The demographics of the reinforcements were quite different to those of the originals. The youngest member of the reinforcements at the time of his enlistment was 18, the oldest 39. The average age was 23, five years younger than the originals. The ethnic origin of the group was once again predominantly British, although two had Scandinavian heritage. The reinforcements proved overwhelmingly protestant with only one Roman Catholic. Two were born in the United Kingdom (UK), while the rest were native-born Australians. Unlike the Victorian flavour of the originals, the reinforcements were an all-Australian mix: four Victorians, two Queenslanders, nine New South Welshmen and two South Australians. Only three of the reinforcements were married.
Of the reinforcements, nine came from rural areas while ten came from major cities. This equates to 53% from urban backgrounds; thus the rural-city divide of both the originals and the reinforcements appears very similar. Of the nine rural members, eight came from traditional agricultural occupations including farmers, overseers, station hands and a grazier. The ten city dwellers held a variety of employments: a motor expert, a baker, cabinetmaker, driver, clerk, accountant, commercial traveller and chemist. None identified himself as unemployed. In this area a distinct difference emerges between the skilled engineering backgrounds of the 1916 originals of the Armoured Car Section and those who followed.
The reinforcements were drawn from the units of the Australian Mounted Division in both Egypt and Palestine. The 4th, 8th, 9th and 10th Light Horse Regiments each provided individual troopers, seven members of the 6th and two troopers from the 7th Light Horse Regiments, five from training regiments and units, and a lone signaller from the 1st Australian Pack Wireless Troop. The majority of these men had been serving in the AIF since 1915; two were 1914 enlistments, the remaining six had served since 1916. On average they had 26 months of military service at the time they were taken on strength by the 1st Light Car Patrol. The reinforcements added considerable active service experience to their new unit. Several of these men also had prior experience in the colonial, CMF and naval forces.
Thus a typical reinforcement was native born, single, protestant, 24 years of age, employed in a traditional rural or urban occupation, and had ancestry with origins in the UK.
Private L.A. Gray
Private G. Christensen
Private J.C. Riley
Private J.A. Driscoll
Lieutenant A.C. Gibbs
Private F. Rhoades
Private K.C. Riley
Private B.C. Jarvis
Private L.R. Cohn
Private S.C.K. Forsyth
Private A. Eddie
Private G.V. Somny
Private J.B. McKay
Private M.C. Pines
Private C.L Richardson
Private R.J. Simpson
Driver A.G. Holley
Private L.G.V. Bosanquet
Private F. Arnott, MM
Laurence Alfred Gray
Laurence Alfred Gray was born in Victor Harbour, South Australia, on 22 October 1896, the son of Henry and Alice Gray. At the time of his enlistment in 1916 he was a farmer.
Gray enlisted in the CMF in late 1914 and served with the 22nd Light Horse Regiment. Prior to this he had been a member of the Senior Cadets, Area 74B. On 8 March 1916 he enlisted in the AIF in Adelaide. While in training in South Australia he served with the 2nd Depot Battalion, Base Light Horse Depot, the Musketry and NCO Schools, 23rd Reinforcements 9th Light Horse, and the 23rd Reinforcements 3rd Light Horse. During this period Gray held provisional ranks of both sergeant and corporal. He reverted to trooper on 1 December.86
On 15 January 1917 he embarked for overseas service on HMAT A45 Bulla in Adelaide, disembarking at Port Said on 16 March. He was taken on strength by the Details Camp at Moascar and posted to the 1st Light Horse Training Regiment on 4 April. During this period he attended a course of instruction on the Hotchkiss machine-gun. On 30 May he was posted to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol.
Trooper Gray marched into the Details Camp on 15 March 1918, later embarking on the HT Kaiser-i-Hind at Port Said on 16 May and disembarking in Adelaide on 14 June. He was discharged on 22 July. For his military service he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and Returned Soldier’s Badge.
Gray returned to the CMF after the Great War. He was commissioned as a provisional lieutenant with the 18th Light Horse Regiment on 16 September 1921 and in July 1922 transferred to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. During this period Gray attended several machine-gun courses. On 18 November 1925 he resigned his commission and left the CMF. On the outbreak of the Second World War Gray returned to the Reserve of Officers (Cavalry) in the 3rd Military District and retired from this position on 19 December 1944 without returning to full-time service.
On return to Australia following the Great War, Gray married Mabel Lord. He died in Adelaide on 25 October 1967 and was buried in Mitcham Cemetery.
George Christensen
(George Christian Christensen)
George Christian Christensen was born in Port Melbourne, Victoria, on 26 August 1887, the son of Christian and Emma Christensen. He married Catherine Williams on 16 October 1916 at St John’s in Footscray. He served in the CMF with the 5th Battalion, the Victorian Scottish Regiment. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was a baker residing in Yarraville.
Christensen enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on 12 July 1915. He served with the 14th Depot in Ballarat, but was discharged as medically unfit on 9 March 1916. He re-enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on 2 January 1917, training at Royal Park and the Seymour Army Camp in Victoria before being posted to the 25th Reinforcements, 8th Light Horse.
George Christensen embarked for overseas service on 2 February 1917 aboard the HMAT A57 RMS Malakuta, disembarking at Port Said on 11 March and was taken on strength by the Details Camp at Moascar. He was posted to the 8th Light Horse Regiment on 1 April. Between April 12 and 29 Christensen was detached to the Cookery School. On 30 May he transferred to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol. He remained with the Light Car Patrol until 16 October when he was evacuated sick to the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance. On 16 February 1918, following a period of hospitalisation and convalescence, he was posted to the AIF Kit Store. He returned to the 8th Light Horse on 15 June before contracting malaria on 18 August and being evacuated to hospital where he remained until November when he returned to his unit. Trooper Christensen marched into the Details Camp on 15 March 1919 and later embarked on the HT City of Poona at Port Said on 7 April, disembarking in Melbourne in 14 May. He was discharged as medically unfit on 17 August.
On his return to Australia, Christensen went first to Yarraville but soon relocated to Springvale. Sometime prior to the late 1930s the Christensen family returned once more to Yarraville. During this period he listed his occupation as either an oiler or linesman with the Post Master General’s Department.
On 4 September 1939 Christensen applied to serve with the CMF. He enlisted at ANZAC House in Melbourne on 30 October. His address at this time was Adeleigh Street, Yarraville, and he gave his occupation as a cook. He served in Victoria with the General Depot from 16 October, then with the 12th Garrison Battalion and the 3rd Military District Workshops from 28 September 1941, the Area Signals from 20 October, the 15th Line Maintenance Section from 10 August 1943, and Signals Land Headquarters, Northern Section, from 11 February 1944.
Christensen was employed initially as a specialist cook until 16 June 1940 when he was graded as a Group II Linesman. He was promoted lance corporal on 26 January 1942, acting corporal on 12 January 1943 and corporal on 12 April 1944. In 1944 his health declined and he was medically boarded in late 1944 and subsequently discharged as medically unfit on 5 October.
For his military service in two wars he was entitled to the British War, Victory, the War (1939–45) and Australian Service Medals, Silver War, Returned Soldier’s and General Service Badges.
On his discharge from the CMF Christensen returned to Yarraville. He died in Heidelberg on 14 October 1964.87
James Cory Riley
James Cory Riley was born in Warialda, NSW, in 1887, the son of Alick and Louisa Riley. At the time of his enlistment in 1916 he was an overseer at Emmet Downs Station, Queensland. His family was residing at Fairview, Yass, NSW.
Riley enlisted at Casula, NSW, on 7 February 1916 and was posted to E Company, Depot Battalion, and the Depot Regiment, Australian Light Horse. After training he was allocated to the 22nd Reinforcements, 6th Australian Light Horse. He embarked for overseas service on HMAT A13 Katuna at Sydney on 23 November, disembarking at Port Said on 2 January 1917. Riley was taken on strength by the 2nd Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment at Tel el Kebir on 22 January. After attending a school of instruction he was briefly posted to the 5th Light Horse Details on 16 May. On 28 May he was posted to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol. Other than for periods of sickness and hospitalisation caused by malaria, Riley remained with the unit for the rest of the war.
On 12 August Riley’s younger brother, Trooper Kenrick Riley, also joined the Light Car Patrol. However this reunion was not to last long as Kenrick returned to the 6th Light Horse on 4 February 1918 and was killed in action on 27 March.
On 13 March 1919 James Riley marched into the AIF Details Camp pending his return to Australia. Trooper Riley embarked on the HT Dorset at Port Said, Egypt, on 29 April 1919 and disembarked in Sydney on 11 June. Riley was discharged as medically unfit on 22 July. For his service he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War and Returned Soldier’s Badges.88
Following discharge he returned to Queensland where he was employed as an overseer and station manager at Yaraka and Isis Downs stations, later returning to Yass before moving to the Winton district where he managed the Venture Downs Station, Corfield. Riley married Eileen Stanton in Penrith on 28 June 1928. He died on 20 July 1955 at Winton Hospital, Queensland. The Nepean Times reported his death:
Fatal Fall from Horse. Grandson of Penrith’s First Mayor. Mr. James Cory Riley, of ‘Venture Downs’, Corfleld, Queensland, died on July 20 from injuries received as horse rider when mustering. He was a grandson of the late J.J. Riley, first Mayor of Penrith, and spent his early days in this district. ‘Venture Downs’ is out from Winton, in Central Queensland. There Mr. Jim Riley was mustering sheep at the time. His horse shied, Jim fell, and the horse fell on to him. He was taken to Winton Hospital and died two days later. Jim Riley was born at Warialda, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alek C. Riley. Years ago he lived in Penrith, and was married at ‘Ormonde’, High Street, to Eileen, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. Stanton, and sister of Mrs. Honey and Mrs. Gimbert, of Penrith. He served with the 6th Light Horse in the 1st World War. Deceased is survived by his wife and by three sons and two daughters. Kenrick (Teric Station, Blackall, Queensland), John (a veterinary surgeon, at Mackay, Queensland), Margaret, Jane and Jimmie (all of ‘Venture Downs’). Sisters and brother of Mr. Riley are Eena (Mrs. C. C. Hope, Roseville), Jeanette (Yass), Kenrick (1st A.I.F., killed), Ula (Roseville), Nell (Mrs. Willott, Fiji). Jim Riley had been managing at Venture Downs for four or five years and previously had been at Forest Hill, out of Blackall, for many years ...89
John Anthony Driscoll
John Anthony Driscoll was born in Delegate, NSW, on 25 May 1896, the son of John and Lucy Driscoll. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was a labourer residing in Surry Hills.
Driscoll enlisted in the AIF in Liverpool on 28 December 1915 and was allotted to the 19th Reinforcements, 7th Light Horse Regiment. He embarked for overseas service on 8 July 1916 aboard the HT Mongolia in Sydney, disembarking at Port Said on 11 August. On arrival he was taken on strength by the 2nd Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment at Moascar. On 25 August he was posted to the 7th Light Horse Regiment.
On the night of 15 November he was found asleep and drunk while on guard duty and court-martialled on 20 November at Hassaniya. He was found guilty on both charges and sentenced to nine months’ hard labour. The court recommended a commutation of sentence due to his very good character and the fact that, as he was virtually a teetotaller, he was unused to alcohol and had fallen asleep as a consequence. He served his sentence at the Cairo Detention Barracks from 30 November 1916.
On 20 March 1917 Driscoll’s sentence was suspended and he was released from the Detention Barracks and returned to his regiment. He was immediately detached for duty with the Divisional Army Service Corps (ASC) Train and then, on 10 June, to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol. He returned to the 7th Light Horse on 20 July. On 21 August he was detached to the AIF Railway Construction Section between 21 August 1917 and 31 July 1918 when he was posted to the 2nd Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment at Moascar. In September he was hospitalised with influenza at the 14th Australian General Hospital. He rejoined his regiment on 14 October. On 10 December he boarded the Indarra at Port Said for the Dardanelles where he served with the occupation force. On 26 January 1919 he embarked at Chanak, Turkey, aboard the HT Kandy, disembarking in Alexandria on 2 February.90
Driscoll boarded the HT Madras at Kantara, Egypt, on 26 June and disembarked in Sydney on 3 August. He was discharged on 18 September. For his military service he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and Returned Soldier’s Badge.91
On his return to Australia Driscoll initially lived in Sydney where he worked as a labourer and rabbiter. He married Louisa Harmer at Paddington, Sydney, in 1920. Their first child died in infancy that same year. While there appear to be no records of a divorce or annulment of Driscoll’s marriage, Louisa died in Tumut in 1959 under her maiden name. On 21 October 1926 he married Vera Kerr in Tasmania. As with many returned soldiers, the 1920s and the Great Depression that followed saw Driscoll and his family suffer considerable difficulties and hardships, and the electoral rolls show numerous residences in Surry Hills, Botany and Helensburg between 1927 and the outbreak of the Second World War.
At the height of the Great Depression it appears Driscoll’s fortunes completely failed him. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Driscoll and his brother William were committed to trial at the Central Police Court for counterfeiting coins. The men were found in possession of coins and moulds and silver nitrate batteries they intended to use to make coins. The police reported that, when Driscoll opened the door, he stated: ‘You have me at last. There you are: there is all you want.’92 Driscoll appeared at the quarter sessions the following February where he was ‘charged with having in his possession, at Sydney, on November 18, 1934, 20 counterfeit coins resembling shillings, knowing them to be counterfeit. He was further charged with making 20 such counterfeit coins, and having in his possession certain metal with intent to use it in the manufacture of counterfeit coins. Accused, who was said to be a married man with three children, pleaded guilty to each of the three charges, and was sentenced to 18 months’ hard labour on each, the sentences to be concurrent.’93
The Second World War offered Driscoll the opportunity to return to military service which, following the trials of the Depression, would have promised him and his family a sense of security. He enlisted in the CMF on 15 October 1939 at Wollongong. At this time he stated that he was a labourer by occupation and was residing in Postman’s Track, Helensburg, his next of kin Vera Driscoll. He was posted to the 2nd Garrison Battalion at Port Kembla but was discharged as medically unfit on 29 February 1940. He re-enlisted in the CMF at Paddington on 1 August 1941 and served with the 7th Garrison Battalion but was again discharged as medically unfit on 6 January 1942. He enlisted in the VDC on 9 July 1942 in Sydney and was discharged on 15 May 1943, once again deemed medically unfit.94
Driscoll’s final years also proved a tragic time for the old soldier. In July 1944 Driscoll was arrested in Newcastle for public drunkenness and found in possession of a number of counterfeit two-shilling coins.95 In November he appeared before the Newcastle Sessions Court where in evidence it was mentioned that Driscoll had worked on a fruit barrow in the Sydney Market and was addicted to drink. He was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.96 Driscoll died at Coledale Hospital on 8 January 1946.
Archibald Cecil Gibbs
Archibald Cecil Gibbs was born in Kenthurst, NSW, on 3 July 1876, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Gibbs. He married Jessie Moore at Castle Hill on 25 December 1899 and the couple had two children. In the late 1890s Gibbs played cricket for Kenthurst and was Secretary of the Kenthurst School of the Arts.97 In 1904 Gibbs was elected to the Leichardt Council and served until September 1907 when he was defeated in the council elections.98 This electoral defeat came as a result of his questionable commercial dealings as an agent for the Cumberland Valley Fruit Producers. The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate contains several articles that question his business practices.99 At the time of his enlistment in 1915 Gibbs was residing in Coogee and employed as a commercial traveller for the Perdrian Rubber Company.
Gibbs enlisted in the AIF in Adelaide on 9 September 1915. On enlistment he stated that he had previously served with the Sydney Lancers (1st Light Horse Regiment) for three and half years. His postings in NSW included the Depot Training School and Light Horse Depot at Liverpool Camp. On 11 November Gibbs applied for a commission which was granted on 6 January 1916. Second Lieutenant Gibbs was posted to the 18th Reinforcements, 7th Light Horse Regiment, in October 1916.
Gibbs embarked for overseas service on HMAT A20 Hororata in Sydney on 2 May, disembarking at Port Said, Egypt, on 29 June. He reported to the 2nd Light Horse Training Regiment at Tel el Kebir on arrival. After further training he was assigned to C Squadron, 7th Light Horse, on 20 September; however he remained seconded to the Training Regiment until 24 December when he joined the 7th Light Horse at Hassaniya. He was promoted lieutenant on 22 October. Gibbs was detached for duty with other units on numerous occasions: the Camel Transport Corps between 18 February and 18 March 1917; the Divisional ASC Train between 21 March and 22 April; the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol between 10 June and 27 July; and the AIF Railway Construction Party from 21 August to 17 November 1918. He rejoined the 7th Light Horse on 19 November.
During his service in the Middle East, Lieutenant Gibbs wrote several letters that were published in various Australian newspapers. In one account he expresses his gratitude for the gifts delivered to his men by the Australian Comforts Fund:
Overcoming Difficulties. Comforts Fund in Palestine. Lieutenant A. C. Gibbs (OC AIF railway construction in Palestine) writes as follows: “last December I was engaged in the construction of the line from Gaza to Ludd. The weather was atrocious. One rainstorm following another with persistent regularity. The line was being washed away constantly, the roads such as they were, were impassable, and this country resembled a quagmire. The camps were under water frequently, and the men were wet through night and day. Many times they worked all night to enable trains to get through, and owing to the small number of trains the men were on half rations.
In the midst of those conditions Mr. Coward (of the Australian Comforts Fund) rode into our camp, and asked whether he could assist us in any way. Did ever the A.C.F. arrive in a more opportune moment? One can realize how weary and depressed the men were and the prospect of relief from A.C.F. was welcomed by everyone. A couple of days later a consignment, of most acceptable goods reached us by train. How Mr. Coward managed to arrange the transit, despite the fact that every inch of space was required urgently by the military is known only to himself. It is beyond my comprehension. The distribution allowed us to have a really excellent Christmas repast, despite the dismal surroundings. Our chief regret was that Mr. Coward was not with us there to partake of it. That is no isolated instance of how the A.C.F. has come to the help of the A.I.F. in strenuous times, and has given just those extra comforts which have made the difference. I wish the public of Australia could be made to realize the real benefits accruing to the troops, through the good service of the A. C.F., which spares no efforts to rub off some of the hardships of campaigning and does cheerfully. Its agents do not ask for or expect thanks. They sell nothing, but give all and with each giving there are apologies for not being able to give more.100
On 10 December he boarded the Indarra at Port Said for the Dardanelles where he served as part of the occupation force. He embarked on the HT Kandy at Chanak on 21 January and disembarked in Alexandria on 31 January, returning to the 7th Light Horse. On 3 July 1919 he boarded the HT Malta at Port Said, reaching Sydney on 10 August. His AIF appointment was terminated in Sydney on 25 September. For his service in the Great War he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals, the Mentioned in Despatches emblem and the Returned Soldier’s Badge.101
Gibbs’ service in the Great War raises some questions. He served only six weeks with the 7th Light Horse Regiment before being sent on a series of detachments that continued until after the war’s end. In a confidential report in 1919, Lieutenant Colonel Richardson writes of Gibbs: ‘This reinforcement officer has seen very little work with the Regiment and hardly any fighting. He has shown very little capacity for handling men in the field, has a bad manner with men, and is certainly unfitted for promotion to higher rank.’ A contrasting view was expressed on 14 June 1918 when General Allenby mentioned Lieutenant Gibbs in his despatches ‘for distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty’. A notation in his file links this award to his service with the AIF Railway Construction Party. It is apparent that, while not suited to regimental duties, Gibbs was regarded as a capable officer in an unglamorous but important logistics role.
On his return to Australia, Gibbs made his way back to Sydney and resumed his business pursuits. His marriage ended in divorce in March 1928.102 With the onset of the Depression and his loss of employment, other aspects of Gibbs’ life also became fraught with difficulty. On 29 August 1931 he appeared before the Sydney Police Courts ‘charged with having fraudulently converted to his own use £60, of which he was the bailee. Archibald Cecil Gibbs, 48, salesman, was committed for trial from the Central Police Court yesterday by Mr. Williams, S.M. Bail of £60 was allowed.’103 The circumstances of this case involved one ‘Catherine O’Byrne [who] said that she drew £97 from the Government Savings Bank. She asked defendant to mind £60 for her until she came out of hospital. After coming out of hospital she asked defendant if he had used her money. He said, “I have. I am expecting £200 in a week or two, and I am going to put it back.” She has not received it.’ In September the Sydney Morning Herald reported: ‘Archibald Cecil Gibbs ... was charged with larceny as a bailee, the amount involved being £60, the property of Catherine O’Byrne. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and Gibbs was remanded till Friday for sentence.’104 Gibbs was sentenced to hard labour, the judge noting that, if restitution of £60 was made, he would recommend some remission of the sentence.105 Gibbs appealed his conviction for larceny as a bailee and sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment passed by Judge White at the Sydney Quarter Sessions on September 23, but was unsuccessful.106
Gibbs’ death on 8 June 1932 completes the tragedy of his final years. The Sydney Morning Herald’s headlines proclaimed:
Man shot dead outside Children’s Court, Women Charged with Murder. Archibald Cecil Gibbs, aged 55 years, of Glebe Road, Glebe, was shot dead in Albion Street, Surry Hills, yesterday afternoon. One shot passed through his heart, but the police believe that four other shots were fired, as they found five empty shells in a revolver. Gibbs was shot after he had accompanied a woman, who was carrying her one-year-old daughter, from the precincts of the Children’s Court. They had been involved in a case concerning the child, and were quarrelling bitterly. Several shots rang out. Gibbs made no sound. He clutched his side, and fell heavily on the footpath. A dense crowd soon gathered in the street, surrounding the dead man and the excited woman. Detectives were rushed to the scene within a few minutes. They seized a revolver and five empty cartridge shells. The detectives had difficulty in gathering information from the large crowd in the street, and received a number of conflicting stories. However, Detective-sergeants Quinn and Swasbrick, who handled the case for the police, soon secured the salient features of the tragedy. Detectives stated that Gibbs and the woman with the child had lived together. About 12 months ago they had frequent disputes, which ended in court proceedings. Gibbs was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for taking £60 of the woman’s money. He had the benefit of a remission of sentence owing to good behaviour, and had been released only a few days ago from the Tuncurry Afforestation Camp ...107
The Coroner’s Inquest was held two weeks later and fully reported in the Sydney Morning Herald:
WOMAN’S STORY. Shooting of Archibald Gibbs. ACCUSED DISCHARGED. The shooting of Archibald Cecil Gibbs, outside the Children’s Court on June 8, was inquired into by the City Coroner yesterday morning. Catherine O’Byrne, who had been remanded on a charge of having murdered Gibbs, was discharged.
Detective Sergeant Hayes said that O’Byrne told him she had first met Gibbs in Queanbeyan in 1923; she was not married to him, but had taken the name of Gibbs. He was the father of her child, which was a year and 10 months old. She had summoned Gibbs before the Children’s Court for maintenance. The case was put off for a while, and after leaving the court Gibbs sat on the steps of the court. She said to her little girl, “This is your daddy, dear,” whereupon he replied, “I don’t want her; I will kill her,” and tore up two of her photos, and threw the pieces to the ground. She said, Gibbs then grabbed hold of the child, and said, “I will kill her.” She struggled with him, and took the child, and walked down Albion Street. He walked down the street too, and on the way he again said he would kill the child, grabbed the child, and declared that he would never pay a penny for her support. He stooped down and commenced to open up a parcel he was carrying, and again said, “I will kill her.” O’Byrne said she thought he was getting out a razor or a revolver to kill her child, and she took a revolver from her pocket, and said, “I came prepared today as I was told that you were going to crucify me and my child when you came out of gaol.” He made a grab at the revolver, and said, “I will blow your brains out now and the kid’s too.”
Ernest Hudspeth gave evidence as to seeing the struggle, which preceded the shooting, and, in reply to Mr. Sproule, said the woman was holding the pistol apparently to frighten Gibbs but he became the aggressor, and rushed her. To the Coroner: “In my opinion, Gibbs was shot accidentally.”
The Coroner returned a verdict of death from bullet wounds accidentally received, and said the unfortunate woman was in trying circumstances, afraid for her child, and one could quite understand that the gun might have gone off accidentally while the man grasped her hand. It would be a travesty of justice to send her for trial, and no jury could convict. He did not intend even to mention her name in his finding ...’108
Gibbs was cremated at the Rookwood Crematorium on 10 June 1932.
Frank Rhoades
(Frank Hetherset Huntington Rhoades)
Frank Hetherset Huntington Rhoades was born in Brisbane, Queensland, on 22 June 1890, the son of Thomas and Eva Rhoades. He married Margaret Irvine on 8 June 1916 in Brisbane. Rhoades had completed an apprenticeship with Benjamin Winston of Brown Street, New Farm, prior to the Great War. At the time of his enlistment in 1914 he was a cabinetmaker residing at New Farm. He had also served six months in the Naval Institute Cadets.
Rhoades enlisted in Brisbane on 28 September 1914 and was posted to the 1st Australian General Hospital, Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC).109 He embarked for overseas service on HMAT A55 Kyarra in Brisbane on 21 November, disembarking in Port Said in December. In March 1915 he returned to Australia on the Ulysses as a medical orderly for invalids. He was granted leave from the Convalescent Home at Osborne House, Geelong, Victoria, on 28 April but failed to return and was later declared a deserter. There are no records describing his return to the Army, although it is clear that he travelled to Queensland where he married in 1916.
The military records do not contain any detail of Rhoades’ activities until 9 May 1917 when he embarked on HMAT A15 Port Sydney with the 19th Reinforcements, 11th Light Horse Regiment, in Sydney. Rhoades disembarked at Suez on 20 June 1917 and, after further training with the 4th Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment, he was posted to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 16 August. He remained with the Light Car Patrol until the end of the Great War apart from a period at the Cookery School and a short hospitalisation in August 1918. On 1 January 1919 he was posted to the AIF Details Camp pending his return to Australia.
Rhoades embarked on the HT Kaiser-i-Hind at Port Said on 16 May 1919 and disembarked in Sydney on 19 June. He was discharged on 20 July. For his services he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and Returned Soldier’s Badge.110
Following discharge Rhoades returned to New Farm where he resumed his trade. He later relocated to Wilston, finally settling in Southport on the Queensland Gold Coast in the 1950s. Rhoades died in Southport on 11 July 1971 and was buried in the Southport Lawn Cemetery.
Kenrick Cory Riley
Kenrick Cory Riley was born in Mulgoa, Penrith, NSW, in 1892, the son of Alick and Louisa Riley. He was educated at Newington College, Sydney. At the time of his enlistment in 1916 he was a station hand at the Bulgroo Station, Windorah, Queensland. His family was residing at Fairview, Yass, NSW.
Riley enlisted in Liverpool, NSW, on 27 January 1916 and was allocated to the 16th Reinforcements, 6th Australian Light Horse. After training he embarked for overseas service on HMAT A1 Hymettus in Sydney on 3 May, disembarking at Port Said. During the voyage a group of soldiers including Riley decided to send a letter in a bottle, as the Sydney Morning Herald reported in 1919:
A Bottle’s Long Drift. A bottle containing letters written by Troopers B. J. Graham (2320), A.A. Hislop (2330), K.C. Riley (2120), and J.W. Chisholm (2111) was dropped overboard from the troopship Hymettus on May 4, 1916, when the vessel was off Green Cape. It was picked up in Souta Bay, Palm Island, Queensland, on 13 August 1919, having been drifting for three years and three months. The point at which the bottle was picked up was 1700 miles from the spot at which it had been thrown overboard though the total distance which the bottle drifted must have been much greater than this.111
81. Trooper Kenrick Cory Riley, 16th Reinforcements, 6th Light Horse Regiment, of Warialda, NSW. He was killed in action on 27 March 1918 in Amman, Palestine, aged 26 years, while carrying a fallen comrade, Sergeant Lionel William Loveland, who later died from his wounds (AWM P05032.001).
Trooper Riley was taken on strength by the 2nd Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment at Tel el Kebir. After further training he was posted to the 6th Light Horse on 12 October. He remained with the regiment until 12 August 1917 when he was transferred to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol at Marakeb. His older brother, James, had been a driver with the Light Cars since May. While on the Hebron Road, Kenrick Riley became ill with malaria which resulted in his hospitalisation on 27 October. After treatment at the 44th Stationary and 14th Australian General Hospitals, he returned to his unit on 15 November. On 4 February 1918 he was transferred back to his original regiment, the 6th Light Horse.
Trooper Riley was killed in action on 27 March 1918 near Amman, Syria, and buried by Reverend Maley the following day. In July his family received news that Riley’s effects had arrived in Australia via the Port Darwin. His father wrote a heartfelt letter to the authorities:
Dear Sir,
I am in receipt of your letter of 11 September 18 enclosing list of belongings of the late K.C. Riley, I have also received the parcel containing articles as listed. I have pleasure in enclosing the receipt as requested and I take this opportunity of thanking you and the Military Department for the several informations concerning our dear soldier boy.
Yours faithfully
A.C. Riley112
In December 1918 the Principal of Newington College, Sydney, unveiled a memorial tablet for Trooper Kenrick Riley.113 His remains were later exhumed from his temporary grave and reburied in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Damascus. For his service, Trooper Riley was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals.
Basil Clarence Jarvis
Basil Clarence Jarvis was born in the Inman Valley, South Australia, on 9 August 1896, the son of Walter and Adelaide Jarvis. At the time of his enlistment in 1916 he was a farmer.
Jarvis enlisted in the CMF in June 1915 and served with B Squadron, 22nd Light Horse Regiment. On 8 March 1916 he enlisted in the AIF in Adelaide. While in training in South Australia he served with the 2nd Depot Battalion, 3rd and 4th Reinforcements 48th Battalion, Base Light Horse Depot, 21st Reinforcements 9th Light Horse, the Musketry and NCO schools, 24th Reinforcements 9th Light Horse, and the 25th Reinforcements 3rd Light Horse.
On 1 January 1917 he was appointed provisional corporal and allocated to the 24th Reinforcements, 9th Australian Light Horse. On 5 February he embarked for overseas service on HMAT A6 Clan MacGorquodale in Adelaide, disembarking in Port Said on 12 March. He was taken on strength by the Details Camp at Moascar and promoted temporary corporal. However he reverted to trooper on 26 March when he was posted to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. He transferred to the 9th Light Horse Regiment on 3 August. This posting proved brief as he was then posted to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 31 August.
82. Troopers Basil Jarvis and Leo Cohn with Sergeant Creek in Syria in 1919 (Cohn collection ATM LCP.LC 001).
Jarvis remained with the Light Cars until 18 October 1918 when he was evacuated to the 31st General Hospital via HMHS Dunluce Castle with malaria. After hospitalisation and convalescence he returned to the Light Cars on 2 January 1919. Trooper Jarvis marched into the Details Camp on 15 March and later embarked on the HT Kaiser-i-Hind at Port Said on 16 May, disembarking in Adelaide on 14 June. He was discharged on 22 July. For his military service he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and Returned Soldier’s Badge.114
On his return to Australia Jarvis married Elizabeth McCallun in 1921. By 1969 he was residing in Victor Harbour where he died on 16 June 1977.
Leo Reoch Cohn, OBE
Leo Reoch Cohn was born in Bendigo, Victoria, on 12 May 1897, the son of Julius and Sarah Helen Cohn. He was educated at St Andrew’s College and the Continuation School, Bendigo.
83. Trooper Leo Cohn, 8th Light Horse Regiment, prior to embarkation in 1915 (Cohn collection ATM LCP.LC 009).
The Cohns were a prominent Bendigo and colonial Victorian family. Leo Cohn’s grandfather, Moritz Cohn, had emigrated from Denmark and settled in Bendigo in 1853 with his brothers Julius Isaac and Jacob. The three brothers established a cordial factory that later expanded to brewing and foodstuffs. They held prominent local government roles, two becoming mayors of Bendigo. Among other organisations they helped establish the Bendigo Land and Building Society which later became the Bendigo Bank. Jacob Cohn was the Danish Consul for Victoria. After Moritz died, Leo Cohn’s father, Julius, trained as a brewer in Worms, Germany, and joined the family business as Head Brewer on his return. He is reputed to have brewed the first lager beer in Australia.
At the time of his enlistment in 1915, Leo Cohn was a clerk residing at his family home, The Bungalow, 21 Barkley Place, Bendigo. He was also serving in the 68th Battalion, Senior Cadets. He enlisted in Bendigo on 6 May 1915 and was allocated to the 8th Reinforcements, 22nd Battalion. On 12 September he was transferred to the 7th Reinforcements, 8th Australian Light Horse, and embarked for overseas service on HMAT A57 Malakuta at Port Melbourne on 24 September, disembarking at Port Said in October. He was taken on strength by the 8th Light Horse Regiment Details at Heliopolis on 26 December.
Cohn served with the 8th Light Horse in the Sinai until 30 December 1916 when he was briefly detached to the Australian Base Post Office at Moascar. He returned to the 8th Light Horse on 16 January 1917. In July and August he suffered a period of ill health and hospitalisation. In a letter home in September 1917, Cohn wrote of his transfer from the Light Horse:
While I was in hospital I had a letter from Jack (Langley) to say that there was a vacancy and if I could get out of the 8th, I would be able to get in at the other end. That is why I worked my way out of hospital so soon. I never dreamt that they would grant my application but by being down at Moascar I put it in there and got a Captain that I know very well to recommend it. I had just been with the Regiment a couple of days when it came through. I was very sorry to leave the boys and all the old horses but the dust was beginning to get me down and it would only have been a matter of a month or so before I was in hospital again ...
He was transferred to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 8 September where he remained until the end of the war other than for periods of hospitalisation. On 15 March 1919 he was posted to the AIF Details Camp pending his return to Australia. He embarked on the HT Kaiser-i-Hind in Suez on 16 May and disembarked at Port Melbourne on 16 June. He was discharged on 8 August.
Following his discharge Cohn’s health declined rapidly and he was admitted to a rehabilitation hospital in Caulfield where he spent several months regaining his strength. He returned to Bendigo where the electoral rolls initially record his occupation as a farmer. He applied for a war service farm in the Mallee but was persuaded to return to the commercial world. He was accepted back into the family business on the proviso he complete a Diploma of Science in Organic Chemistry at the Bendigo School of Mines. He worked in the firm as a travelling salesman while undertaking his studies. In September 1924 he married Beatrice Pitman and relocated to Swan Hill where he established and managed the Cohn Brothers’ Soft Drink Factory and Tomato Cannery and raised four children.
In 1944 he reported on the difficulties of producing canned goods in wartime Australia:
Tomatoes take a high place in Swan Hill’s production. The Cohn Bros Ltd.’s factory handled more than 1,000 tons last year for sauce making and pulping, drawing supplies from growers. Mr L. R. Cohn, manager, said the factory was to have canned a target of 2,500 tons, but the programme had to be greatly curtailed because of inability to get delivery of machinery and equipment. That machinery is now coming to hand and we expect to process more than 2,000 tons of tomatoes, and also carrots, beet, and peas, next season. We feel there will be no difficulty in getting the produce. We have erected a modern hygienic canning factory and a fruit-receiving shed. Labour was short during the processing season, but local women responded well to an appeal for part-time workers. Citrus formerly processed by the factory is now sent to the Bendigo factory.
Cohn would become a pillar of the community in Swan Hill and later Bendigo. He was an active member of Rotary, the Masonic Lodge, the Returned Service League and Legacy. He was also the local Commissioner of Scouts, the government nominee for the Mallee Regional Commission, the Portland Harbour Trust, and the Swan Hill Waterworks and Sewage Authority. He was a patron of the Bendigo Base Hospital and the Bendigo Art Gallery. His granddaughter, Shelley Cohn, recalled that there were also less public aspects to his welfare work. During the 1920s, the Depression, and after World War II, a number of unemployed and homeless ex-diggers were living rough along the banks of the Murray River. On his morning walks Leo would check on these men and do whatever possible to improve their welfare.
On 18 May 1942 Cohn returned to military service when he enlisted in the CMF at Swan Hill. He served with the 21st Battalion, VDC, where he was promoted lieutenant on 26 June. On enlistment he stated his civilian occupation as Foodstuff Factory Manager, adding that he was also a qualified chemist. He served on a part-time basis until 31 October 1945 when the VDC was disbanded. He joined the Reserve of Officers on 1 November 1945.
In 1957 Cohn returned to Bendigo as Managing Director of Cohn Bros. He had been a Company Director since 1937. He went on to become Chairman of Cohn Bros and the Company’s nominee Director of Carlton and United Breweries in 1961. He was also a Director of Sandhurst Trustees Ltd.
Cohn also gave his time to other projects that assisted regional Victoria. In the 1960s he helped establish and became Chairman of Bendigo TV and was the Mallee Regional Committee representative for the Western League. On the Queen’s Birthday List in June 1964 he was made an Officer in the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the community. On four Anzac days in the 1970s, Cohn was one of four Great War Light Horsemen who led the march on horseback. Leo Cohn died in Bendigo on 5 July 1984.
For his military service during two wars, he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Returned Soldier’s Badge for the Great War, and the Australian Service Medal 1939–45 for the Second World War.
Cohn’s son, John Magnus Cohn, served in the Second World War as an able seaman with the Royal Australian Navy Reserve between April 1945 and December 1946.
Sydney Colin Kenneth Forsyth
Sydney Colin Kenneth Forsyth was born in Collingwood, Victoria, on 10 June 1894, the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Forsyth.115 At the time of his enlistment in 1916 he was a driver residing in East Perth. He was also a member of the CMF.
Forsyth enlisted in Brisbane on 10 April 1916 and was initially posted to the 62nd Depot Battalion. On 1 May he was taken on strength by the 21st Reinforcements, 11th Battalion. His training continued in Adelaide where he was transferred to the 22nd Reinforcements, 10th Light Horse Regiment, on 15 August. He embarked for overseas service on HMAT A55 Bakara in Adelaide on 4 November, disembarking at Port Said on 4 December. He was taken on strength by the 3rd Light Horse Training Regiment at Moascar on 14 December. After further training he was posted to the 10th Light Horse Regiment on 16 January 1917. He joined the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 29 September, this posting proving brief as Forsyth returned to the 10th Light Horse on 4 November. On return to his regiment he had several periods of hospitalisation.
Forsyth embarked on the HT Oxfordshire at Port Said on 19 July 1918 and disembarked in Perth on 4 August. He was discharged as medically unfit on 8 November. In 1919 Forsyth returned to Perth where he was initially employed as a wool merchant. He later settled in Osborne Park and became a carrier. He married Laura Scott in Perth on 31 October 1920.
Forsyth’s military service continued in the Second World War when he enlisted in the CMF on 8 March 1941 in Western Australia and served on a part-time basis as a sapper with the 22nd Field Company. At the end of 1941 he was required to return to essential war industries and discharged from the Army. Forsyth died in Perth in 1969.
For his services in the Great War he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals, the Silver War and Returned Soldier’s Badges.116
Alexander Eddie
Alexander Eddie was born in Richmond, Victoria, on 8 September 1888, the son of Alexander and Annie Eddie. At the time of his enlistment in 1916 he was an accountant residing in Newmarket.
Eddie enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on 8 November 1916. While in training in Victoria he served with the AIF Signal School and the 8th Reinforcements, 3rd Australian Camel Regiment. He embarked for overseas service on 2 February 1917 aboard the RMS Karmala in Port Melbourne, disembarking at Port Said on 11 March. On arrival he was taken on strength by the Details Camp at Moascar and on 2 April posted to the 4th Light Horse Regiment where he was promoted acting sergeant on 26 May. Eddie reverted to the rank of trooper and transferred to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 11 September. He remained with the Light Cars until 15 March 1919 when he marched into the Details Camp pending his return to Australia. He embarked on the HT Kaiser-i-Hind at Port Said, Egypt, on 16 May and disembarked in Melbourne on 14 June. He was discharged on 24 July. For his military service he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and Returned Soldier’s Badge.117
84. A moment to relax at the Dead Sea post in 1918. Included in this group are Harkin, Hyman, Cohn, Bosanquet, Langley, Morgan and Eddie (Cohn collection ATM LCP.LC 002).
On his return to Australia Eddie initially moved to Newmarket, resumed his accountancy work and married Clarice Bishop in 1920. He later became a builder and contractor and had moved to Balaclava by 1924, relocating to Healesville by 1931. The Eddies lived in Kew in the 1950s before settling in Pearcedale Road, Cranbourne, in the early 1960s. Alexander Eddie died in Frankston on 19 April 1971 and was buried at the Cranbourne Cemetery.
Gaston Victor Somny
Gaston Victor Somny was born in Hanwell, Middlesex, UK, on 9 March 1891, the son of Joseph and Cecelia Somny. In the 1911 English census Somny is recorded as living with his parents at Hanwell and employed as a ship’s librarian. At the outbreak of the Great War he was residing in Perth, Western Australia. At the time of his enlistment in 1914 he described himself as a motor expert and had completed an apprenticeship with the Dagenham Car Company. His next of kin was his father, Joseph Somny, of Portman Square, London.118
Somny enlisted at Helena Vale on 17 August 1914 and was allocated to A Company, 11th Infantry Battalion, on the same day. After training at Blackboy Camp, he embarked for overseas service on HMAT A11 Ascanius in Fremantle on 2 November, disembarking at Port Said on 13 December. Following training in Egypt, the 11th Battalion boarded the Suffolk on 1 March 1915 to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force off the island of Lemnos. During March the battalion continued training and practised landings on Lemnos but remained aboard the Suffolk. On 25 April Private Somny landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. He was later evacuated with dysentery to the HMHS Grantully Castle and admitted to the 15th Stationary Hospital on Mudros on 11 June. On 7 July he was a patient at the 2nd Australian Hospital at Ghezireh and was diagnosed with shell shock. He was posted to the Base Details at Zeitoun on 22 July. It is evident that his pre-war skills were recognised as he was posted as a machine artificer at an armoury. It is likely that Somny was promoted to acting sergeant in this position.
In March 1917 Acting Sergeant Somny was posted to the Inventions Board, General Headquarters, Egyptian Expeditionary Force. He remained with the headquarters until 22 July when he was posted to the armoury at the Australian and New Zealand Training Camp at Moascar. On 23 September he transferred to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol, although it appears that his health may have been poor as he was marched out within the week. After periods of hospitalisation and convalescence, he returned to the Australian Camp at Suez. He remained on cinema projectionist duties for some time before transferring to the 58th Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF), on 15 July 1918. However illness and hospitalisation prevented him from taking up this posting. His medical records clearly show that Somny’s health had declined rapidly as a result of his war service.
Private Somny embarked on the HT Somali at Port Said on 26 December 1918 and disembarked in Fremantle on 21 January 1919. He was discharged as medically unfit on 6 April. For his services he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War and Returned Soldier’s Badges.119
Soon after his discharge, Somny returned to the UK where he married Doris Meacock on 12 November 1921. However he died in tragic circumstances on 10 December 1935 as the West Australian reported:
AIR DISASTER. BELGIAN PLANE CRASHES. ELEVEN KILLED. THREE BRITISH VICTIMS. LONDON, Dec. 10: Flying from Brussels to London, a Belgian airliner carrying seven passengers and a crew of four crashed into a hill near Tatsfleld, Surrey today. So terrific was the crash that the noise was heard two miles away. The machine was smashed to pieces and the eleven occupants were killed. The bodies were terribly mutilated and a woman was decapitated. There has never been a worse disaster to a civil aeroplane to England. In addition to the pilot Mr. Schoon Brodt, the crew comprised of an engineer, a wireless operator and a steward. Of the seven passengers, three were British and four were Germans travelling from Cologne to London. The British passengers included Sir John Carden, a noted engineer, and designer of aeroplane engines, and Mr. G. V. Somny, who served with the Australian army in the Great War.
The weather was bad for flying during the day and it was very cold, windy and raining when the crash occurred at dusk. The machine, an Italian three-engine Savoia monoplane owned by a Belgian Company, was in touch with the Croydon aerodrome control tower by wireless until a few minutes before the disaster. The operator of the control tower was awaiting the pilot’s signal asking for permission to land when the news of the crash was telephoned by the local police.
Wing Touches Trees.—The plane was observed near Tatfield flying low, presumably owing to ice on the wings. People in the neighbourhood saw one wing hit the treetops on a small hill near Pitsie Hill. The machine staggered as the pilot apparently tried to gain height but the plane crashed into the summit of Pitsie Hill. Many persons rushed the scene, but the passengers and crew were seemingly killed instantly ... Mr G V Somny who was 42 years of age was employed by the Ford Motor Company at its Dagenham factory. He went to Australia at the age of 17. He joined the AIF and served at Gallipoli: he returned to England after the Great War. Entered the motor trade, specializing in tractor and aero engines and agricultural machinery. Mr. Somny was of French descent; his wife and daughter (aged 12) were listening to the wireless news bulletin and heard a description of the crash, at first without realizing that Mr. Somny was travelling by air. Mrs. Somny telephoned to the Air Ministry and received tragic confirmation. Mr. Somny, who disliked flying, went to Belgium at the weekend and returned today with Sir John Carden with whom he was associated in business ...120
John Beverley McKay
John Beverley McKay was born in Dubbo, NSW, on 6 December 1892, the son of John and Mary Ann McKay. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was a station overseer residing at the ‘Over Flow’ in Warren.
McKay enlisted in Liverpool, NSW, on 20 July 1915. At the Light Horse Depot in Liverpool Camp he was allocated to the 10th Reinforcements, 6th Australian Light Horse, and embarked for overseas service on HMAT A4 Pera in Sydney on 12 October, disembarking at Port Said in November. He was taken on strength by the 6th Light Horse Regiment Details at Maadi on 27 December. On 23 February 1916 he marched into the 6th Light Horse at Serapeum. After a period of hospitalisation, he was posted to the 2nd Light Horse Training Regiment at Moascar on 13 April. In May he attended a Lewis gun course and qualified as a first class machine-gunner. On 5 July McKay returned to the 6th Light Horse Regiment before attending a Hotchkiss machine-gun course in September. He joined the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 4 October 1917, remaining with the Light Cars until 13 March 1919 when he marched into the AIF Details Camp pending his repatriation. Trooper McKay embarked on the HT Dorset at Port Said on 29 April and disembarked in Sydney on 11 June. He was discharged on 3 August 1919.
For his service in the Great War he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Returned Soldier’s Badge.121
McKay married Florence Edward on 15 June 1927 at Darlinghurst in Sydney. By 1930 he had returned to rural life and was recorded as a station overseer at Pigeonbah near Warren. By 1936 he had returned to the family property, the ‘Over Flow’ near Warren, where his occupation was recorded as a grazier. He died on 6 July 1956 and was buried in the Roman Catholic section of the Warren General Cemetery.
Martin Cleveland Pines
Martin Cleveland Pines was born in Balmain, NSW, on 6 November 1892, the son of Frederick and Eleanor Pines. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was a station overseer.
Pines enlisted in Liverpool, NSW, on 26 June 1915. At the Light Horse Depot in Liverpool Camp on 1 July he was allocated to the 10th Reinforcements, 6th Australian Light Horse, and embarked for overseas service on HMAT A4 Pera in Sydney on 12 October, disembarking at Port Said in November. He was taken on strength by the 6th Light Horse Regiment Details at Maadi on 27 December and marched into the 6th Light Horse at Serapeum on 23 February 1916. In August 1917 he attended a school of instruction to become an officer’s batman. He joined the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 4 November and remained with the Light Cars until he was evacuated with malaria on 4 January 1919 and hospitalised at the 14th Australian General Hospital. Trooper Pines embarked on the HMAT A14 Euripedes at Kantara, Egypt, on 15 March 1919 and disembarked in Sydney on 25 April. He was discharged as medically unfit on 10 August 1919.
On his return to Australia, Pines married Helen Nossiter in Ryde in 1927. He returned to farming and, in 1930, he was a grazier residing at Kallamondah, Boggabri. By 1935 he had relocated to Neutral Bay. It appears that Pines had fallen on hard times as the following year he changed address again and was living in Lane Cove. The electoral roll records no occupation at this point in his life.
On 3 October 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, Pines enlisted in the CMF at North Sydney. His stated occupation at this time was farmer and his place of residence Mosman. He also stated that he had been unemployed since 1936. He was posted to the 2nd Garrison Battalion on 16 October 1939 and transferred to the 7th Garrison Battalion on 13 December 1940. This posting proved short-lived as he was taken on strength by Headquarters Eastern Command on December 17. On 4 April 1941 he was promoted corporal and, on 20 March 1942, posted to the 5th Supply Personnel Company. Promotion to sergeant occurred on 1 June 1942 and a final posting to the 12th Supply Personnel Company took effect on 27 July 1942. From this point Pines’ health deteriorated and there were several hospital admissions. He was discharged as medically unfit on 24 May 1943. He died on 12 August 1970.
For his military service he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War and Returned Soldier’s Badges for the Great War. His service in the Second World War earned him the War and Australian Services Medals and Australian Service Badge.122
Charles Longden Richardson
Charles Longden Richardson was born in Queanbeyan, NSW, on 2 February 1893, the son of Dr Sidney and Mrs Minna Richardson. He was educated at the Queanbeyan Primary School and The King’s School at Parramatta and was a member of the school’s cadet unit. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was an analytical chemist at the Colonial Sugar Refining Company and his home address was ‘The Elms’, Queanbeyan.
Richardson enlisted in Liverpool on 18 April 1915. He was allocated to the 8th Reinforcements, 6th Australian Light Horse, and embarked for overseas service on HMAT A23 Suffolk in Sydney on 28 July, disembarking at Port Said in September. Richardson was taken on strength by the 6th Light Horse Regimental Details at Maadi on 27 December. He joined the 6th Light Horse Regiment on 23 February 1916 and remained with the regiment until 21 October 1917 when he was detached to the ANZAC Mounted Division Supply Dump for a brief period. From this location he joined the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 3 November. Apart from periods of illness, Richardson served with the unit for the remainder of the war.
Trooper Richardson embarked on the HMAT A15 Port Sydney at Port Said on 5 March 1919 and disembarked in Sydney on 11 April. He was discharged as medically unfit on 13 June. For his services he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War and Returned Soldier’s Badges.123
Following his discharge Richardson returned to NSW where he married Helen Mallam in 1933. In the 1930s he relocated to Childers in Queensland where he was employed as a field chemist with the Colonial Sugar Refinery. Later moves took him to the Hambledon Mill in Gordonvale and Fiji. During the 1930s and the war years Richardson was involved with the Pest Boards which sought to increase sugar production by removing pests from the cane fields. The Cairns Post in May 1941 reported a paper presented by:
Mr. C. L. Richardson, of Hambledon, and Mr. B. W. Mungumery, of Meringa, on the control of the Frenchii grub pest showed that control could be effected by suitable fallowing and cultivation of infested fields. Mr. Richardson’s investigations showed that the giant toad may be doing effective work in destroying a large number of Frenchii cane beetles. The increase in bird life following the large-scale surrender of firearms was referred to. It was decided to ask the Government to consider the licensing of firearms and their strict control in bird life sanctuaries. It was also decided to ask the Government for a greater measure of autonomy for pest boards in the conduct of their domestic pest control campaigns.124
Perhaps his advocacy of the cane toad was not Richardson’s best professional moment. During the Second World War he moved to South Australia to establish a grain distillery at Wallaroo. Sometime after the end of the war he settled in Double Bay, NSW, where he died in 1979.125
Royden John Simpson
Royden John Simpson was born in Baerami, near Muswellbrook, NSW, on 17 October 1889, the son of George and Isobel Simpson. The Simpsons were pioneers of the Muswellbrook-Maitland region. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was a grazier residing in Emu Vale, Kurrabee. Simpson was a well-known sportsman in the Muswellbrook district, achieving particular prominence as a batsman for the Denman cricket team.
Simpson enlisted at Liverpool on 4 May 1915. After training at the Australian Light Horse Depot in Liverpool he was allocated to the 8th Reinforcements, 6th Australian Light Horse, on 1 July and embarked for overseas service on HMAT A23 Suffolk in Sydney on 28 July, disembarking at Port Said in September. Soon after, he was sent to Gallipoli where he was taken on strength by the 6th Light Horse Regiment. He was admitted to the 16th Stationary Hospital on Mudros on 12 January 1916 with a case of diphtheria and was evacuated to Malta aboard HMHS Panama on 21 January, arriving at St David’s Hospital, Malta, on 26 January. Here his diagnosis was amended to severe enteric fever. After hospitalisation and convalescence he returned to Alexandria on 27 March. Following a further period of hospitalisation at the British Red Cross and No. 3 Auxiliary Hospitals, he returned to the 6th Light Horse at Tel el Kebir on 30 April. Simpson remained with the regiment until 21 October 1917 when he was detached to the ANZAC Mounted Division Supply Dump for a brief period. From this location he joined the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 3 November. Other than for periods of illness, Simpson served with the unit for the remainder of the war. He was posted to the AIF Details Camp on 15 March 1919 prior to his return to Australia.
85. Privates Bosanquet and Simpson with fish caught in the Jordan River, 1918 (Cornwell collection ATM LCP. PC. 012).
Trooper Simpson embarked on the HT Kaiser-i-Hind at Port Said on 18 May 1919 and disembarked in Sydney on 19 June where he was discharged on 18 August. For his services he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Returned Soldier’s Badge.126
On return to civilian life after the Great War, Simpson married Kathleen Vindon at Morpeth on 18 January 1922. He acted as manager for the Widden Stud Farm until 1925, when the Muswellbrook Chronicle reported:
A visit to Widden Stud Farm, made last week, showed that everything was spic and span at that old-established property. The whole of the stock, which includes the patriarch Linacre, as well as Kenilworth, Claroi and others of lesser renown in the equestrian world, are looking exceedingly well; and the brood mares and their progeny are also in fine fettle. During a short chat with Mr. Roy Simpson, the genial and capable manager of the stud farm, the fact was elicited that the champion sire Valais would arrive at Widden in about a fortnight. It is a matter for regret that Mr. Simpson, after putting in over three years’ yeoman service, has resigned his position as manager, and leaves Widden before the end of the month.127
Simpson returned to the family property at Emu Vale.
On the outbreak of the Second World War Simpson joined the Muswellbrook Recruiting Committee.128 In 1941 the Muswellbrook Chronicle reported that he was relinquishing his interest in dairying at Emu Vale.129 On 15 August 1942 he returned to military service when he enlisted in the CMF at Baerami, NSW. He served with the 6th Battalion, VDC, as a private and was discharged on 29 June 1944.
In the late 1940s Simpson moved to the Dunoon Estate where he assumed the position of caretaker. By the late 1950s he had moved to Mount Cole where he was employed as a groundskeeper. Simpson maintained an active life. The Singleton Argus of 1952 reported his admission to the Maitland Hospital with a broken collarbone after falling from a horse.130 Simpson had also earlier returned to the Denman cricket team, batting on a regular basis until the late 1930s. He died at St Leonards on 12 April 1973 and was buried at the Mount Dangar Cemetery.
Albert Gordon Holley
Albert Gordon Holley was born in Fulham, London, on 20 February 1894, the son of Cornelius and Ellen Holley. He was educated at Grafton Road School, Islington. In the 1911 census his occupation was recorded as builder’s clerk. On 26 February 1914 he embarked on the HMAT A24 Benella for Melbourne, arriving on 10 April. At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was a labourer residing in Mornington and his next of kin was his sister, Ada Holley, of Burnfoot Avenue, Fulham.
86. Driver Albert Gordon Holley, No. 1 Pack Wireless Signal Troop (AWM DA13770).
Holley enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on 14 September 1915. He initially served with A Company, 24th Depot Battalion, at Royal Park and D Company, 20th Depot Battalion, at Castlemaine before being allocated to the 1st Australian Pack Wireless Signal Troop on 4 January 1916. He embarked for overseas service on HMAT A12 Salandah in Melbourne on 5 February, disembarking in Colombo, Ceylon, on 24 February. The following day Holley transferred to the HS Varela which was due to sail to Bombay, India, on 28 February. On 10 March he embarked for Mesopotamia, disembarking at Basra on 20 March. He was taken on strength by the 1st Australian and New Zealand Wireless Signal Squadron on arrival, although his service with the squadron would prove brief. He was invalided to India via the HS Varela on 5 August. On 20 October he boarded the HMHS Alexa at Bombay for Egypt via Aden, arriving on 7 November 1916. On 23 February 1917 he was attached to Headquarters ANZAC Training Centre and Details Camp in Egypt. On 9 June he was detached to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade Headquarters before returning to the Details Camp at Moascar on 15 October.
Holley joined the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 1 November. He remained with the Light Car Patrol until 7 September 1918 when he was admitted to the 36th Stationary Hospital and later transferred to the 14th Australian General Hospital. He did not return to his unit until 15 December. He remained with the Light Cars until 8 February 1919 when he marched into the AIF Details Camp pending his repatriation.
In March 1919 Holley was granted a month’s leave in the UK and boarded the HT Malwa at Port Said, bound for Taranto, Italy, on 28 March, eventually arriving in the UK on 11 April where he was taken on strength by Headquarters AIF. Following his leave he was granted non-military employment as part of the AIF’s repatriation program. He attended a commercial course at Clark’s College, Chancellery Lane, London.
Holley embarked on the HT Devon at Southampton on 16 September and disembarked in Melbourne on 27 November. He was discharged as medically unfit on 26 March 1920. For his service in the Great War he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War and Returned Soldier’s Badges.131
Following his discharge he initially moved to Mornington, later settling in Brunswick where his occupation was recorded as a clerk. He died at Glenlyon Road, Brunswick, on 21 September 1925. His memorial notice described him as ‘one of nature’s gentlemen’.132 In a joint memorial notice in the Argus a year after Holley’s death, a friend wrote: ‘two of the best gone but not forgotten’.133
Lancelot George Vivian Bosanquet
Lancelot George Vivian Bosanquet was born in McKay, Queensland, on 25 September 1879, the son of George and Mary Bosanquet. Commander Bosanquet RN was a prominent member of the NSW Colonial Defence Forces where he was in charge of Naval Artillery Volunteers and the torpedo defences of Sydney Harbour for a number of years.134
Lancelot Bosanquet enlisted in the 3rd NSW Imperial Bushmen in early 1900. The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate reported in April 1900 that George Lancelot Bosanquet of Moorebank had been selected to go to South Africa with the Imperial Bushmen, describing him as ‘a fine young fellow who won his bush experience in Queensland’.135 He embarked on the Armenian in Sydney on 23 April and arrived in South Africa on 4 May. Bosanquet served with A Squadron in the Western Transvaal, Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Rhodesia before returning to NSW in 1901 where he was discharged after 16 months of service.
Following his return from South Africa, Bosanquet resumed farming and married Annie Kennedy at Port Macquarie, NSW, on 9 February 1905. At the time of his enlistment in the AIF in 1916, his next of kin was his wife, Annie Bosanquet of Forrest House, Comboyne.
Bosanquet enlisted in the AIF at Bathurst on 18 February 1916 and was taken on strength by the Bathurst Depot Battalion. His enlistment was reported in the Richmond River Herald in February 1916: ‘Mr. Lancelot Bosanquet (married) has left the Comboyne to enlist. Mr. Bosanquet is an old South African soldier, and a descendant of a fine old English family. He is closely related to Admiral Bosanquet.’136
He was promoted corporal and posted to D Company, 53rd Battalion, on 24 May before being posted back to the Depot Battalion at Bathurst on 5 July. On 9 October Bosanquet was posted to the 22nd Reinforcements, 7th Light Horse Regiment, appointed sergeant (voyage only) and embarked for overseas service on HMAT A65 Clan McEwan at Port Melbourne. After disembarking in Egypt he reverted to trooper and was taken on strength by the 2nd Light Horse Training Regiment on 9 November. He joined the 7th Light Horse Regiment on 13 February 1917. On Christmas Day 1917 he wrote to Lieutenant James and requested a transfer to the Light Car Patrol as either a gunner or mechanic based on his civilian garage experience. His request was evidently successful as he was posted to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol on 14 February 1918. Other than for periods of hospitalisation, he remained with the Light Cars until 15 March 1919 when he was posted to the AIF Details Camp pending his return to Australia. He embarked on the HT Kaiser-i-Hind at Suez on 16 May and disembarked in Sydney on 19 June. Bosanquet was discharged on 27 July 1919 and returned to his farm at Comboyne.
Bosanquet returned to military service for the third time in 1940 when he enlisted in the CMF on 23 December at Port Macquarie. On enlistment he stated that he was a grazier who resided at Wauchope. He was posted to the 8th Garrison Battalion at Adamstown where he was promoted acting sergeant on 19 December 1941. He was discharged as medically unfit on 17 July 1942. In the late 1940s he relocated to Panania and, by 1959, he had settled in Pambula, where he died on 10 May 1962.
For his service in South Africa, the Great War and Second World War he was entitled to: the Queen’s South Africa Medal (Bars: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Rhodesia and South Africa 1901), British War, Victory, the War and Australian Service Medals and Returned Soldier’s and General Service Badges.137
Bosanquet’s sons served in the second AIF: George Stanley Bosanquet enlisted on 1 August 1940 and served as a major with the 32nd Works Company and was discharged on 17 May 1946. Angus Lancelot Bosanquet enlisted on 21 August 1942 and served as a lance corporal with the 2/2nd Australian Tank Transporter Company, Australian Army Service Corps (AASC). He was discharged on 13 December 1943. Robert Eric Bosanquet graduated as a doctor in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1943 and served in the British Army.
Frank Arnott, MM
Frank Arnott was born in Wagga Wagga, NSW, in 1889, the son of George and Catherine Arnott. He was educated at The King’s School in Parramatta where he was a boarder between 1905 and 1908. At King’s he was a school monitor, cadet lieutenant, and a gifted rugby player, awarded an Honour Cap for the First Fifteen in both 1906 and 1907.138 At the time of his enlistment in 1915 he was a clerk residing at ‘St Claire’, Bradley’s Head, Mosman.
Arnott enlisted at Liverpool on 21 April 1915. At the Light Horse Depot in Liverpool Camp he was allocated to the 8th Reinforcements, 6th Australian Light Horse, and embarked for overseas service on HMAT A23 Suffolk in Sydney on 28 July, disembarking at Port Said in September. There he was taken on strength by the 6th Light Horse Regiment Details at Maadi.
Arnott was then transferred to A Squadron, 6th Light Horse, at Gallipoli on 14 November. In December he was evacuated from Gallipoli with his regiment, embarking on the HMAT A72 Beltana and arriving in Alexandria on Christmas Day 1915. On 2 August 1916 Arnott was wounded in action at Romani, suffering a gunshot wound to his left knee. He was evacuated to the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance and later the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Cairo. He returned to the 6th Light Horse on 9 September. In August 1917 he attended a Hotchkiss machine-gun course and was awarded a first class gunner’s qualification. On 9 December he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field and, on 6 January 1918, promoted lance corporal. On 10 March he reverted to the rank of trooper and was transferred to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol where he remained until 31 July when he was evacuated to the 76th Casualty Clearing Station with an infection in his left leg. Following hospitalisation at the 36th and 44th Stationary Hospitals and the 14th Australian General Hospital and a period of convalescent leave, he returned to the Light Cars on 13 October.139
87. Captain Ernest James, MC, with Trooper Frank Arnott, MM, at Aleppo, Syria (AWM B01074).
On 14 March 1919 Arnott marched into the AIF Details Camp pending his repatriation. He embarked on the HMAT A15 Port Sydney at Kantara, Egypt, on 4 March 1919 and disembarked in Sydney on 21 April. He was discharged as medically unfit on 13 June.
For his service in the Great War he was entitled to the Military Medal, 1914–15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War and Returned Soldier’s Badges.
Following his discharge he married Dorothy Pike at St Clement’s Church in Mosman on 22 January 1921. Arnott settled in Mosman where he returned to his pre-war occupation as a clerk. He died on 5 August 1968.
Arnott’s son, Edwin Chapman Arnott, served in the Second World War as a lieutenant with the anti-aircraft branch of the Royal Australian Artillery between September 1942 and June 1945.