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Remembered Today:

Australian Unit Histories


Andrew P

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Good on you Tim. It's great when you get a signed copy and track the former owner's service.

Unfortunately I don't have this, but have seen a history of the 37th Battalion signed by Grieve VC and several other officers & NCO's of the battalion who were labelled the 'Mates of Messines'.

Love to find something like that at a garage sale.

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Cheers guys,

I am chasing the 13th, 16th, 37th, 38th, 43rd, 53rd and 59th. Burridge copies are fine. With the internet unfortunately I think the days of picked up cut price bargains at garage sales are very rare.

Rgds

Tim

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I have a copy of the reprint of the 11th L.H history - kindly tracked down for me by a Pal in Australia.

Are there any additional autobiographical books by 11th L.H officers or men ?

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Ian,

Unfortunately, the book by Hammond is the only book on that regiment. I can think of no others on the 11th. I think I pretty much know them all, as it is my chief area of interest.

I think that The Australian Official History Vol 7 by Gullet a worthy investment if you do not already have it.

Are you looking for something in particular?

Cheers

Geoff S

FYI An original copy of the book you possess on the 11th LH recently sold for AUD 750.00. Requests have come into the ALHA forum for others on that regiment. The reprints have also become expensive & hard to get. There is a big demand particulary for LH unit histories in Australia & the prices have started to reflect that demand.

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Geoff,

I was hoping that someone in the 11th may have wrote a memoir to flesh out the history. My great uncle was Captain Quartermaster Levingston who died of exhaustion/sickness in 1917. He gets a brief mention in the book along the lines of "You don't look well. Go to bed" "Levingston died the next day ".

Regards Ian

Ian,

Unfortunately, the book by Hammond is the only book on that regiment. I can think of no others on the 11th. I think I pretty much know them all, as it is my chief area of interest.

I think that The Australian Official History Vol 7 by Gullet a worthy investment if you do not already have it.

Are you looking for something in particular?

Cheers

Geoff S

FYI An original copy of the book you possess on the 11th LH recently sold for AUD 750.00. Requests have come into the ALHA forum for others on that regiment. The reprints have also become expensive & hard to get. There is a big demand particulary for LH unit histories in Australia & the prices have started to reflect that demand.

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Ian

Sometimes it's worth looking in the Collection Database on the Australian War Memorial site. You may be able to find diaries/letters/accounts etc of members of the 11th Light Horse which the AWM can copy for you.

I found a great account of the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company this way.

Depending on the amount of pages it may cost a bit to copy, but as I don't have regular access to the War Memorial I have generally found that it's worth the price paid.

Cheers

Andrew

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Ian,

Andrew's suggestion to try the AWM is perhaps your best chance of finding some additional information. The AWM has an enormous amount of information & much of it is unpublished. If you e-mail them direct they may be able to assist you.

Cheers

Geoff S

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  • 1 month later...

Andrew,

Can you check and let me know what the 2nd Battalion were doing on the 25th August 1918 and 18th September 1918, when two brothers who were locals were wounded? Both had been at Gallipoli, and wounded during Lone Pine.

Cheers,

Dave

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Andrew,

Can you check and let me know what the 2nd Battalion were doing on the 25th August 1918 and 18th September 1918, when two brothers who were locals were wounded?  Both had been at Gallipoli, and wounded during Lone Pine.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi Dave. Will have a look. What were the names of the brothers? I'll have a look to see if they are mentioned in the text.

Regards

Andrew

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On 25th August while the battalion was near Proyart, not much detail unfortunately.

"The shelling had died down to nothing on August 25th, this being due to the good work of the patrols who had applied so much pressure on the enemy that he had to rush his guns out. The crew of one of these, more optimistic than the rest, paused at intervals along the Warfusee Road to fire salvos at the advancing troops. These delays however eventually led to the Germans undoing, for they were overtaken by a Light Horse unit and bagged."

The battalion was relieved on the 26th August.

Do you want to PM me your e-mail address as I'll scan the pages for the Sept 18 action as it is more detailed and will send it through to you.

Cheers

Andrew

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Me again asking you about the AIF units:)... I`d like to find out what you got on 48th Bn in Somme 1916 (did they fight in Pozieres?) and more important, in a battles near Bullecourt in 1917 and Dernancourt 1918.

About Bullecourt I know that during the attack they didn`t get the artillery support they requested in time and were cut off and surrounded (April 11th). Bn`s commander, Captain A. E. Leane (?) with his men took the German trenches for cover, then their artillery finally started firing, but too late and the shells fell to the Australian troops, so that withdrawal was necessary.

And about Dernacourt I know that AIF`s 12th and 13th Bges formed a defensive line on the railway enbankment on 27.3. Next day the understrenght brigades faced the attacks of 4 German divisions. On 5.4. the 48th found itself outflanked by Germans to its rear (again!?), the battalion was ordered to hold at all costs but by midday was facing annihilation and senior officer ordered a withdrawal (which was carried out succesfully in good order). the 4th division was relieved by the 2nd arriving from Messines.

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Hi Mate

The 48th Battalion was a very interesting unit, which for a time was commanded by Lt-Col Ray Leane, one of the best battalion commanders of the AIF. His brother AE Leane was the adjutant.

The 48th did fight at Pozieres, where one of their first actions was defending against a strong German counter-attack.

Their unit history is interesting but unfortunately doesn't have very extensive accounts of these various actions.

It might be best if I scan in the appropriate sections and e-mail them to you. Do you want to PM me your e-mail adress.

Cheers

Andrew

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Andrew,

Have you got anything on the 42nd Battalion or can you steer me in the right direction for their history, please?

Cheers

Kim

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Hi Kim

The 42nd Infantry Battalion history is

Brahms, Vivian. "The Spirit of the Forty-Second". (W.R. Smith & Patterson Pty Ltd, Brisbane, 1938).

Unfortunately I haven't got this one, but you may be able to find a copy in your State Library, or failing that you could contact Tim(Blackblue) as he has it and I'm sure he'll help you once he gets back from his Gallipoli trip.

Cheers

Andrew

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  • 6 months later...

Hi Andrew (or Tim perhaps)

Was wondering if one of you could check your 'History of the 14th Battalion' for me.

1. Does it mention which actual date the 14th evacuated Gallipoli? E.J. Rule in 'Jacka's Mob', gives the impression it was the 2nd last night (?19th Dec)

2. Pozieres 7/8/1916 - the engagement in which Jacka received the MC (rather than the bar to his VC) - does it mention the names of the soldiers that were with him as he dashed forward?

['Jacka, VC' by I. Grant says there were 7. 4 killed: Ptes C. Taylor, H.L. Carroll, J.A. Finlay & one other - 3 survivors: Ptes H Fitzpatrick, Miller & William (F.G. Miller & Bill William)]

I'm researching a soldier Pte A.E. Roberts - the local paper puts him in this group - probably a porkie - but was hoping the Unit History might mention him. [Though I'm guessing it's probably where Grant got his info & therefore the same as listed above]

Thanks, Frev

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Hi Andrew (or Tim perhaps)

Was wondering if one of you could check your 'History of the 14th Battalion' for me.

1. Does it mention which actual date the 14th evacuated Gallipoli? E.J. Rule in 'Jacka's Mob', gives the impression it was the 2nd last night (?19th Dec)

2. Pozieres 7/8/1916 - the engagement in which Jacka received the MC (rather than the bar to his VC) - does it mention the names of the soldiers that were with him as he dashed forward?

['Jacka, VC' by I. Grant says there were 7. 4 killed: Ptes C. Taylor, H.L. Carroll, J.A. Finlay & one other - 3 survivors: Ptes H Fitzpatrick, Miller & William (F.G. Miller & Bill William)]

I'm researching a soldier Pte A.E. Roberts - the local paper puts him in this group - probably a porkie - but was hoping the Unit History might mention him. [Though I'm guessing it's probably where Grant got his info & therefore the same as listed above]

Thanks, Frev

Hi Frev,

1. Durrant's Post was vacated by the Battalion on the night of the 18th and Lemnos reached on the 19th (p. 83).

2. The seven men with Jacka are listed as follows in a footnote (p.139):

"5th Platoon men who co-operated with Lieut. Jacka in this counter-attack comprised the following:-

No. 2025 Pte.C.C.Taylor, hairdresser, Oakleigh (V).;

No. 1327 Pte.H.L. Carroll, bricklayer, Pleasant Street, Ballarat(V).:

No. 1380 Pte.F.G.Miller, biograph operator, Bendigo (V).;

No. 1675 Pte W.J.C.Williams, Rochester (V).;

No. 3758 Pte H.Fitzpatrick, South Melbourne (V).;

No. 3751 Pte J.A.Finlay, East Malvern (V).

The name of the seventh man in the party is unknown. Williams and Miller are still alive".

3. Roberts is not personally mentioned in the history.

May be plausible Frev. His service papers show he was wounded on the 7th August. Originally is says GSW left shoulder but later it says GSW hands and legs. His medical report shows scattered wounds hands/legs and he lost the index finger left hand. Multiple GSW wounds may well put him with Jacka. After all this it looks like it was boils/bad acne that got him in the end though!!

Rgds

Tim

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May be plausible Frev. His service papers show he was wounded on the 7th August. Originally is says GSW left shoulder but later it says GSW hands and legs. His medical report shows scattered wounds hands/legs and he lost the index finger left hand. Multiple GSW wounds may well put him with Jacka. After all this it looks like it was boils/bad acne that got him in the end though!!

Rgds

Tim

Thanks for the quick reply Tim. I really didn't think Roberts would get a mention. Unfortunately his wounding on this day doesn't necessarily put him in the frame - according to Jacka virtually the whole of his platoon was wiped out that day.

The article in the paper also talks about Roberts having a "big record as a fighter, having been on service for over three years" - most of this was actually spent in hospitals etc - with a total of three & a half months (in 3 years) that he may have seen fighting. So I think there may have been a bit of exaggeration going on!

But the paper was circulated in Jacka's home town - so ............. I dunno!

Amazing about the boils/acne heh! It can be pretty debilitating though. One of my brothers had to give up his footy because of it - his back would be a bloody mass of raw flesh at the end of each game.

Anyway, thanks again for your time & trouble.

Cheers, Frev

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One of the things that I like about the 16th Battalion history is the list of men who evacuated over the last few days at Gallipoli and what parties they were assigned to in the evacuation.

I have an account of a Fremantle soldier who was in the last party of the 16th to leave and was able to double check with that list to make sure he was actually in there.

Last week I was at the Battye library in Perth and reading through Captain Longmore's papers.(Author of the 16th Bn history) Among his material was the original evacuation orders and assignment of duties written by Major Margolin. It was a bit of a buzz to be reading the original.

In regard to your man being with Jacka at Pozieres I guess it could be true. I doubt the names of all the 14th men involved in that attack would be remembered later on. Who recorded the men who were with Jacka?

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I'm very interest in the operations of 44th Battalion. In particular what narrative they have describing their operations and activities June 1-4, 1917.

It is possible they may mention a raid on 'German Wire' and two brothers as casualties (Arch and Ron Barley). These were my great uncles.

It would be of great interest to hear what the unit was doing these days.

In addition, I'm interested in the units location and operations from 25 Nov 1916 up to June 1917.

Thank you in advance for a quick scan of your records!

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Who recorded the men who were with Jacka?

Good question - possibly Jacka himself - though he was carted off to hospital straight after (with multiple wounds).

However, he was interviewed after he got out of hospital and said:

"There were only seven of us left at the time."

So he's putting the no. at 7 himself.

I guess it's possible that the unnamed 7th man (listed in "Jacka, VC" as being killed) - may not have been - if no-one knows his name - how can they be sure he was killed?? I guess this could be my man Roberts!

Anyway, Andrew or Tim

One more question/look-up - then I'll leave you alone till next year.

Does the 14th Bn Unit History mention exactly how they split up the Companies in Jan 1915 - when they were changing the configuration from 8 Coys to 4.

examples:

7th Bn: A&B=A; C&D=B; E&F=C; G&H=D

10th Bn: A&F=A; C&E=B; B&H=C; D&G=D

Thanks, Frev

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Frev,

The battalion commenced departure from Alexandria on the 31st January and moved to Aerodrome Camp just near Heliopolis.

'On arrival at the new quarters the first step taken was the reorganisation of the battalion on a four or double company system. This new organisation was adopted in all Australian infantry units*. This reform was given effect to, as far as the 14th was concerned, on February 4, and henceforth A and E Companies formed A Company - OC Major Rankine, 2IC Capt FH Wright. B and F Companies formed B Company - OC Capt Baldock, 2IC Capt WR Hoggart. C and G Companies formed C Company - OC Major Steel, 2IC Catp Hutton. D and H Companies formed D Company - OC Capt Connelly, 2IC Capt AH Henry.

* The double company organisation was adopted to bring the AIF units into line with the organisation of the British Army which had adopted this system some time previously. The half-companies were called platoons, four of which went to a the company.

Rgds

Tim D

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