steve chilton Posted 24 July , 2004 Share Posted 24 July , 2004 Hi, Pte 1917 Douglas Wade Dark of 5th Company Australian Machine Gun Corps was KIA 20/06/1916. Would any of our southern hemisphere pals have any idea as to what action he would have been involved in? I have his burial details from CWGC but that obviously doesnt give place of death etc. Thanks in advance. Steve Chilton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 24 July , 2004 Share Posted 24 July , 2004 This from the Australian Defence Academy: 5th Infantry Brigade (New South Wales) [second Division] Formed in New South Wales February 1915. Assigned to Second Division July 1915. Subunits: 17th Infantry Battalion February 1915 to past November 1918 18th Infantry Battalion February 1915 to past November 1918 19th Infantry Battalion February 1915 to 10 October 1918 20th Infantry Battalion February 1915 to past November 1918 5th Machine Gun Company 12 March 1916 to 2 March 1918 5A/1 Light Trench Mortar Battery April 1916 to 15 June 1916 5A/2 Light Trench Mortar Battery April 1916 to 15 June 1916 5th Light Trench Mortar Battery 15 June 1916 to past November 1918 Commanders: Colonel/Brigadier General W. Holmes September 1914 to 10 January 1917 Brigadier General R. Smith 28 January 1917 to 1 July 1918 Brigadier General E. F. Martin 1 July 1918 to 3 June 1919 Campaigns: Egypt, Gallipoli: Defence of Anzac, Withdrawal from Anzac, Sinai: Defence of Suez Canal, Western Front: Pozieres, Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, Bullecourt, Menin Road, Broodeseinde, Amiens, Mont St Quentin, Montebrehain In haste, but that should give a steer from the main site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve chilton Posted 24 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 24 July , 2004 Thanks for the above, I am aware of the National Archives of Australia site, but for some reason have been unable to get on it for the last couple of days. Thanks again. Steve Chilton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dinkidi Posted 24 July , 2004 Share Posted 24 July , 2004 G'day Steve I am almost certain he would have been one of the staggering number of 5,533 AIF casualties at Fromelles. See the Fromelles / Flerbeau, & Kerr AIF threads. ooRoo Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auimfo Posted 24 July , 2004 Share Posted 24 July , 2004 A little bit more info The Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour lists him as being a 23 year old farmer from Dungog NSW and that he died of wounds received in action. I've looked up his file with the National Archives and what do you know - his files are digitised!! They show he was brought through the 6th Aust Field Ambulance on 20/6/16 with: "Shell wounds head, chest, abdomen & R. leg - very serious" He was then transferred to No. 8 Casualty Clearing Station where he died at 6.45 pm. Unfortunately it doesn't list where exactly this happened except for being in France. The link for the digitised record record is here National Archives I have also managed to find out (via CEW Bean) that the 5th Brigade was involved in raids Southeast of Bois Grenier (around Armentieres) on 25/26th June 1916 but unfortunately it doesn't have much regarding the 20th. I hope this helps and the link to the National Archives works for you. Pat, Wasn't Fromelles in July not June? Tim L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dinkidi Posted 25 July , 2004 Share Posted 25 July , 2004 Tim Wooops! Can't blame everything on Fromelles, or McCay, after all. Not trying to be awkward, but does 5th Co AMG equate to 5th Brigade in 1916. That's a Dorothy Dixer for Andrew. The location of the Cemetry would fit in with 5th brigade's deployment. ooRoo Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 25 July , 2004 Share Posted 25 July , 2004 Yep, The 5th Machine Gun Company does equate with the 5th Brigade. I'll have a look at some othe 5th Brigade battalion histories to see what was happening on this date. Regards Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 26 July , 2004 Share Posted 26 July , 2004 The 17th Battalion were part of the 5th Brigade so I had a look at their history in case it gave any clues but it didn't mention much around those dates except that the German artillery fire had increased a few days before the 20th. That's all I could find. Regards Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve chilton Posted 26 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 26 July , 2004 Many thanks to all the above replies. What wouldnt us Brits do to have FREE online archives like you Aussies have!! Its enough to make us drool...... Thanks again. Steve Chilton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dinkidi Posted 26 July , 2004 Share Posted 26 July , 2004 Stevie Baby You aint seen nothing yet. Go to www.awm.gov.au Click on the Official History link About p260 of the Western Front Vol, there are some details of interest. just a little 'aside' though, some of the references looked at, particularly by Andrew, would not be free. But we all realise how lucky we are to have Bean's AWM. ooRoo Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve chilton Posted 26 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 26 July , 2004 Ive just read it, phew I see what you mean!! Steve Chilton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auimfo Posted 27 July , 2004 Share Posted 27 July , 2004 Steve, I'm always glad that most of my relatives served with the AIF because researching them online is so much easier. Although not everything can be viewed for free there seems to be so much more available in that form than our counterparts have access to. I only have one relative who served with 2/HLI and he has been the most difficult to obtain records of especially since the majority would require me to travel to England - an expense I can do without at the moment. (although I would love to be able to). I suppose the fact that we have relatively few records to deal with compared with the records of millions of British servicemen over many years may have a bearing on this. Tim L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now