this oven was known as ‘Jim’s Oven’.
Jim worked as a shearer, and as a woodcutter for the Norseman gold mines before he first enlisted. He signed up with his brother Frank on the 17th of April 1916, but he was discharged as permanently unfit for service on the 24th July. According to the discharge papers, he had an irritable heart and some deafness, which had been caused by measles and was the result of “Ordinary Military Service”. He had contracted measles while training at Blackboy Hill. He was able to enlist again and was accepted on the 8th of November 1916. This time he was working as a horse driver.
With his unit, Jim arrived in England on the 18th of February 1917, then proceeded to France on the 23rd of July. On the 9th of August he joined the 28th Battalion.
An undated postcard Jim sent home to his family reads
“I’m fed on stew twice a day. Bread + butter for tea and I’m not down hearted yet. The next time you hear + [sic] be somewhere in France. Jim”
Jim was killed in action on the 4th of October 1917, in Belgium, and is memorialised at the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres.
DUNN, Francis Albert Victor
Service Number 6612
Birth 19 May 1896, Albany
Next of Kin Andrew Dunn, Esperance (father)
Enlistment 17 April 1916, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 19 years, 11 months
Description
Height: 5’ 7 ⅛”
Weight: 142 lb
Chest: 36 ⅛“
Occupation Woodcutter
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Light
Embarkation 13 Oct 1916, HMAT Suffolk A23, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 16th Battalion
Served at England
Returned to Australia 14 Oct 1917 per Pakeha
Francis Dunn
Supplied by Nancy and Trevor Phillips
Francis Albert Victor (Frank) Dunn was the ninth child of Andrew and Mary Ann Dunn.
Before the war, Frank had worked as a shearer, woodcutter and well sinker. At the time of his enlistment, he was working as a wood cutter near Norseman. He arrived at Plymouth, England, on the 12th December 1916. Before leaving Australia, Frank returned to Esperance to visit his family and, along with his brother Bill, was given a send-off by the locals at the residence of Captain B W Peek. According to the Kalgoorlie Miner dated 15th of August 1916, “The gem of the musical and elocutionary programme was a recitation by Mr. Andrew Dunn, senior, father of the boys.”
After his arrival in England Frank spent much time in various hospitals, due to broncho-pneumonia, as well as bouts of tonsillitis and valvular disease. He was eventually discharged due to cardiac debility, leaving England for home on board the Paheka on the 27th of August 1917.
On the 15th of November 1922, Frank married May McCudden at St Joseph’s Church, Norseman. They had four children.
According to Frank’s son Bunny (Brian), Frank never spoke about the war. He was offered a soldiers settlement block at Circle Valley, but would have lost his job at the Railway, so had to turn it down. As well as the railway, he spent a lot of time shooting kangaroos, selling the skins and providing the family with some meat.
They lived at Red Lake, then Scaddan followed by Salmon Gums. In 1941, they moved to Esperance where Frank had a job as head ganger.
Frank died on the 14th of April 1966, and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery. May died on the 8th of November 1976 and is also buried there.
EGGELING, Ernest Christian Theodore
Service Number 3053
Birth 1897, Coolgardie WA
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Father: Henry Eggeling, Esperance
28 December 1916, Esperance
Age at enlistment 20 years
Description Height: 5’ 8 ½“
Weight: 140 lb
Chest: 33½“
Occupation Shop Assistant
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fresh
29 Jan 1917, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th Battalion
Served at England
Fate Died of illness, 5 May 1917, Fargo Military Hospital, England
Burial Durrington Cemetery, England
Ernest Eggeling in the Bijou Theatre production Shylock Bones. Esperance Museum ELH-P587
Ernest Christian Theodore (Ernie) Eggeling was the oldest child of Henry and Annie Margaret Eggeling.
Henry was a native of Brunswick, Germany, and within two days of his arrival in Australia he applied for naturalisation. Henry and Annie arrived in the WA Goldfields during the 1890’s where the family remained until 1910 when they moved to Esperance.
While in Esperance, Henry Eggeling became the secretary for the local branch of the General Workers Union. In 1915 he encountered trouble when there was a strike by local salt workers. They were calling for higher wages, but they also attempted to force Henry from the secretaryship because he was German, although he had been in Australia for 30 years, was a naturalised Australian and held no sympathy for the enemy.
Henry and Annie Eggeling remained in Esperance after the war. Henry died in the Esperance Hospital on the 10th of June 1931, and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery. Annie died in Boulder on the 4th of July 1937, at the residence of their son Henry, and was buried in the Boulder Cemetery.
Ernie Eggeling was a popular member of the Esperance community. He was a committee member at the Anglican Church, and in 1916 he was a cast member in a local production at the Bijou Theatre, held to aid the Patriotic Fund. The production included a one act play, Never Trust a Woman, and a burlesque, Shylock Bones. Also starring was Floss Orr, whose brother Jack Orr and future husband Fred Daw enlisted alongside Ernie, the three of them being assigned to the same unit and leaving Australia together.
Ernie first applied to enlist in the AIF in April 1916 but was refused because of his father’s German background. After the local enrolling officer W G McLean wrote to the District Director of Recruiting in Perth in Ernie’s defence, he was allowed to enlist.
At this time Ernie was a shop assistant for WE Hughes and Co and had been for six years. William Edward ‘Barney’ Hughes was a well-known local identity, who held properties near Cape le Grand and Lake Warden, as well as a store in Andrew Street.
Ernie left Australia on the 29th of January and arrived in England on the 28th of March. In April, while undergoing training, he contracted measles and broncho pneumonia, which led to his death on the 5th of May 1917. Ernie was buried on the 9th of May in Durrington cemetery and was given a full military funeral, with friends from the 44th Battalion attending.
EVANS, Frederick Edwin
Service Number 3284a
Birth 1 May 1884, York WA
Next of Kin
Brother: Mr George Evans, Mingenew WA
Enlistment 13 November 1916, Boulder WA
Age at enlistment 32 years, 4 months
Description Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: not stated
Chest: 35 - 37”
Occupation Senior Lineman (PMG)
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
29 Dec 1916, HMAT Persic A34, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 46th Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia
28 Sep 1918 per Carpentaria
Frederick Evans Esperance Museum ELH-P4349-39
Fred Evans was the seventh child of David and Mary Evans.
David Evans arrived in Fremantle as a convict on board the Palmerston in 1861. He obtained his certificate of freedom in 1867, by which time he had already settled in the York district. On the 18th of September 1869 he married Mary Fleming at York.
Although only one of their sons, Fred, is named on the Esperance Honor Board, two other sons also served. William Henry ‘Harry’ Evans served in the 5th Pioneer Battalion, and returned home in 1919. Ernest Evans served in the 16th battalion and was killed in action on the 11th of April 1917 in France.
At the time of his enlistment, Fred Evans was working as a senior lineman for the PMG at Israelite Bay. He disembarked at Devonport, England on the 3rd of March 1917. Six days later he was in hospital, sick. He left hospital on the 14th of March but was in hospital again on the 20th of April, this time for 18 days.
Fred arrived in France on the 17th of July 1917. On the 13th of October that year, while serving near Passchendaele, he was gassed. He was subsequently sent to Connaught Hospital in Aldershot, England, after which he underwent further training, also being hospitalised for another month suffering from anaemia. He did not return to the front, eventually leaving England for Australia on the 8th of August 1918.
On the 15th of November 1918, Fred married Jessie Eleanor Cook, sister of Trooper Malcolm Cook.
Fred continued working for the PMG department in various parts of the state until 1947, when he retired and they moved to the Norseman district, possibly to be closer to Jessie’s family at Noondoonia Station.
Jessie died on the 31st of July 1949 at Esperance and is buried in the Esperance cemetery. They had two children, Fred and Margaret.
In later life Fred lived with his daughter Margaret and her family, as they travelled throughout WA looking for work. According to his family he did not dwell too much on his war service, although he felt heavily the loss of his brother Ernest, and recalled having his horse shot from under him while taking messages from the front. On a brighter note, he recalled with pleasure the French wine, and the French girls!
Fred died on the 20th of March 1967 in Perth and is buried at Karrakatta.
FREARSON, Clement Cook Junction
Service Number 865
Birth
Next of Kin
Enlistment
13 September 1889, South Australia
Father: Septimus Frearson, Dowerin, WA
12 April 1916, Perth
Age at enlistment 26 years, 5 months
Description Height: 5’ 9½“
Weight: 143lb
Chest: 34 - 37”
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Dark
6 June 1916, HMAT Suevic A29, Fremantle
Rank Corporal Unit 44th Battalion
Served at France, Belgium
Fate Killed in action, 4 June 1917, Belgium Memorial Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France
Clement Cook Junction (Clem) Frearson was the eighth child of ten born to Septimus and Emma Martha Frearson.
Septimus and his brother Samuel had founded Frearson’s Printing House in 1871 in Adelaide. They published, among other things, The Pictorial Australian, Frearson’s Monthly Illustrated Adelaide News and Frearson’s Weekly.
Septimus and Emma and their children moved to Norseman in 1895. They remained in the area for many years, where Septimus printed and published the Norseman Pioneer newspaper. He was a member of the Dundas Roads Board for some time, as well as having mining interests in the area.
Clem Frearson grew up in Norseman but by the time of his enlistment he had left the Norseman district and was farming at Goomalling near Dowerin. He embarked from Fremantle, WA, aboard HMAT Suevic on the 6th of June 1916. While on the ship, he was charged with 1) breaking ship and 2) absent without leave. His punishment was permanent fatigue and stoppage of all leave until disembarkation. The ship made good time and arrived at Plymouth on the 21st of June.
On the 21st of November, Clem proceeded to join his unit in France. On the 27th of January 1917 he was promoted from the rank of Private to Lance Corporal. On the 11th of April he was promoted to Temporary Corporal. Clem was reported missing on the 4th of June 1917. A Court of Enquiry was held in November, and Clem Frearson was found to have been killed in action on the 4th of June. He has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France.
A Red Cross Missing and Wounded file has several ‘first-hand’ accounts of his death, which have him as being either killed instantly, wounded and making it halfway back to their trench, or possibly being taken as a prisoner of war. He is also memorialised on the War Memorial at Dowerin.
GILMORE, Gordon Roy
Service Number 5302
Birth 1895, York WA
Next of Kin
Father: Frederick Gilmore, Scaddan via Norseman, WA
Enlistment 24 January 1916, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 20 years
Description Height: 5’ 6 ¼“
Weight: 144 lb
Chest: 37¼ - 34⅜“
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Reddish Brown
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
7 Aug 1916, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Corporal
Unit 28th Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 3 Oct 1917 per Nestor
Gordon Gilmore
Supplied by Frederick Gilmore
Gordon Roy Gilmore was the second child born to Fred and Annie Gilmore. Fred and Annie arrived in Western Australia in the early 1890’s. Fred was a blacksmith and wheelwright, before moving to York, where he drove the mail coach between that town and Southern Cross. Once the railway from Perth reached Southern Cross, the coach was no longer required, so the Gilmores moved again, to Woolgangie - between Southern Cross and Coolgardie - where Fred was the proprietor of a wayside inn, known as The Club Hotel. Life there was hard, with a constant stream of travellers, water shortages, poor sanitation and typhoid.
By late 1896 Fred had established the Lake View Wayside Hotel, between Salmon Gums and Norseman. The Lake View hotel was a mail change, and horses were kept there for use on the mail coach. Fred Gilmore also operated a water condenser, extracting fresh water from salt water to provide for travellers between Esperance Bay and the Goldfields. Later, when the hotel trade slowed down, Fred Gilmore left his wife and son to run the hotel while he operated a team of horses and a wagon, carting supplies from Esperance to Norseman. The Gilmores established a post office and store in the building, which also became the family home. They took up land nearby and established a farm. Fred Gilmore operated a general agency business in Salmon Gums, where he sold Ford trucks, cars and tractors among other things. He later took up land for a short time at Six Mile Hill.
At the end of 1904 when Gordon was nine years old, he and his mother moved to Esperance so that he could attend school, which he did for a couple of years. At the end of that time, he won a prize for general proficiency, which was a volume of Boys Own Annual, donated by Mr William Dempster. After the birth of his younger sister in 1906 they moved back to Lake View.
Registration of firearms was not necessary at that time, so Gordon had a .22 rifle of his own and spent a lot of time chasing birds and animals in the bush. He also trapped dingoes and was paid five shillings a scalp.
As a child Gordon often wrote to ‘Aunt Mary’, in the children’s pages in the Western Mail newspaper, describing in detail his life at Lake View and contributing several stories that he had written.
At the time of his enlistment, Gordon was 20 and farming at Scaddan. His service in the war is best described in his own words:
“Early in 1916 I volunteered for war service and after a period of training in Blackboy Hill and Claremont, left Australia with the 14th reinforcements of the 28th Battalion.
We had an uneventful voyage in the SS Miltiades, calling at Capetown and
Cape Verde Islands and disembarked at Plymouth. We had our final training at Salisbury Plain and joined the battalion at Pozieres, in France.
It was mostly trench warfare and very intense at times. At one stage we captured large quantities of German hand grenades of various types, and our CO thought up the idea of using them against the Germans. So a school was formed, of two NCO’s from each company. I had a couple of stripes and was included.
We had a weeks’ intense course, and then re-joined the Battalion to impart our knowledge. The winter of 1916-17 was very severe, and according to the local French was the worst for many years. When a thaw set in it was essential to lay duck boards to move about in the mud.
At the first battle of Bullecourt on May 3, 1917, I copped the packet which put me out of action. It was probably a hand grenade, as both sides were swapping them frequently at the time. I was suddenly blacked out and woke some time later to find myself in the mud at the bottom of the trench, with wounds mostly on my head.
The strife had moved on, as the Germans had fallen back. I found I could not stand, but could crawl, and made my way to a shell hole. One of our officers was there, but was barely conscious with a shattered leg.
Evidently the stretcher bearers found us, as the next thing I knew I was on a hospital train and finished up in Southall, near London. The doctors told me my main trouble was a fissure fracture of the skull, and evidently my steel helmet had saved me.
After several weeks I was sent before a Medical Board, which put me on a hospital ship returning to Australia. There were 1500 hospital cases on the “Nestor”, and we were escorted by two destroyers. A German sub was sighted off the coast of Africa but did not attack.
After a period in Perth, I received my official discharge and took a train for Norseman. I was met at the station and offered a job in John’s general store, and as my parents had told me things were pretty quiet at Scaddan I decided to accept. I was counter hand and on general delivery.”
After the war Gordon suffered from frequent severe headaches for some time, but they gradually lessened.
Gordon was involved in the formation of a branch of the Returned Soldiers Association in Norseman and was its’ president. The RSA later merged with the RSL.
After a year or so working in the general store, Gordon took over a green grocer business, also selling confectionery and ice cream.
He later lived in the Kalgoorlie area, working on various mines. In 1936 he married Frances Effie O’Donovan, and they had 4 children.
When World War Two began, Gordon offered his service but was turned down. It was rumoured that Japanese air raids were likely, so he built an air raid shelter alongside the house in Harvey St, Kalgoorlie.
They soon bought a house in Boulder, pulling it down and moving it to Esperance where it was rebuilt. This house was later converted to flats and they bought another home in Emily Street.
Gordon bought a Willy’s Knight Saloon car and started a taxi business - the first in Esperance. In 1950 he began a school bus service which went via Gibson Soak to the Piercey’s farm at Speddingup.
In 1953, he sold his school bus and taxi services in Esperance, and moved to Yarloop, where he bought another school bus service.
In 1959, Gordon and his wife were separated. He sold the school bus run and moved to Bullfinch and spent some time prospecting (unsuccessfully) with a mate.
In 1960 he returned to Esperance and settled in the old family home in Emily Street. Once again, he took over a school bus run, retiring in 1967.
Gordon died on the 5th of October 1983 and is buried in the Esperance cemetery.
GRIFFIN, James
Service Number 2352
Birth 18 July 1884, Esperance
Next of Kin
Brother, Robert Griffin, Swan Mission, Midland Junction, WA. (See also Robert Clatworthy)
Enlistment 14 February 1916, Albany
Age at enlistment 30 years
Description
Height: 5’ 7¼“
Weight: 161 lb
Chest: 36 - 38“
Occupation Station hand
Hair: Brown Eyes: Grey Complexion: Medium
Embarkation 16 May 1916, HMAT Surada A52, Fremantle
Rank Trooper
Unit 10th Light Horse Brigade
Served at Palestine
Returned to Australia 18 July 1919, per Oxfordshire
James Griffin and wife Sarah
Supplied by John Elliott
James Griffin’s birth was registered under the surname of Fae, this being one of the names his mother was known by at the time. He was the son of Michael Griffin, a shepherd in the employ of the Dempster family, and Margaret, a Wudjari Nyungar woman known as Margaret Fae or Dempster, later Clatworthy. Michael and Margaret also had a daughter Mary, who was taken from her mother in 1900 aged 10 and placed in a mission at New Norcia. Michael Griffin came to Esperance as an early employee of the Dempster family. According to the reminiscences of William E Dempster in the book Esperance Yesterday and Today by John Rintoul, Michael Griffin was a “big, red headed Irishman”. Michael was the brother of Kate Doust, making his children James and Mary cousins of the Doust children (see Doust brothers). James was also half-brother to another serviceman, Robert Clatworthy.
William Dempster knew James Griffin as Jimmy, and recalls the time when as a boy, Jimmy was looking after William’s infant son in his pram. When asked why he always turned the pram to the sun, Jimmy explained that it made the baby close his eyes and go to sleep, saving him a lot of trouble. Dempster also said that he was a ‘dead shot with a rifle’.
James Griffin married Mary Wyne (also known as Mary Gready) in 1912 in Esperance. He had to apply to the Chief Protector of Aborigines for permission to marry her, as she was a full blood Aboriginal woman, and he was what was known at the time as a ‘quadroon’ (¼ aboriginal). They had three children, but by the time he enlisted in 1916 Mary had died and James placed his children in the Carrolup Orphanage, near Katanning, WA.
When he enlisted, James was working for the Dempster family as a station hand.
After leaving Fremantle, James arrived at Tel-El-Kebir, at the edge of the Egyptian desert on the 17th of June 1916. He served with the 10th Light Horse in Palestine for the duration of the war. On the 2nd of May 1918 he suffered a dislocated elbow when his horse fell on him. At this time, the 10th Light Horse was taking part in heavy fighting at a small village in Palestine, named Es Salt. The injury was serious enough to put him out of action until late June when he returned to his unit.
In September 1917 while James was away, his youngest child, also named James, died at the Carrolup orphanage.
After the war James married again to Sarah Kathleen Cox (nee Evans) in 1923. They had seven children, five of whom survived to adulthood.
James was allocated Lots 755 and 756 west of Esperance through the Soldier Settlement Scheme.
Section of map - Esperance to Lake Gore, east to Stockyard Creek, north to Fleming Grove.
Highlighted Lot 756, Lot 755
Esperance Museum ELH-M1c
He enlisted for the Second World War on the 6th of August 1943, and served at home with the 8th Goldfields Battalion Volunteers. Two of his sons also served in this war - Edward served in Australia and abroad as a gunner in the 4th Australian Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, and James Alfred served in Australia as a Leading Aircraftman in the RAAF.
In 1948 James Griffin was granted a small pension, his injury in 1918 having led to weakness in his left arm and arthritis in the left elbow. His sight and hearing were also failing, and he was having difficulty working.
In 1956 James and Sarah were given financial assistance to travel to Perth so that James could receive treatment for his failing vision. While he did get some relief, he refused an operation for a cataract on his right eye, so his vision remained poor.
On the 28th of November 1958 James and Sarah Griffin had been out for the evening in Esperance. They drove home late that night and parked the car on the Esplanade across the street from their house (on the corner of the Esplanade and Angove Street, now Brazier Street). James stepped onto the road and was hit by a car. He died the following day and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Esperance cemetery. He was 75 years old. His wife Sarah died on the 6th of June 1971 and is buried with James.
HARDMAN, William Richard
Service Number
3001
Birth 1894, Perth
Next of Kin
Father: Mr William Hardman, 178 Hopkins St, Boulder
Enlistment 10 March 1916, Norseman
Age at enlistment 22 years
Description Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 140 lb
Chest: 24¼ - 36¼“
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: Bluish grey
Complexion: Fresh
4 Nov 1916, HMAT Bakara A41, Adelaide
Rank Sapper Unit
3rd Light Horse Signalling Troop
Served at Middle East
Returned to Australia 4 July 1919 per Oxfordshire
Kalgoorlie Miner, 10 December 1917, pg5
Source TROVE
William Richard (Bill) Hardman was the third child of six born to William and Annie Hardman.
The Hardman family travelled to the WA Goldfields from Victoria in the 1890’s. William Snr was an active community member in Kalgoorlie and Boulder. The family also had a property they named Meadow Farm near Grass Patch north of Esperance, and William was a strong supporter of the proposed railway between Esperance and the Goldfields. They later moved to Bassendean, where William became involved in municipal affairs.
At the time of his enlistment, Bill Hardman was farming at Meadow Farm. He left Australia via Adelaide on the 4th of November 1916 and arrived at Moascar in December. Initially with the 10th Light Horse Regiment, Bill was transferred in April 1917 to the 3rd Light Horse Signalling Troop.
In August 1918, Bill was briefly hospitalised with Furunculosis (boils). In May 1919, he was hospitalised again, this time with venereal disease. He re-joined his unit in July, just days before returning to Australia.
Bill did not return to the farm at Grass Patch after the war. In 1920 he bought a farm at Kellerberrin under the Soldier Settlement Scheme, where he farmed with his brother Herbert for many years.
Bill married Annie J (Nancy) Gee in 1929 in Perth, bringing her and her son Jim to the farm.
In 1932, Bill was severely burned while he was fuelling his truck with kerosene. It was believed a fire started when the kerosene splashed onto the hot exhaust pipe. He threw the can of kerosene away from the fire but had also spilled some on his own clothes which caught alight. Fortunately, a nearby farmer saw the incident and rescued Bill, taking him to hospital.
Bills’ brother Herbert died suddenly in 1946 while in his 40’s. Bill remained farming at Kellerberrin until 1952, when he sold the property and, with his wife Nancy, moved to Wembley.
He died on the 3rd of October 1971 and is buried at Karrakatta. His wife died on the 21st of September 1988 and is also buried there.
HEARNE, Frederick Albert George
Service Number
Birth
62816
13 May 1899, Adelaide SA
Next of Kin George Hearne, father, Esperance
Enlistment
27 July 1918, Esperance
Age at enlistment 19 years, 2 months
Description Height: 5’ 4 ¾“
Weight: 9 st 7 lb
Chest: 31¾ - 33½“
Occupation Plumber and tinsmith
Embarkation
Hair: Dark
Eyes: Blue grey
Complexion: Dark
29 Oct 1918, HMAT Boonah A36, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit Western Australian 3rd Reinforcements
Served at -
Returned to Australia
HMAT Boonah 20 Dec 1918
*The Hearn(e) surname is spelled with or without the ‘e’ through various records. Frederick’s WWI service record has the surname as Hearne. His WWII record has Hearn with no ‘e’.
Frederick Hearn - photo from WWII service record
Source NAA: B2455, HEARNE F A G 62816
Frederick Hearne was the oldest of six sons born to William ‘George’ and Bertha Mary Hearne.
George and Bertha married in Perth in 1898, after which they travelled to George’s home state of South Australia where they lived for four years. They then came back to WA, spending time in the Goldfields, Perth, Hopetoun and Albany. By 1908 they had arrived in Esperance, where George Hearne became the local undertaker, as well as a carpenter and numerous other things.
The Honor Board for the Great War that now hangs in the Esperance RSL building was made by George Hearne. He died on the 7th of July 1936 and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery. His wife died on the 4th of September 1942 and is also buried there. The Hearne’s undertaking business was continued by their sons for several decades.
Fred Hearne, who was a plumber, signed up on the 27th of July 1918. He left Fremantle on the 29th of October 1918 on HMAT Boonah A36. When the ship arrived at Durban, South Africa, the troops were given the news that the war was over. After several days, during which locals were allowed on board the ship to undertake maintenance and bring supplies on board, the ship made its way back to Australia.
It was soon evident that the ‘Spanish flu’ had also been brought onto the ship. By the time they reached Fremantle, there were over 300 cases of influenza on board. Fortunately for Fred, he was not one of them. The ship was held off the coast for nine days, with only the sickest men being taken to the Woodman Point Quarantine Station. Eventually, the ship was ordered to depart to Adelaide, which must have been frustrating for the West Australians on board. They disembarked at Torrens Island Quarantine Station, where they were given the all clear and allowed to return home.
Fred married Edith Constance Pryor in 1920 in Perth, and they had a large family. They lived in Esperance for a while during the 1920’s, but moved to Perth, where they were residing in in 1940 at the time of Fred’s enlistment in the Second World War. He served as Corporal in the 5th Garrison Battalion until being discharged in 1944, as being a plumber, he was required for maintaining essential services.
Some time after the war, the Hearnes moved to South Australia, where Edith died on the 19th of October 1955 aged 52, and Fred died on the 27th of November 1984 aged 85. They are buried together in the Dudley Park Cemetery, South Australia.
HEENAN, Neville James
Service Number 19753
Birth 15 November 1892, Caboolture, QLD
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Father: Michael Joseph Heenan, Esperance Bay
8 November 1915, Perth
Age at enlistment 22 years, 11 months
Description
Height: 5’ 7½“
Weight: 157 lb
Chest: 35 - 37½“
Occupation Law student
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fresh
20 May 1916, HMAT Medic A7, Melbourne
Rank 2nd Lieutenant
Unit
7th Field Artillery Brigade
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 28 Feb 1919, per Anchises
Neville Heenan, The Queenslander, Saturday 13 July 1918, pg 26
Source TROVE
Born in Queensland in 1892, Neville Heenan was the oldest of eight children born to Michael and Josephine Heenan.
The Heenans were farming near Laidley in Queensland in the 1890’s when Michael went to Golden Valley, Kanowna WA, in search of gold. He had modest success, so Michael sent for his wife Josephine and their three children to join him.
By 1902 the Heenan family had moved to Esperance, where they purchased the Pier Hotel and a farm at Grass Patch. Michael Heenan already had some experience as licensee of several hotels in Queensland, as well as a small establishment at Golden Valley, near Southern Cross. According to Michael’s grandson, they acquired the Pier Hotel mainly to house themselves, as it was going cheap and Esperance was experiencing a decline in population at that time. Michael Heenan was known to regularly make the trip on foot between Esperance and the farm. He was involved in local affairs and was the mayor of Esperance at one stage. The Pier Hotel remained in the Heenan family until the 1950’s, when it was sold.
Neville Heenan attended the local primary school in Esperance before being sent to the Christian Brothers School in Wakefield Street, Adelaide where he was a distinguished scholar and athlete.
He returned to WA in 1913 and began his legal training at the office of Walter Dwyer in Perth. While there, he continued playing football and became involved in amateur theatricals.
After Neville enlisted, he was sent to the Eastern States for training, prior to embarking.
Neville was gassed twice in 1917, and on the 3rd of September, he was awarded the Military Cross. The citation reads:
“On the night of 19th August, the 107th Howitzer Battery, near Messines, was being heavily shelled. A quantity of charges were ignited and a dump of gas shell thrown about. The officers of the battery attempted to extinguish the fire but the Battery Commander, considering the risk too great, prevented them. Lieutenant Heenan, coming from another direction, did not hear this order, and extinguished the fire single handed and at great personal risk from enemy shell, burning charges, and leaking gas shell, thereby saving the ammunition, preventing injury to personnel, and setting a very fine example to his men.”
After his return to Australia in May 1919, Neville was welcomed home to Esperance, along with two other local servicemen (Alex Wood and Gordon Cavanagh) with a reception in the Road Board Office followed by a public
Esmond, Neville, Eric and Kevin Heenan
Supplied by Eric Heenan
function at the Bijou. Soon afterwards, Neville returned to Perth, where he resumed his legal studies and became president of the Mt Lawley Returned Soldiers Association. He was admitted to the bar in December 1920 and practised law in Perth until 1924 when he moved to Northam. During the same year, Neville unsuccessfully contested the seat of Kanowna as a candidate for the Country Party. He married Judy Morgan on the 21st of October 1925 in Perth, and they had three children.
While in Northam, Neville retained an interest in agricultural affairs, owning farming land and being an office bearer in the Primary Producers Association. He also sat on the Northam Municipal Council. From time to time, he visited Esperance, and in 1928 he successfully represented his mother, as licensee of the Pier Hotel, and Mr W Baird, licensee of the Royal Hotel, when they opposed an application to open another hotel in Esperance. In 1930 Neville was again a Country Party candidate, this time for the East Province. He was again unsuccessful.
During the mid-1930’s, Neville and Judy Heenan moved to Kalgoorlie, where Neville continued his legal career. While there, he was a member of the Kalgoorlie Amateur Swimming Club and on one occasion travelled with the club to compete in Esperance against the local club (which included his brother Esmond).
He served at home during the Second World War, as Area Officer in Kalgoorlie and Claremont, and later representing the army in court against conscientious objectors.
The Heenans returned to Esperance for a short time in the 1950’s to run the Pier Hotel. Neville was also involved in establishing the Esperance Fish Cannery.
Neville Heenan died in Perth on the 14th of February 1956 and was buried at Karrakatta.
HEENAN, Eric Michael
Service Number
Birth
Next of Kin
Enlistment
62817
29 April 1900, Kanowna, WA
Father: Michael Joseph Heenan, Esperance
22 July 1918, Perth
Age at enlistment 21 years, 2 months. (His actual age was 18 years, 2 months)
Description Height: 5’ 7½“
Weight: 136 lb
Chest: 32 - 36“
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Fresh
Occupation
Embarkation
School teacher
29 Oct 1918, HMAT Boonah A36. Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
Served at
3rd Reinforcements
Did not serve overseas, due to the end of the war.
Returned to Australia HMAT Boonah 20 Dec 1918
Eric Heenan
Supplied by Eric Heenan
Eric Heenan was the fourth child of Michael and Josephine Heenan. Like his brother Neville, he was educated at the Christian Brothers school in Adelaide. He was keen to enlist in the war and had been waiting until he was old enough. In 1918, his brother Neville wrote home that he had better hurry up, as the war may be over soon. Eric enlisted, putting his age up by three years so he would not need his parents’ consent. At the time of his enlistment, he was working at the Esperance State School as a teacher’s monitor. After undergoing training at Blackboy Hill, Eric embarked on the HMAT Boonah on the 20th of October 1918.
When the ship arrived at Durban, the troops were given the news that the war was over. After several days, during which locals were allowed on board the ship to undertake maintenance and bring supplies on board, the ship made its way back to Australia. It was soon evident that the ‘Spanish flu’ had also been brought onto the ship. As many members of the crew were affected, volunteers were called to help as stokers. One who volunteered was Eric Heenan. By the time they reached Fremantle, there were over 300 cases of influenza on board, and Eric was one of them. He was seriously ill, and therefore was among the first to be transported from the ship to Woodman Point Quarantine Station. He was there for a month before he was well enough to be released. Eric was discharged from the army on the 21st of January 1919.
After the war, Eric went back to teaching at East Vic Park. In 1922 he decided to study law and was articled to his brother Neville for five years. Before he finished, their father died, so Eric returned to Esperance and studied law by correspondence.
While in Esperance, Eric was an active community member, who enjoyed fishing and horseracing. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1929, before going to practice in the Goldfields. He began a legal practice in Kalgoorlie in 1930, which he had until 1951.
Also in 1930, Eric took an interest in politics, and ran for the Kalgoorlie seat (Labor), losing by a narrow margin. In 1934, he was the Labor candidate for the North East province, and again lost by less than 10 votes. Eric was again the Labor candidate for the same seat in 1936, when he was finally elected as a member for the State Legislative Council. He remained in the position until 1968, while still running his legal practice.
During his political career, Eric Heenan was a strong advocate for the people of the Goldfields. He was a member of the Kalgoorlie Race Club and the Kalgoorlie RSL Golf Club. He was the lawyer for the Australian Workers Union, and the President of the Amalgamated Prospectors Association of WA as well as the Eastern Goldfields Fresh Air League, a charity established in 1901
West Australian,15 January 1937, pg7
Source TROVE
to provide sick or disadvantaged Goldfields’ children in need of a change of climate with a trip to the coast. While Heenan was president in the late 1940’s the Fresh Air League accommodation at Esperance was established.
Eric Heenan was also an advocate for change. In a parliamentary debate in 1938, he openly supported the idea of women between the age of 21 and 60 being allowed to sit on juries. However, it wasn’t until 1957 that a bill was passed to this effect.
In January 1937, Eric Heenan married Joan Mary McKenna – niece of Frank and Doug Townsend, also local recruits, and daughter of their sister Jessie who served during the First World War as a nurse. Joan was also a lawyer and the marriage made the headlines in various newspapers, as it was the first marriage in WA between two practising lawyers. Joan Heenan continued to practice law after their marriage, joining her husband as a partner in their legal practice in Kalgoorlie. Eric served for three years as a Private in the Volunteer Defence Corps during World War Two.
He and Joan had one child, a son, in 1945 and in 1951 the family moved to Perth, although Eric continued visiting Kalgoorlie on many weekends to keep the practice going.
Eric Heenan practised law until 1974, when his sight was deteriorating due to glaucoma. By the late 1970’s he was almost completely blind. He died on the 26th of June 1998 and was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth. His wife Joan died on the 16th of January 2002 and was buried with him.
HENRY, Thomas Darling
Service Number 3493
Birth 13 Aug 1896, Beverley WA
Next of Kin
Father: Thomas Henry, Norseman WA
Enlistment 14 August 1915, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 19 years, 11 months
Description Height: 5’ 6¾“
Weight: 9st 9 lb
Chest: 32½ - 36”
Occupation Post & Telegraphs
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Pale
Embarkation 1 Nov 1915, HMAT Benalla A24, Fremantle
Rank Sergeant Unit 5th Division Signalling Company
Served at Egypt and France
Returned to Australia 14 May 1919 per Trasos Montes
Citation regarding Bar to the Military Medal for Thomas Henry
Source AWM
Thomas Darling (Darley) Henry was the fourth child of six born to Thomas and Mary Ann Henry. Thomas Henry Snr was a school teacher. By 1911, he was teaching in Esperance while his wife Mary Ann stayed at their home, Matta Matta, located in Bridgetown. He taught at the local school in Esperance for several years before moving on to Norseman. On his retirement shortly after the war, Thomas Snr returned to Bridgetown.
At the time of his enlistment, Darley Henry was working as an assistant for the Postal and Telegraph Department, at Greenbushes, WA.
Darley left Fremantle in November 1915, and arrived in Egypt in early 1916. He served in Egypt until June, when he was sent with his unit to France. On the 13th of August 1916 he was awarded the Military Medal, for “Bravery in the Field”. This was followed by a Bar to the Military Medal just over a year later, on the 31st of October 1917:
“For gallantry and devotion to duty. During the operations from 23rd to 27th September 1917, on the POLYGON WOOD front, this NCO was in charge of one of the line parties of the Brigade Forward Station. On the morning of the 26th September, under a very heavy enemy barrage, he personally took charge of the line party, and throughout the day under very adverse conditions, tried to maintain communication with Battalions, he went forward to the first objective, and under a heavy enemy barrage, ran a ladder line to the right attacking Battalion. When the barrage was at its height he went out on the line mending breaks. Throughout the operation he showed a complete contempt for danger in the execution of his duty. He set a fine example to the men under him.”
Upon his return to Australia, Darley Henry and a number of others were welcomed back to Greenbushes at a supper dance.
After the war he took the job of postmaster at Hall’s Creek. On the 5th of September 1923 he married Janet Collison Hepburn in Fremantle.
Darley Henry remained in the employ of the Postal and Telegraph Dept, living and working in South Australia and Queensland. During the 1940’s he was one of the engineers on the Darwin Telegraph line. An article in the Adelaide News in January 1942 quoted him as saying that the hardships experienced by the workers on the telegraph line were greater than anything he had seen in four years’ service in WW1.
Darley also enlisted for WW2, on the 29th of May 1942. He served as a signaller in the No 4 Line of Communications Signals unit.
He died on the 29th of July 1981 in South Australia, and is memorialised at Centennial Park, Adelaide, with his wife who had died on the 2nd of January 1975.
HENRY, George John
Service Number
2580
Birth 1898, Beverley, WA
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Mother: Mrs Mary Ann Henry, Bridgetown
25 July 1916, Bunbury WA
Age at enlistment 18 years, 2 months
Description Height: 5 ‘ 7 ¼“
Weight: 9st 3 lb
Chest: 31 - 33 ½“
Occupation Farm hand
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
9 Nov 1916, HMAT Argyllshire A8, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th Battalion
Served at Europe
Fate Killed in action, 28 March 1918, France Memorial Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France
George Henry
Supplied by State Library of Western Austrlia slwa_b3108769_1
George Henry was the fifth child of Thomas and Mary Ann Henry.
George had attended school in Esperance, but by the time of his enlistment in 1916 he was residing in the Bridgetown district.
He arrived in England on the 10th of January 1917. After undergoing training at Larkhill in Wiltshire, Henry left for France at the end of August.
On the 4th of October 1917 he was hospitalised in France with abrasions to his right thigh. He returned to his unit on 17th November.
On the 28th of March 1918, during action between Sailly-le-Sec and SaillyLaurette, when George Henry was a runner in the front line, he was reported as missing in action. His two brothers arrived in the area shortly afterwards with their units, and tried to find more information on his fate, but to no avail.
A Court of Enquiry held in October 1918 ruled that George Henry had been killed in action. Even after the war, in 1921 the family were still liaising with the Red Cross, obtaining maps of the area and attempting to help military authorities find the body of their son. He was never found.
HOLMAN, Maurice
Service Number
22227
Birth 8 August 1893, Footscray, Victoria
Next of Kin
Father: Edwin Holman, Mallee Dale Farm, Esperance Road, Norseman WA
Enlistment 9 November 1915, Norseman
Age at enlistment 22 years
Description
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 143 lb
Chest: 34¾ - 36¼“
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Reddish Brown
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
20 May 1916, HMAT Medic A7, Melbourne
Rank Bombardier
Unit
16th Battery, 6th Field Artillery Brigade
Served at Egypt and Europe
Fate Killed in action 5 June 1917, Belgium
Burial London Rifle Brigade Cemetery, Belgium
Maurice Holman
Supplied by Mike and Ellen Gibbs
Maurice Holman was the oldest surviving child of seven born to Edwin and Elizabeth Sarah Holman.
The Holmans arrived in Western Australia from Victoria around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. They lived and worked in the Goldfields before Edwin and their oldest son Maurice moved to Grass Patch in 1912. They set to work immediately, clearing the bush and sinking dams, before being joined by the rest of the family.
The Holmans remained at Grass Patch for many years, working their own properties as well as contracting for other farmers in the area. Elizabeth also operated a boarding house for a while at Red Lake, near Grass Patch.
Edwin Holman died aged 75 on the 19th of November 1945, and Elizabeth died aged 93 on the 13th of April 1963. They are both buried in the Kalgoorlie cemetery.
Descendants of the family still reside in the Esperance district.
Maurice Holman was farming with his family at Grass Patch when he enlisted in November 1915. According to descendants of the Holman family, this was his second attempt, as he had previously been knocked back due to having ‘flat feet’.
He initially served with the 25th Howitzer Brigade and was send to Victoria for training, before embarking from Melbourne on the 20th of May 1916 on the HMAT Medic. In his diary Maurice recorded that he suffered so badly from sea sickness he started to wish he hadn’t signed up at all. He also had the odd bout of homesickness which seemed to lessen once he arrived on British soil. While training in Salisbury, he explored as many historic landmarks as he could – regularly sending postcards to his family of the places he visited.
Maurice embarked for the front in March 1917 and was transferred to the 6th Australian Field Artillery Brigade at the end of May. At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, on the 5th of June 1917, he was killed instantly by a shrapnel shell at Ploegsteert, Belgium. Sergeant A A Bellette, who found him, retrieved his belongings from his pockets, including a slip of paper with his last orders on it, and sent them home to his family with a letter which included the following:
“We all miss your son here in the Battery although he has not been here long he was liked by everyone and he was my right hand in the sub-section because he was so efficient with his work and always did it with a smiling face and he was a son any mother and father could be proud of for if any man ever died doing his duty it was him”.
He was buried nearby in the London Rifle Brigade cemetery.
HOLMAN, Percy Sydney
Service Number 3363
Birth 18 October 1895, South Australia
Next of Kin
Father Edwin Holman, Mallee Farm, Esperance Road, Norseman WA
Enlistment 5 August 1915, Norseman WA
Age at enlistment 19 years
Description Height: 5’ 10½“
Weight: 137 lb Chest: 32½ - 36½“
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Medium brown
Eyes: Green
Complexion: Fair
2 Nov 1915, HMAT Ulysses A38, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 11th Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 27 Jan 1919, per Marmare
Percy Holman
Supplied by Mike and Ellen Gibbs
Percy Sydney (Syd) Holman was the third child of Edwin and Elizabeth Holman. At the time of his enlistment he was farming with the family at Grass Patch.
He served with the 11th Battalion AIF, and left Fremantle on board the HMAT Ulysses on the 2nd of November 1915, arriving in Habieta, Egypt, in March 1916. The unit embarked for France shortly afterwards, arriving there in April.
Syd wrote to his family at home when he could, occasionally mentioning other local recruits he had come across, such as Gordon Cavanagh in Egypt, in February 1916.
During his service Syd was wounded in the wrist, right leg, shoulder, neck and face, as well as suffering from trench feet.
Syd married twice – first in 1920, to Jane (Jinnie) Read, with whom he had two children. Jinnie died of tuberculosis in 1926 and was buried at Karrakatta. His second marriage to Ethel Barrow took place in 1929, and the couple had one son.
Syd applied successfully for a farm near his parents at Grass Patch. He remained on the farm until 1935 when it went up for sale. Shortly after this he became the foreman at the Whitby Falls Farm, which had been an asylum for the insane since the early 1900’s. Whitby Falls also provided employment for the elderly and frail and supplied the Claremont Mental Hospital with eggs, vegetables, honey and fruit, as well as hay for their own cattle. The farm, located in Whitby, is currently leased to Murdoch University.
Syd and Jinnie’s son Edwin served with the RAAF in the Second World War, while Syd served as a Private in the Home Guard.
Syd died on the 25th of July 1970, aged 74, and his ashes were scattered at Karrakatta Cemetery.
JACKSON, Arthur Lamb
Service Number
Birth 20 September 1899, County Antrim, Ireland
Next of Kin
Father: Mr Thomas Lamb Jackson, Rich Hill Farm, Esperance
Enlistment 14 October 1918, Perth
Age at enlistment 19 years
Description Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 136 lb
Chest: 35 - 37“
Occupation Farm hand
Embarkation
Rank Unit
Served at Returned to Australia
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fresh
Western Argus, 29 October 1918, pg 1
Source TROVE
Arthur Lamb Jackson was the oldest of three children born to Thomas Lamb and Sarah Jane Jackson.
The Jacksons arrived in the WA Goldfields from Ireland around 1900 and settled for a while in the Kookynie district and by 1913 had taken up land at Scaddan and named it Rich Hill Farm. Thomas Lamb Jackson was active in the local community, being a member of the Scaddan Settlers’ Association and a witness in the 1916 Royal Commission on the Mallee Belt and Esperance Lands.
Thomas died on the 7th of September 1934 and is buried in Esperance.
After his enlistment, Arthur Lamb Jackson was given a send-off by the Esperance Road Board, his mother and some friends also being present. He left shortly afterwards on the State Steamer Eucla for training at Blackboy Hill. However, due to the end of hostilities he did not leave Australia. Instead, he was engaged as a guard at Woodman Point and the Base Hospital, before returning to Esperance in July 1919.
During the 1920’s Arthur was employed in the Norseman district as a labourer, as well taking work cutting wood for the mines near Sandstone in the Mid West region of Western Australia.
In 1934, Arthur Lamb Jackson married Agnes Collins Sharples, a widow with three children. By April 1935 it appears he had left the marital home, as his wife placed a notice in the West Australian newspaper seeking his whereabouts. They were eventually divorced in 1943. At the time Arthur was working as a boundary rider in the north of WA.
In 1941 Arthur Lamb Jackson enlisted for WW2. At the time he was working as a cook, and he served as a corporal in the Australian Army Catering Corps. His next of kin at this time was his ‘unmarried wife’, Bertha Schipp.
Arthur Lamb Jackson died at a stockyard near Meekatharra on the 29th of November 1955 and is buried in the Meekatharra Cemetery.
JENKINS, Harry Togarmah
Service Number 2488
Birth 11 September 1896, Esperance
Next of Kin
Father: Henry Joseph Jenkins, Gibson Soak, Esperance
Enlistment 17 May 1915, Albany, WA
Age at enlistment 18 years, 8 months
Description Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 164 lb
Chest: 37½ - 39½
Occupation Farmer
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Fair
Embarkation 18 June 1915, HMAT Chilka A51, Fremantle
Rank Lance Corporal
Unit 16th Battalion AIF
Served at Egypt, Europe
Fate Killed in Action 11 April 1917, Bullecourt, France
Burial/Memorial: HAC Cemetery, Ecoust-St Mein, France
Harry Jenkins
Supplied by Jenkins family
Henry Togarmah (Harry) Jenkins was the oldest child of eight born to Henry Joseph and Sara Jane Jenkins.
Henry Joseph Jenkins was a successful prospector in the WA Goldfields in the early 1890’s. In 1895 he returned to his home state of Victoria, where he married Sara, before bringing her back to WA. They built a wayside inn at Gibson’s Soak, north of Esperance, which opened on Christmas Day in 1896, just a few months after the birth of Harry.
The family ran their establishment, soon known as the Gibson Soak Hotel, for over 30 years before they sold it and moved to Bay View, on Dempster Street in Esperance, where they operated the Bay View Guest House. The house was later re-named Fairhaven and used as a mission, and is now a private home.
Henry Joseph Jenkins died after a short illness in Esperance on the 30th of April 1934. He was buried the following day in the Esperance Cemetery. Sara eventually moved to live with their daughter at Norseman, where she died on the 26th of September 1952. She is buried in the Norseman Cemetery.
The Gibson Soak Hotel, known locally as The Soak, is still a well-loved watering hole and restaurant.
As a child, like many other rural children, Harry wrote to the “Children’s Corner” in the Western Mail newspaper. He attended school in Esperance, returning home for weekends and holidays.
Harry was only 18 years and 8 months of age when he enlisted in May 1915, and therefore needed his parents’ permission. His father signed the necessary form, and it was witnessed by R H Kipping (Ralph Hezekiah Kipping) who enlisted with Harry, left Australia with him, and served in the same unit. When Harry left to go into training at Blackboy Hill, his brother Norm took him to Norseman in a horse drawn buggy to catch the train.
In August 1916, while in France, Harry was hospitalised with shell shock. He soon re-joined his unit, and in October, was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. On the 15th of December he was hospitalised again, this time with mumps – not returning to his unit until the end of January 1917. On the 11th of April 1917, Harry was reported missing in action near Bullecourt, France.
Well-meaning letters from local boys at the front who had heard that Harry had been taken as a prisoner of war were received by Harry’s sister Gladys. This, and the fact that so many (over 1000) Australians were taken prisoner at that time, gave false hope to the Jenkins family. They had already lost their eleven-year-old daughter Essie from snakebite the previous year, and the death of their oldest son was a hardship they did not want to face.
Esperance Museum ELH-P1449
Premier John Scaddan with Henry Joseph and Sarah Jenkins, other townsfolk at Gibson Soak Hotel, circa 1915
Shawl, sent to Mrs Jenkins by her son Harry from Egypt. On display in the Esperance Museum.
Investigations by the Red Cross found conflicting accounts of Harry’s fate –Sgt Harry Ellis stated that he had known Harry as a boy from Gibson’s Soak, and that Harry had been taken prisoner. Corporal Gordon Charles Naley (who had been taken prisoner in the action) said Harry had been seen dead in an enemy sap (trench).
On the 4th of August 1917 Harry’s father wrote to the District Paymaster at Military HQ in Perth, to make sure that Harry’s allotment was still being paid into his bank account, as “I must see that my boy’s money is safe for him when he turns up, as I have every hope of him doing so”.
In November 1917 Harry was certified as having been killed in action on the day he disappeared. His family still could not accept it, even placing his picture with a notice in the Sunday Times newspaper on the 15th of December 1918, as other young men started to return home, requesting information about him.
It wasn’t until early 1926 that Harry’s remains were found in the Cagnicourt Communal Cemetery, German extension.
In May 1926, after being informed that he had been found, his mother wrote to the Officer in Charge at Base Records, Melbourne. The family had still not received any of Harry’s belongings. Sarah says:
“I have always been hoping and praying that I would hear something. Although 9 years has passed, it’s just as fresh in my memory. I ask every soldier that I meet if they knew him. His identification disc must have been found. I haven’t received one solitary thing belonging to him. I wrote to the Kit Stores [England] and they informed me that my late son’s Kit bag was sent in mistake to Alexandra instead of England and that it was looted by the sailors”.
In June, the family finally received Harry’s identity disc, along with the news that his remains had been reinterred in the HAC Cemetery, Ecoust-St Mein, France.
Harry’s parents planted a gum tree outside the Gibson Soak Hotel, with a plaque in his memory. It is still there today, and a photo of him hangs above the door in the main bar.
JONES, William Arthur
Service Number 4372
Birth 1882, Gordons, Victoria
Next of Kin
Mother: Alice Jones, Esperance WA. Later –wife: Mrs M E Jones
Enlistment 20 January 1916, Kalgoorlie, WA
Age at enlistment 33
Description
Height: 5’2”
Weight: 110 lb
Chest: 32 - 35“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Dark
1 June 1916, HMAT Warilda A69, Fremantle
Rank Sapper
Unit
3rd Australian Tunnelling Company
Served at France
Returned to Australia 2 Aug 1919, per Konigen Louis
William Arthur (Bill) Jones was the fourth child of eight born to James and Alice Jones.
The family moved to Western Australia from Victoria in the 1890’s. James died from consumption on the 12th of January 1905 in Esperance. Alice died on the 10th of July 1939, and they are both buried in unmarked graves in the Esperance cemetery.
Bill Jones signed up in January 1916, and arrived in England in July that year. On the 20th of December 1916, while still in England, he was court martialled for
“1) Being found beyond the limits fixed by orders without a pass or written leave from his C.O.
2) an act to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, being in possession of a false pass, well knowing it was not genuine.”
He was sentenced to three months detention, with one month remitted on the 23rd of December 1916. In all, he was forfeited a total of 101 days’ pay.
Bill Jones joined his unit in France in April 1917. In July, he was hospitalised with myalgia and trench fever, re-joining the unit at the beginning of August. In a medical report dated August 1919, Bill also mentioned that in 1917 he had suffered a gunshot wound in the left foot, for which he had not been hospitalised.
On the 14th of November 1918 while on leave in England, Bill met and married Mary Ellen (Nell) Quinn at the Registry Office in St Marylebone, London. Interestingly, although his occupation was a labourer on enlistment, at the time of his marriage he claimed to be a gold miner. After the war, Bill and his wife moved to Bowgada, WA, where they farmed until Bill’s death on the 16th of January 1943. He is buried in Karrakatta cemetery. Nell died in November 1946 in Kalgoorlie, and is buried in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery.
JONES, James Sydney Ernest
Service Number 5883
Birth 1893, Lethbridge, Victoria
Next of Kin
Mrs Alice Jones (mother), Esperance, WA
Enlistment 19 April 1916, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 23 years, 1 month
Description Height: 5’4”
Weight: 137 lb
Chest: 34½ - 37“
Occupation Fisherman
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Medium
13 Oct 1916, HMAT Suffolk A23, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
28th Battalion AIF
Served at France
Returned to Australia 24 July 1919 per Ormonde
James Sydney Ernest (Jim) Jones was the seventh child of James and Alice Jones. As a child in Esperance, with his brother Roy, he had learned to fish while working for Peter ‘Brownie’ Carpatus, a Greek fisherman who boarded with the Jones family. Both boys grew up to be fisherman, supplying the Esperance locals with their catch.
Jim had a yacht named Little Wonder, which he used to carry sheep to the islands for the Dempster family, as well as for fishing and recreation. Tommy Daw, in his biography, recalled that Jimmy Jones had taught him to sail on the Little Wonder.
Jim Jones enlisted on the 19th of April 1916, and after undergoing training left Fremantle that October. He arrived in France on the 22nd of December 1916. At the end of January 1917, he was hospitalised with mumps, returning to his unit in early April. In September 1917 Jim was evacuated to the Pavilion General Hospital in Brighton, England with a shell wound to the knee. In December, while on leave in London, Jim contracted syphilis. He spent the following 9 months in and out of hospital, eventually re-joining his unit in France in October 1918.
After his return to WA in 1919 Jim returned to his job as a fisherman. He didn’t marry. He became involved in local affairs in Esperance, which included filling the role of MC at a juvenile entertainment in 1929.
Jim died on the 16th of March 1931 at the Esperance hospital. His cause of death – cerebral haemorrhage and heart failure, was likely to have been brought about by the syphilis he contracted in 1917. He was 37 years of age. He is buried in the Esperance Cemetery.
A death notice in the Kalgoorlie Miner on 25th March 1931 reads:
JONES. — On March 16, 1931, at Esperance Hospital (suddenly), James Sydney Ernest Jones, dearly beloved son of Mrs. Alice Jones, fond brother of Mr. Roy Jones, Mrs. Arthur White (of Esperance), Bill (of Bowgarda) and Mrs. Sugg (Victoria), aged 37 years, a returned soldier, of the 28th Battalion. A war sufferer at rest.
KIPPING, Ralph Hezekiah
Service Number 2494
Birth 23 February 1889, Stratford, West Ham, Essex, England
Next of Kin
Brother: Charles Thomas Kipping, 17 Upton Lane, Forest Gate, London
Enlistment 17 May 1915, Albany, WA
Age at enlistment 25 years, 1 month
Description
Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 135 lb
Chest: 33 - 35½”
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Medium
18 June 1915, HMAT Chilka A51, Fremantle
Rank Private
Unit
16th Battalion AIF
Served at Gallipoli
Fate Killed in Action 8 August 1915, Gallipoli
Burial/Memorial Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey
Ralph Kipping, Western Mail, 19 November 1915, pg23
Source TROVE
Ralph Kipping was the eighth child of eleven born to Charles Daniel and Henrietta Kipping. Charles was a green grocer in the West Ham district of Essex in England. Henrietta died in 1896, and Charles married again a few years later. He and his second wife had three more children before his death in 1910.
Ralph moved to Australia several years before the war, and took up land near Gibson, north of Esperance. At the time of his enlistment, he was still farming there. He had befriended Harry Jenkins, and the two men enlisted together.
Ralph Kipping arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsular on the 2nd of August 1915. Just six days later, he was killed in action.
Before the war, Ralph had bought a horse named Meg from Thomas Russell Orr. After his death, a sale was held of Ralph’s effects. The horse, Meg, did not sell, and Mr Orr took her back.
Five of Ralph Kipping’s brothers also served in the war. Frederick George Kipping had moved to New South Wales prior to the war and enlisted there in September 1914. He served in the 13th Battalion AIF, and was killed in action at Gallipoli on the 27th of August 1915. Like his brother Ralph, he is memorialised at the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli.
Albert, Frank, Henry and James Kipping all served in the British forces, and returned to England after the war.
LEWIS, James Walter
Service Number 6289
Birth 6 September 1880, Minlacowie, SA
Next of Kin Mrs Lily Margaret Sharpe, Sister, Norseman, WA
Enlistment 17 April 1916, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 35 years
Description Height: 5 ‘ 6¼“
Weight: 145 lb
Chest: 34 - 36“
Occupation Farmer
Hair: reddish brown
Eyes: Bluish Grey
Complexion: Fair
Embarkation 13 Oct 1916, HMAT Suffolk A23, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
32nd Battalion AIF
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 13 Sep 1918, per D 23
James Lewis
Esperance Museum ELH-P646
James Walter (Jim) Lewis was the third child of ten born to James and Annie Lewis.
James Snr and Annie had farmed at Minlacowie near Brentwood on the Yorke Peninsular in South Australia, where they had four daughters and six sons (two of whom died in infancy), before making the journey to WA in the late 1890’s. They settled at Grass Patch, north of Esperance, where they operated the local Hotel as well as taking up a property at Circle Valley, which they named Day Dawn. Their eldest son Jim also ran the Salmon Gums Hotel. The Lewis family were very active and popular members of their community, taking part in social occasions and having an involvement in local affairs. Three of their daughters married local men – the oldest, Eleanor, had married in 1897 and remained in South Australia.
Annie Lewis died at home on the 31st of May 1913, after being unwell for some time. She was buried on the property, and her grave can still be seen in a paddock on the east side of the Norseman Highway, between Grass Patch and Salmon Gums.
James Lewis was a fluent writer, not only to the newspapers of the day, but also to his sons while they were serving overseas. Once all four boys had gone to war, James left the Esperance district and returned to South Australia to find another farmer to come and run the place for him. He remained in Adelaide, remarrying there in 1921 to Kezia Taylor. He died on the 11th of December 1927 at Marryatville, SA, and was buried five days later in the West Terrace Cemetery.
Descendants of the Lewis family remain in the Esperance district.
Jim Lewis was the last of the four brothers to enlist. Like his father, he was good at keeping in touch, and wrote frequent letters and postcards to his family and friends at home.
Jim was initially assigned to the 16th Battalion AIF, arriving in England in December 1916. By the end of that month, he had arrived in France. In January 1917 Jim was hospitalised with mumps, re-joining his unit in early February. In March he was transferred to the 32nd battalion.
In late May 1917 he was hospitalised for a week suffering from myalgia, and in October he was wounded but remained on duty.
In 1918 Jim applied to be returned to Australia. His request included the following:
“My three brothers have all been killed in action in the present war, and I am the only remaining son of our family. I am 38 years of age and have done 18 months continuous service with this battalion. Both my parents are well on in years and I
James Lewis’ request to return to Australia
Source NAA: B884, W76319
am their sole support. If I get killed they will be left destitute and I consider it my duty to get back and support them and tend them in their last years. I consider that my family has done its’ duty toward the Empire and I trust that this application will meet with success”.
As Jim’s mother had died five years earlier, and his father had moved back to South Australia, it’s possible that this request was written by someone else on his behalf, or that he felt he had more chance of returning by claiming to be their sole support. His application was approved and he left France for England on the 26th of August, returning home in September 1918. He was given an official welcome home in January 1919 at a social evening in the Bijou at Esperance.
Before the war, Jim had been popular with several young ladies, and communicated with them often by postcard. One of them, Gladys Jenkins, gave him the nickname ‘Pickles’. After his return he resumed the friendships, but never married.
According to those who knew him, Jim had suffered from trench foot and was unable to wear boots. He stayed on his farm until 1966 when he sold it to his great niece and her husband. When they took over the property they found that part of it was still in the name of Jim’s brother Archie, almost fifty years after his death.
Jim was very popular in the district, and was known to come and go on his horse to visit family and friends, occasionally staying for weeks or months. He loved his horses, and was always willing to give the neighbours a hand when they needed it. He lived with various family members from time to time, until he moved to Perth when his health began to fail in 1972. He died on the 14th of September that year at St Luke’s Hospice, Subiaco, and was buried in Karrakatta cemetery.
LEWIS, John Percival
Service Number
Birth
Next of Kin
120
31 May 1884, Minlacowie, SA
Father: James Lewis, Esperance
Enlistment 5 October 1914, Northam
Age at enlistment 30 years, 4 months
Description Height: 5’ 8½“
Weight: 150 lb
Chest: 35“
Occupation Contractor
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
8 February 1915, HMAT Mashobra A47, Fremantle
Rank Trooper Unit
10th Light Horse Brigade
Served at Gallipoli
Fate Killed in action 7 August 1915, Gallipoli Memorial Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli
John Lewis Esperance Museum ELH-P648
John Percival (Percy) was the fifth child of James and Annie Lewis. At the time of his enlistment he was a contractor, although he had previously spent a few years mining at Nannine, in WA’s Murchison district where he was a member of the local rifle club.
Along with his unit, Percy left Fremantle on board the HMAT Mashobra on the 8th of February 1915. The troops were not told where they were heading, but many of them suspected it would be Egypt, and they were correct. The 10th Light Horse camped in Egypt near the pyramids until May 1915, when they were sent to Gallipoli, leaving their horses behind.
It was on the 7th of August 1915, at The Nek, that Percy was killed in action with so many other troopers of the 10th Light Horse. His body was never recovered, and he is memorialised at the Lone Pine Memorial. His effects, including the emu feathers that his unit was known for wearing on their hats, were returned to his father at Circle Valley.
LEWIS, Charles Stephen
Service Number 115
Birth 2 May 1885, South Australia
Next of Kin
Father: James Lewis, Norseman Rd, Esperance
Enlistment 1 March 1915, Geraldton, WA
Age at enlistment 29 years, 9 months
Description Height: 5’ 6”
Weight: 126 lb
Chest: 33 - 35½“
Occupation Contractor (farmer)
Embarkation
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
29 June 1915, HMAT Ascanius A11, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 28th Battalion AIF
Served at Gallipoli, Europe
Fate Died of Wounds 14 August 1916, France
Burial Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France
Charles Lewis Esperance Museum ELH-P649
Charles was the fifth child of James and Annie Lewis. According to the electoral roll, in 1910 he was living in the Norseman district cutting wood on the wood lines. By the time of his enlistment at Geraldton, he was working as a farm contractor at Carnamah.
He arrived on Gallipoli in September 1915, only weeks after his brother Percy had been killed in action. On the 17th of October he was wounded in the right leg by shrapnel, after which he was evacuated to hospital on the island of Malta. He remained there until February 1916, when he re-joined the 28th Battalion at Alexandria, Egypt. They then sailed for France on board the Themistocles. While on the ship, Charlie wrote to his brother Jim, saying “am not sure where we are going but trust to be having a go at the Square Heads in a few weeks”. He arrived in France on the 21st of March 1916.
On the 6th of August 1916 Charlie was wounded, which led to the amputation of both his legs. He died of his wounds on the 14th of August at the No 13 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne. He is buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.
LEWIS, Archie Gordon
Service Number 566
Birth 13 January 1890, South Australia
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Father: James Lewis, Sunny Vale Farm, Norseman Rd, Esp.
25 September 1914, Coolgardie
Age at enlistment 24 years
Description
Height: 5’ 7⅜”
Weight: 11st 4 lb
Chest: 34½ - 37 “
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
22 December 1914, HMAT Ceramic, Fremantle
Rank Corporal
Unit
16th Battalion AIF
Served at Gallipoli, Europe
Fate Died of Wounds 1 September 1916, France
Burial Warloy - Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, France
Archie Lewis
Esperance Museum ELH-P647
Archie was the eighth and youngest surviving child of James and Annie Lewis. At the time of his enlistment he was a farmer.
In early November 1914, Archie was the subject of a light hearted column titled Dustopolis Willie Willies, by Peripatetto in the Kalgoorlie Sun newspaper. The first and last paragraphs, although possibly exaggerating, paint quite a picture:
“What is a typical Australian bushman? Archie Lewis, from Grass Patch, a young man of 26, who recently passed a fortnight in Boulder on his way to join the W.A. Expeditionary Force, has been so described. He was so excessively typical as to be almost unique! Until the yearning for military glory struck him and sent him to the settlements with a view to enlisting, he had passed his life in the bush. He had never seen a railway, a train, the electric light, a town worth mentioning, or a Jap. Conceive to yourself a tall, lean, wiry young fellow, burnt like a blackfellow, sporting a beard trimmed with the shears into a rough semblance of the human face, stooping somewhat, and rather bowed in the legs with much riding; his hat, a veteran of half a lifetime’s service, pulled down until little more than the tip of his nose appeared. His clothes — well— to match the hat…
…He can shoot a running kangaroo at two hundred yards. He can ride any horse that ever was foaled. He delights in a dust-up with an outlaw. His wind is perfect. His muscles are whalebone. His eyesight is keen. His pluck is unquenchable. He is, indeed, the beau ideal of the recruiting officer. Even to his age— neither too old nor too young— he is a bit of all right. I hear that already he has got his first stripes. May he live to come back with all the wisdom of war and travel upon him, and may I be there to meet him !”
Several postcards that Archie sent in 1915 to his brother Jim are still in the family, and they give a good account of how life was for him while he was in Egypt prior to embarking for Gallipoli. In one of these, written from Heliopolis on the 7th of April 1915, Archie writes:
“we have got to [sic] many corporals & I can assure you I did not want any stripes just yet – my position as chief platoon scout is just the job I wanted when we get into action each platoon scout will be the most important man in the platoon even the officers have got to wait till we give them the word to advance but at the same time it is the most dangerous job of the lot but the most exciting one as well a good scout is worth a lot in a army & I am going to try & makes you all proud but do not blame me old chap if I fail to make a name for myself I may get potted in the first go but I have a feeling that I will pull through alright.”
Letter from James Lewis Snr to the Secretary of Defence after receiving news of Archie being wounded at Gallipoli
Source NAA: B2455, Lewis, Archie Gordon
Archie took part in the Gallipoli landings on the 25th of April 1915, where he was shot in the left leg, and evacuated to England. He returned to Gallipoli, re-joining his unit on the 5th of September 1915. On the 24th of October, Archie’s old wound was giving him more trouble, and he was suffering with dysentery. Archie was hospitalised once again, returning to his unit in early December, before the evacuation of Gallipoli later that month.
On the 22nd of March 1916, while still in Egypt, Archie was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. With his unit, he embarked for France shortly afterwards. On 16th August, he was again promoted, to the rank of Corporal.
On the 30th of August 1916, while in France, Archie was wounded again, this time in the abdomen. He succumbed to his injuries on the 2nd of September and was buried in the Warloy – Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
LOGAN, Alfred James
Service Number 2453
Birth 17 April 1897, Lillimur, Victoria
Next of Kin
Mother: Sarah McDonald, James Street, Esperance
Joined Navy 30 January 1913
Age at enlistment 16
Description Height: 5’ 7”
Weight:
Chest:
Occupation
Embarkation
Rank Able Seaman Unit
Served at Returned to Australia
Hair: dark brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Fair
Alfred Logan Supplied by Peter Logan
Alfred James (Alf) Logan was the youngest of four children of George and Sarah Logan.
The Logans lived near the border of Victoria and South Australia, before arriving in Western Australia in the late 1890’s. They settled in Esperance, where George worked as a teamster.
George died from appendicitis and peritonitis on the 1st of January 1905 in Esperance, and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery. After his death, Sarah sold his business and established a bakery on the corner of Dempster and James Streets (on the site of what is now a fish and chip shop). In 1915 Sarah married James McDonald in Esperance. She died in April 1930 in Kalgoorlie and was buried there.
Alf Logan attended school in Esperance, and in 1909 he received a book, Hurricane Hurry, from the WA Education Department, for being Dux of the state. He also received a book from his Sunday School, All Hands On Deck, and another from the Esperance school, called Lion of the North.
Alf joined the navy as a Boy, 2nd Class on the 30th of January 1913, serving on the training ship Tingira, before he became a Boy Seaman on the HMAS Encounter. In May 1914 he joined the Battle Cruiser HMAS Australia as an Ordinary Seaman.
After war was declared, Australia placed its navy under the control of the British, and Alf became one of the first Esperance people to be at war.
He remained on the HMAS Australia until the 1st of September 1919. This ship took part in the search for the German East Asia Squadron, which was cruising in the New Guinea and Admiralty Islands areas. After this the ship joined the English battle fleet in the North Sea.
Alf returned to Esperance in June 1919, and was welcomed home by the community with a function at the Bijou. He then returned to the Navy, serving on the HMAS Brisbane, the HMAS Penguin and the HMAS Marguerite.
After his discharge from the RAN in 1923, Alf returned to Esperance again. He had been sending his savings home to his mother with the intention of going into farming with his brother George. However, his mother had given Alf’s savings to his younger half-brother to go mining with, and Alf had nothing. He got a job working on the railway line between Norseman and Esperance.
He then went to South Australia, and married Wilhelmina ‘Rene’ Jessie Cameron, a school teacher he had met whilst visiting a cousin in Mt Gambier. The couple raised a son and a daughter.
Alf died on the 20th of June 1963 in Adelaide.
LOWMAN, Oscar Herbert Cambourne
Service Number 6855a
Birth 8 October 1884, Carlton, Victoria
Next of Kin Richard Lowman, 282 High Street, Fremantle (father)
Enlistment 8 March 1917, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 32 years, 3 months
Description Height 5’ 6½“
Weight: 144 lb
Chest: 35 - 37”
Occupation Telegraph lineman
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Dark
Embarkation 19 June 1917, HMAT Borda A30, Fremantle
Rank Corporal
Unit 28th / 16th Battalion AIF
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 16 August 1919, per City of Exeter
Oscar Lowman was the second child of Richard and Mary Jane Lowman. The Lowmans arrived in Coolgardie from Victoria in the late 1890’s. At one time Richard Lowman had the Denver City Hotel in Coolgardie.
In 1914 the family left Coolgardie and moved to Perth. After their son Oscar returned from the war, they moved to Albany. Mary Jane Lowman died aged 73 on the 2nd of April 1927 at Albany, and was buried there. Her husband Richard died on the 5th of September 1937 in Perth, aged 92, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.
As a young man Oscar tried his hand at mining, and in 1909 he went into partnership with Henry Hewitt in a Prospecting Area at Kintore, near Coolgardie. The partnership appears to have continued for only a year or two, and at the time of his enlistment in 1917 he was a telegraph lineman at Eyre, also known as Eyre’s Sand Patch, west of Eucla. According to an article in the Western Argus, Lowman had ridden 500 miles on a camel from Eyre’s Sand Patch to Norseman, in order to enlist.
Oscar arrived at Plymouth, England in August 1917. He underwent training in England, before finally joining his unit in January 1918. In May, he was hospitalised with debility and boils, re-joining his unit in August.
He left France for England in May 1919, before returning to Australia in August.
Oscar successfully applied for land under the Soldiers’ Settlement Scheme, being granted land at Cuthbert, near Albany. On an application for Transport Assistance in October that year, his dependants were his parents and a female cousin, in poor health. In the middle of 1923, he was re-employed by the Postmaster General’s Department, and by 1925 he was working as a lineman in the Goldfields. In 1932 Oscar married Ida Anna Saint in Perth, and by the end of that year they had moved to Bunbury. The couple had no children of their own, but Ida had a daughter, Verna, from a previous marriage.
Oscar and Ida Lowman lived in Mandurah during the 1940’s, where Oscar took a keen interest in local affairs and followed sports. He was also a keen fisherman.
Ida died on the 6th of January 1949 aged 71 in Mandurah, and was buried at Karrakatta.
Oscar travelled to Sydney in early 1953, but died in hospital there on the 23rd of February 1953 aged 69. He was cremated at the Woronora Crematorium, in New South Wales.
McCARTHY, Edward James
Service Number 2302
Birth 20 August 1884, Adelaide, SA
Next of Kin Mr Edward James McCarthy, Esperance (father)
Enlistment 6 January 1916, Adelaide SA
Age at enlistment 31 years, 5 months
Description Height: 5’ 7½“
Weight: 140 lb
Chest: 33½ - 35½“
Occupation Foreman, salt works
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel Complexion: Medium
28 April 1916, HMAT Bakara A41, Adelaide
Rank Corporal
Unit
9th Light Horse Brigade
Served at Palestine
Returned to Australia 17 Oct 1919 per Barambah
Edward James (Ted) McCarthy was the second child of Edward James McCarthy Snr and his first wife Isabelle Phillips.
Edward James McCarthy Snr was an active and respected member of the Esperance community. He had moved to Esperance in the late 1890’s with his second wife Mary and his children from his first marriage. He was responsible for the building of the Bijou Theatre in Esperance, close to where the family had a store and their home next door. The Bijou is still in use in Esperance, and a large fig tree planted by the family is still thriving in William St, where their back yard would have been. The family also mined salt at Pink Lake and Middle Island for many years.
Although Ted enlisted in Adelaide, he was living in Esperance at the time and was a foreman at the McCarthy’s Standard Salt Company at Pink Lake. He initially served as a trooper with the 9th Light Horse Regiment, and left Australia on board the HMAT Bakara from Adelaide on the 28th of April 1916, arriving in Egypt in June.
On the 25th of August 1916, Ted was transferred to the 3rd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron, and in July 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.
On the 29th of July 1917, Ted was admitted to Rest Camp in Port Said, suffering with debility. He re-joined his unit on the 5th of August. In October 1917 he took part in the Battle of Beersheba. Ted wrote many letters home about his experiences during the war, some of which were published in newspapers. The letters are well written and informative and give a wonderful insight into his experiences at that time. The following is from a letter published in the Kalgoorlie Miner on 31st March 1917:
“I went to the trenches and had a look round. What a sight for one not used to such scenes! Dead huddled in all positions, and dying too, not caring for those about them, mixed up with rifles, bayonets and other things, whilst the prisoners formed up to be marched off. I could not help thinking what these poor wretches would gain, whichever side won fairly; I stood scowling at one poor devil lying with a shattered thigh and arm, smoking a cigarette one of our fellows had given him, and, would you think it, he solemnly winked, and so did I, and then both smiled. The terrible Turk is not so terrible after all.”
In 1918, Ted was hospitalised again, this time with pyrexia. In October that year he was promoted to the rank of Temporary Corporal.
On the 10th of June 1919, Ted left Egypt for England on board the Ellenga, and in September he returned to Australia.
Within months of returning, he married Margaret Martin in Fremantle. The couple soon moved back to Esperance to a farm Ted had purchased north of Esperance. He and his brother Dick also applied jointly for further land near Mt Merivale and Cape le Grand east of Esperance under the Soldier Settlement scheme, in the hope that they would work together to raise cattle. Unfortunately, the application was refused.
Ted McCarthy died on the 23rd of November 1950 in the Esperance Hospital, and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery. His widow, Margaret died on the 8th of November 1987 in Perth.
Below is a letter that Ted McCarthy wrote to his father on the 25th of May 1918. It was published in the Western Argus on the 20th of August that year:
“I wrote you last from Mount Forty, the Mount of Temptation, sending you a photo of the monastery. In the five weeks since then there have been happenings. One night we crossed the fast-running Jordan, and passing out of the parched and awful looking valley, rode from 1200 feet below sea level until we reached an altitude of over 3000 ft. above—nearly 5000 ft. in all. We did not reach it without opposition, for the boys engaged the enemy half the day, but as night fell they swept over the crest, and up the other side like madmen, and took the position with the bayonet. Have noticed repeatedly that they shoot all day, and at dusk the bayonet settles it, if they only can get at them. Being a machine gunner, I never charge, but give covering fire to them. The man with the bayonet is the real fighter, believe me. I might mention what a German prisoner said after this affair at Essalt, very similar to the remark of a Turkish officer long ago, “I cannot call you cavalry, I cannot call you infantry; I think you must be Australian devils.”
The German prisoners talked quite freely, giving their opinions of the war. Our brigade took just on a thousand prisoners, mostly Turks, just from Constantinople, all splendidly equipped for fighting as they always are.
“The country changes like magic as one ascends the hills, on the eastern side of the Jordan. The air is fresh and cool, quite unlike the stagnant air of the valley. Splendid crops, up to the horses’ shoulders, are passed through—miles of them in places—quite unlike the hills between Jerusalem and Jericho, which are drought-stricken in appearance, and bare. The hills west and north of Jerusalem are different again, as before described. On looking west from the highest point at Essalt you can plainly see the Jordan Valley, over 20 miles away, and further south part of the Dead Sea, both appearing a long way down. I looked from here at night on the Jordan Valley, and as the shells had set fire to the grass and stunted bluebush, long straight lines of fire gave it the appearance of a great city far below.
Perhaps 5000 feet doesn’t sound much, but when you ride up these tracks you think differently. Here and there are native wells, goodness knows how old, with plenty of clear water. You can hardly imagine the feelings of pleasure one derives drawing water from them. Some are cunningly hidden; they always have the smallest of openings. Up there I saw the real wild Arab of the mountains, the one you read about. Fine looking men in flowing robes, gaudy sashes, with native made bowie knives stuck therein, carrying bandoliers and rifles, their keen eyes sparkling. I’ve never seen such sharp eyes before—the eyes of untamed men. They like to show off: at a well one stood up and fired at a Turkish white insulator on the telegraph line, smashed it, reloaded quickly, smashed another, and then a dozen of them got excited, and banged away like fury. They fight for the love of it, but prefer to be on the winning side. If we happen to get knocked back they turn on us, but when we come back again they are against Turkey. Some ride pony stallions with tassels and trappings almost to the ground, giving them a picturesque appearance. They ride without bits. Have since returned to the Valley and have bathed in the Jordan, which runs so fast one cannot swim against it in places. The water is quite fresh. It is scarcely 50 yards across, less in places. The temperature is 120 in the shade, but it was much higher.”
McCarthy, Richard Joyce
Service Number 2679a
Birth 10 Jan 1897, Esperance
Next of Kin Edward James McCarthy, Esperance (father)
Enlistment 14 June 1916, Albany
Age at enlistment 19 years, 5 months
Description Height: 5’ 9½“
Weight: 10st 2 lb
Chest: 36½“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fresh
10 October 1916, HMAT Suffolk A23, Fremantle
Rank Corporal Unit 51st Battalion AIF
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 2 August 1919 per Konigen Louis
Richard Joyce (Dick) McCarthy was born in 1897 in Esperance, the first of Edward James McCarthy’s children with his second wife, Mary (née Walsh).
At the time of his enlistment on the 14th of June 1916, Dick was a labourer. He served with the 51st Battalion AIF, leaving Fremantle on the 10th of October 1916 on board the HMAT Suffolk. Before he left, the Esperance residents farewelled him with a social in the Bijou. He arrived in France at the end of December. During the first couple of months of 1917, Dick was hospitalised twice with suspected mumps, and then influenza.
He re-joined his unit at the end of March – however, on the 2nd of April he was wounded in the left thigh, and hospitalised again. He returned to the field in early May, but less than a month later he was wounded again – this time in the head and the right leg. After spending several months recovering in England, Dick McCarthy returned to his unit on the 15th of December 1917. During this last stint at the front, Dick was exposed to gas, and in October 1918, he was again hospitalized with influenza. He was still in hospital at the time of the armistice.
Dick returned to Australia in August 1919 on the Konigen Louis. In 1920, Dick McCarthy married an Esperance girl, Hilda Wharton White, in Perth. The couple had two daughters before she died in 1922. Dick married again in 1925 to Kathleen Morgan.
In the early 1920’s Dick took up a soldier settlement block at Myrup, near Esperance. He farmed this land for some years, although he was at times dependent on his daughters to carry out some of the demanding physical labour – one daughter at the age of twelve was needed to harness the six-horse team and plough the paddock while her father looked on in frustration.
The rheumatic fever Dick had suffered during the war recurred on a regular basis, and he suffered stomach problems as a result of being gassed in 1918. In 1936 his poor health and the loss of his ten year old son Fred to tetanus led him to sell the farm.
Dick enlisted for the Second World War in April 1942, serving as a Corporal in the Volunteer Defence Corps until his discharge in 1946.
Like his brother Ted, Dick was a fluent writer. Many letters from Dick were published in newspapers over the years, and he also contributed a wealth of stories and reminiscences to the Esperance Museum Archives, usually writing under the name RJ or Arjay.
Richard McCarthy died on the 24th of July 1982, and is buried at Karrakatta.
Pages from R J McCarthy Repatriation File describing experiences that led to medical issues
Source NAA: PP946/1, M18546
McNamara, James Patrick
Service Number
10877
Birth c1883, Sydney, NSW *
Next of Kin Miss Alice Ruby Currow, 65 George St, West Perth (friend).
Enlistment 5 November 1915, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 32 years, 10 months
Description Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 130 lb
Chest: 34 - 36“
Occupation
Embarkation
Hair: reddish
Eyes: Blue Complexion: Fair
Labourer and A B (Seaman)
5 January 1916, HMAT Afric A19, Melbourne
Rank Driver Unit
1st Field Artillery Brigade
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 7 Sep 1919 per Demosthenes
*Various forms say 29 Dec 1874, 29 Dec 1881 or 1883
James McNamara, Sunday Times 19 December 1920, pg16
Source TROVE
According to his attestation form, James McNamara was born circa 1883, in Liverpool, NSW. It has been difficult to confirm this, as various documents in his service record and repatriation files supply three different birth dates.
His life before the war has also been difficult to trace. At the time he enlisted, he stated that he was a labourer and ‘A B’ (seaman). However, on demobilisation forms after his return to Australia, James claimed to be a fitter and turner as well as a miner at the Horse Shoe Mine in Kalgoorlie, and to be a member of the Miner’s Union. His usual residence was stated as Southern Cross, also 62 George St West Perth. This address links in with that of his next of kin at enlistment – his friend Miss Alice Currow, who was quite young for a next of kin, being only about 13 years old.
At the time of his enlistment, James was in Esperance. He served with the 1st Field Artillery Brigade. He left Australia via Melbourne on the 5th of January 1916, aboard the HMAT Afric, arriving at Cairo, Egypt, on the 10th of February. After two months in Egypt, the unit went to France.
In January 1917, after being ‘buried’ in the field, James McNamara began having problems with defective vision, and was found to be blind in his left eye. He was evacuated to England in March.
On the 20th of May 1917, at the Registry office in Weymouth, England, James McNamara married Emma Louise Wood, a widow with four children. At the time, he stated that his father was Henry McNamara, a farmer, deceased. His vision apparently improved and James returned to France in October of the same year.
In early 1919, while in Weymouth, he was found to be absent without leave on two occasions.
He arrived back in Australia on the Demosthenes with his wife and their children in September 1919. Shortly afterwards he attended the No 8 Australian General Hospital in Fremantle, as he was still suffering with defective vision. The disability was deemed to be caused and aggravated by his service, and he was given glasses.
James McNamara had difficulty finding employment after his return to Australia. However, in June 1920 he was seeking work at Brunswick (his wife and her children remaining at Fremantle) and through the Harvey Repatriation Committee he received financial assistance to purchase tools of trade – these included several chisels, hammers, levels, a brace and bit, drills, saws and an oil can.
On the 7th of November 1920, James was one of nine men killed when a timber train he was travelling on derailed at Wokalup, near Harvey. A joint funeral for James McNamara and six other victims was held the following day
medical record
Source NAA: B2455, McNAMARA J P
McNamara
at the Bunbury cemetery. He was buried in the Roman Catholic Portion. His widow Emma found employment as a cleaner for the Customs Department in Fremantle. In 1921 she was renting a small house in Fremantle and supporting her young son Charles as well as her nineteen-year-old daughter Mabel, who was suffering from tuberculosis. Another daughter, Muriel, was working as a domestic, and helping to support the family. Her third daughter Vera had died in February 1920 aged 14. Emma, who was almost 50 years of age applied to the Repatriation Department for a living allowance, but her application was refused.
Emma McNamara didn’t remarry, and she remained in Fremantle until her death on the 21st of April 1944. She was buried in the Fremantle Cemetery on the 24th of April.
MOLONEY, James Robert
Service Number
3101
Birth 18 May 1874, Merino, Victoria
Next of Kin Mr Matthew Moloney, Hamilton, Victoria (brother)
Enlistment 1 January 1917, Albany
Age at enlistment 42 years, 5 months
Description Height: 5’ 8“
Weight: 164 lb
Chest: 137 - 138“
Occupation Cook
Embarkation
Hair: Red
Eyes: Yellow Complexion: Fair
29 Jan 1917, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 24 Jan 1919, per Demosthenes
James Robert Moloney was the son of John and Johanna Moloney.
According to his attestation papers James Moloney had previously served for 7 years and 7 days at the Royal Australian Artillery at Fort Queenscliff, Victoria.
James enlisted at Albany with three other Esperance men – Fred Daw, Jack Orr and Ernie Eggeling. At the time of his enlistment, he was employed as a cook for the Dempster family in the Esperance district. His next of kin was his brother Matthew Moloney, who was still living in Victoria.
James Moloney served in the 44th Battalion AIF, and departed Fremantle with that unit on the HMAT Miltiades on the 29th of January 1917. After undergoing training in England, he joined his unit at the front later that year.
In October 1918 James was found to be experiencing premature senility, a condition which he apparently had before leaving for the war.
He returned to Australia in February 1919, and shortly afterwards found work as a cook at Manberry Station, in the Carnarvon district. He remained in that area for the rest of his life – working as a cook at various stations including Middalya Station and Yaringa Station, where he was employed at the time of his death in the Carnarvon hospital on the 16th of December 1942. He was buried in the Carnarvon Cemetery.
MORAN, Felix
Service Number 2409
Birth
Next of Kin
Enlistment
21 March 1892, Narrabri, NSW
Mrs Elise Moran, Highgate Hill, Perth (mother)
1 June 1915, Albany
Age at enlistment 23 years, 2 months
Description Height: 6’ 8”
Weight: 152 lb
Chest: 34½ - 37½“
Occupation Tailor
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue Complexion: Medium
25 June 1915, HMAT Karoola A63, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 11th Battalion
Served at Gallipoli, Europe
Fate Killed in action, 20 August 1916 Memorial Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Picardie, France
Felix Moran
Supplied by Gordon Oma
Felix (Lex) Moran was the first child and only son of Thomas Joseph and Elise Mary Moran.
Felix’s father Thomas Moran was a tailor, and appears to have moved regularly to find work. In 1908 he was in Collie, and in 1910 he was living in Kalgoorlie. Thomas was a heavy drinker and by 1911 he had left the family home and his wife had been granted custody of the children. Although it appears he was still in the state for a couple of years, his wife did not know his whereabouts. In a letter written in 1920, Elise Moran claimed she was told he had left the country and died in England.
Elise died on the 13th of September 1947 in Belmont, and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth.
Like his father, Felix was a tailor, and lived and worked in Esperance prior to the war. During 1914 he was employed by the Public Works Department on the construction of the road from Esperance to Norseman, and later as a casual labourer at the Standard Salt Company. According to his mother, he also supplemented his income using his tailoring skills to make suits.
Felix arrived at the Dardanelles in August 1915. In late September he was hospitalised with dysentery and subsequently transferred to hospital in Malta, where he remained until late December. He then went to Egypt, eventually re-joining his unit on the 10th of March. Ten days later the battalion set sail for France, arriving at Marseilles on the 5th of April 1916.
On the 23rd of August 1916, Felix was reported missing after action at Mouquet Farm. Moran was later confirmed to have been killed in action on that date after a court of enquiry held on the 20th of June 1917.
Felix Moran is remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Picardie, France.
After his disappearance, Felix’s mother fought hard to receive a pension, as she had apparently been partly dependant on his income before he enlisted. Her letters to the Department of Veterans Affairs give some indication of her passionate character.
In a letter to the Registrar of Pensions dated July 1st July 1917, Elise Moran says,
“Now that my son is gone he is of no further use, what does it matter about his Mother. How do you expect to get recruits if you treat their relatives like this, I’ll see what the papers will do for me.”
Another, dated 30th July 1917 says:
“Dear Sir
Please find enclosed a book I only found yesterday, my Son earning 40£ on one page. Also a patent he was trying to get through. You see what I have lost. He had brains.
Wishing you well
Excuse this note.
Mrs E Moran”
In September 1917, Elise Moran was notified that her claim for a pension had been rejected on the grounds that she was not dependent on Felix for the 12 months prior to his death. She was told that if she found herself without adequate means of support her claim may be renewed. Elise was not one to give up easily. After much correspondence, including a letter to a senator, she received a small fortnightly pension.
Left: Letter from Felix Moran’s mother to the Repatriation Department
Source NAA: PP13/1, C35583
ORR, James Bransom
Service Number 195
Birth 15 September 1892, Queensland
Next of Kin T R Orr, Esperance, WA (father)
Enlistment 17 August 1914, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 22 years
Description Height: 5’ 8¾“
Weight: 157 lb
Chest: 38”
Occupation Fitter
Hair: Dark
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Dark
Embarkation 2 Nov 1914, HMAT Medic A7, Fremantle
Rank Sapper / Lance Corporal Unit 3rd Field Company Engineers
Served at Gallipoli, Europe
Returned to Australia 23 September 1918 per D23
James Orr
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
Born in Queensland, James Bransom (Jim) Orr was the oldest son of Thomas Russell and Florence (née Bransom) Orr.
Thomas, Florence and their two oldest children arrived in Esperance in about 1895. Thomas was a storekeeper and a smith, and owned several farms not far from town. He and Florence had eight children - six boys and two girls. The Orr family were active community members, involved in the local choir, the church and the Road Board among other things.
The Orr family suffered a great loss in 1910 when, during a family picnic on their farm at Bukenarup, their six-year-old son Alexander Bransom Orr was accidentally shot. He was rushed to town, and the local doctor was called upon, but young Alexander died.
During the war, Mrs Orr and her daughters Floss and Lucy were actively involved in making goods for the Red Cross Society, and taking part in entertainments to raise funds for the war effort.
After the war, Thomas and Florence helped their sons Jim, Bill and Clem to take up 250 000 acres around Fitzgerald Peaks. They stocked the place with cattle and built a house out of granite and painted white swathed curtains on the windows. They took turns to do the cooking on a week-by-week basis - the first to grumble had to take over cooking. Jim (who loved a practical joke) would put a handful of salt in the stew, so someone would complain – and then Jim wouldn’t have to do the cooking.
After several years of drought the brothers had to leave the property.
Florence Orr died on the 28th of September 1926, and Thomas died on the 16th of February 1936. They are both buried in the Esperance cemetery.
Jim Orr arrived on Gallipoli at the end of July 1915. In September he was hospitalised with dysentery and sent to England in October. He re-joined his unit in Egypt after the allied evacuation from Gallipoli.
In March 1916, he left Egypt with his unit for the Western Front, disembarking at Marseilles in early April. He was then promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.
In March 1917, Jim was reverted back to the rank of Sapper, as punishment for “neglecting to obey an order given by his superior officer”.
During his service, Jim suffered from various ailments, including phthisis, bronchitis, mumps, scabies and influenza.
At the end of October 1917, Jim was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery in the Field. The citation reads:
“This man, by his cheery example and devotion to duty during the action east of Ypres on 4/5th October set an example to his mates. He was joking throughout
Kalgoorlie Miner 10 December 1918, pg1
Source TROVE
the action and when his section officer was wounded he went to his assistance through the heavy shell fire. He did splendid work throughout”.
Later, when asked by his mother what he had done to receive the Military Medal, Jim joked that he had “saved a tin of jam”. This could be a family joke, referring to a time in 1904 when a man living outside of the town accused the Orr children of breaking into his camp and stealing half a tin of jam.
In January 1918, Jim was once again promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. In March 1918 he suffered a gunshot wound in the left hand – this took him back to hospital and out of the war. He returned to Australia that September.
Jim married Edna Doris Earl in 1919 in Boulder, but by 1921 Edna had left the marriage. They had no children, and were finally divorced in 1924. That year Jim married Coral Douglas in Esperance. They had two children – Diedre and Kirkland. They moved to Alice Springs, where they lived for some time.
In early 1935 Jim and Coral’s home burned down, and they lost everything, including Jim’s medals. Their son Kirk was taken to hospital with burns to his leg and arm, from which he recovered. In 1941 Jim and Edna were separated, with Jim gaining custody of the children.
He moved to New South Wales, and in January 1942 when he enlisted in the Second World War his next of kin was his de facto wife, Mena Adams. Jim served as a private in the 11th Garrison Battalion until July 1943 when he was discharged, suffering with bronchitis.
Jim Orr died on the 30th of January 1975 and is buried in the Macquarie Park Cemetery, Sydney with Mena, who had died in 1973.
ORR, John Bransom
Service Number
3110
Birth 3 Nov 1894, Ipswich, Queensland
Next of Kin Thomas Russell Orr, Dempster St, Esperance (father)
Enlistment
28 December 1916, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 22 years, 1 month
Description Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 12 st 2 lb
Chest: 37 - 40“
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: dark
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Dark
29 January 1917, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th Battalion
Served at Europe
Fate Killed in action 20 October 1917
Memorial Dochy Farm New British Cemetery, Belgium
John Orr
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
John Bransom (Jack) Orr was born in 1894 in Queensland, the second child of Thomas and Florence Orr.
Prior to the war, Jack worked as a stacker at McCarthy’s Standard Salt Company in Esperance. At the time of his enlistment on 28th December 1916, Jack was a farmer.
In December 1916 he and two other local men, Fred Daw (who went on to marry Jack’s sister Florence) and Ernie Eggeling were given a send-off by the Esperance Rifle Club at their club rooms. They left Australia together and arrived in England at the end of March 1917, where they underwent further training. On the 4th of May, Jack was hospitalised in Fargo Military Hospital with measles, returning to his training at the end of the month.
On the 22nd of June he was again hospitalised, this time with venereal disease. Jack Orr finally proceeded to France on the 17th of September 1917, joining his unit in Belgium on the 29th.
Only three weeks later, on the 20th of October, Jack was killed in action. He is buried at the Dochy Farm New British Cemetery, Belgium.
ORR, William Esperance Bransom
Service Number 1768
Birth 30 August 1896, Esperance
Next of Kin Thomas R Orr, Esperance, WA (father)
Enlistment 12 August 1915, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 19
Description Height: 5’ 5 ⅞”
Weight: 130 lb
Chest: 33 – 38 ½ “
Occupation Labourer
Hair: Very dark brown
Eyes: Deep blue
Complexion: Fresh
Embarkation 22 Nov 1915, RMS Mongolia, Fremantle
Rank Trooper
Unit 10th Light Horse Regiment
Served at Middle East
Returned to Australia 4 August 1919 per Oxfordshire
William Orr
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
William (Bill) Orr was the third son of Thomas and Florence Orr, and their first child born in WA. At the time of his enlistment, Bill was employed as a labourer.
Bill arrived at Heliopolis, Egypt, in February 1916. He served with the 10th Light Horse regiment in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, occasionally coming across another local, Ted McCarthy, who was serving with the 9th Light Horse.
Bill returned home in late 1919 on the Oxfordshire, and was welcomed back to Esperance that October with a function at the Bijou. He was discharged from the AIF in November, due to having contracted malaria while serving in the Middle East.
He married Kathleen Grainger on the 28th of February 1924 in Esperance, and they had three children.
Bill enlisted in the Second World War in April 1942, serving as a Private in the Volunteer Defence Corps until his discharge in 1944.
Bill suffered from deafness for much of his life, possibly as a result of his malaria. He was an independent man, and worked as a carpenter until he was in his 60’s. He played lawn bowls for as long as he was able, and when his physical ailments prevented it, his mates took him along for a drink at the club.
Bill died at the age of 91, on the 4th of December 1987, at Hollywood Hospital in Perth. His wife had died on the 19th of May 1971. They are both buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.
William Orr, far right, with the 10th Light Horse in Egypt Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
OTTREY, Albert George
Service Number 3422
Birth 1884, Mincha, Victoria
Next of Kin A H Ottrey, Picadilly St, Kalgoorlie (brother)
Enlistment 14 October 1916, Kalgoorlie
Age at enlistment 31 years, 11 months
Description
Height: 5’ 9½“
Weight: 168 lb
Chest: 35 - 38“
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Ruddy
29 Jan 1917, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 51st Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 8 January 1919 per Orsova
Albert George (Bert) Ottrey was the fourth child of Henry and Mary Ottrey. Albert and his older brothers Alf and Fred moved to WA in the late 1890’s along with their parents. In February 1898, not long after they had arrived in Western Australia, their mother Mary died in Perth. In 1912 Henry Ottrey married for the second time to Catherine Murray. Sadly, she died the following year and was buried in the Cookernup Cemetery. Some time after her death Henry returned to Victoria, where he died in 1928.
Prior to the war, Bert held land at Red Lake, in the Mallee north of Esperance. As well as farming on his land, he worked with his brother Fred on his neighbouring property, supplementing his income with various jobs in the Goldfields, including working for his other brother Alfred in his wood yard in Kalgoorlie. He also spent a lot of time working and living in the Harvey district where he had many friends and a sweetheart, Amelia Livingstone. Bert played the cornet at many local concerts and gatherings in the Mallee, the Goldfields and the Harvey area.
He applied to enlist in the AIF on the 12th of September 1916 when he was working for Mr E W Pike in Kalgoorlie.
Bert’s official date of enlistment was the 14th of October 1916, and his primary occupation on his attestation was farmer. After undergoing training at Blackboy Hill in November, Bert was given six weeks ‘harvest leave’. He left Blackboy Hill for Kalgoorlie on the train on the 2nd of December, arriving back at Blackboy Hill in mid-January. He served with the 51st Battalion AIF and left Fremantle with that unit on the 29th of January 1917 on board the HMAT Miltiades.
After undergoing training in England Bert joined his unit at the front in October 1917. A year later, while on leave in England, he contracted influenza. The war ended while he was still in England, so he returned to Australia in February 1919.
On the 29th of November 1919, Albert Ottrey married Amelia Livingstone at the Church of Christ in Harvey. The couple had six children and remained in Harvey for the rest of their lives.
Albert died on the 26th of December 1972 at Harvey and is buried in the Harvey Cemetery, along with his wife who had died on the 18th of September 1966.
SHORTLAND, William
Service Number 4607
Birth 27 March 1891, Greta, Victoria
Next of Kin Charles George Shortland (father), Kennedy St, Maylands WA
Enlistment 16 Sep 1915, Albany
Age at enlistment 24 years, 5 months
Description Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 167 lb
Chest: 34½ - 37”
Occupation Telephone lineman
Hair: Reddish
Eyes: Blue Complexion: Fair
Embarkation 12 February 1916, HMAT Miltiades A28, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 51st Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 4 June 1919, per Commonwealth
William (Bill) Shortland was the third child of seven born to Charles George and Jennett Shortland.
Charles was a miner and labourer, so when gold was discovered in WA the family moved west. They initially settled at Collie, before moving to Maylands in the first few years of the 20th century.
At the time of his enlistment, Bill was employed as a telephone lineman at Esperance. According to RJ McCarthy (Richard Joyce McCarthy, another local serviceman), although Bill was ‘simple in mind’ he was well liked by most of the local youths. RJ also tells us that Bill quite often found himself in some kind of trouble and decided to enlist in the war to avoid the senior lineman reporting him.
At first Bill was assigned to the 11th Battalion, leaving Fremantle with that unit on the 12th of February 1916. The ship arrived at Suez in March, where Bill was hospitalized with enteric fever. On the 8th of June Shortland embarked for England, where he was transferred to the 51st Battalion AIF. He arrived in France in September 1916. In August 1917, Bill was exposed to gas, but he did not leave his unit to go to hospital.
During the war, he was known by his mates as Bill the Goose. In 1919, while the unit was on guard duties in Belgium, he took part in a boxing match - more of a mock up than anything - with a sergeant. The story about it appeared in The Western Mail newspaper in 1937 in an episode of the column titled The 51st Over There.
“His trainers had unique methods. Bill was rubbed down after training, sometimes with sauce or Nestle’s milk etc, Bill taking all this seriously. A few days before the event, one of his trainers told Bill that a man from the sergeant’s team had been seen hanging around, possibly with the intention of poisoning his food, so that he would not be able to win. Bill took this seriously also and when his trainers found he was not eating at all, they had a hard job to convince him that the man had been warned off and he could safely eat...
While it might appear wrong to make fun of a simple man, it was obvious that it never appeared to Bill in that light, for he took it in all seriousness and it did create some amusement in a dull period, while troops were awaiting embarkation to England, where after another waiting period there would be a troopship for Australia.
Singers and comedians visited areas where troops were billeted to give concerts to amuse the weary-of-waiting troops, but it can be said that Bill, the Goose, unknowingly created as much as or more fun than many of the best entertainers”.
Bill Shortland found life difficult after the war. He took on temporary work wherever he could get it, until he took up a property at Capel in 1920. The land was not yet productive, so he had to borrow money from his mother who was living with him, as well as take up labouring jobs for other people.
During this time, Bill suffered badly with ‘nerves’, and in early 1925 he went to see a doctor in Bunbury, who recommended he apply to the Repatriation Department for a war pension. However, the Department felt that his condition was not due to war service, but to an accident he had on his bike prior to the war and a post war illness.
The State Secretary of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers’ Imperial League launched an appeal on Shortland’s behalf on the grounds that his condition was caused by the Enteric Fever he contracted while on his way to the war. He attached references from people who had either employed Bill Shortland or worked with him - some extracts from these are:
“Good living man… Appears to me to be slow and dull in mind and not too active bodily, probably due, I believe to shell shock on War Service”. (Mr A G Layman - 15 Dec 1925))
…”Shortland is absolutely useless as far as work is concerned. He simply can’t work. Those who know him best say that he was good at work before he went to the war and that the war has ruined [him].“ (Mr T Jamieson – 24 Dec 1925)
By the middle of 1926 he was in the Perth Hospital and had been diagnosed with ‘Dementia Praecox’ (premature dementia). On the 5th of June, the Repatriation Department accepted that his condition was due to his war service, and he was granted a special pension.
Four days later he was admitted to the Anzac Hostel. On the evening of the 19th of August Bill left the hostel, stating that he was going to Military HQ to request them to watch the German spies at the hostel. It appears he did not visit HQ - although he had written them a letter on the 6th of August, naming the ‘spy’ - and he returned to the hostel the following day.
Interestingly, on the same date he wrote the letter Bill was a pall bearer at the funeral of Mr George Arthur Bond, who had served with him in the 51st Battalion AIF.
In September 1926 he was transferred to the Lemnos Hospital. The following month, his mother requested that he be discharged from Lemnos so that he could reside with her, but her request was refused due to his poor condition. However, on the 18th of January 1927 he was discharged from Lemnos. It is unclear whether he went to reside with his mother at this point, but by February 1928 he was living with his brother Arthur and his family (their mother having
died in May 1927). In 1933 Bill moved in with his sister Fanny Turner and her family at Capel. He still spent a lot of time in hospital as his condition continued to deteriorate.
Fanny’s granddaughter remembers Bill, whom she knew as Uncle Will, spending a great deal of time sitting with his head in his hands.
On the 14th of August 1939, after looking after her brother for six years Fanny reluctantly wrote to the Repatriation Commission requesting that William be found a place in hospital as she was no longer able to look after him. He could no longer walk unaided and Fanny, then in her 50’s, was physically suffering from the strain of looking after him.
Bill was placed in the Lemnos Hospital, and shortly afterwards transferred to the Claremont Mental Hospital, where he died of cardiac failure and ‘general paralysis of the insane’ at the age of 48 on the 18th of January 1940. He was buried two days later in the Anglican section of the Karrakatta Cemetery.
One of Bill’s four brothers, Herbert Leslie (Les) Shortland, also served in the war, and was killed in action on the 9th of May 1915 at the Dardanelles.
Source NAA: PP2/8, M15147
Letter written by William Shortland to the Repatriation Department
SINCLAIR, Malcolm Moore
Service Number 19330
Birth 13 Jun 1899, Esperance
Next of Kin James Sinclair, Israelite Bay, WA (father)
Enlistment 23 April 1917, Perth
Age at enlistment 17 years, 10 months
Description Height: 5‘4½“
Weight: 130 lb
Chest: 33 - 38½“
Occupation Wireless operator
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Complexion: Dark
Embarkation 3 September 1917, HMAT Kyarra A55, Sydney
Rank Sapper / Trooper Unit 10th Light Horse Regiment
Served at Egypt, Palestine, Syria
Returned to Australia 4 August 1919, per Oxfordshire
Malcolm Sinclair
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
Malcolm Moore Sinclair was the oldest of two sons born to James and Margaret Sinclair.
James was a longstanding employee of the Postal and Telegraph Department, and worked at Esperance, as well as Israelite Bay and Eucla. He was also the brother of Margaret Sinclair, who married John Cook, making his son Malcolm Moore Sinclair a cousin of Malcolm Sinclair Cook, who also served in the 10th Light Horse.
Malcolm Moore Sinclair was born in Esperance in 1899. To celebrate his birth, a Norfolk Island pine tree was planted out the front of the telegraph station. The tree still stands on the corner where the Esperance Post Office is. Malcolm’s brother, Olaf ‘James’ Sinclair, was born at Esperance in 1901.
Malcolm enlisted on the 23rd of April 1917 at the age of 17 years and 10 months, although he added a year to his age to enlist. On his attestation he stated that he was employed as a wireless operator. However, in a demobilization form after the war, his occupation before the war was given as a storeman for James Seward on Murray Street, Perth.
Because Malcolm was under 21, he needed his father’s permission to enlist. James was working at Israelite Bay at that time, and sent a telegram giving his permission.
After enlisting, Malcolm attended wireless school in Sydney, before leaving on board the HMAT Kyarra on the 3rd of September 1917, arriving in Egypt on the 19th of October. He was then assigned to the Signaller’s Training Unit. However, he failed the course (possibly due to illness), and was transferred to the 10th Light Horse. In September 1918, Malcolm was hospitalised for a short time with influenza, but was able to return to his unit within days. Malcolm continued to serve at Moascar, Egypt until he returned to Australia in August 1919.
On the 11th of February 1924 Malcolm Sinclair, who was at this time living in Narrogin, married Bessie Giles at St Mary’s Church, Colin Street, West Perth. The couple had two daughters.
He worked for the PMG (Post Master General’s office) from 1924 until 1936, after which he began working as an electrical engineer for the Perth Fire Brigade. In 1937 Malcolm invented a new electrical timing apparatus to be used in Fire brigade demonstrations. In 1950 he was the President of the Fire Brigade Officers Association.
Malcolm Sinclair died on the 14th of January 1963 in the Royal Perth Hospital. His wife died on the 14th of February 1980 in Perth, and they are both memorialised at Karrakatta cemetery.
STEWART, Thomas Andrew
Service Number
8286
Birth 1886, Victoria. *
Next of Kin
Irene May Stewart (wife), Dugan St, Kalgoorlie
Enlistment 14 May 1917, Kalgoorlie
Age at enlistment 31 years
Description Height: 6‘
Weight: 182 lb
Chest: 40”
Occupation
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
Labourer / axeman
26 Nov 1917, SS Indarra, Melbourne
Rank Sapper Unit
1st Tunnelling Company
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 22 Nov 1919 per Aeneas
* WWI attestation has his birthplace as Warrenjoey, Victoria. His WWII file says 13 May 1888, Korumburra, Victoria. His DVA file has the date as 13 April 1886. Another WWI attestation paper with the same date as the first has Coowingeboora as the birth place.
Thomas Stewart
Supplied by Stewart family
Tom Stewart was the ninth child of Robert John Alexander and Sarah Ann Stewart.
Robert came to Esperance in 1894 with three sons, Fred, Don and Archie. He was soon followed by Sarah and the rest of the couple’s twelve surviving children, as well as Sarah’s sister Elizabeth Williamson, and Elizabeth’s son Frank.
In 1897 the family established Park Farm at Dalyup. By 1899 theirs was considered the most developed property in the area, producing fruit and vegetables which they took to market at Norseman, as well as grains and sheep, cattle, horses and pigs. They were also experimenting with various grass species. As well as Park Farm, the Stewarts had a dairy in Esperance, which was situated near the beach, and a house which still survives on the Esplanade near the Emily Street intersection.
Many descendants of Robert and Sarah Stewart still live in the Esperance district.
Tom Stewart married Irene ‘May’ Roberts on the 29th of November 1911 in Boulder, and a son arrived in 1912.
At the time of his enlistment Tom was working as a labourer and axeman at Aylen Siding near Norseman.
After being sent for training at Seymour and Broadmeadows in Victoria, Tom embarked for the war on the SS Indarra. He eventually disembarked at Southampton, England, on the 2nd of February 1918. In April he arrived in France, but was only there for a few days before he was hospitalised with an unspecified illness. He was transferred back to England, but returned to France at the end of May.
On the 3rd of July 1918, Tom was again ill, this time with influenza. He was transferred back to England, where he spent more time in hospital, not returning to France until the 23rd of November, after the Armistice had taken place.
In June 1919, while in England, Tom was diagnosed with venereal disease. He spent some time in hospital before returning to Australia that November.
When he returned to Australia, he found that his wife was no longer at the address she had given him, and another woman had been drawing his allotment. A letter from his wife informed him that she had left WA. Eventually she came back and gave Tom their son to raise, before leaving again. They were divorced in 1923.
In 1924 Tom married Eleanor Groombridge, and they had a daughter, Eleanor.
Tom enlisted with the Citizens Military Forces in WW2 on the 10th of October 1941. At that time they were living in Scarborough. He was discharged in November 1944.
Tom died on the 25th of May 1961 in Perth, and is buried in the Guildford Cemetery. Eleanor died on the 5th of December 1976 in Perth and is also buried in the Guildford Cemetery.
Source NAA: B2455, STEWART T A
Left: Thomas Stewart Attestation paper
STEWART, Alexander Phillip
Service Number 6587
Birth 13 September 1895, Ballan, Victoria
Next of Kin
Sarah Ann Stewart (mother), Esperance
Enlistment 26 April 1916, Albany
Age at enlistment 20 years, 7 months
Description Height: 5’ 7¼“
Weight: 159 lb
Chest: 36 - 38”
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Bluish
Complexion: Medium
10 October 1916, HMAT Suffolk A23, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 11th Battalion
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 4 January 1919, per Morvada
Alexander Stewart
Supplied by Stewart family
Alexander (Phillip) Stewart was the youngest child born to Robert and Sarah Stewart.
Phillip left Fremantle on the 10th of October 1916, arriving in England on the 17th of December. Within days of his arrival, Phillip was admitted to Fargo hospital with mumps. He spent most of the next four months in various hospitals suffering from not only mumps, but pleurisy, influenza and orchitis. Phillip finally arrived in France in May 1917. In August 1918 Phillip received gas wounds. He did not return to the front and returned to Australia in January 1919.
In April that year, Phillip and another recruit, Keith Daw, were welcomed home at a fundraiser at the Bijou, which had been organised by the local branch of the Returned Soldier’s Association.
After the war, Phillip was allocated a CP block at Circle Valley, north of Esperance.
On 1st May 1924, he married Edith Mary Bassett, a Salmon Gums girl, at Norseman.
In 1928, the block at Circle Valley was up for tender, and Phil and Edith went north, where he ran a shearing team and worked on several stations.
Phillip died of broncho pneumonia in the Wiluna Hospital, WA on the 23rd of July 1937. At the time of his death, he was the manager of Nabberne Station. He was buried in the Wiluna Cemetery.
Edith applied to the Department of Repatriation for a war widow’s pension several times but she was unsuccessful. The Department felt that Phil’s death was not caused by his war service, although he had been sent home after being gassed, and was only 42 when he died.
In her final years, although suffering from arthritis and poor health, Edith had to work to support herself and pay her medical bills.
Edith died in Perth on the 15th of March 1948 and was buried at Karrakatta. The couple had no children.
STRICKLAND, Thomas Claude
Service Number
6843
Birth 17 Oct 1881, Ararat, Victoria
Next of Kin Arthur J Strickland (brother), 4 Robertson St, East Perth
Enlistment 20 September 1916, Kalgoorlie
Age at enlistment 33 years
Description Height: 5’ 10½”
Weight: 166 lb
Chest: 37 - 40½“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Reddish
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
1) 17 January 1917, RMS Omrah, Melbourne
2) 29 June 1917, HMAT Borda A30, Fremantle
Rank Sapper / Private Unit
1) 1st Division Tunnelling Company 2) 44th Battalion AIF
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 8 Jan 1919, per Orsova
Thomas Strickland
Supplied by State Library of Western Australia slwa_b_1809006_1
Thomas (Tom) Strickland was the seventh of nine children born to George and Jessie Strickland. He and his older brother Arthur came to WA from Victoria in the early 1900’s.
Prior to the war, Thomas and Arthur had tried their hand at farming, near Dumbleyung, WA. By 1913 the farm was up for sale. Tom also worked as a horse driver at Wongan Hills, as well as in the Ravensthorpe district. He also spent a few years mining underground. However, at the time of his enlistment Tom was working as a labourer, possibly on the road between Esperance and Norseman.
After undergoing training in Victoria, Tom embarked at Melbourne on the RMS Omrah in January 1917. However, on the 2nd of February while the ship was at Fremantle, he was found to be absent without leave. Tom did not leave Australia until the 29th of June on the HMAT Borda, and was transferred from the 1st Division Tunnelling Company to the 44th Battalion AIF.
Tom disembarked at Codford, England, on the 26th of August 1917. After undergoing further training, he arrived in France on the 4th of December 1917, joining the 44th Battalion in the field on the 10th of December.
On the 14th of September 1918, Tom was admitted to hospital with rheumatism and fever. He was transferred to the Reading War Hospital in England on the 21st of September, suffering from myalgia.
Tom Strickland did not return to the front, and arrived back in Fremantle in February 1919.
In 1921 he commenced employment for the Department of Public Works, his occupation being foreman and ganger for drainage works. He remained in their employ until April 1938, when he left due to ill health. He was still suffering bouts of rheumatism.
After leaving his job with the Public Works Department, Tom worked as a labourer in Fremantle for as long as he could.
On the 16th of September 1959, Tom Strickland was admitted to the Hollywood Repatriation Hospital in Perth, suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. He died the following day.
Tom Strickland had not married. He was cremated and his ashes scattered over the rose garden at Karrakatta Cemetery.
A brother of Tom, George Herbert Strickland who had remained in Victoria, also served in the war.
TAYLOR, Sydney Ernest
Service Number 2079
Birth 6 August 1890, Paddington, NSW
Next of Kin Mrs Jane Taylor (mother), Grass Patch Hotel, Grass Patch, Norseman, WA
Enlistment 26 October 1915, Norseman
Age at enlistment 26 years
Description
Height: 5’ 3½“
Weight: 127 lb
Chest: 33 - 36“
Occupation Jockey
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Florid
Embarkation 16 February 1916, HMAT Warilda A69, Fremantle
Rank Private / Gunner Unit 10th Light Horse / 4th Division Artillery Company
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 11 Jan 1918 per Darwin
Sydney Ernest (Syd) Taylor was the son of John and Jane Taylor.
The Taylor family arrived in WA in about 1891, where they ran a boarding house and several hotels in Cannington and Albany. The family then moved to Esperance in about 1895, where they ran the Royal Hotel in Andrew Street (now the Esperance Hotel), and later the Grace Darling Hotel.
John Taylor was the Shire Clerk for several years in Esperance, and his wife Jane (known as Granny Taylor) was well respected for her nursing and midwifery skills in the town.
By the time John died in 1915, the Taylors were the proprietors of the Grass Patch Hotel. Jane continued to hold the license for the hotel until 1923. She passed away on the 23rd of December 1944 aged 90, having outlived all five of her children.
Syd, who was also known as Codgie, helped his parents in their various hotels as a child. He also took part in local sports, such as cricket and football. He was a jockey when he enlisted in 1915. According to those who knew him he was also very short, being a keen billiard player but barely able to see over the table! Had he enlisted a year earlier, he would have been refused, as the minimum height requirement to serve in the war was at that time 5 feet 6 inches. This was reduced to 5 feet 2 inches in June 1915.
He spent some time in hospital with various illnesses during the war, eventually returning to Australia in January 1918, suffering from debility and chronic blepharitis.
On the 15th of July 1917 the Sunday Times newspaper published a letter from Taylor.
Gunner Syd. Taylor writes from hospital, Brighton:
“Just a few lines to let you know how things are in this part of the world. To begin with, they talk about Blighty being a fine country, but give me good old W.A, and they can have Blighty on their own. Brighton is a fine place; any number of fashionable people to be seen along the sea front. But there is not the same freedom that we have out in the West. There are a great many Australian wounded and sick soldiers in this hospital, and we are all looking forward to seeing ‘Ausy’ again shortly. The staff here are all Canadians, and they give the Australians a fair deal. I met a W.A. lady on the Promenade yesterday- ( Mrs. Makeham-her husband was rector of a West Perth church), and she gave me a ‘Sunday Times,’ dated March 11, and I can tell you I spent a couple of hours’ good reading, as it was the first ‘Sunday Times’ I had had since I left France. I met a lot of W.A. sports while in France- Bert Porter, Harry James, Gordon Virgo, and a lot of
Sunday Times, 15 July 1917, pg3
Source TROVE
Grass Patch Hotel circa 1916 Esperance Museum ELH P-3081
others, and they are all doing O.K. ‘Scrap Iron’ Collins is still going strong in the 2nd D.A.C. ‘Minnie’ Palmer was in the same crowd as I. The former footballer was our Q.M.S.
Our division of artillery has been in France about 12 months now, and has been in action nearly the whole of the time. I can tell you we have had a good deal of travelling about. We were on the Armentieres’ front for a month, then we shifted to Ypres, and then to the Somme, where we have been ever since. For weeks at a time we never knew what it was to have dry feet, and as for cold I can tell you it was ‘Somme’ cold. Anyhow, it gave me a severe attack of bronchial pneumonia. And here I am now, having a great time in Brighton. I had a letter a week or two back from ‘Mick’ Bowden, and he told me he was registered and doing well. Anyhow, I wish him the best of luck. How are the ponies getting on? I rode at the ponies for a good many years, but since I have been a soldier I have put on about two stone. Bully beef and biscuits are a fine diet to put on weight. The Brighton racecourse is just behind the hospital. It has a fine turf track, but the grandstand is poor. My kind regards to the pony boys and officials.”
In April 1918, Syd was welcomed home at a meeting of the Esperance Roads Board, where he responded by saying that “although during his term of active service he had experienced very good times, some very bad times had to be endured at the front; but, with it all, if his health would permit, he would go through it all again”.
On the 16th of September 1919, Sydney Taylor married Ivy Maud Ricketts in Norseman. They had ten children, but it appears only six of them survived to adulthood. Two of their sons served in the Second World War.
The family remained in the Grass Patch area, where Syd took an active role in the community until moving to Norseman in the 1930’s, where Syd was employed on the Butterfly and Blue Bird mines. He was also an active member of the Town Football Club.
In June 1940, Sydney Taylor was admitted to the Norseman hospital with pneumonia – he died a few days later on the 12th of June. He was buried in the Norseman Cemetery. His wife Ivy remarried in 1941, to Fred Jenkins. She passed away in 1960.
TILLART, John Martin
Service Number 6159
Birth 3 August 1887, Helenaveen, Holland
Next of Kin
Father: Martin Jan Tillart, Helenaveen, Holland
Enlistment 5 November 1915, Albany, WA
Age at enlistment 34 years, 2 months
Description
Occupation
Embarkation
Height: 5’ 7½“
Weight: 147 lb
Chest: 33½ - 36½“
Fettler, now farming
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Yellowish
Complexion: Medium
20 January 1916, HMAT Runic A54, Sydney
Rank Sapper Unit
4th Field Company Engineers / 14th Field Company Engineers
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 8 July 1919 per Somali
John Martin Tillart was born in Holland, arriving in Australia a few years prior to the war. By 1914 he was in Esperance, where he worked as a labourer for various employers, including the McCarthy family at their Standard Salt Company.
At the time of his enlistment on the 5th of November 1915, Johns’ occupation was “fettler, now farming”. His next of kin was his father, Martin Jan Tillart, in Helenaveen, Holland.
John served with the 4th and later the 14th Field Company Engineers, and left Australia on the 20th of January 1916 aboard the HMAT Runic, departing from Sydney. Throughout the war, he experienced problems with defective vision, and in April 1918 he was gassed.
He returned to Australia in July 1919 on the Somali.
John Tillart remained in Western Australia, working as a labourer. He did not marry, and at the time of his death in 1950, he was living at Bluff Point, Geraldton.
TOWNSEND, Frank McPhail
Service Number 3482
Birth 14 June 1891, Brunswick, Victoria
Next of Kin
Wife: Mrs Olivia Agnes Townsend, Grass Patch, via Norseman WA
Enlistment 5 August 1915, Norseman, WA
Age at enlistment 24
Description
Height: 5’ 6⅞“
Weight: 114 lb
Chest: 30½ - 34“
Occupation Baker
Embarkation
Hair: Mid brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Florid
2 November 1915, HMAT Ulysses A38, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 11th Battalion / 4th Field Bakery
Served at France
Returned to Australia 28 May 1919 per Sardinia
Frank Townsend Supplied by Eric Heenan
Frank was the third child of James and Lilias Mary (née McPhail) Townsend. The Townsends arrived in WA in the mid 1890’s and settled in Bulong, in the Goldfields, where James was a prominent community member. He served as the Bulong Mayor from 1900 to 1903. In 1912, he was contracted to cart the mail from Norseman to Esperance for the next three years. At this point the Townsends still resided in Bulong, but had a farm near Grass Patch which they had named Lilydale. In 1914 they left Bulong and moved to the farm. A party was held in the Miners Institute at Bulong that February to bid them farewell.
James and Lilias Townsend remained at Grass Patch until James’ death in the Norseman Hospital on the 13th of May 1938. Lilias passed away on the 19th February 1960 and is buried in the Karrakatta Cemetery.
Frank Townsend was a baker in Bulong, and according to the book The Road to Bulong: A History of the Jones Family of Hampton Hill, the bakery was located at the back of the Bulong Hotel and when the police came to check on the locals who were playing two-up at the hotel, the players escaped through hidden panels in the walls of the Hotel, and left through the bakehouse cellar.
In 1912 Frank married Olivia Agnes Aileen Brown in Kalgoorlie. Their first two children were born prior to Frank’s enlistment.
On the 29th of July 1915, a farewell social was held at the Criterion Theatre in Norseman for the 5th Contingent of Norseman recruits, including Frank and Doug Townsend.
Frank Townsend arrived in Egypt in March 1916, before embarking with his unit to France. On the 3rd of June 1916, he was wounded in the leg, re-joining his unit on the 18th. On the 27th of July he was evacuated to England after suffering a gunshot wound to the right foot.
On the 14th of January 1917 Frank returned to France, and was transferred to the 4th Field Bakery. In May 1918 Frank was admitted to hospital in France with laryngitis, and in January 1919 he was hospitalised for six days with venereal disease.
After his return to Australia, Frank and his wife farmed near his family at Grass Patch for several years, before moving to Perth where he was employed as a lift attendant with the GPO.
Frank McPhail Townsend died on the 26th of August 1940 in Perth, leaving four sons and a daughter. He was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. His wife died on the 26th of February 1959, and is buried with him.
All five of Frank and Olivia’s children served in the Second World War. One of his sons, Frank McPhail Townsend, died of illness while a Prisoner of War in Burma on the 16th of August 1943.
TOWNSEND, James Douglas
Service Number 3481
Birth 17 April 1894, Brunswick, Victoria
Next of Kin
Father: James Townsend, Grass Patch via Norseman, WA
Enlistment 5 August 1915, Norseman, WA
Age at enlistment 21 years 5 months
Description
Height: 5’ 8 ⅞”
Weight: 133 lb
Chest: 31¼ - 34¼
Occupation Farmer
Embarkation
Hair: Med Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair, slightly florid
2 Nov 1915, HMAT Ulysses A38, Fremantle
Rank Private
Unit 11th Battalion AIF
Served at France
Returned to Australia 21 May 1919 per Klyber
James Townsend Supplied by Eric Heenan
James Douglas (Doug) Townsend was the fourth child of James and Mary Lillias Townsend.
Doug arrived at Marseilles with the 11th Battalion AIF on the 5th of April 1916. A few days later he was sent to the Field Hospital. While he was initially thought to be suffering from jaundice, it soon became apparent that he had bronchitis and influenza. On the 14th of April he was admitted to hospital at Wimereux, now suffering from pneumonia. After a period of six weeks Doug returned to duty.
On the 14th of April 1917 while taking part in action at Boursies, Doug Townsend was taken as a prisoner of war. He was interned at Gefangenenlager, Limburg, Germany.
As Doug was not an officer, he would have been forced to work behind enemy lines, at the risk of being wounded or worse by his own countrymen. This is because the Germans had instigated a ‘reprisal’ policy. As many Germans who had been taken prisoner by British forces were being used to work behind allied lines and thereby in range of German guns, all British or French prisoners captured at the time that Doug Townsend was taken prisoner were made to work hard with minimum food. They were housed poorly, often without even a blanket.
Behind the German lines, Doug Townsend would have been made to do such things as bury bodies, clear roads, dig trenches and work at ammunition dumps which would have been targets for allied fire.
The Red Cross had been informed that the prisoners were interned at Limburg, and therefore sent clothing and food packages to the camps in the area, but as many prisoners were actually labouring in France, it is doubtful that they would have received anything.
Had Doug been an officer, his experience would have been much different. He would not have been forced to work, and he would have had spacious quarters with lower ranking prisoners doing his cooking and cleaning. He would have been able to read, play cards and sports and go for escorted walks outside the camp.
Doug was repatriated back to England on the 3rd of December 1918, eventually arriving back in Western Australia on the 21st of May 1919, and back to his farm and family at Grass Patch in June. On the 14th of August that year the Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper reported that Doug had bought a farm adjoining his father and was to receive assistance through the Agricultural Bank, under the Repatriation Scheme.
Western Argus, 1 July 1919, pg 10
Source TROVE
Doug was welcomed back to Esperance with a social at the Bijou, alongside Fred Baseden, George Doust, Percy Blake and Jim Jones.
On the 28th of March 1922 Doug married Gladys Jenkins in the Anglican Church in Esperance. Gladys was the sister of Harry Jenkins, who had been killed in action only a few days before Doug was taken prisoner. Much of the population of Esperance and the Mallee were at the wedding, and the evening was spent dancing at the Bijou.
Doug and Gladys Townsend had five children, remaining on the farm at Grass Patch until 1927 when Doug began working as a repairer for the Western Australian Government Railways. They lived in Salmon Gums until 1936 when they moved to Mullalyup in the South West of WA, then Fremantle, where Doug worked for the Railways until his retirement in 1959.
Doug Townsend died on the 13th of December 1975 aged 81 in Perth, and his ashes were scattered at Karrakatta Cemetery. His wife Gladys died aged 83 on the 3rd of September 1982 and her ashes were also scattered at Karrakatta. Their oldest son, Harry Douglas Townsend, served in WW2.
TURNBULL, Alexander Phipps
Service Number 164
Birth 18 July 1888, Dardanup, WA
Next of Kin
Father: A P Turnbull, Alexander River, via Esperance WA
Enlistment 5/10/1914, Perth
Age at enlistment 26
Description
Height: 5’ 9¾“
Weight: 11 st 3 lb
Chest: 35 - 37”
Occupation Solicitor
Embarkation
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Medium
8 February 1915, HMAT Mashobra A47, Fremantle
Rank 2nd Lieutenant
Unit 10th Light Horse Regiment
Served at Gallipoli
Fate KIA 7 Aug 1915, The Nek, Gallipoli Memorial Ari Burnu Cemetery, Gallipoli
Alexander Turnbull
Supplied by the State Library of Western Australia slwa_b_3937459_1
Alexander Phipps Turnbull, known as Phipps, was the oldest son of Alexander Paterson and Marian Rose (née Lee Steere) Turnbull.
Alexander and Marian were both from prominent families with political backgrounds. The Lee Steeres were pioneers in the South West and well known throughout the state.
When Marian’s father Sir James Lee Steere died in 1903, she was bequeathed Lynburn Station at Thomas River, east of Esperance, which Sir James had purchased the previous year.
The Turnbulls moved to Lynburn, but retained Elderslie, their home in Perth as well. Both of their sons were educated away from the station.
In 1919 Lynburn Station was sold, and the Turnbulls left the district.
Phipps was born on the 18th of July 1888 at Princep Park, a large pastoral property near Dardanup, which was being managed at the time by his father. He was educated at Perth High School (now Hale), his Uncle Frederick Faulkner being the Head master. Phipps excelled at school - in 1906 he was the school captain, and was also its Dux. He spoke Latin, French and Greek. He was also an accomplished cricket and football (soccer) player, and was known for his skill at rowing, as well as being a good horseman and bushman.
In 1907 he applied for a Rhodes Scholarship, and was successful, travelling to Oxford, England, to study law at Merton College. Phipps made many friends there, and maintained friendships with other Western Australian boys who were also studying there. He also served as a member of the King’s Colonial’s Cavalry Regiment. Phipps was one of only three students to graduate with First Class Honours in 1910 and was called to the English Bar in 1911.
Shortly after this, Phipps returned to Western Australia. He was admitted to the Bar in September 1912 and employed by the law firm Parker & Parker. Among other things he spent his leisure time as a member and office bearer of the West Australian Rowing Club and the Royal Perth Yacht Club.
By the time of his enlistment on the 5th of October 1914, Phipps was engaged to be married to Molly Marmion. Molly was well educated and from another prominent West Australian family and the couple were known to be very happy together.
Phipps signed up alongside two of his schoolfriends, the Harper brothers. They were all assigned to the A squadron of the 10th light Horse Regiment, and in early November Phipps was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
On the 8th of February 1915, the A Company embarked at Fremantle. They were not told where they were going, but the men had a suspicion it would be Egypt, and they were correct. It’s interesting to note that another Esperance
recruit, Percy Lewis, enlisted on the same day as Phipps, and embarked on the same ship but it is unclear whether the two young men were known to each other.
While in Egypt, Phipps wrote regularly to his family, and some of these letters are now in the care of the Australian War Memorial. His letters at first are quite cheerful, although on the 8th of May 1915 after seeing the wounded men that were being brought back to Egypt after the Gallipoli landing, Phipps wrote:
“a lot of them were a good deal battered about by shell fire & they presented a piteous sight & it brought home to me the realities of war. The fighting has put great heart into us here & the sight of our wounded comrades has made us all anxious to get away & have a smack at the Turks: the Light Horse are practically the only troops left in Egypt of the Australians & some of these are going off on foot leaving their horses behind for the present; our machine gun section leaves tonight & we are expecting to get our orders any day”
Phipps embarked with his unit for Gallipoli on the 16th of May 1915, leaving their horses behind.
On the 4th of August Phipps wrote from Gallipoli. This letter was shorter than his previous letters, and while no doubt protecting his family from the worst of his experience, he still describes in some detail what the situation is like:
“Just a few hurried lines as I may not be able to write later in the week & it may possibly be a mail or two before you hear again after this, so don’t go worrying if you don’t hear. We are now back in the main line trenches having shifted from our little home on the outpost last Saturday & we are now located somewhere up in the heavens, at least the climb up here seems like it especially with all your belongings up. We had just got things comfortable where we were & were so nice & handy for a bathe whereas here it makes you think twice before you go down this hill with a climb up it to return. It is trying work here & a man is lucky to get a night’s sleep every second night & it is this I think tells on men more than anything & makes them look care-worn & haggard. The trenches vary from 25 to 100 yards apart as one has to be pretty alert when on this watch as they could be out & on you in a few moments: the aroma from the dead lying between the trenches is none too nice & it just smells like a bone-dust field but you seem to get used to it.”
Only three days after writing this letter, Phipps was killed in action at the Nek.
According to Ross McMullin in his book Farewell, Dear People, Phipps was shot while climbing out of the trench. He fell back, and was cared for in his final moments by a mate, Charlie Heppingstone. Phipps’ only concern was for his family back home, particularly his mother.
The news of Phipps death was sent by telegram to the Israelite Bay Telegraph Station, as the family were at Lynburn Station. A lineman, Alfred Smith, left Israelite Bay on the 21st of August to inform the family. Under extreme weather conditions, with hail, rain and cold southerly winds, Smith rode all day. When he arrived at Lynburn in the early evening, Phipps’ brother Hubert went outside to greet him, before going into the house to break the news to the family.
As well as the Esperance War Memorial, Phipps Turnbull is honoured at several other locations, including Merton College in Oxford and St George’s Cathedral in Perth, where there is a brass plaque dedicated to his memory.
VIVIAN, Alfred Ernest
Service Number
2506
Birth 12 Dec 1894, Adelaide, SA
Next of Kin
Foster sister: Mrs Nellie W Dean, Esperance Bay
Enlistment 14 February 1916, Albany
Age at enlistment 21 years
Description Height: 5’ 6”
Weight: 117 lb
Chest: 32 - 34“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
20 September 1916, HMAT Uganda A66, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 51st Battalion AIF
Served at France, Belgium
Fate Died of Wounds 15 October 1917, Belgium
Buried Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, BELGIUM
Alfred Ernest Vivian was born in South Australia in 1894, the son of Alfred Henry Lambert and Elizabeth Martin Vivian (née Rowe).
At the time of his birth, Alfred’s mother was married to Richard Henry Vivian, who was working at Broken Hill. Alfred was placed in the Destitute Asylum in Adelaide at the age of seven months. Shortly afterwards he was in the care of Mary Kemp, and in January 1897 he was adopted by Mary and her husband Walter and taken to Esperance with them, where the family called him Teddy Kemp. He is named as E Vivian on the Esperance War Memorial.
Walter Kemp died in 1905, and Mary in 1912. After this, Alfred Vivian lived with his foster sister Nellie and her husband Robert Dean, who was the Customs Agent in Esperance.
When he enlisted under his real name of Alfred Ernest Vivian, Nellie Dean was named as his next of kin.
While in training at Blackboy Hill, Alfred was hospitalised with tonsillitis, cerebrospinal meningitis and quinsy, spending a total of 45 days in hospital, including 30 days at the Victoria Hospital for Infectious Diseases, in Perth. By late August 1916, he was back in the camp, and on the 20th of September he embarked with his unit from Fremantle.
Alfred disembarked at Plymouth, England, on the 15th of November 1916. After undergoing training, he arrived in France on the 29th of December 1916. On the 14th of October 1917 Alfred was wounded in the abdomen. He died a day later in the 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, and was buried in the Lijssenthoeke Cemetery, near Poperinghe.
His medals and personal effects were sent to his foster sister Nellie Dean. The medals are now held by the Esperance Museum.
British War Medal and Victory Medal, awarded to Mr Alfred Ernest Vivian, on display at the Esperance Museum
Hope Waddell was the only surviving child of Hope Masterton and Bridget Bertha Waddell.
Hope Waddell Snr was a specialist in artesian boring and was contracted to travel from his home in America to South Australia in 1882 by the South Australian Surveyor General, G W Goyder. He arrived in March 1883, where he sunk several successful bores, including two on the Nullarbor Plain. In the late 1880’s Hope Snr moved to Broken Hill to try his hand at mining. Before long he had moved to Tasmania, where on the 4th of March 1891 he married Bridget Bertha Barry in Zeehan. Theirs was widely reported as being the first marriage to take place in the town. They had a daughter, Aileen Hope Waddell, in Zeehan in 1892 but she died in infancy.
The Waddells then moved to Southern Cross, WA, where in 1894 their son Hope Masterton Waddell was born. By the end of 1898 the Waddells had arrived in Esperance. Hope Waddell Snr became involved in local affairs, being a member of the local branch of the Australian Natives’ Association and the Ratepayers Association as well as being a Municipal Councillor.
Towards the end of his life Mr Waddell lived a quiet life, and was not seen often away from his home. He died on the 16th of September 1924 at the age of 84, and is buried in the Esperance Cemetery. After his death, his wife Bridget moved to Victoria where their son Hope was living. She died aged 60, on the 25th of September 1927 at Yallourn.
Hope Waddell Jr grew up in Esperance and attended the local primary school. On one occasion, at a time when the school teacher was a bit too free with his cane, Hope reportedly hid it up the chimney.
He joined the navy on the 7th of March 1914. When war was declared Hope was serving on the HMAS Pioneer. At the time, the ship was at Melbourne, and the following day she sailed for Fremantle to patrol the coast of WA. On the 16th of August while off Rottnest Island Pioneer captured the German steamer Neumunster and took her into Fremantle. Nine days later she captured a second ship, the Thuringen, also off Rottnest Island.
On the 1st of November 1914, Pioneer was just taking up her position in the First Australian Convoy when her engines broke down and she was ordered back to Fremantle. From January 1915 she took part in operations off German East Africa.
On 21st December 1915, Pioneer anchored off Nazi Bay on the East coast of Africa. A cutter was sent away for provisions and Hope Waddell was on board. When they were about 100m from the beach, the cutter came under fire from the shore. Hope Waddell and another man were wounded, Hope being shot in the leg.
Pages from Hope Waddell Navy Service Record
Source NAA: A6770 WADDELL H M
After seeing more combat than any other Australian ship during the war, the HMAS Pioneer was paid off on the 7th of November 1916 and a number of her crew including Hope Waddell were posted to the newly commissioned HMAS Brisbane.
At the end of the war, Hope Waddell was serving on the HMAS Fantome, which was carrying out police duties in the western Pacific. In January 1919 while on leave, Hope visited his parents in Esperance. A reception was held at the Road Board Office for him and four returned soldiers - Fred Daw, Bert Dickinson, Eric Heenan and Fred Hearne.
Hope left the navy in April 1919 and went to live in Victoria, where he married Elizabeth Irene Neville in 1920. The couple had four children.
Hope Waddell died on the 28th of December 1959 aged 65, and was buried with his mother in the Burwood Cemetery. His wife died on the 7th of June 1970 at the age of 76 and is buried with Hope and his mother.
WATSON, William John
Service Number 7348
Birth 1892, Avenel (Seymour), Victoria (RAN record has 20 Sep 1893) *
Next of Kin
Mother: Violet Watson, Esperance Bay, W Aust
Enlistment 1 January 1913
Age at enlistment 19
Description
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight:
Chest:
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Dark
Occupation
Embarkation
Rank Able seaman
Unit Navy
Served on HMAS Melbourne
Fate Accidentally drowned 21 Dec 1916, North Sea
Memorial Plymouth Naval Memorial, England
* William Watson’s naval record states that his date of birth was the 20th of September 1893. However, his birth was registered in 1892.
William Watson
Source TROVE from book Australia’s Fighting Sons of the Empire
William John (Willie) Watson was the second child of James and Violet Mabel (née Shelton) Watson.
The Watsons arrived in WA from Victoria with their four eldest children between 1896 and 1898, and settled in Norseman. Some members of Violets’ family also came around the same time. Her parents, John and Frances Shelton, settled in Esperance where they ran a boarding house.
In 1912 James Watson left Norseman and went to Mt Morgan in the WA Goldfields. Violet remained in Norseman, earning her keep by working for other residents. The couple were divorced in 1922.
In 1903 while William Watson was living in Esperance, he accidentally rode his bike off the town jetty. He managed to climb out of the water as he was apparently a good swimmer – unfortunately he had broken his arm when he fell.
William joined the navy at the beginning of 1913. He served as an Ordinary Seaman on the light cruiser HMAS Melbourne from the 18th of January until the 14th of April 1913. He then served as an acting Able Seaman, again on the HMAS Melbourne, from the 15th of April until the 10th of September 1913. From the 11th of September until 20th of November he served on the HMAS Cerberus, before returning to the HMAS Melbourne on the 21st of November 1913. He was still on the HMAS Melbourne when war was declared in August 1914 and Australia handed the control of its navy to the British. In November 1914 he became an Able Seaman, and he continued to serve on that ship for the duration of his service.
After the declaration of war, the Navy was tasked with seizing or ‘neutralising’ German territories in the Pacific region. On the 30th of August 1914 the HMAS Melbourne was one of a number of ships to escort New Zealand troops to German Samoa. After this, the Melbourne was sent to Nauru, where 25 personnel were landed, arresting the German administrator and destroying the wireless station there.
The Melbourne’s next notable task, alongside the HMAS Sydney, was to form part of an escort to the troopships leaving Western Australia on the 1st of November 1914.
Melbourne left the convoy at Colombo on the 15th of November and proceeded to the Atlantic Ocean. In December she was deployed to the Caribbean and based at Bermuda. For the next eighteen months she carried out patrol duties between the islands of the West Indies and along the east coast of North America, along with HMAS Sydney.
Norseman Times 4 Jan 1917, pg2
Source TROVE
In September 1916 Sydney and Melbourne were transferred to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, serving with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea. In company with HMS Southampton and Dublin, they undertook patrol, escort and screening duties.
It was while the Melbourne was in the North Sea that William Watson accidentally drowned on the 21st of December 1916. His body was not recovered, and he is memorialised at the Plymouth Naval Memorial in England.
His mother, who was residing in Esperance at the time, received a message on Boxing Day, notifying her that he had been lost overboard by accident.
WATSON, Robert Roy
Service Number
Birth
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Age at enlistment
Description
Occupation
Embarkation
Rank
Unit
1) 4582
2) 1163
6 Sep 1894, Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Father: James Watson, 187 Townsend Rd, Subiaco, WA
1) 8 March 1915
2) 1 November 1917
1) 20 years, 6 months
2) 24 years, 1 month
Height: 5’ 8¾“
Weight: 144 lb
Chest: 34 - 37”
Fireman
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
1) 25 June 1915, HMAT Wandilla A62, Fremantle
2) 23 November 1917, SS Canberra, Fremantle
1) Gunner
2) Sapper
1) 3rd Field Artillery Brigade
2) 2nd Australian Light R O Coy
Served at Gallipoli, Europe
Returned to Australia
1) 29 January 1916 per HMAT Suffolk
2) 3 March 1919 per Euripedes
Robert Watson
Source TROVE from book Australia’s Fighting Sons of the Empire
Robert Roy Watson, known as Roy, was the third child of James and Violet Watson.
Roy started working for the Western Australian Government Railways in 1912, and was permanently employed as a fireman in 1913. On the 6th of March 1915 he was granted leave to enlist with the AIF.
Roy was posted to the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade. He arrived at Gallipoli on the 4th of August 1915. On the 29th of August he was admitted to hospital with an unnamed illness, which was eventually diagnosed as typhoid. After spending time in various hospitals, he returned to Australia in January 1916 on board the HMAT Suffolk and was discharged as medically unfit for military service on the 11th of May that year.
Roy returned to his employment with WAGR, until the end of October 1917, when he was again granted leave to join the AIF.
He was selected as a fireman in the Railway Corps reinforcements. He left Fremantle on board HMAT Canberra, disembarking at Suez on the 21st of December 1917. On the 9th of January 1918 he left Port Said on board the HMT Kashgar. On the 30th of January he disembarked at Southampton, England, eventually reaching France on the 20th of March 1918.
When the war officially ended on the 11th of November 1918 Roy Watson was in hospital with influenza.
After his return to Australia in early 1919 he was again employed by the WAGR.
In 1922 Robert Roy Watson married Bertha Millicent ‘Betty’ Smith in Northam. The couple had five children.
The family lived in various parts of WA. In the 1920’s they were in Merredin and Geraldton and during the 1930’s and 1940’s they were in Bunbury. Sadly, Betty Watson drowned at Bunbury in 1944.
Roy remained in the employ of the WAGR until his retirement in January 1956.
He spent the last few months of his life at the Sunset Home in Nedlands, where he died on the 11th of February 1959, of cerebral thrombosis, cerebral arteriosclerosis and essential hypertension.
WILKINSON, Henry Edward
Service Number
Birth 5 October 1879, Foster, Victoria
Next of Kin Wife: Mrs Clara Wilkinson, 971 Wellington St, Perth
Enlistment 26 October 1918
Age at enlistment 39 years
Description
Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 143 lb
Chest: 35 - 37”
Occupation Surveyors’ chainman
Embarkation
Rank Unit Served at Returned to Australia
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fresh
Henry Edward Wilkinson was born in 1879 in Foster, Victoria, the youngest of eight children of George and Alice Wilkinson.
In 1906 he married Clara Johnstone, a widow with five children, in Perth, WA. The family were living in Murray Street, Perth at the time.
By 1910 the Wilkinsons were residing on Hay St in Perth, and Henry was working as a surveyor’s assistant.
It is unclear how Henry Wilkinson was connected to Esperance, but it is possible that he worked in the district in his role as a surveyor’s chainman.
Due to the end of the war on the 11th of November 1918, Henry Wilkinson was not assigned to any unit and did not leave Australia. He was discharged on the 28th of November 1918.
Clara Wilkinson died on the 7th of January 1920 after a year of illness, and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. In 1923 Henry Wilkinson married again, to Mrs Emmie Robinson of Busselton.
Henry and Emmie Wilkinson and Emmie’s daughter Elsie then resided in Busselton for several years, where they ran the Busselton Tea Rooms on Queen Street. They put the tea rooms up for sale in 1933 and by 1934 Henry had returned to Perth, where he had found employment as a labourer. Emmie remained in Busselton until the Tea Rooms had sold, then re-joined Henry in Perth.
By the late 1930’s Henry Wilkinson was again working as a survey hand and residing in Victoria Park with his wife, where they remained (other than a brief period in Albany in the late 1940’s) until Henry’s death on the 23rd of July 1953. He was buried in Karrakatta cemetery.
Henry’s widow Emmie died on the 11th of March 1977 and was buried with him.
Wood, Alexander
Service Number 1444
Birth 19 Dec 1893, Colton, SA
Next of Kin
Mr John Wood, father, Esperance, W Aust
Enlistment 14 July 1915, Ravensthorpe, WA
Age at enlistment 21 years, 8 months
Description Height: 5’ 5 ½ “
Weight: 120 lb
Chest: 35”
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
1 Nov 1915, HMAT Benalla A24, Fremantle
Rank Private / Gunner
Unit 10th Light Horse Regiment / 8th Division Medium Trench Mortar Battery
Served at Egypt, France
Returned to Australia 28 February 1919 per Anchises
Alexander Wood was the fourth child of John and Isabella Wood.
The Woods moved from South Australia to Western Australia in the mid 1890’s.
In 1921, Isabella Wood was rescued from drowning when she fell off the Esperance jetty late at night. Her rescuer, Arthur Pike of Kalgoorlie, was awarded a certificate of bravery for his efforts.
John Wood died in January 1927 in Kalgoorlie, and is buried in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery. Isabella died in November that year, and is buried with her husband.
Prior to his enlistment Alex Wood worked at the Phillips River copper mine near Ravensthorpe.
While undergoing training at Blackboy Hill, Wood contracted measles, spending a total of 20 days in hospital.
Alex Wood arrived in Egypt in February 1916 and shortly afterwards was hospitalised with pneumonia. He remained in hospital until the 2nd of March when he was discharged for duty and joined the 10th Light Horse Reserve Regiment. In April he was transferred to the 4th Division Artillery Company as a mustered gunner.
In June, Alex was again transferred, this time to the Z4A Medium Trench Mortar Battery.
During September 1917 Alex lost seven days’ pay for being hospitalised with venereal disease.
On the 3rd of October 1917 Alex was transferred to England and admitted to the No 2 Military Hospital, Old Park, Canterbury with appendicitis. He was transferred the following day to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford, with catarrhal enteritis.
He returned to France in late March 1918, joining his unit in the field on 11th April. On the 19th of April he was again in hospital with venereal disease, where he remained until the 30th of May.
Alex was welcomed back to Esperance alongside Gordon Cavanagh and Neville Heenan in May 1919 with a reception at the Road Board Office and a social evening at the Bijou.
He died at the age of 60 on the 21st of June 1954 in Perth, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.
WOOD, Frank
Service Number
3653
Birth 1 May 1898, Esperance WA *
Next of Kin
Father: Mr John Wood, Esperance WA
Enlistment 14 July 1915, Ravensthorpe
Age at enlistment 18 years, 1 month
Description Height: 5’ 5 ½“
Weight: 143 lb
Chest: 34”
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
17 Jan 1916, HMAT Borda A30, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
28th Battalion AIF
Served at France
Returned to Australia 8 August 1916 per Euripedes
*Frank variously gives his birth date as January 1897, 1 May 1898 and 1 May 1897
Frank Wood was the fifth child of John and Isabella Wood.
In October 1916 Frank and Alex Wood, along with Bert Dickinson, were given a send-off at the Bijou by the local community, followed by a function at the home of Benjamin Peek, president of the Esperance Rifle Club.
Frank arrived in France on the 27th of March 1916. On the 30th of April he was admitted to the No 26 General Hospital with influenza. On the 14th of May he was sent to England where he was admitted to Harefield Hospital, and on the 24th of June, suffering with nephritis, he returned to Australia. He was discharged from the army in October 1916.
After his return to Australia, Frank gained intermittent work but he found it difficult to work full time due to his poor health.
He married Alice Florence Lawler in 1918 in Perth, and they had four children. Frank signed up for World War Two in August 1941. He served as a Private in the Base Postal Unit but was discharged after only 3 months due to being medically unfit.
Frank suffered from illness all his life as a result of the influenza he contracted during his service. His wife Alice died on the 22nd of April 1969. Frank died on the 6th of February 1983 at Sir Charles Gardner Hospital in Perth, and his ashes were dispersed at Karrakatta Cemetery.
Maurice Holman far right - with group of unknown servicemen
Supplied by Mike and Ellen Gibbs
Honourable Mentions
People with local ties who are not recorded on the Honor Board.
The following people are included here because they were associated with Esperance at the time of the war, but for some reason weren’t included on the original 1919 Honor Board.
It is possible that there are others whose names should be here but have been missed - we would appreciate any information that family members can provide.
BLAKE, John
Service Number 2001
Birth 1887, Wentworth NSW
Next of Kin
Wife: Mrs Bessie Louisa Margaret Blake, Ravensthorpe, WA
Enlistment 8 November 1915, Blackboy Hill, WA
Age at enlistment 28
Description Height: 6’ ½“
Weight: 147 lbs
Chest: 36 / 39“
Occupation Store assistant
Embarkation
Hair: Dk Brown
Eyes: Blue Complexion: Fair
16 February 1916, HMAT Warilda A69, Fremantle
Rank Sergeant Unit
4th Division Artillery Company
Served at Europe
Returned to Australia 24 July 1919, H T Ormonde
John (Jack) Blake was the fifth child of Andy and Elizabeth Blake and the brother of Bob and Percy Blake, whose names are on the Honor Board. He was only three years old at the time of his mother’s death. When the family came to Western Australia, Jack was fortunate to have a foster mother, Charlotte Cavanagh - the mother of two other recruits, Gordon and Bob Cavanagh.
Jack Blake’s name is not on the Esperance Honor Board, but he was known in Esperance and he is included here as the brother of Percy and Bob Blake.
Jack married Bessie Pappin in 1910 at Ravensthorpe. They had four children, but sadly only two survived to adulthood. Prior to the war Jack was a grocer in Ravensthorpe. At the time of enlistment, he was a store assistant, probably for F E Daw as he was very friendly with the Daw family and communicated regularly with them during the war.
He left Fremantle on the 16th of February 1916, on board the HMAT Warilda, along with Syd Taylor, of Grass Patch. After spending several months in Egypt, Jack arrived in France on the 13th of June. He was quickly promoted to the rank of Bombardier, and in September he was again promoted, this time to the rank of Corporal.
Jack was twice recommended for the Military Medal - the first occasion on the 4th of March 1917 by Captain S J Fox, Divisional Trench Mortar Officer of the 4th Australian Division, for:
“Specially meritorious work in the vicinity of Moquet Farm on 29/8/16, in action under heavy enemy shell fire.
On the 4/11/16, during the operations in YPRES sector, this NCO fired 71 rounds from one mortar in 60 minutes in a bombardment of the enemy’s trenches, and on 10/11/16 fired 185 rounds from one mortar in 59 minutes, in a second bombardment of enemy trenches – on both occasions under heavy enemy shell fire. This NCO has exhibited splendid devotion to duty during the period 1/7/16 to 25/2/17.”
The second recommendation, also from Captain Fox:
“Conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on the morning of 3rd May 1917 during the attack on BULLECOURT.
He showed an absolute disregard of danger, working continuously for some hours under heavy shell and machine gun fire, in digging out men buried by force of explosions of Trench Mortar Ammunition, and in tending the wounded.
He did not leave the position till all the wounded had been taken away.
This NCO has on previous occasions been brought to notice for his courageous work.”
On the 14th of November 1917 Jack was presented with the Military Medal by General Birdwood.
The following is an excerpt from a letter Jack wrote to the Daw family of Ravensthorpe. The letter is dated December 10th 1917 and written in France
“I have gone along Saps or Trenches (which at that part we call respectable) say about waist down and when returning in an hour or so afterwards they would be flattened down and a man would be ducking, dodging and stumbling along the top and perhaps on dead men”.
Also:
“The farmer who has to plough this land will have a risky time, what with the unexploded shells, bombs, mines etc. You know that ground captured is strewn with shells, bombs and flares, ammunition of all sorts. We certainly have our salvage corps, but it is impossible to get all as so much gets buried and ‘Duds’ (shells that fail to explode) sometimes go so far into the ground. We call these ‘Duds’ ‘Yanks’. That is they are too proud to fight.”
Jack returned home in 1919 on the same ship as his brother Bob. After the war, Jack took up land near Ravensthorpe. Like his brothers, he was an active member of his community. He was a committee member for the Ravensthorpe Primary Producers Association, and in 1929 he established a Meccano Club in Ravensthorpe and was the President of the local RSL.
On the 15th of March 1931, while his wife and children were in Perth, Jack died in a house fire on his property near Ravensthorpe. He is buried in the Ravensthorpe cemetery.
It was intimated by Ravensthorpe locals and in a newspaper at the time that Jack had taken his own life - a shot gun was found by the bed he was laying on, and he had been suffering from financial worries. But the verdict of the Acting Coroner was ‘death by burning’.
He was 43 years of age. His widow Bessie moved to New South Wales, where she lived with their daughter and her husband. Bessie died there in 1969.
Left: First page of letter from John Blake to the Daw family Source Battye Library, MN 1823, Papers of Leonard Daw, ACC 5405A; 6710A.
CLATWORTHY, Joseph
Service Number 62782
Birth Circa 1897, Esperance, WA (not registered)
Next of Kin
Enlistment
Father, James Clatworthy, on Active Service. (Later changed to sister Lily Clatworthy, Swan Mission, Midland Junction, WA).*
22 July 1918, Geraldton, WA
Age at enlistment 21 years, 4 months
Description
Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 133 lb
Chest: 34½ - 37“
Occupation Dairy hand
Embarkation
Hair: Brown, curly.
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Sallow
29 Oct 1918, HMAT Boonah A36, Fremantle
Rank Private
Unit Not assigned
Fate Died of illness, Woodman Point Quarantine Station, WA
Memorial Buried at Woodman Point Quarantine Station
*Joseph’s father was actually Robert Clatworthy.
Joseph Clatworthy’s name is not on the Esperance Honor Board, as he left Esperance as a child. He is, however included here as the brother of local serviceman, Robert Clatworthy.
Joseph enlisted at Geraldton on the 22nd of July 1918. At the time he was a dairy hand for the Dunn brothers at Bluff Point, and a horse breaker.
Joseph initially named his next of kin as his father, “James Clatworthy, on Active Service”. However, his father Robert did not serve in the war. It’s possible that he was referring to his half-brother, James Griffin, who was serving at the time. Later, his next of kin was changed to his sister Lily, with the notes “Both parents dec’d. No brothers”.
On the 29th of October 1918 Joseph left Fremantle on the HMAT Boonah. When the ship arrived at Durban, South Africa, those on board were given the news that the war had ended. The men were kept on the ship, as the ‘Spanish Flu’ was rife in the town. In the process of making preparations to return home, local stevedores were allowed on board and brought the flu with them.
When the ship left Durban, extreme weather conditions forced the men to stay crowded together below decks. After about five days, the first symptoms of the influenza began to appear. The Boonah arrived at Fremantle on the 12th of December 1918, with one quarter of those on board having been diagnosed with influenza. The ship anchored in Gage Roads, and the worst cases were transferred to the Woodman Point Quarantine Station.
One of these was Joseph Clatworthy. He succumbed to pneumonic influenza on the 23rd of December 1918 and is buried at Woodman Point. Joseph was one of 27 soldiers and four nurses who died of influenza at Woodman Point at the time.
HENRY, Hollis
Service Number
295
Birth 24 September 1893, Northam WA
Next of Kin
Father: Thomas Henry, State School, Norseman
Enlistment 4 October 1915, Bridgetown
Age at enlistment 21 years, 11 months
Description Height: 5’ 8 ¾“
Weight: 137 lbs
Chest: 36 / 38½“
Occupation Timber worker
Embarkation
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
29 January 1916, HMAT Runic A54, Fremantle
Rank Corporal
Unit
14th Field Artillery Brigade
Served at Egypt and Europe
Returned to Australia 8 July 1919 per Somali
Hollis Henry is not on the Esperance Honor Board, possibly because he hadn’t lived in Esperance, although his father and brothers had.
He was the third child of Thomas and Mary Ann Henry, and the brother of Darley and George Henry, who also served.
At the time of enlistment he was a timber worker, living at Bridgetown. He arrived in Egypt in February 1916, and shortly afterwards proceeded to France. In July 1916, Hollis Henry was hospitalised, suffering from pleurisy and malaria. He was evacuated to England, returning to the front in April 1917.
In October 1917, Hollis was again hospitalised and evacuated, this time with gas wounds. He returned to his unit in February 1918.
Hollis Henry married Dorothy Theresa Yates in 1920 in Perth. He died on the 22nd of July 1971 and his wife died on the 25th of February 1984. They are both memorialised at Karrakatta.
JONES, Royal Norseman Vance
Service Number 5883
Birth 5 March 1896, Steiglitz, Victoria
Next of Kin Mrs Alice Jones (mother), Esperance, WA
Enlistment 19 April 1916, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 20 years, 1 month
Description Height: 5’ 8“
Weight: 138 lb
Chest: 34½ / 36½“
Occupation Fisherman
Embarkation
Rank Unit
Served at Returned to Australia
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Dark
Roy Jones on his wedding day, 1932 Esperance Museum P3404
Royal (Roy) Norseman Vance Jones was the youngest of the Jones children of Esperance.
He signed up on the 19th of April 1916, the same day as his brother Jim. Like Jim, Roy was a fisherman at Esperance, and the two brothers were close. Unfortunately for Roy (but perhaps fortunately for his family), he had a nasal obstruction, meaning he could only breathe through his mouth. After having his tonsils and adenoids removed, there was no improvement and he was discharged as unsuitable for military service.
Roy married Cecilia Ethel Sinclair in 1932 in Perth. Ethel died on the 27th of August 1976, and is buried in the Esperance cemetery. Roy died on the 21st of January 1977 and is buried with her.
McKENNA, (Townsend) Jessie Grace
Service Number Staff Nurse
Birth 1887, Yarrawonga, Victoria
Next of Kin
Mother Mrs J Townsend (Lillian Mary), Grass Patch via Norseman WA
Enlistment 11 Oct 1917
Age at enlistment 30
Description Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 8st 2lbs
Chest: 36 inches
Occupation Certified Nurse
Embarkation
Hair: Fair
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
Rank Sister Unit No 8 Australian General Hospital
Served at
Returned to Australia
Jessie McKenna Supplied by Eric Heenan
Jessie Townsend was born in Yarrawonga, Victoria in 1887, the oldest of the Townsend children. She never lived in the Esperance district but she is included here as the sister of Doug and Frank Townsend. She grew up in Bulong, where she became a monitor at the Bulong school in 1902.
In 1908 Jessie began her nursing career, when she went to Fremantle. She was still working at the Fremantle Hospital in 1910 when she married Ezekiel Benoni McKenna. Their daughter Joan was born the same year.
Jessie was a theatre sister at No 8 Australian General Hospital in Fremantle, and treated casualties who were sent back to Australia from Gallipoli and the Western Front.
Jessie and Ezekiel’s daughter Joan was a well-known solicitor and after her marriage to Eric Heenan in 1937 she continued to practise law.
Jessie McKenna died on the 7th of August 1983 aged 96 in Perth. She was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery with her husband who had died on the 21st of October 1952.
REID, James Alexander
Service Number
2782
Birth 21 April 1891, Gympie, QLD
Next of Kin Father, John Reid, Esperance, Western Australia
Enlistment 16 August 1915, Kalgoorlie
Age at enlistment 24 years, 4 months
Description Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 144 lb
Chest: 33½ - 35½“
Occupation Labourer
Embarkation
Hair: Dark
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Dark
2 Nov 1915, HMAT Ulysses A38, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit
28th Battalion / 51st Battalion
Served at Egypt, France
Returned to Australia 12 Nov 1916, Per Wiltshire
James Reid
Supplied by Joy Reid
James Alexander Reid was the second child of John and Mary Ann Reid. John Reid and Mary Ann Leahy were married on the 2nd of July 1890 in Queensland. The couple had five children in Queensland before moving to Western Australia, where they had two more.
In 1915 the Reids were granted four lots containing 320 acres at Myrup, east of Esperance. The family remained at Myrup for some time, but had moved to Kalgoorlie by the time John died in 1934 - he died in Esperance while visiting his daughter and her husband, and was buried in the Esperance Cemetery. His wife, Mary Ann, died in Perth on the 25th of May 1939, and is buried in the Karrakatta cemetery.
James Reid also held land in Myrup prior to the war, which he forfeited in 1915. At the time of enlistment he was working in Kalgoorlie as a labourer at the Trans Australian railway depot and was also a member of the South Kalgoorlie Volunteer Fire Brigade.
James left Fremantle for Egypt on the 2nd of November 1915. Although he was initially assigned to the 28th Battalion, he was transferred to the 51st Battalion in March 1916 while in Egypt. In June, the unit arrived in France and on the 3rd of July James was wounded in the left arm and both legs. He was transferred to England for treatment, and on the 12th of November 1916 he was sent back to Australia.
James Reid was admitted to the Base Hospital at Fremantle, where, after his recovery, he was on the staff for some time. In August 1917 he became engaged to a Fremantle girl, Vera Fannon, and they were married in 1920 in Fremantle. Around 1919 James began working for the State Implement Works, where he remained until the early 1930’s.
On the 16th of February 1936, James Reid died at his home after a long illness, at the age of 44. He was buried in the Karrakatta Cemetery.
REID, William
Service Number 1083
Birth 6 June 1896, Gympie, QLD
Next of Kin Mother, Mary Ann Reid, Myrup, Esperance
Enlistment
29 October 1915, Blackboy Hill
Age at enlistment 22 years, 4 months
Description Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 150 lb
Chest: 37“
Occupation Grocer
Embarkation
Rank Sapper Unit
Served at Returned to Australia
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Ruddy
William Reid
Supplied by Joy Reid
William Reid was the fifth child of John and Mary Ann Reid. He enlisted under the name William Aloysius Reid. On the 13th of November 1915 while undergoing training in New South Wales, he was found to be absent without leave and was fined for this offence. In January 1916 he was again absent without leave, this time for five days. He was again fined, but immediately afterwards he was again absent, thought to have deserted. After being remanded and spending some time in a Deserter’s Camp in Liverpool, NSW, William was discharged from the AIF.
After the war it appears William remained in the Sydney area, working in various hotels as a porter and barman.
He did not marry or have children, but he did have a partner, Mildred Elliott. William died on the 7th of September 1937 and is buried in the Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. Mildred died on the 15th of September 1945 and is buried with William.
SULLIVAN, John Arthur
Service Number 7919
Birth 1881, Ballarat, Victoria
Next of Kin
Mother: Mrs E Sullivan, Leongatha, Gippsland, Victoria
Enlistment 2 August 1915, Geraldton
Age at enlistment 34 years, 4 months
Description Height: 5‘ 5“
Weight: 135 lb
Chest: 35 / 36 “
Occupation Telegraph Lineman
Embarkation
Hair: Dark
Eyes: Grey
Complexion: Fair
HMAT Persic A34, 22 Nov 1915, Melbourne
Rank Driver
Unit
Australian Corps Signalling Company
Served at Egypt, France
Returned to Australia 6 August 1919, per Konig Frederich August
John Arthur (Jack) Sullivan was born in 1881 in Ballarat, Victoria, the son of Jeremiah and Ellen Sullivan. He arrived in Western Australia some time in the early 1900’s with his brother Francis.
Jack was a lineman at Israelite Bay prior to the war. At the time of his enlistment, he was working at Narrogin.
Jack arrived in Suez on the 21st of December 1915. After serving in Egypt for three months, he sailed with his unit to France, disembarking at Marseilles on the 23rd of March 1916.
On the 11th of March 1918 Jack was reverted from his rank of driver to that of sapper at his own request and transferred to the Australian Corps Signalling Company. He rose through the ranks, working his way up to Sergeant on the 15th of December 1918.
On the 2nd of April 1919 Jack Sullivan married Teresa Marr, a law clerk, in St Mary’s Cathedral, Aberdeen, Scotland.
That July, Jack was mentioned in despatches, and in August he returned to Australia with his wife.
The Sullivans returned to Israelite Bay, where Jack resumed his position at the telegraph station, remaining until its closure in 1926. After this the family lived and worked in the northern wheatbelt before settling in Perth.
Jack Sullivan died on the 23rd of August 1947 in Perth at the age of 66, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. His wife Theresa died on the 14th of September 1985 aged 87 and was buried with him. The couple had six children.
TURNBULL, Hubert Phipps
Service Number
Birth 3 April 1892
Next of Kin
Father: Alexander Turnbull, Alexander River via Albany, WA
Enlistment 14 Jan 1918, Perth
Age at enlistment 25 years, 8 months
Description Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 135 lb
Chest: 34 – 35 ½“
Occupation Station hand
Embarkation
Rank Unit
Served at
Returned to Australia
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Fresh
(L-R) Amy Elgee, Susan, Corky, Hubert Turnbull, Alec Matthews and Alexander Patterson Turnbull - at Lynburn Station
Supplied by the State Library of Western Australia slwa_b_6360446_1
Hubert Turnbull was the second son of Alexander Patterson Turnbull and his wife Marian Rose (Lee Steere), and brother to Alexander (Phipps) Turnbull. He signed up for the war in 1916 and again in late 1917 but was twice rejected, due to defective vision.
Throughout the 1920’s he managed Woolgorong Station in the Murchison for his uncle, Hubert Lee Steere. He was a member of the Mullewa Road Board in 1921, and was an active member of the community, attending local events and hosting visitors to the station. After a trip to England in 1932, Hubert moved to South Australia where he was the overseer of Bungaree Station, near Clare.
In October 1936, Hubert’s mother was notified that he was seriously ill. She was able to secure a flight from Perth to Blyth, SA, but arrived at Clare several hours after Hubert had died on the 5th of October. He had never married, and is buried in the Bungaree Cemetery.
WARD, Harold
Service Number 2172
Birth 27 November 1888, Salford, Manchester, ENGLAND
Next of Kin
Father, George Ward, 93 Sutherland Street, Winton, Manchester, ENGLAND
Enlistment 1 May 1916, Perth
Age at enlistment 28 years, 6 months
Description Height: 5 ‘5”
Weight: 110 lb
Chest: 31-33“
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fresh
Occupation Motor Haulage Contractor
Embarkation 10 October 1916 per HMAT Suffolk A23, Fremantle
Rank Private Unit 44th Battalion
Served at France, Belgium
Returned to Australia 10 March 1918 per Durham Castle
Harold Ward was born in Salford, Manchester, the son of George and Elizabeth (nee Bloomfield) Ward. He arrived in Western Australia in 1913.
Harold enlisted on the 1st of May 1916, and after undergoing training, left Fremantle on board the HMAT Suffolk. He arrived in England on the 2nd of December, where he received further training before being sent to France in February 1917.
On the 4th of October 1917 at Passchendaele, Belgium, Harold was shot in the chest. After being treated at field hospitals he was sent to England, and as a result of his wound he eventually returned to Australia in March 1918 on board the SS Durham Castle, along with Esperance local, Bill Dunn.
In December 1918, an entertainment was held at the Bijou in Esperance to assist the West Australian Patriotic appeal for £30,000. Harold Ward and two Esperance men, Jim Orr and Bert Dickinson attended and were welcomed home at the function.
Harold suffered greatly from his bullet wound, and found it difficult to work. In December 1918 he and two other returned servicemen set out to establish a business, supplying the Goldfields with fish caught in Esperance. They purchased several fishing boats and a lorry to carry the fish (kept on ice) to Norseman, where it would be sent by rail to Boulder and Kalgoorlie.
In February 1919 the building Harold was renting in Esperance caught fire, and he lost all his possessions. In May, the fishing business had failed to make a profit and shortly afterward Harold moved to Perth, where on the 16th of August 1920 he married Ivy Maud Northam.
The couple had three sons, but by the 1940’s they were living apart. Harold had spent some years prospecting before moving to Port Hedland and Ivy resided in Perth. According to Harold, this was because the cooler climate of southern WA affected his health (he only had one functioning lung, and a fragment of bullet remained lodged in his chest) and the hot temperatures of Port Hedland were bad for Ivy’s health.
Ivy died on the 21st of March 1970 in Perth, aged 75. Harold married again in 1974 to Rosina Martin (née Shields). He died six years later on the 13th of June 1982 in Perth aged 94.
Photo postcard. William Dunn - back row, third from right, with a group of unknown servicemen. Esperance Museum ELH p-2644
Keith Daw diary entry Esperance Museum AC-2014/3640
In their own words
“We thought we were in a sandy spot at Rockingham but this place beats any I have seen: we are right on the edge of the desert & can see nothing but a sandy waste as far as the eye can reach on one side: there is not a vestige of growth or tree of any kind growing on it & when the wind blows from the desert quarter it is hard to see for the drifting sand & it makes one’s eyes very sore. It is exactly similar to being camped on one of the sand patches like we have at Lynburn & the only blessing about it is that the sand is white & clean. “
Phipps Turnbull
Letter from Mena Camp, Cairo 14th March 1915
“Well we have had a fairly good time here lately not much to do. I could go into town every night till the row in Cairo when a few things got burned & a couple of lads shot then all our leave was stopped, it is not fair to us lads in camp that our leave should be stopped just through a few drunken sods, this is a fair dive of a place to live in during the summer, the other day we could not see Heliopolis city and it is only 900 yards from our camp, the sun was out of sight, the dust was awful, everyone looked like as if he had been in a flour mill only the dust was brown instead of white.”
Archie Lewis
Card to Jim Lewis Egypt, 1915
Photo postcard - No2 Australian Camp at the Pyramids, Cairo
Supplied by Margaret Sanderson
Photo postcard - Charles Lewis far right with unknown servicemen
From Charles Lewis to Jim Lewis
Supplied by Nancy and Trevor Phillips
“As you say I am seeing the world but that is not what I want – I would like to get this business over & get back home again & I think old boy we are very close now to what we have been waiting for we are at present just lying about our tents waiting for the word to go & about 4 days journey will take us into the firing line, everything is ready to go “
Archie Lewis
Card to Jim Lewis
Heliopolis, Egypt 7th April 1915
“I am going to try & make you all proud but do not blame me old chap if I fail to make a name for myself. I may get potted in the first go but I have a feeling that I will pull through alright.”
Archie Lewis
Card to Jim Lewis
Heliopolis, Egypt 7th April 1915
“All the first division of troops have moved out now … They are to be landed at some point in the Dardanelles to push inland & attack the Turks in the rear & will have to land under fire so are bound to have an exciting time & they have made allowance for losing 20% of the men & huge hospitals are ready for the wounded in Alexandria.”
Phipps Turnbull
Letter from Mena Camp, Cairo 10th April 1915
Keith Daw dairy entry
Esperance Museum ELH AC-2014/3640
“It is getting very hot here & the small flies very bad, though I am glad to say no blow-flies: one redeeming feature is the sea-bathing & what we would do without it I don’t know as the trenches are alive with lice & it is impossible to keep free from them, however clean you are: you would be amused to see everyone sitting down having a good old louse-hunt after we return from the trenches.”
Phipps Turnbull
Letter from The Dardanelles
26th June 1915
“I think it will be some time before I get leave to go there [England] but you never know your luck. I’ve got a chance of getting a nice little wound and getting home for a few months (to England I mean) it would be just the thing wouldn’t it.”
Syd Holman
Postcard to Tom
12th May 1916
“This is the last of Australia I suppose for a while, how hard it is to leave harder than I like to admit. Goodbye Australia. Some more gambling now I suppose.”
Maurice Holman
Diary Entry on board the HMAT Medic
26th May 1916, off Albany.
“We had a fairly good Church Service this morning. Our Sunday plain pudding was a pretty solid affair today but it went down just the same. It would take more than one life belt to keep us up after eating that pudding.”
Maurice Holman
Diary Entry on board the HMAT Medic
25th June 1916
Photo postcard. Bob Blake - seated on right, with unknown servicemen. Esperance Museum ELH P-873
Cover of YMCA note book, used by Keith Daw. Esperance Museum AC-2014/3640/8
Diary entry - Albert Ottrey
Esperance Museum ELH AC-2006/1286
Jack Orr - entry in Capel Hannett autograph book
Esperance Museum ELH AC-8161
“I can tell you that I am sorry to hear that you had enlisted. Jim Doust is here, Archie passed through a few days ago but I was sorry to say that I did not see him. “
Charles Lewis
Card to Jim Lewis
France, 14th June 1916.
“Whole of convoy stopped @ 11.30 for about 15 minutes owing to a death on board “Ken Castle” caused through falling overboard yesterday. Whole of troops on Berrima stood at attention while burial service was being read. This being the 2nd burial at sea since leaving Australia. Everyone ordered to sleep below.”
Keith Daw
Diary entry
HMAT Berrima
4th January 1917
“The mud was terrible, & as I said the shelling was “hot” & I saw some nasty sights; poor fellows who were killed & torn about by the bursting shells, were lying in & covered by the soft mud. Of course under these circumstances the poor wounded have a bad time, but the stretcher bearers are grand. They are the Heroes of the war. No matter how the shells are flying they are always there; they cannot carry the wounded through the saps under the present circumstances, so they get out & go “over the top”. That is they carry the wounded over the open country exposed to all the fire. Of course there is a sort of mutual understanding with Fritz in regards to SB’s. Four men carry the stretcher & one walks in front carrying a white flag, & they do not snipe them or turn machine guns on them. Fritz’s SB’s do the same, & both sides act up to it pretty well.”
Jack Blake
Letter to Mr Daw & Len
February – March 1917
Thomas Stewart back row centre, with unknown servicemen. Source Stewart family
Photo postcard
From Charles Lewis to Jim Lewis
Supplied by Nancy and Trevor Phillips
“Imagine country & soil somewhat like R(avens)thorpe, a reddish clay, think of it at the wettest time. Then think of hundreds of men walking in & out in single file along the same track as you must follow the cuts & communication trenches, or get sniped. That pad would be some muddy in about a week, wouldn’t it?”
Jack Blake
Letter to Mr Daw & Len
February – March 1917
“A captured Turkish officer, said: ‘I cannot understand you; you are not cavalry; you are not infantry; you walk about without taking cover; you are not soldiers; you are mad.’”
Ted McCarthy
Letter published in the Kalgoorlie Miner
31st March 1917
“I stood scowling at one poor devil lying with a shattered thigh and arm, smoking a cigarette one of our fellows had given him, and, would you think it, he solemnly winked, and so did I, and then both smiled. The terrible Turk is not so terrible after all.”
Ted McCarthy
Letter published in the Kalgoorlie Miner 31st March
Palestine 1917
“Here I am bound for a ride around London town. Here where I stopped while on my 4 days leave. I met Clatworthy in London”
William Dunn
Postcard to sister Mary Dunn
London, 2nd May 1917
Photo postcard
From Gladys Jenkins to Jim Lewis
Supplied by Nancy and Trevor Phillips
“Now that my son has gone he is of no further use. What does it matter about his mother. How do you expect to get recruits if you treat their relatives like this. I’ll see what the papers will do for me.”
Elise Moran, mother of Felix
Letter to the Registrar of Pensions
July 1917
“Our division of artillery has been in France about 12 months now, and has been in action nearly the whole of the time. I can tell you we have had a good deal of travelling about. We were on the Armentieres’ front for a month, then we shifted to Ypres, and then to the Somme, where we have been ever since. For weeks at a time we never knew what it was to have dry feet, and as for cold I can tell you it was ‘Somme’ cold. Anyhow, it gave me a severe attack of bronchial pneumonia. And here I am now, having a great time in Brighton.”
Syd Taylor
Letter published in the Sunday Times
15th July 1917
“From what I have heard from prisoners and others, the enemy laughed at the idea of an attack from such a quarter, and it must have dismayed him to arise one morning and find the mounted troopers were at his back door. We were so close to Beersheba that we could clearly see enemy planes landing at their aerodrome on the high ground. Whilst we were getting into position the solid infantry marched on him from the west, attacking the redoubts guarding the enemy left, and Beersheba (or Bir-sa-ba). The splendid New Zealanders attacked on our right or at the rear of Beersheba, and as far as I know, were the first to take a prepared position at the point of the bayonet. Then an Australian brigade, closely packed, thundered over the hills in dense dust, and when on the flat, extended and charged the Turkish trenches, through them like a flash and on to the ancient town of Beersheba, capturing about a thousand prisoners. Thus the enemy’s extreme left flank crumpled up in less than a day.”
Ted McCarthy
Letter published in the Western Argus
12th March 1918
postcard - from Keith Daw to his mother - unknown servicemen
Photo
Albert Ottrey diary entries Esperance Museum ELH AC-2006/1286
“Of course dearest you heard that I had been hit & were naturally anxious for particulars. I expect even today you know almost as much of the business as I. I am afraid I am a great coward where pain to one’s body is concerned.”
Fred Daw Card to his mother
31st October 1917
“Sir – you are no doubt well aware of the number of boys the Esperance district sent to fight in the great war, and the sacrifice they made when they offered their services. They were full of hope and trust in the Government, from whom they received many promises, and left their families in charge of. But alas! On their return, what do they find? The Government refuses to further assist them, Their crops of potatoes and wheat were left to rot on the ground; their families driven off, ruined, and broken up. Unbelievable that such could occur. Why boycott this once industrious locality?”
William Hardman, father of William Richard Hardman
Letter to the editor of the Daily Mail
31st July 1919
“I have always been hoping & praying that I would hear something, although 9 years has passed, its just as fresh in my memory. I ask every returned soldier that I meet if they knew him”
Sara Jenkins, mother of Harry Jenkins
Letter to Base Records
5th May 1926
“Raining, 1st snow of the season started to snow 5pm. I have to attend 2 parades per day, to get my name called for the boat roll. HAD A BATH & washed my kit bag.”
Albert Ottrey
Diary Entry
3rd January 1919
Photo postcard
From Archie Lewis to Jim Lewis Supplied by Nancy and Trevor Phillips
“Seeing by papers that there are a number of them alive that was reported killed I am wondering if my dear son is one of them and lossed his memory, there was no one saw him killed or any of his body or belongings was seen”
Emily Dickinson, mother of George Dickinson
Letter to the Minister of Defence
26th January 1919
“The barrage was not timed to lift for some minutes and the line of men pressed forward too soon, many shells dropping short among our own men. There was nothing to do, but halt. Then, from close behind, came a cry, “Come oh, the Gordons,” and a strange sight was a young Gordon Highland officer, kilted, armed with a walking stick, in front of a line of Scotties and actually passing on through our line, as if to say: “Well, if you Australians won’t go ahead, we will.” The awful nerve! The cool cheek of it was apparent even to one shaking like a nervy race-horse waiting to go to the post.”
‘Arjay McCarthy
Letter to ‘Non-Com’, Western Mail Newspaper
16th June 1938
“It is with very great regret that I have to write & tell you that I find that I cannot carry on with the care of my brother William Shortland 4607. My own health is giving way under the strain.
He cannot walk alone now but I get him up into a chair each day… I find it very hard to have to make this move so I trust you can place him where he will be well cared for.”
Fanny Turner, sister of Bill Shortland
Letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Repatriation
14th August 1939
Keith Daw dairy entry
Esperance Museum ELH AC-2014/3640
“In 1916 at Fleurs I was slightly shell-shocked & was sent to a CCS [Casualty Clearing Station], but I left this the next day without permission & returned to my unit”
Martin Tillart
Statement in Repatriation File
17th October 1940
“I worked on the railway line before going to the war. I was the first to leave here direct. I walked up that jetty 10 o’clock one night, turned around and saw two lights, that was all I could see. I was one of the lucky ones, I came back in 1919”
Gordon Cavanagh
Interview with Joan Anderson
24th September 1979
“Word was received that we were going back to Australia. Off we were sent home, broken hearted, disillusioned. After about three days, Spanish Influenza broke out on ship. The crew was taken first. It swept through like a bushfire, almost. About thirty of our chaps died.”
“I survived. I landed at Woodman Point. I was eventually discharged. I was not fit, and was ordered to rest. Got leave to go to Esperance. Fished off the jetty all day, rested in the afternoon and evening. Became healthy again.
We called ourselves the “Boonah Anzacs”. We didn’t set foot on land anywhere after we left here, until we came home again. “
Eric Heenan
Interview with Ronda Jamieson
1986
Photo postcard reverse. Poem written from Sophie and Maurie Holman to Jim Lewis.
“A soldier and his sister, the camera they face, should the cruel war divide them, none can ever fill their place”
Supplied by Mike and Ellen Gibbs
Sources
Australian War Memorial
AWM 145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army
AWM 8 Unit embarkation nominal rolls, 1914-18 War
AWM133 Nominal roll of Australian Imperial Force who left Australia for service abroad
1DRL/0428 Australian Red Cross Society (ARCS)
Photograph Collection
AWM 28 Recommendation files for honours and awards, AIF
AWM 4 AIF Official Unit Diaries
PR86/177 Turnbull, Alexander Phipps, Letters
Enlistment Standards
RCDIG0001556 Letter from H R McLarty 11 August 1915
RCDIG0000192 Letters from Robert William Wyllie Adam to his mother 1914 – 1916
National Archives of Australia (NAA)
Series B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920
Series K1143 Pay ledger cards of ex-servicemen (returned to Australia) of 1914/18 War who enlisted in Western Australia
Series K1144 Pay ledger cards of ex-servicemen (killed in action) of 1914/18 War who enlisted in Western Australia
Series PP2/8 Assistance and medical files, 1914/18 War
Series PP13/1 Pensions files, 1914/1918 War and Boer War
Series PP18/1 Assistance and medical files, 1914/18 War
Series B884 Citizen Military Forces Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947
Series PP645/1 Medical and hospital files of veterans who served with Australian forces in 1914-1918 War and 1950-1956 Korean Malayan War
Series PP863/1 Personal Case Files
Series PP864/1 Personal Case Files
Series PP866/1 Personal Case Files
Series PP869/1 Personal Case Files
Series PP872/1 Personal Case Files
Series PP878/1 Personal Case Files
Series PP889/1 Personal Case Files
Series PP946/1 Personal Case Files
Series K60 Personal Case Files
Series A471 Courts-Martial files [including war crimes trials]
Series A6770 Service Cards for Petty Officers and Men, 1911-1970
Series A711 Memorials or Naturalization
Other Archives
Archives New Zealand Record No (R21896945) COOK, Philip Herbert Stanley - WW1 89737 – Army
South African Archives Depot: SAB Source: BNS Type: LEER Volume No: 1/2/1
Thank you for reading From the Bay to the Battlefields
While all care has been taken in the thorough research for this book, you can see there are some gaps in information and photographs of those on the Honor Roll.
If you have any information or photographs that you would like to share, to help fill in the gaps to honour the Esperance servicemen, please get in contact with us.
Esperance Museum - Local History Collection
PO Box 507
Esperance WA 6450 www.esperance.wa.gov.au/museum museum@esperance.wa.gov.au
From the Bay to the Battlefields presents a comprehensive account of the 75 men listed on the RSL Honor Board, constructed by a local carpenter immediately after WWI. This Roll is believed to be the most accurate list of the 75 men from Esperance who served in the conflict. Of these, 70 were sent overseas, with 49 returning to our shores, one emigrating to Canada, and 20 making the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Meticulously pieced together from archives and family members, From the Bay to the Battlefields gives us a well-rounded picture of life before, during and after WWI, and the experiences of those who served in the conflict.
