On the 8^th January 1916 Ernest John JEFFRIES filled out his attestation papers in Melbourne to join the AIF. He declared that he was only 18 years and 4 months old, but could not produce his parents consent because they were both dead and he had no guardian – in fact he also stated that he had no next of kin and no friends. A farmer, born in Bairnsdale, Victoria, he was only a little man, standing 5feet 2½ inches tall and weighing in at 115 pounds. By this time Gallipoli had taken its toll on Australia’s finest, so despite his tender age and tiny stature, the army decided to accept Ernest, and by April he was steaming his way to Egypt with reinforcements for the 5^th Battalion.

Continuing on to France he was marched in to the Base at Etaples at the beginning of June, and here his troubles began. On the 26^th of that month Ernest was detailed for guard duty, but chose to remain in his bed – his reward was 28 days field punishment No.1. Two months later he received another 28 days of the same for refusing to obey an order and taking himself off on a day’s leave of his own volition.

Curiously he wasn’t kept at base to carry out his punishment, but instead, joined his unit in Belgium along with a group of reinforcements on the 7^th September. Two weeks later Ernest was in trouble again, and this time it was serious, his court martial involved 3 charges: disobeying an order, using threatening language & offering violence to his superior officer.

Ernest was on observation duty with Pte Drummond in the forward trenches at Ypres. They had decided to split their 2 hour shift in half, and while Drummond was observing, Ernest was reading a paper. Cpl Woodham passed by on trench duty and told Ernest to put the paper away & relieve Drummond. He at first refused in an abusive manner, then put the paper in his pocket and stepped up on the fire step. Woodham then asked him to hand over the paper, and after Ernest refused, he pinned him down and took it. Ernest then picked up his rifle ‘opened and closed the bolt, then swung round towards Cpl Woodham and pointed the rifle over the parapet.’ Cpl Woodham wrested the rifle from Ernest and had him placed under arrest.

The court held at Vignacourt on the 22^nd of October found Ernest guilty on the first & third charge and sentenced him to 10 years penal servitude. It wasn’t long however before the authorities realized what they were really dealing with – a child. Having discovered that Ernest had only passed his 15^th birthday the month before, it was decided to suspend the sentence and ship him back home to Australia as ‘under age’. His departure wasn’t arranged until March 1917, but although he was no longer under arrest, he was detained in custody during this period, for fear that he would wander free and ‘boast of his outwitting justice.’ The army had also become aware that Ernest had been using a false name. In fact the only real truth on Ernest’s enlistment papers was that he did prefer to use his second name of Ernest and he was born in Bairnsdale.

Victor Ernest LEE was born at Bairnsdale in September 1901, the first born child of Herman LEE & Mary Ann DAVIS. When he’d enlisted at the age of 14, his mum & dad were still very much alive and busily building his family, at that stage he had 5 siblings.

Although army life clearly didn’t suit him, Ernest refused to give up. By November that year he’d taken himself off to Sydney, and re-enlisted as Ernest Victor LEE, stating his age as 21 years & 2 months, and his NOK as his ‘real’ grandmother, Esther Lee of Melbourne. He had actually just turned 16 and had filled out a little, having grown to 5 foot 7 inches, with a weight of 158 pounds. Embarking a week before Christmas, his second sailing was on the A38 Ulysses with the 14^th reinforcements of the 1^st Pioneer Battalion. Only a day out to sea and Ernest was again in trouble of sorts – he was put into isolation with VD, and there he remained until they reached Suez. Changing ships they boarded the HMT Leasowe Castle which deposited them at Taranto, Italy. The train journey across the country brought more problems for Ernest when he was accused by the Station master at Ronco station of committing some offence. This snowballed into his arrest on the charge of ‘using insubordinate language to his superior officer’. The entourage continued their journey, embarking in France on the HMT Antrim and crossing to England where they marched into Sutton Veny on the 13^th February 1918.

At the Court Martial held at Sutton Veny in March, Ernest put his side of the story:

‘……some women threw some matches to us from the embankment and while the matches were being thrown the Station Master walked in between the people who were throwing them and ourselves. We put out our hands to catch the matches and on doing this I accidentally tipped the Station Masters cap. Not being able to talk Italian I made signs of apologies. The S. Master did not understand and went away and brought the Colonel. When the Colonel arrived the civilian pointed to me and made some statement I said “I did nothing of the sort”. The man who accused me kept on pointing at me and accusing me. I got excited and kept on repeating “I did nothing of the sort”. I said this about three times. I heard the Colonel give the order to keep quiet and I obeyed the order. I was then taken to the guard room.’

The court found that Ernest had been addressing his remarks “I did nothing of the sort” to the civilian and not the officer, and he was found not guilty and released.

Ernest however, seemed destined for trouble and on the 7^th of April he took an unscheduled day off, then on the 24^th he went absent again until he was apprehended in London on the 30^th. It was beginning to look like Ernest’s only intention was to see the sights when a few days later he was off again, having escaped from custody. His next Court Martial was held on the 27^th May and he pleaded guilty to having escaped custody and was found guilty and sent to Lewes Detention Barracks for a period of 140 days.

On his discharge from detention at the beginning of October, Ernest was sent straight to France, and on the 24^th of that month was transferred to the Australian Corps Working Party. Three weeks later, the day after armistice, true to form, Ernest went missing again. After his apprehension in Paris on the 19^th December he was awarded 28 days field punishment No. 2, clearly with the end of the war, the authorities were not prepared to throw the book at him. Finally on the 2^nd of March 1919, Ernest embarked on the Derbyshire and arrived back in Sydney on the 24^th April. He was discharged from the army on the 18^th May and made his way back to Victoria.

Four days later he was dead.

Meeting up with friends in Kilmore, the boys had gone duck shooting. Ernest waded into a swamp to retrieve some birds and about 20 feet from the bank he cried out, and sank. The medical evidence at the inquiry simply stated ‘heart failure’. He was 17 years & 7 months old.

His mother gave birth to another son that year and named him Gordon John Ernest LEE.

Heather (Frev) Ford, 2009