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By Dr Richard Walding - Research Fellow, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. The Cenotaph is in the form of a mausoluem with a surrogate tomb located centrally inside. The Cenotaph pavilion stands 13 m 44 ft high.

Inside there is a small central stone pillar the "empty tomb" with a marble 'Entablature' on each side containing the names of 97 fallen soldiers, arranged alphabetically. There is a sandstone flaming urn on top of the column which replaced a small marble angel smashed in The original design had a eight-foot high porcelain crowned female angel with upswept wings and hands in a state of prayer standing on a globe. This was the design by Sgt Henry Hawyard Priest 9th Bnwinner of the design competition in The cenotaph was constructed by A.

The first attack by vandals on the cenotaph the steps was in November The construction and features of the Cenotaph appear later in this webpage. Prior to the establishment of the park and memorial the citizens of Stephens Shire Yeronga, Annerley, South Brisbane were keen to pay their respects to the soldiers who were fighting overseas in the Great War of Some were their parents, some their relatives, some their friends but many more who were strangers keen to acknowledge their service.

The first Queenslander to register for enlistment into the Expeditionary Force was year-old Lt Colonel Harry William Lee from Maryborough who became Officer Commanding 9th Battalion AIF. Second to enlist was Lt William John 'Jack' Rigby of Yeronga who registered on 16 August.

This was just days after Australia had gone to war 5 August. In September thousands of such volunteers were off to Egypt for train for the war.

But the strategy changed and they were sent to Gallipoli to begin the fight, arriving on 25 April - now famously known as Anzac Day. As the casualty lists of British soldiers started appearing in the newspapers, private and public prayers for the men began. It came as a shock when the first Australian casualties were released - just after the landing at Gallipoli.

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The first Queenslanders included men from the Stephens Shire who were killed during the 9th Battalion's landing at Gallipoli on 25 April Lt William John 'Jack' Rigby, Pte George Cracey, and Pte James Fielding. The Brisbane Courier reported some deaths in the First Casualty List on 6th May. Their obituaries are presented later. The first officer from the Stephens Shire and one of the first Queenslanders to die was Jack Rigby who was the first from Stephens Shire to enlist and the first to die.

He was killed in action the day of the landing - 25 April His fellow officers - pictured above - were also killed or injured: Lt Frank Granville Haymen from Kangaroo Point, Brisbane KIA, 25 AprilMajor Sydney Beresford Robertson, Ipswich KIA, 25 AprilLt Lancelot Alban Jones, Sherwood, Brisbane WIA 25 April Mistakes were often made.

In the casualty list above Lt George Thomas was reported as being killed in action when in fact his shoulder was smashed by shrapnel while at 'The Cup' - a small gully near Owen's Post at Gallipoli - and he survived.

His parents were dismayed to be told of his death but surprised to hear that he was just wounded. An extract from his letter to the army reads:. Over the next two years more local men enlisted, and more names of wounded, killed and missing appeared in the papers. Thus began services for the fallen and the construction of memorials in their honour. As soldiers returned home, local communities had public welcoming ceremonies in their honour. The first for Yeronga was held in the local hall on 11 July In November that same year another ceremony was held to "express appreciation to 53 soldiers who volunteered and to the 7 who returned home".

Mrs Rigby, mother of the district's first casualty adorned the returned men with insignias. A further ceremony - prior to the construction of any official memorial - was held on 3 August The Cenotaph Gardens 5.

There is an arced pathway between the Ipswich Road gate and the old entrance in School Road see above. It is known as Anzac Parade and is a narrow gravel path although shown as being as wide as Honour Avenue on maps from Historian Rod Fisher said "There is no reason to doubt the second-generation anecdotal evidence of a School Rd resident in that a third set of memorial gates was intended in Park Road or that the original avenue of symbolic palms was seeded from Palestine and the Middle East by returned soldiers.

This would have completed the park design nicely and may be supported by the newspaper letter of a visitor in early who deplored depredations upon the young palms, planted only several months before, by errant calves. Looking up Honour Avenue towards the Cenotaph. This photograph was taken on 21 September before the new name plaques were installed. On the right, the nearest tree 89 is for for John Ormiston, and behind that trees for Walter Morgan 85 and John Gilhespy The memorial at Yeronga consists of a avenue of trees and, later, a cenotaph.

Whereas the cenotaph is a deeply imperial form, used throughout the British Empire to honour the war dead, the Avenue of Honour is indigenous. Its origin stems from a promise made at first to Victorian soldiers during recruiting drives in that their names would be memorialised in an Avenue of Honour.

This then spread to other states. The biggest planting was in Ballarat, Victoria, where plaqued trees were planted in a 14 mile row by The use of native or exotic trees depended less on the planters' sense of appropriate symbolism than on what they thought would survive. Yeronga's Honour Avenue was created in March when land was acquired from the Yeronga School Reserve for the purpose of a memorial avenues of trees to commemorate the sacrifice by soldiers of the local community the Stevens Shire in World War 1.

A major proponent of the avenue was Mrs Julia Rigby - mother of fallen soldier Jack Rigby who died on the very first day of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli. The choice of a site for a memorial was always going to be one that was prominent and accessible. The local park or a central intersection of roads were the most common locations in Australia. Ground outside public schools was the next most popular choice - and this is what we find at Yeronga. It is next to a school that a monument can perform one of its many duties: As the chairman of one Anzac ceremony stated "[the memorial] is a constant reminder to the rising generation of the devotion and self-sacrifice of the brave lads of the district who heard thir Country's call".

As the Queensland Under-Secretary for Public Instruction remarked about the plaques attached to the trees "and the names thereon being mostly those soldiers who had passed through the school". Planting of trees - alternating weeping fig Ficus benjamina and flame trees Brachychiton acerifolus - began on the 15th September presided over by the chairman of Stephens Shire Council, Councillor Fred.

Stimpson with 41 trees planted and was followed by two more ceremonies: Later, two more tree were planted and plaques added. At the time metal name-plates inscribed with the names of the 95 soldiers were attached to small wooden white-painted posts.

The plates were in the form of a shield and bore the inscription of the name and battalion of the soldier and the words "To Honour His Name". Vandalism began on the 28th October and a reward was offered by the Council for information leading to the conviction of the culprits. Over the years the name-plates were stolen and by none remained. For a full listing of the trees in numerical order please see my web page at Yeronga Memorial Park - Trees.

The Queenslander of 22 September reported that 'On Saturday afternoon at Yeronga Park, an impressive ceremony consisting of the planting of an avenue of trees was performed by the chairman of Stephens Shire Council, Councillor FA Stimpson. The idea was initiated by the Council, as an honour to the residents of the shire, who had paid the supreme sacrifice in the great world war.

Many of the residents had to come to live in the area only recently and their sons had grown up and enlisted in towns far from Yeronga. Their deeds would be later listed in other memorials. Nevertheless, the parents were amongst the crowds attending these services.

Deaths of their loved ones far away was particularly difficult to cope with. Unlike families whose menfolk had died in accidents at work and their bodies could be laid to rest nearby, the families of men killed in the Great War were deprived of the traditional mourning rituals of their culture.

Their dead were overseas. Not knowing the whereabouts of a soldier son, whether he was alive or dead, and if dead, where his body lay was particularly distressing. Though there is no way to judge anguish, the worst sufferers in Australia during and after the Great War may be those relatives who just did not know the answer to these questions.

Lt Col George Arthur Ferguson addresses a gathering on Saturday the 15th September in Yeronga Park at the first planting of trees and mounting of inscribed plaques in memory of 41 fallen soldiers.

Lt Col Ferguson was Director of the Queensland State Children's Department but also an officer in the 26th Battalion who rendered conspicuous service in Egypt, Gallipoli and France. He received severe gunshot wounds to his abdomen in the Battle of the Somme in France and almost didn't survive. He was later awarded the Distinguished Service Order DSO and Volunteer Officer's Decoration VD and was Mentioned in Despatches by General Douglas Haig for his gallantry.

Ferguson, who represented the State Commandant, Brigadier-General Irving, spoke of the local men's gallantry. Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson said he considered it a great honour to be present at a function like this, having fought with most of these dead heroes, who before enlisting were nearly all in the training area now controlled by him.

He had attended the funerals of some of them at the Front. After the speech the departed men's next of kin planted the 41 alternating weeping fig and flame trees both sides of Honour Avenue starting at the Park Road entrance. Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson planted one in memory of James Fielding whose relatives were in England and Councillor Stimpson planted a tree in the memory of Robert Douglas whose relatives could not attend.

This photo above was taken near the Park Road gates just prior to the first planting of trees. See Yeronga Memorial Park - Trees for the trees in order of planting. From mid patriotic groups were formed to raise money for war loans and for comforts for the soldiers abroad, and to induce men to join the AIF.

Fund-raising ceremonies were organised throughout Australia and on every anniversary of the Anzac landing ceremonies were held to celebrate these purposes. Sometimes it was just Honour Boards that were prepared and installed in buildings or public places, and sometimes monuments were set up just for the day and then taken down. As time passed there was a conviction amongst the Australian public that permanent memorials were ritually needed, and that honour boards were not enough.

What became apparent was that local people wanted to erect monuments to give public honour to local men. The first in Australia was unveiled at the inner suburb of Balmain, Sydney on 23 April However, the first soldier statue of the war was erected in front of the Post Office in central Newcastle and unveiled just three weeks before Anzac Day It was a gift from retired naval officer Commander Frank Gardner the link takes you my webpage about him and the statue.

The War Precautions Act was introduced in October to prevent so many memorials being erected. Its purpose seems to have been twofold: Another large gathering took place at Yeronga Park, in the Stephens shire, on Saturday, the occasion being the planting of a second lot of trees in Honour avenue in honour of the Stephens soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice at the Front.

Brief addresses were made from a small platform over which waved the flag of flags. The Chairman Councillor F. Stimpsonin welcoming the Governor, said this was the second occasion of tree planting in honour of their heroes, and they desired to extend a cordial welcome to his Excellency and Lady Goold-Adams.

He sincerely hoped this would be the last planting it would be necessary to make. Their total enlistments from the shire to date wereand the deaths at the Front numbered That afternoon they were planting 31 more trees to the memory of their boys.

The Governor said their thoughts were concentrated in doing honour to those who had laid down their lives for them. To the relatives present it might be but poor consolation to say that their dear ones had fallen in a noble cause, but if they analysed what they had done there must be a feeling of pride in their minds and hearts. To him it was incomprehensible how some people in the world could sit down or go about their business calmly, allowing others to do that duty they were called upon to perform.

He congratulated the Stephens shire on the good work it was doing. It was a charming idea that each tree should wave in the breeze and throw a shadow over the ground sanctified by the name of the man who had fallen. The gallantry shown by the sons of Australia on the battle front had won the admiration of the whole world.

Please see Yeronga Memorial Park - Trees for the listing of trees for the second planting. The Brisbane Courier of the Monday 25th August reported the ceremony thus:. The third and final tree planting ceremony under the direction of the Stephens Shire Council was held in Yeronga Park on Saturday afternoon, persons being present, Councillor F. Stimpson, who presided, said that men had enlisted from the district, and 93 had been killed.

That afternoon they were planting 21 trees to the memory of those who had fallen. Previously they had planted 72 trees, making a total ot 93 trees in all in the honour avenue. He also announced that a memorial was to be erected at the end of the avenue and he asked for public support.

The shire clerk Mr. Bale read a list of the names of all who had fallen. Hughes congratulated the shire on the way in which it was keeping green the memory of the lads who had fallen. Huxham Home Secretary also spoke, and hoped that the trees would remind them not only of the lads who had fallen, but also of their dependents. Others present included Mr.

Macartney Leader of the Opposition and Mr. The 1st District Military Band rendered selections during the afternoon. The crowds did grow bigger. The reason was simple. If we count as family a soldier's parents, children, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins - then every second Australian family was bereaved by the war.

It was no wonder the numbers grew. But it was private grief they had to contend with. In public, grief was not as welcome. Publicly, soldiers' deaths were deaths for the nation in defence of nothing less than civilization itself. In public one had to be stoic and there was a common belief that the private grief expressed at home should be repressed in public.

This must have been so hard for mothers and wives attending these Anzac Day ceremonies men had grown up with this repression in public. This was captured in a poignant introspective verse from a wife - Charlotte Rahilly - on the death of her husband Patrick - Headmaster at St John's School, Glenferrie, Victoria.

He was killed at Poziers in July Looking down Honour Avenue to the main entrance in Park Road. Note the bend in the road. The trees down both sides are weeping figs, the flame trees having died many years ago. The trees you can see were not memorials to any particular soldier. The last tree with a plaque for a soldier is the sixth one down the right side and that is tree No.

The closest tree on the right would be number As well as weeping figs and flame trees, additional plantings of more figs and some leopard trees Ceasalpinea ferrea have been made by the Parks Superintendent over the years to replace dead or vandalised trees. In the fig trees had to be pruned to ensure they survived drought conditions that were being experienced in Queensland at the time.

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The timing of the White Fig Ficus virens planting see Doolan's tree 15 in the avenue is unknown. Avenues of Honour commemorating World War I were a memorial form unique to Australia and the Yeronga avenue is thought to be the second oldest memorial planting in Australia. Various 'Patriotic Leagues' were set up after the war to raise funds for the building of war memorials in towns all over Australia.

They had to decide on the nature of the memorial: They also had to decide the catchment from which to solicit donations and names of the dead. In some parts of Australia competing groups fought for donations and the right to build these monuments; often separated on religious line Protestants vs Roman Catholics. The Stephens Shire Council had to settle on the form of the memorial, so they looked at what was being done elsewhere.

It seems that the idea of a utilitarian building had been ruled out early. However, among purely monumental forms no single type predominated. Already in sites around Australia there were memorials in cemetaries and park commemorating the South African Boer War so they were also used for the men of the AIF from the Great War: The newly popular word 'cenotaph' was used for monuments like the one at Whitehall in London - a tomb on a pylon. The word 'cenotaph' means literally 'empty tomb' and this seemed particularly apt as the local soldiers were buried far away in a foreign land.

The broadening understanding of the actual form of a memorial meant that it was always going to represent an 'empty tomb'. The Council decided on a cenotaph with a pedastal inside.

Within the pedastal was the empty 'surrogate' tomb of the soldiers and their names were to be inscribed on the sides. Inthey announced a competition for the design. In Februarythe winner of the design competition was announced: Sgt Henry Hayward Priest, former soldier with the AIF. Henry Priest was born in London in and came to Australia in the s and married Isabella Hunter in They lived in Palmerston St, just off Ipswich Road Annerley where they had three sons and a daughter.

When Henry Priest joined the AIF intwo of his sons - Walter and Arthur - joined up as well. Son Arthur died in Cairo from enteric fever in February at the age of Henry returned to Australia in with heart disease preventing him from active service and was discharged upon arrival. Son Walter returned in Henry entered the memorial design competition run by the Stephens Shire Council in and was announced the winner in February The prize for the competitive design for "Our Fallen Heroes," called for by the Stephens' Shire Council, has been awarded to Sergeant H.

H Priest, late of the 9 th Battalion. The memorial, which is to be erected at Honor-avenue, Yeronga Park, would will be visible from many of the surrounding suburbs, will take the form of a 'Peace Temple' 12ft square.

According to the design the base is 22 ft square, and there are four entrances beneath the dome, lighted by four 32 candlepower electric lights. The dome is supported by 12 plain columns of the Doric order, terminating with well designed moulded facies, embellished at the angles with Acacia leaves. The apex of the roof supports a sphere 5 ft in diameter, with a map of Australia, upon which is alighted the 'Messenger of Light'.

This figure is 11ft in height, and carries a flare in the right hand. In the centre of the temple stands the "Entablature," constructed of polished trachyte and white marble surmounted upon a base of rough hewn - ashlar design - trachyte, with a work edge, the whole surmounted by a porcelain figure of "Peace". The completed memorial will stand some 40 ft high, and will stand in orientation with the bearings of the line of Honor-avenue.

The memorial will be surrounded by a ground plot design representing the zodiacal sign. The greater part of the work is to be constructed of reinforced concrete, giving durability and strength. The Cenotaph is a square pavilion rendered in concrete. The corner pilasters have ornamental capitals which carries a thin encircling entablature with a heavy projecting cornice above. Note the low parapet which conceals a gutter for the domed roof.

I consulted two expert architects for a comment on Priest's design of the Cenotaph and asked what may have influenced the design by Sgt Henry Hayward Priest in This is their view:. Professor John Macarthur, Dean and Head of the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland:.

This describes the arch resting on small columns, inside are recesses within larger columns supporting a flat lintel. This is high renaissance in its stylistic sources. A famous precedent would be Bramante's cortile at Saint Maria della Pace in Rome [see below].

Sgt Priest might more likely have seen it on the Queensland Parliament. It is certainly not based on an open Greek temple as some have suggested as they didn't have arches or domes. Professor John Stephens, School of Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth, Australia; specialist in War Commemoration, Architectural History, Architecture and Culture, Heritage and the Architecture of Commemoration. Classical architecture and art was used as it aligned the warrior dead with the nobility and deeds of the Greeks Romans.

The ancientness of classical forms also aligned the fallen with ancient warriors. The language of classicism was generally understood by the public at large - modernism was not understood and did not have the symbolic power to carry the message of Anzac to future generations.

The form of the cenotaph could probably be described as a rotunda or pavilion. Not unique in Australia but a little unusual - it would have been very expensive for a small community. Its a fine piece of work. Its very similar in style and intent to to the Narrogin War Memorial in Western Australia which is a rectangular pavilion with a small pillar inside with the names of the dead. There are 97 names on the four memorial tablets, 96 of whom are soldiers and one a sailor.

Their bodies were not brought home. The Stephens Shire Council began this project in and completed it in before being transferred to the Stephens RSL Sub-Branch in Annerley before the Council was subsumed by the Greater Brisbane Council. This is the tablet mounted on the polished trachyte pillar on a sandstone plinth inside the cenotaph facing the gate. Inwhen it was made, it contained the names of the Chairman of the Stephens Shire Council Cr Stimpsoneight councillors, Shire Clerk, the builder and the architect as envisaged in Priest's original design.

This caused a huge controversy in the local community who saw the councillors' names as self-serving and an insult to "our boys" who died in war. The debate raged at public meetings and in the Brisbane Courier newspaper from May to November Eventually the council acceded to the unsubtle comment of the Governor who told the audience at the opening of the gates that the councillors' services were not comparable to those of the men who fought" and hoped they would be removed.

This was done hence the conspicuously blank unmatching piece of marble on the bottom half of the tablet. The story of the sorry saga is below. The fight to have one soldier's name added to the Memorial Tablet was orchestrated by the mother and sister of Sgt William Percival Sparkes - a Gallipoli veteran and original Anzac who returned incapacitated to Brisbane towards war's end and died of a war-related heart condition a few years later.

The Stephens Shire Council rejected his name for inclusion on the Memorial Tablet as he did not "die overseas during the war", but neither did the other dozen people whose names were on the tablet - the Chairman and members of the Stephens Council, the Shire Clerk, the builder and the architect.

Cr Stimpson publicly railed against the pressure of the two women but when the Governor dropped a less-than-subtle hint, Stimpson - unrepentantly - acceeded. The marble plaque was removed in the first week of November see photo above. Click here to read the text of the Governor's comment. At the time he was well known in musical, sporting and horticultural circles from his home "Glen View" in Annerley Road, South Brisbane Shire of Stephens.

Within months of enlisting No. Sparkes landed at Gallipoli with the first Anzacs in April and was soon Mentioned in Despatches for acts of gallantry under fire and working to exhaustion in the trenches.

On 6th May received gunshot wounds to his back, foot and leg and was invalided out to Alexandria for six weeks and then returned to Gallipoli as a Corporal and then promoted to Quartermaster-Sergeant of the 41st Battery. After Gallipoli was evacuated he served several months on the Suez Canal and then took to the field in France. Here he was recommended for a commission to become an officer and was sent in December to the Horse Artillery School in St John's Wood, London.

His health however had been affected by the strain of his campaigns and on 15th June he was diagnosed with a heart murmur "due to war service" his doctor wrote on his record and was certified permanently unfit for service.

Sgt Sparkes was invalided home in August and discharged in Australia on 17th October In he stood for the Buranda seat in the State Legislative Assembly but was slurred by his opponent - the sitting member John Saunders Huxham - who accused Sparkes of being a "supposed soldier" not a real one. This, really, is the one blemish on Huxham's otherwise charitable and noble character. After losing to Huxham, Sparkes took up farming at Kuraby where his lived with his widowed mother Mrs Mary Ann Sparkes.

His health did not improve and he died on 15th December from an aortic aneurism which, in the opinion of the doctors at the Rosemount Repatriation General Hospital, "was considered as largely attributable to war service conditions". His personal war diaries and papers were purchased by the State Library of New South Wales in and they are now available to the public. The original design of the Cenotaph by Sgt Priest called for a surrounding ring of garden beds, with inspiring words carved into a zodiacal design in the paving see below.

The Cenotaph was to be mounted in a ring of blue couch grass 20 foot in diameter. Surrounding this was another concentric ring 20 foot wide consisting of white gravel. Surrounding this was another 20 foot wide ring in which seven triangles of concrete paving were to be evenly spaced. They were to display the words: Power, Riches, Wisdom, Strength, Honor, Glory and Blessing. In between the triangles were flower beds of white and red azaleas, erica, bouvardia, rhynchostylus, roses, and jasmin.

On the outside of this, and sprawling into the rest of the park, were beds of lagerstroemia, fracisea? It is not certain who drew these plans or when they were made. The second plan shown above incorporates the Cenotaph and is probably a later design They are both written in the same hand.

Historian Rod Fisher speculates that it might have been Harry Moore, the enterprising superintendent of Brisbane's parksor Ernest W Bick, curator of the Botanic Gardensor "some other exponent such as Alexander Jolly who was becoming known for his innovative landscaping in Ithaca Shire c ". The designer envisiged Honour Avenue coming straight up from the Park Road gates as it does now and heading directly to the Cenotaph which it doesn't do.

For the last section into the Memorial Gardens, a 20 foot wide gravel path was to join Honour Avenue to the Cenotaph. As well, off to the other side would be a 10 foot wide white gravel path leading off to Ipswich Road.

There was also to be another path leading off towards School Road. Ultimately, none of the gardens were built to this design. A plantation of trees was envisaged to fill the area between the bent road and Ipswich Road gates. It is not know why a bend was put in the road. There is a short road joining Villa Street to Honour Avenue up near the Cenotaph. It is lined with Canary Island Date Palms and Queen Palms.

Some plaques to soldiers were installed under these trees in but they were never in the original design. Honour Avenue - Park Road Gates.

The weeping fig to the left is the No. It still stands after nearlly a century. In the original plans for the park inthere was no mention of gates to mark the formal entrances to Honour Avenue. A resident of the area - Thomas F. Overden - was head carpenter for Burke's Shipping Line at South Brisbane when their premises were being renovated.

There were two sets of gates surplus to their needs and these were donated to the Council as imposing entrances to the park. Gates have often been used in memorials such as this. They are a powerful symbol which stand for dead soldiers' passage to whatever lies beyond. The gates comprise four brick piers with stone trimmings and wrought-iron gates designed by architect John Cohen Richards in September The Park Road gates pictured above were opened by the Governor Sir Matthew Nathan on Saturday 14th May The Ipswich Road gates were opened in October that year.

The restoration work involved repairing broken welds, straightening bent sections, repairing brickwork, restoring plaques, and applying fresh paint. The weeping fig on the left originally commemorated the service and sacrifice of Leslie Kenyon - but the plaque like all the plaques has been stolen or lost but since replaced.

On the gates of the memorial park are tributes to World War 2 soldiers. The general public after WW2 was wary of purely commemorative memorials as a Gallup poll found at the time.

The post war period saw a triumph of utility. Local communities still wanted to remember their fallen but in ways that served the living: In Queensland - like the rest of Australia - it was not as common to erect memorials to WW2 fallen but rather to add their names to the WW1 memorials offered by the previous generation.

This was an expedient solution that also avoided adding to the post-war housing shortage where precious bricks and mortar could be used on something people said was more useful. At Yeronga the solution was the bronze plaque. It was rather unusual for women to be commemorated for their efforts in the Great War. Admittedly, these plaques on the main gates and Ipswich Road gates were installed in the s but nevertheless do recognise the contribution of women in what was fought as essentially a man's war.

One to be commemorated is Julia Lyllis Rigby, eldest sister of Jack Rigby - one of the first Queenslanders to die.

She became a staff nurse and departed Yeronga for military service in India on the 2nd June She was farewelled by a party of 80 people at the Yeronga Hall and headed for the Colaba War Hospital in Bombay.

Here she tended to the injured from the Mesopotamian conflict - mainly around Basra now southern Iraq where the British and Turkish soldiers were fighting. She reluctantly resigned in July when she became married. Besides Julia Lyllis Rigby, two other local women who served their country in the Great War need recognising. Madeline and Marjorie Wilson were sisters who attended Yeronga State School and their names are on the school's Honour Board for service as nurses in the war.

Nurse Madeline Alice Kendall Wilson joined the Australian Army Nursing Service AANS in November at the age of She had finished three years of nurse training at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and had worked for the next eight months as a general medicala nd surgical nurse. She was sent to the Middle East where she boarded the hospital ship Neuralia on 8th July bound for Gallipoli.

On the way the Neuralia picked up surviving troops 21st Bn from the Southland torpedoed by a German submarine on 2nd September. Madeline served aboard the hospital ship for six months transferring the wounded, sick and dead to Alexandria before she herself became sick.

When recovered, she worked as a nurse in Cairo before returning to Australia. Her sister Marjorie Jane Gilmore Wilson joined the AANS on 1 May at the age of She was sent to the Croydon War Hospital in London and in January joined the 1st Australian General Hospital in France.

After three months service she too became sick and was sent back to England. When recovered she went back to France until June and then to Australia six months later. It is also of interest that their brother Frederic David Gilmore Wilson joined the 15th Bn AIF in July and received a severe gunshot wound in France in August requiring a long convalescence.

He returned to Australia to be discharged in July The Stephens RSL Sub-branch intended to rededicate the gates on Saturday 8th October - exactly 90 years to the day after the original opening of the gates. This co-incided with the regular monthly meeting of the Stephens RSL. However, the weather was so bad it was postponed until Remembrance Day a month later. It seems the weather was bad at the opening photo above and 90 years later.

The sub-branch's first-known early morning Anzac service took place at the park gates on 25 April From the moment people first received information of the death of their loved ones in war overseas, Australians sought knowledge of what exactly happened and what became of them. They needed that knowledge to give substance to the images they had in their minds about their soldier's last moments.

They needed to know - was it painless, and did they get blessings of their faith. Mothers wished they had been there to hold their son in their arms to palliate their suffering. It was important that if they were to come to terms with the death they needed detail. There was a therapeutic value knowing that the death was honourable.

Every grain of news of a beloved son was a comfort. It became important to know if prayers were recited over that sacred spot where they died. Even if a body was not found it was a comfort to parents and wives to know that a virtual site for their grief had been sanctified by their comrades to whom the care of the dead had been assigned. Even of there was no grave then the position of where they were last seen was important.

In the obituaries below there is enough detail to show that fellow soldiers did look after their mates; that their loved ones were given religious rites, and that their deaths were honourable. I have included a letter from Queenslander Corporal Denis Rowden Ward - 9th Battalion - who wrote to a friend while he was convalescing in hospital from a wound received at Gallipoli.

Letters such as these gave comfort to the families of dead soldiers. This letter had information that was vital to two families - information about the burial of a Lance Corporal Phillip de Quetteville Robin10th Battalion, who was killed at Gallipoli on 28 April On the Thursday 20 May men were sent up to Quinn's Post to trading strategies course by ryan cooper as supports and fill up gaps in the firing line.

We were told we should be relieved by tea time, and so left our packs with the men staying behind. Dougall took the party up, and I went with Lieut. Ross to the cmc markets stock screen, at Quinn's Post, also with about 15 men. On the side of the communication trench was a body which no one had had time to bury, so 'Dad' Hume [ Sgt James Edward Hume, ] and I took the dead soldier down tho gully a little way and buried him.

It turned out to Lance-corporal Robin, of the good old 10th Battalion, who was married at Mena, you will remember. I took his disc, pay book, and letters, and handed them later to Major Brand. It turned out afterwards that Hume had noticed his wristlet watch, but did not say anything at the time and we buried it with Robins. He had been shot through the skull, and death must have been instantaneous. His features were too disfigured for him to be identified so he couldn't be buried in a named grave.

Nevertheless, he was buried in a religious service on sanctified ground at the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli. Phillip Robin and his 'old tent mate' Private Arthur Blackburn distinguished themselves on the first day of the landing by penetrating further inland and coming closer to the objective of the Gallipoli expedition than any other Australian or Allied troops throughout the entire campaign. The pair were with the battalion scouts and after transferring from the Prince of Wales were in the prow of one of the early boats to land.

Their orders were simple but very clear 'When you get out of the boat, go like hell for Third Ridge'. To read more about Lance-corporal Phillip Robin click here. The honour board was placed on display in the window of John Clarke Kenyon's menswear shop at Queen Street for all of May. Mr Kenyon and his wife Isabella lived at "Hillcrest" on the corner of Hillcrest Avenue now Querrin St and Park Road Yeronga directly opposite the school. They lost their son Les at Gallipoli on 8th August during an action against Turkish forces.

The honour board was unveiled by the Governor on Saturday 4th May, at the school. It was mounted in the foyer of School's office. This ceremony has been going on since then and continues today. I [RW] recall when I was a student at Yeronga State School from toevery year from Grades 3 to 8 we would bring to school wreaths in the form of circles, crosses or the letter "A" and they would be displayed outside our classrooms for everyone to see.

Students were allowed to visit each other's rooms to admire the various designs some home-made, some shop-bought. After morning tea we would march through the side gate to 'our' tree in Honour Avenue. Generally we kept the same tree each year. We would lay our wreaths beside the tree and observe a minute's silence before admiring everyone else's arrangements and returning to school. The Brisbane City Council would come around the next morning to remove all the wreaths and cards - and incinerate them.

I would sometimes sneak up early and take mine home. Once, when I was in Grade 4, I had a particularly good wreath. It had a purple ribbon with yellow writing. I thought it was so marvellous I wanted to keep it from the fire. I was caught by a teacher who sent a Grade 8 boy to grab me but I struggled free and ran home along Park Road with my wreath.

Please contact me if you have photos, corrections or additional information. The following obituaries have been pieced together from the official Brigade and Battalion war diaries, from the soldiers' army records, and from newspaper clippings, BMD records, ancestry files and from relatives of the deceased.

In the tables below the number in the first column is not official but merely represents the order in which the names have been recorded on the plaques in the Cenotaph. The records of First World War soldiers have all been digitised and are available free on the website: National Archives of Australia.

The original metal plaques had all been stolen or badly damaged by and only some of the white posts remained. In the early s the Stephens RSL Sub-Branch took on the major task of replacing lost or exchange rates in uae dirhams to indian rupees plaques with the polished stone plaques which are now in place see photos below.

The idea to replace the plaques came from Joe Kelly, the then Vice-President who, along with other members of the Sub-Branch, including Norm Ballard and Jim Clarkson, placed the plaques in concrete blocks under the trees in Honour Avenue. These were rededicated by the RSL on Remembrance Day 11th November About 32 remain visible and the remaining plaques are buried under the mulch around the trees or have been accidentally removed during maintenance of the park.

The placement of the new plaques did not match the original order from I've obtained the tree-planting plan and naming order from the Brisbane City Council archives and this is shown below: In mid-April the Brisbane City Council installed the new plaques ready for the Anzac Day service in the sql stored procedure parameter null on 25th April.

They have been placed in the original order along Honour Avenue. The renovation of Yeronga Memorial Park and Honour Avenue was a committment made by BCC Councillor Ms Nicole Johnston in her maiden speech on 29th April A Land and Conservation Management Plan was drawn up by the Council and in August this plan won a Queensland Heritage Council award for excellence in heritage conservation.

They lived at Browns Plains - an outer suburb to the south of Brisbane. Alfred Jnr attended Coopers Plains State School along with his friends, the twins Oswald and Vernon Morse.

On the 1st October the three boys were playing in the nearby Oxley Creek when they saw a snake and tried to kill it. The snake bit Vernon on the thumb and left two puncture wounds. Alfred, knowing that it was venomous, and remembering what he had been taught at school about snake bites, put a torniquet around Vern's thumb and wrist and cut the wound with a piece of sharp glass to let the poison out.

They went home but Vern was scared that he would have to go to hospital if he told his parents so he went straight to bed.

In the morning he was okay. Alfred was regaled as a hero and his first aid efforts written up in papers all over Queensland see, for example, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin 9th October Inat the age of 18, Alfred joined the Field Artillery Brigade of the Queensland militia stationed in Brisbane and trained for 13 months before he resigned. He passed the entrance exams for Queensland Railways and became a porter.

He left the railways and took up a job as a carter for a bakery. The young couple set up house at 'Eroldvale', Princess Forex wti crude, off Fairfield Road, close to the South Brisbane Cemetery. They welcomed their only child Alfred Ernest Ansell on 1 May The three young men decided to enlist in the Army and attended the recruiting office together on 14 September They were all marked down as 5th Reinforcements for the 42nd Batallion AIF currently fighting in France and given consecutive Regimental Numbers: OswaldVernon and Alfred The men applied for 4 buying stocks tutorial leave from November - which was granted - so they could bid farewell to their parents.

The young soldiers left for overseas aboard the transport ship HMAT A55 Kyarra on 17th November and arrived at Plymouth 10 weeks later. They all trained at Sutton Mandeville in Wiltshire with the 11th Training Brigade and left for France together on 2 July As part of the 3rd Division AIF, the 42nd Batallion was focussed on the Ypres sector of Belgium. The three soldiers had joined the 42nd "in the field" after the major battle at Messines on 7 Junebut they were soon involved in the Warneton battle on 31 July.

They were allocated to "C" Company. At the start of Octoberthe 42nd was at the Belgian town of Poperinglie. The weather was cold, but fine and clear, on the 1st October and the batallion prepared for a major operation to the east of Ypres.

The Germans planes were bombing the 3rd Division but there was just the one casualty in the 42nd's camp. The next day - 2nd October forex door door cargo toronto the 42nd's war diary records that there were 43 officers and ORs other ranks present for the battle.

The batallion was entrained at Poperinglie and soon arrived at Ypres where they bivouaced to the east, near the cemetery.

The 3rd October passed with little incident. The battle was about to take place the next morning - the 4th October The 3rd October passed with little incident but the battle was about to take place on the morning of the 4th. It was met with an equally fearsome barrage from the Germans.

At 6am, the attack on the German lines began. The 42nd's barrage fell like a"wall of flames" on the appointed line The Red Line. The rear troops sustained a fair number of casualties and to avoid more they moved forward up Hill 40 until the whole brigade was crowded into an area of yards.

An enemy machine gun kept firing for 5 minutes. Unknown to Alfred, Vernon had just gone over the top and had been struck by one of their own shells that had fallen short.

His leg was almost completely severed from his body and the stretcher bearers took pharmaceuticals stocks to buy away to the Dressing Station. Alfred Ansell was in a trench in Thames Wood - about 50 yards on the eastern side of the railway line from Zonnebeke going towards Passchendaele see map below. He leapt from his trench and "went over the top". At that very moment a German shell landed in the trench and struck Ansell with full force.

One soldier said "he was badly knocked about" but it is evident from other eye-witness accounts that Ansell was torn apart by the bomb. The 42nd batallion took their objective The Red Line by 8am. One hundred German prisoners were taken and nine machine guns captured. However, the 42nd batallion lost 3 officers killed, 2 officers died of wounds and 6 officers wounded.

As for the "ORs", were killed or wounded - including Pte Alfred Ansell. Most of the casualties were in this Thames Wood area. That same afternoon his platoon mate, Pte James Sheridan - a miner from Gympie - buried what they could of Albert. He was buried where he fell and a rough cross was erected to mark his presence. Thomson was wounded in action the very next day. Sadly, Alfred's brother-in-law Vernon never survived. He is thought to have died of wounds in the Dressing Station that same day - 4 October Ossie Morse survived the war and returned to Australia.

The names of Alfred Erold Ansell and Vernon Eustace Morse are inscribed on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium. Sheridan visited Albert's widow Ethel in Brisbane after the war and told her the story.

He said that he packaged up Albert's belongings and sent them to her - but they never arrived. On the anniversary of her husband's death inEthel inserted a notice into the Brisbane Courier:.

Dearer to memory than words can tell Are the thoughts of him we loved so well. He had an older brother Herbert Horace and a younger one Charles Henry. The boys attended East Brisbane State School and Maryborough SS. Herbert and John both enlisted in the army in October in Brisbane.

Herbert was sent to England with the 26 Bn aboard the HMAT Commonwealth and John was sent to Egypt aboard HMAT Star of Victoria earn money online in assam in May John eventually ended up in France and was wounded in the hip by enemy fire.

He was taken to the XI Casualty Clearing Station at Bailleul and was injured again when the CCS was bombed during a German air raid on 8 July He suffered multiple wounds and died and was buried the same day.

He was 28 years old. His brother Herbert was killed in action at Villers Bretonneux on 17 July Herbert is not listed in the Yeronga Memorial. He attended St Philip School in rax stock options town.

Charles later took on a job as caterer for the military in South Africa in The Boer War. Charles married back in Kent and set up a greengrocer's shop with his wife Ellen b and they lived at 7 Kelvin Tce, Sydenham. The family of Charles, his wife Ellen and their two-year-old son Charles Brighton Beaman emigrated to Australia aboard the Osterley arriving in Brisbane on 25 November He obtained work as a caterer and waiter.

His wife Ellen died on 25 December On 11 August he enlisted in the army Reg. At the time he bidvest south africa forex his son Charles Brighton Beamen were living at Mabel Villa, Clara Sttreet off Venner Road Fairfield.

He sent his son up to live with Florence Wells his wife's sister and her husband Percy at Crestbrook Station, Toogoolawah, Queensland. Bollinger bands no mans land 25th Bn 17th Reinforcements embarked Brisbane aboard HMAT Marathon and arrived in Plymouth on 9 January After six months training in England, Charles was off to France where he joined the 25Bn.

During the Battle of Zonnebeke in Belgium Charles was killed in action on 4 October aged My thanks to Julie Brown nee Beaman for the photo of her grandfather Charles Edward above. His father Michael was a butcher and manager of Graziers' Butchering Coy at Wooloongabba, Brisbane. William had many siblings: After William was born in there came Margaret, Elizabeth, Edward, Michael Edward, Mary, Michael James, Ann, Jane, Edward, and lastly inAgnes.

The father Michael had just died 9th December before she was born. The mother, Mrs Jane Behan died in 15 August. Their orphaned daughter Agnes was enrolled at Yeronga State School in June at the age of 11 years. William followed in his father's footsteps and became a butcher, eventually opening retail butcher shops at Moorooka and Yeronga. He married Prudence Glancy in and they established themselves at the home "Macclesfield" in Yeronga Street, Yeronga, just over the train line towards the river from Yeronga Park.

In their first child - William James - was born, followed in by Norman Edwin. Son William James was enrolled at Yeronga State School asic regulated binary options arbitrage at the age of 5 years.

William Charles Behan was a member of the International Order of Oddfellows MUIOOF like his father before him. He attended the Loyal Pride of Rocklea Lodge in the Oddfellows Hall near his butcher shop at Moorooka. William joined the army on 11 September R. He embarked Brisbane aboard HMAT A74 Marathon as a member of the 17th Reinforcements, 25th Battalion. They arrived in Plymouth in January and were sent to training camp east of London. William was sent to France on 25 June and taken on pairs trading strategy pdf in the 25th Bn three weeks later.

He served his time with the 25th Bn as D-Company cook, given his extensive knowledge and skills in butchering. It fought to exhaustion to turn back the German spring offensive in April. At the beginning of Maythe battalion was billeted at Rivery on the Amiens-Albert Road in northern France. A total of 45 officers and Other Ranks OR were assembled.

They were training for a major offensive later that month, preparing to attack the German front line and take their trenches. On the 24th May the 25th Battalion moved from its billet to relieve the 28th Battalion on the front line. In the evening during 4 hours of bombardment of the batallion's trenches by the Germans, Behan had taken refuge in a cellar of an abandoned house in Maricourt, Lambourne. His cooker was outside the building and he was able to wait in safety ready to feed his men.

However, two gas shells fell directly on the house and exploded in the cellar. Beahan was half buried with dirt and severely gassed. A shell fragment penetrated just above his knee and and he had a slight wound on his head. He dug himself out and made it back to the cooker where he was immediately picked up and carried by stretcher bearers back to the RAP Regimental Aid Post.

From here he was taken to the 20th Casualty Clearing Station but died on the way. Three other men were gassed: Fred HarlingJim Taylor A and Tom Ruddell Another cook was killed but his name is not known. William was buried at Vignacourt about 8 miles NNW of Amiens.

Mrs Behan received a letter dated 6 June advising of his death. Introduction to the Eulogy for William Behan by Renee Drury April The webmaster of the British cemetery Vignacourt historical website http: She has photgraphed all of the graves at Vignacourt and is seeking photos of the soldiers buried there. He was one of 14 children six girls - Alice, Florence, Sarah, Amelia, Martha and Violet and eight boys William, John, Alfred, James, Joseph, Thomas, Leslie and George. His great-grandmother Mrs M.

Hall arrived in Brisbane from Torquay, Devonshire, in and was one of the first residents of Thompson Estate now Annerley and Wooloongabba. She married William Hale Hall and they had 12 children; and her eldest daughter Sarah Bess had the 14 mentioned above. Sarah and Albert lived in Horatio Street, Annerley.

Albert was a butcher. The children attended Yeronga State School. His enrolment record is shown below:. Leslie Norman Bess was the second youngest child in the family. He enlisted on 17 March as soon as he turned The army placed him in the 13th Machine Gun Company for training and sent him off from Brisbane aboard A71 HMAT Nestor on 21 November Les disembarked Suez on 15 December and made it to Southampton on 24 January He began his training at Sutton Very and was ready for France on 23 April Les joined the 9th Battalion Reinforcements from the 13 MG Coy in the field at Ypres.

He was in the Meteren-Becque sector suffering heavy bombardment from the instant he arrived. The men had been taking all precautions against ill-health, particularly trench foot which was having a significant effect on the men. Les came down with a lung infection which saw him sent back to England after just a day or two at the front line.

He was at the 24th General Hospital London when he died of disease. It was lobar pneumonia - an infection that had found its way in to the lobes of his lungs. He was buried in England. Daniel McNie Binnie was born in the town of Beith just to the south of Glasgow, Scotland, in Daniel had older brothers William Dunn Binnie and John Eagleshaw Binnie band younger siblings Thomas Smith Christie Binnie band Andrew Christie Binnie.

They attended the local school - Beith Academy now Garnock Academy - a mile north of their home in Dalry Rd. Beith is the most important furniture manufacturing town in Scotland so it is not unexpected to find that Daniel and William completed apprenticeships there with William Walker, Cabinetmaker. Daniel was with Mr Walker for five years when he decided to emigrate to Australia. At the age of 19, Daniel, and Thomas aged 17boarded the Ayreshire in Liverpool on 26 April and arrived in Brisbane on 30 June Daniel's oldest brother, William, was already in Brisbane working as a cabinetmaker and soon to be married to Agnes Marguerite Searle 12 Sept Daniel and Thomas lived with William at "Agnesville", Horatio Street, Annerley hence the connection to the Stephens Shire.

Daniel enlisted in the AIF on 16 November and was placed with the 4th Reinforcements of 12th Battalion Machine Gun Company. He embarked aboard RMS Orontes in Melbourne on 16 August and arrived in Plymouth six-weeks later. Daniel was sent for training in England and departed for France on 13 Novemberbut was now with the 3rd MG Battalion's 1th MG Coy as of 7 November. In October of the following year he was wounded by the gas from how much money does a hollister manager make German shell.

He was off to Reading Military Hospital in England to recuperate. After recovering, instead of sending him back to France, he was sent to Hurdcott Training Camp on 21 November for more training. This he did until 30 April when he was sent back to join the 3rd Machine Gun Battalion, 11th MG Coy in France. On the 2nd July the Battalion was at Villers-Bretonneux in northern France. The Company was camped in the woods and had just finished making their quarters comfortable.

They were preparing for the "Hamel Offensive" whereby the machine gunners were to harass enemy works and roads. They marched out at 3. They proceeded without difficulty. On the night of Thursday 4th, the machine gunners went forward at The German were quick to come up from deep dugouts and getting their gun active.

The Germans responded with rounds. During the engagement over the next night Daniel Binnie was killed Saturday 6th July along with two other ORs. Ten Anzac day post office trading hours were wounded. He was buried at Neuville. John Thomas Blake was born in Liverpool, England, in March to parents John Thomas Blake and Ann Mary Blake nee Furlong. He had a sister and two brothers.

John birla power stock market to Australia at age 17, arriving aboard the SS Whakatane on 21 January He joined the Moreton Regiment in Brisbane and was promoted to Lieutenant during his five-year's service. John returned home to Liverpool in to see his family and when the war broke out he returned to Australia. John married Liverpool girl Doris Ellen Dodd in Brisbane on 24 July and they set up home in "Tanathea" at Marquis Street, Thompson's Estate, now Greenslopes.

He was working as a labourer in a fruit cannery. Their only child, Eric John, was born in March John enlisted in the AIF in Brisbane on 29 January and was placed with the Training Battalion at Enoggera Barracks, Brisbane. In March he was assigned to the 4th Reinforcements, 49th Battalion AIF and, because of his rank with the Citizens Forces Lthe was made acting Sergeant in May He departed Brisbane aboard HMAT Boorara on 16 August as part of 49th Battalion and arrived in Plymouth in October.

John was sent to 13th Training Battalion at Codford where he reverted to ranks on 18th November reverted from Sergeant to Private. They soon cancelled that and promoted him to Acting Corporal before heading to France where he reverted to Private when officially taken on strength with the 49th Battalion in late December He became known as Jack, or "Blakey".

The 49th Battalion had finished that year alternating between front-line duty, and training and labouring behind the line. When Jack joined them this routine continued through the winter of Early inthe battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, supporting the 13th Brigade's attack at Noreuil on 2nd April. In May the focus of the AIF's operations moved to the Ypres sector in Belgium.

The battalion was about to fight in the battle of Messines on 7th June. The objective for the 13th Brigade was to capture two lines of trenches. Of this the objective for the 49th Battalion was to take right side trenches from O Zero hour at Messines was 2am on the 7th June The men steadied themselves for the assault at The time arrived and a creeping barrage of artillery shells began about yards on their side of the objective.

This curtain of falling shells moved forward at 30 yards a minute until it reached the green line. There it continued for 15 minutes and then was raised started rolling past the line and continued moving forward. This was the cue to begin the assault. Their jumping off line was O C-Coy and D-Coy were the first to go but they noticed that the barrage was falling short and some of their own men were getting hit.

Nevertheless, the barrage was keeping the Germans pinned down, and with the support of the battalion's Lewis guns and machine guns were able to capture the line of trenches. Then A-Coy on the left side of the jumping-off line, and B-Coy on the rightbegan their advance. The first wave C and D Coys had made it to the line and the second wave Jack's was following behind. When he was about yards from the line he was in a shell hole wounded.

He was being bandaged-up and a sniper's bullet got him in the head. Jack was killed instantly. Some men said that he was just unconscious and was swaying back and forth. However, one of the stretcher bearers, and a mate, Bill Brazier said that he was beside Jack when he was hit and he died immediately. Jack was believed to have been buried where he lay - in the shell hole - but it is not certain. Bodies were collected from the battlefield but some were badly torn apart by constant bombing.

No known grave exists for Jack but his is memorialised at The Ypres Menin Gate Memorial Panel 29Belgium. Jack's wife Doris and son John Eric were provided for by way of his pension and they moved to the suburb of Deagon. The Queenslander 15 September John "Jack" Bradshaw was born on 7 March to William Bradshaw and Marian Bradshaw nee McElroy.

He had three brothers and three sisters: Thomas bornSamuelMary ElizabethJane and David H was known to all and sundry as "Jack". The family lived in Ekibin Road, Annerley, and the children attended the nearby Junction Park State School.

Jack undertook compulsory cadets mexican stocks traded nyse time for four years with Area 9A and trained at Fort Lytton. He had work as a grocer. He trained and was taken on strength with the 25th Battalion 10th Reinforcements on 17 DecemberReg. On the 28th March he departed Brisbane aboard HMAT Commonwealth A73 for the Middle East. After some training there he was sent to France with the 25th Battalion but upon arrival was stricken with tonsillitis and hospitalised.

He rejoined his unit at Tara Hill near Albert in northern France on the 2nd August In the morning of the 2nd August the battalion left for Pozieres to relieve the 19th Battalion in the front line. On the put option bull spread August the battalion experienced heavy shelling by the enemy.

Thirteen of the men were killed and 20 others wounded. The shelling continued all through the night and into the morning of the 4th of August. That day, shelling remained heavy. At 11am 7th Brigade Headquarters ordered an attack on the Pozieres Ridge enemy trenches with the objective of capturing them.

Then the main barrage began with the men advancing behind the protective curtain of falling shells. The Brigade captured the trench but the enemy counter-attacked with a very heavy barrage of shells on both trenches - mainly the devestating 9. It was now impossible to get supplies forward to the OG2 trench.

The men held their position until 6pm when they were relieved by the 28th Battalion - which had been held in reserve. This included Jack Bradshaw who would have been killed somewhere between the OG1 and OG 2 trenches most likely. I have marked the likely spot on the map below. As well, 9 officers and ORs were wounded, and 1 officer and ORs were missing in action.

Pozieres Ridge was now in the hand of the British. The carnage was so great that men's bodies were unidentifiable. The shells dismembered the bodies and then dismembered them again and again. Jack was buried at the Courcellette British Cemetery in France that same day but he remained unidentified. He was posted as "Missing in Action" MIA along with other ORs. A Court of Enquiry reported almost a year later on 5 July that Jack was no longer MIA on the 5th but "Killed in Action" that day - 5th August Jack's father wrote on March asking if any of Jack's effects were recovered.

It is not courses to take to be a stockbroker to envisage why. Around the anniversary of Jack's death that year his family inserted a notice in the local paper:. He died for his country. Sleep on, beloved, sleep and take thy rest. Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour's breast. We loved thee well, but Jesus loved thee best. Gilbert Campbell Brodie was born 17 April at Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, to John Brodie and Is earnest money refundable in florida Annie Brodie nee Walden.

He had older brothers John Edward and Robert, and younger siblings Francis and Margaret who died at 7 weeks. They lived at Riverview Terrace, Fairfield. Gilbert attended the local State School and became a whipmaker by trade. He joined Junior Cadets and became a Sergeant, then Company Sergeant with Senior Cadets and then a Sergeant with the Voluntary Engineers.

His father John died in January Gilbert enlisted on 10 January and began training in Brisbane. His best mate, Albert Burtonalso a whipmaker with the same employer, decided to enlist at the same time. They were both placed with the 11th Field Coy Engineers and took a train to South Australia to depart for England on 31 May aboard HMAT A29 Suevic out of Adelaide. After training in England, Gilbert or "Gib" as he was known having progressed from Private to Sapper to Corporal, was off to France in November His brother Robert Arthur, back in Brisbane, had enlisted in the 4th Pioneers Battalion in September In France, Gilbert and the 11th Field Coy Engineers had taken a train to Amiens and then on to Armentieres where they were providing support for the 3rd Division AIF around the Somme in Northern France.

The task of an engineer is to build, install or repair the supporting requirements of battle. In October they had arrived at Ypres and were billeted in cellars and shelters while awaiting the 3rd Division's next move. It was to be soon.

Do illustrators make money the 4th Octoberthe 3rd Division attacked the Anzac day post office trading hours on two fronts. Under the command of Lt Henry St Aubyn MurraySgt Gilbert Brodie and party left Ypres and moved to the newly captured "Green" line on the 11th Brigade front in order to repair the damaged roads for their own troops.

They also constructed and wired barbed-wire two "strong points". This was all done under furious enemy bombardment from the southern side of the Somme.

Their mission was a success. They were both injured. Gilbert had three days in hospital with a bullet wound graze to the right knee. Lt Murray had a similar injury which was dealt with at the hospital but required no admission. Thirty-eight men were wounded and two killed in action. In October his brother Robert was wounded at Ypres. Gilbert Brodie was promoted to Sergeant 1 December and was presented with a DCM Ribbon in the field at the Somme and the citation read [ London Gazette3 Junepage ]:.

His brother Robert never quite recovered from his injuries and returned to Australia in April no longer fit for service. In April, Gilbert was promoted to Company Sergeant Major CSM. On 26 August the 11th Field Coy Engineers was near the town of Bray just to the south of Albert on the banks of the Somme. At 2 pm an enemy shell landed beside him, exploding and killed the horse. Gilbert received a severe wound in the right leg above the knee. It was a compound fracture of the femur and was bleeding profusely.

He was also wounded in the groin and buttock. His leg was dressed by the Field Ambulance at the Dressing Station but he died there example of forex trade 7pm that night from loss of blood.

The extract from the Tastytrade futures options Diary for the month of October reads:. Gilbert was buried at the Chipilly Communal Cemetery about 7 km SW of the Bray battlefield.

They dressed the grave with the cross and flowers. His Commanding Officer, Major Robert J. Donaldson, wrote to Mrs Brodie in early September with his condolences. It is with great sorrow that I write to tell you of the death of your son, who had been with the 11th Field Company through all its experiences.

He had risen to the position of company sergeant-major, and his loss was a severe blow to the company. One of the bravest men I ever knew, he always put duty and the care of those under him first, and was thus a splendid example to all his comrades.

He died as the result of wounds how much does home depot pay an hour in california the leg received from a shell while super vising the arrangements at a new forward camp, which we were forming during the victorious fighting on the Somme.

He recovered conscious ness in hospital when he was taken there, and we all hoped that he would pull through, but the shock was too great, and he quietly passed away. He is buried in the cemetery at the little French village of Chipilly, on the Somme.

His comrades are now engaged on making a handsome carved wooden cross to mark the spot. I hope it may be some little consolation to know that your brave boy shone out as a particularly fearless, capable, and conscientious soldier, and that his memory will always live in the affectionate remembrance of both officers and men of his company.

Donaldson, Commander - 11th Field Coy, Engineers. Mrs Brodie received aforex company son's effects the next year. This included his Distinguished Conduct Medal ribbon. The medal itself - which was yet to be presented to Gilbert - was presented to Mrs Brodie at a public ceremony in Brisbane later on. For many years from onwards, Gilbert's family inserted a memorial notice in the Brisbane Courier.

The first one on 26 August had the words:. One of the best, a loving son, A noble brother, brave and true, A loving memory left behind, We mourn for you, dear Gib, No eyes may see us weep; But many a silent tear is shed, While others are asleep. Frederick Eric Caldwell was born in Brisbane on 21 June to William Alfred Caldwell and Mary Elizabeth nee Wilcox. His siblings were Gertrude bWilliam David bCecil and Reginald b He was known to everyone as Eric. The family lived in Francis Street, Annerley, off Ipswich Road.

Eric attended the Brisbane Normal School meaning non-denominational on the corner of Adelaide and Edward Street in Brisbane. After that he attended the Central Technical College on the Queensland University of Technology site and completed a carpentry apprenticeship. In September Eric joined the army and was placed with the 9th Battalion AIF 15th Reinforcements.

He departed Brisbane aboard HMAT Commonwealth A73 on 28 March bound for the Middle East. After several months of training in Egypt he left for England for more training, finally departing for France in October Eric was taken on strength with the 9th Battalion at Fricourt, on the Somme, while heavy bombardment by the enemy was in progress. He was in and out of the front line and varied this with training and fixing trenches.

On 15th February wounded in the left elbow that required hospitalisation. This was only a wound from friendly fire while training and he was soon back in action. From April to September Eric was training, working and fighting in France. They departed their camp at Chateau Segard in Belgium and marched through Shrapnel Corner to arrive at their assembly point on the morning of the 20th.

Their progress was slowed by a heavy enemy barrage. Zero hour was 5. However, Eric was killed during this action. The exact point is unknown but we can work out an approximate location based on the forward position achieved by the Battalion that morning. It was noted in the war diary for the 9th Battalion that the barrage was too slow between objectives and should have been shortened by one hour. He had an older brother Percy, a twin Henry, and later had siblings Frank, William, Euphan "Effie" Mary and Frederick.

The family shifted to Maryborough Queensland for Rev. Capern to take up a position as Congregational Minister. They subsequently moved to Rosewood.

Jack became a linotype mechanic working for a newspaper business. He was employed with the Wide Bay Burnett News at Maryborough and subsequently at the Brisbane Newspaper Company Brisbane Courier. He enlisted with the army on 11 January at the tender age of 18 years 2 months and was placed with the 3rd Machine Gun Company.

Jack travelled by train to Melbourne where he embarked for England aboard A35 Ulysses. It reached Sierra Leone on 5 December and he changed ships to arrive in England on 28 December Jack was transferred to the 4th Division Machine Gun Coy in February and began training at Durrington Camp, Wiltshire. The 4th MG Coy left for France on 7 September and arrived France the day after. Illness tonsillitis forced Jack back to England but he was back with his mates in early March and being promoted to Lance Corporal.

They were quickly reminded of home when they were able to vote in the Queensland election on 8 March at Neuve Eglise, Belgium. In late March the Fourth Division was rushed to the Somme region to stem the German Offensive.

There it repulsed the advancing Germans in hard fought battles at Hebuterne and Dernancourt. In August the Battalion was in Cachy on the Somme, France firing the howitzers at the enemy and receiving shrapnel and gas in retaliation. For much of early August it was rainy and boggy with few suitable targets so the guns were pretty silent. On the 6th they were back at billets and details of a "big operation" became known.

The War Diary records "If good weather lasts, success is assured for the stunt". Ten guns of 4 MG-Coy went forward in Mark V Star tanks to the "blue line". The remaining six guns of the Company went forward at 2. It was very boggy and difficult to move the guns. Half the tanks broke down and the Company received considerable casualties late the morning of the 8th.

There were many more casualties from the German 0. Jack was killed during this tank advance 8 August The Company lost 2 killed, 17 wounded. On the 11th, the Company moved back to their billets. Jack was buried the next day at the Memorial Plot Heath Cemetery but was later reinterred at the Cerisy-Gailly New French Military Cemetery.

Fanny bDaniel born 15 DecemberThomas William b and Elizabeth Martha b - all born at Milton, Brisbane. The family shifted to Herbert Street, Annerley, Brisbane where the children attended Junction Park State School. Daniel had been a member of the cadets - C Coy, 9th Bn - and he enlisted in the army on 15 April at the age of 21 years.

His Regimental Number was At the time he had been working as a gardner and also as a steward aboard a dredge in Moreton Bay. Daniel proceeded to England aboard the Saang Choon from Brisbane on 19 September and arrived in Plymouth 10 weeks later. His Regimental Number was changed from to A. He was taken in to the 32nd Bn of the 8th Brigade, 5th Division at Bernafay in France on 19th March as part of a large number of reinforcements.

The German Army had already withdrawn to the Hindenburg Line allowing the British front to be advanced and the 32nd Battalion participated in the follow-up operations.

The 32nd battalion subsequently missed the heavy fighting to breach the Hindenburg Line during the second battle of Bullecourt as the 8th Brigade was deployed to protect the division's flank. Much of the next 7 months was spent in training, patrolling, bayonet practice, gas training, musketry, building roads, and more roads, and building pontoons. They had some contact with the enemy at Bapaume in May while patrolling but that was an exception.

The only large battle in in which the 32nd Battalion played a major role was Polygon Wood, fought in the Ypres sector in Belgium on 26 September. On September 25ththe 32nd Bn had moved to the front at Ypres. At that stage the Batallion had 48 officers and ORs Other Ranks. There were some casualties and as men were killed, wounded or fell to illness, reinforcements were sent in. November and December saw them in trenches at the front where they experienced heavy shelling, enemy raids on posts and even spotted enemy aircraft.

By mid-December they were out of the trenches and in reserve back in Boulogne. On Christmas Eve, they prepared for a big day and their commanding officer reported that "All companies had a splendid Christmas Day. GOC 8th Bde [Lt Col Charles Davies] visited. Games were played and concerts were held after dinner". New Year's Day was a day of rest and the Batallion photo was taken on 2nd February For the rest of the month the batallion trained, had competitions, awards, and games of football.

The 32nd v 29th Australian Rules was won by 32nd by 7 points "an excellent game". The 32nd Bn was to march from Desevres on 31st January to the front at Messines and relieve the 11th Bn.

Men had to carry an overcoat, waterproof sheet, iron rations, towel, shaving gear and dry rations for 1st February. They also had to carry 21 magazines per gun. The men began moving forward at 4pm with 5 minute intervals between companies. Daniel Carter was in A Coy - the Reserve Company.

They relieved the 11th Bn at Gapaard near Warneton Belgium on the 1st February as planned but it was surprisingly quiet. For the next two weeks the enemy was not sighted although there was heavy artillery fire and trench mortars received.

The men felt stale after such a long time in the trenches, especially when it was so oddly quiet. However, that was about to change for Daniel. He was a part of a raid by troops on the enemy line but the barbed wire had been insufficiently cut by artillery and the troops could make no progress. They had to turn back. Daniel was hit by gunshot in the back and side. He and four men and one officer were wounded and quickly taken to the 53rd Casualty Clearing Station at Bailleul.

Daniel died of wounds the next day 20 February The day after that the 32nd Bn was relieved by the 58th Bn and headed back to safety. They had just 21 days in the front.

It was relatively quiet but Pte Daniel Carter was one of the men who gave his life in those 21 days. He was buried in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France. Four weeks later the casualty list appeared in the Brisbane Courier. It was Casualty List and gave the circumstances for Queenslanders. It began with a poem by John Oxenham:. They died that we might live- Hail! In Daniel's mother wrote to the army requesting his medals Victory Medal and British War Medal but Mr and Mrss Carter had shifted from Herbert St Annerley to Soden Street Yeronga and after Daniel's death on to Brookfield near Indooroopilly without notifying the army.

The parcel was sent back from Soden Street to the army but eventually found its way to Daniel's parents. These medals and a photo of Daniel in uniform shown above were presented to the Stephens Sub-Branch of the RSL by the family and they now adorn the wall in the foyer. Thomas James "Jim" Carey was born in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland on 1st July to parents William and Anna Eliza Carey nee Lowry.

His father was tailor at 9 Lombard Street Belfast in a partnership trading as McCartney and Carey Merchant Tailors. His siblings - all born in Belfast too - were Arthur bAnnie bMaud b and William b The family home was Albertbridge Road, Belfast. It was a very handsome bay-fronted house on one of the main roads of East Belfast. It was in a very well-to-do area of Belfast in those days and is a largish house.

Jim, in fact, was the 8th great grandson of Mary Boleyn mistress of King Henry VIII and her husband Sir William Carey. Jim, as he was known to all and sundry, attended the local public school but had a private tutor for his later studies. He left Ireland in about and seems to have become a merchant sailor working aboard the Cumbrian destined for South Africa.

Here he deserted ship on 11th July and on 4th October that year joined the Cape Mounted Police in Natal, South Africa, stationed at Durban. This was quite a sum for that time, equivalent to several months' pay, and designed to stop men leaving.

Jim became a seaman and in 10 August in Belfast at the age of 26 qualified as a 2nd Mate for foreign-going ships. He married Gertrude 'Gerty' Louisa Heaney b 4 Dec on Thursday, 25th June,at the Belfast Registry Office.

Jim then completed his 1st Mate's ticket on 23 December He was now qualified to be 1st Mate on foreign-going ships or 2nd mate on square-rigged sailing ships. Jim came to Australia on board the Bremen leaving Antwerp on Sunday, 2nd October, and arrived in Brisbane on Monday, 21st November 51 days.

His name is not on the passenger list but is thought he worked his passage on the Bremen considering he was a Merchant Seaman. Jim and Gertrude took up residence in Raymond Terrace South Brisbane, not far from the Ship Inn Hotel.

Jim continued to work as a marine officer and they had a son Edric Cecil Carey who was born in Brisbane on 3rd April He was known as "Cecil". Gertrude stayed home to raise him, their only child.

On the 9th May Gertrude died of tuberculosis and was buried at the Toowong Cemetery. Cecil went to live with his aunt Florence Keown Gertrude's sister and uncle Richard Keown in Yeronga. They became Edric's guardians as Jim was away so often. On 1st Octoberat the age of 33, Jim joined the army in Brisbane and was sent to the Exhibition Grounds for training. He was placed in the 15th Battalion Reg.

He was promoted to Lance Corporal on 14th October in D-Coy with other men and 3 officers. They continued training at Enoggera and headed off by train for Sydney in mid-December.

Then it was off to Melbourne again by train where they boarded HMAT A40 Ceramic on 22 December bound for the Middle East. The ship arrived on 3rd February and the Battalion trained at Aerodrome Camp at Heliopolis until 11th April. It was then they found out they were not going to France but to Gallipoli.

They embarked the Seang Bee on 12th April arriving at Lemnos on the 15th. Jim's Company now F-Coy witnessed the British landing at Cape Helles as they passed by and anchored off Anzac Cove at 4. Two companies were disembarked under heavy shrapnel fire. It is not known if Jim landed in this first wave or in the second one at Nevertheless, all companies were ordered to occupy a position between the 1st and 2nd Brigades up on the ridges until 30th April.

Jim kept a diary of the events. It is now in the possession of his grand-daughter June Carey. June let me photograph the diary: Following this, the Battalion was sent up to Monash Valley where they inflicted severe casualties on the enemy at Pope's Hill for the next two days. They earned a rest so they were bivouacked in Monash Valley for the 4th and 5th May and were joined by Captain Quinn and party.

It was then time to rejoin the fight. Monday 26th [April] 8pm. Went into firing line on right flank. Had two of 15th shot down alongside me. About midnight we relieved another Company in the firing line. Sunday [2nd May ] Had a fine young chap named Burnett shot down alongside me. Enemy's machine gun caught him just as he exposed his head above trench. A few minutes after Burnett got caught - being shot through the jugular vein - died in a few minutes. Half the battalion not including Jim was sent back to Quinn's Hill to relieve Captain Pope.

Enemy snipers were causing heavy casualties. Then on the 7th the other half of the battalion including Jim relieved their first half at Quinn's Post. Jim left his diary behind in his kit and his last entry is shown above. On May 9th the Commanding Officer Major Godley decided to attack the enemy trenches in front of Quinn's Post - a distance of between 25 to yards away. This was planned for 9pm but was postponed until However, the trenches couldn't be held and the men were instructed to withdraw to their original position at 6am the next day 10 May.

The word to evacuate was not passed to all of the men in the trench Jim was in. Five men at one end didn't get the message so they stayed - unaware of the evacuation. The enemy made a determined counter attack and entered the trench from both ends. The five men made a dash for a small unfinished communications trench opening out of the trench proper. Two men got away but three were shot. Jim was one of the three shot and killed, as was Pte Ernest Sidney Ernest was shot as he scrambled up the side of the unfinished sap.

There were heavy casualties killed or wounded during the withdrawal. The names Monash, Quinn and Pope would go down in history. Jim was buried at Anzac Cove, Gaba Tepe that same day with Rev. His death was reported in Australian papers 31st Casualty List on 5 June The photo from The Queenslander is shown above.

The Belfast Evening Telegraph also carried his name and photo although the date is wrong [please see credit and note at the end of this entry]. In January Jim's son Cecil and his guardians Florence and Richard Keown shifted to Buderim just to the north of Brisbane. Cecil eventually married to Carrie Campbell and they had two girls and a boy. Cecil died in The photo of Tom 'Jim' Carey in the Belfast Evening Telegraph was supplied by Nigel Henderson info greatwarbelfastclippings.

He has over newspaper photos of Australian service personnel of Irish origin who died in WW1 and were pictured in the paper.

Nigel is happy to be contacted by relatives in Australia for copies. Firstly, have look at his Belfast Evening Telegraph webpage at www. As part of the Anzac Centenary in AprilYear 10 school student Miranda Robson from Moreton Bay College, Brisbane, visited Pte Thomas Carey's grave at the Beach Cemetery, Gallipoli, to pay her respects. She never knew 'Jim' Carey, nor is she related, but was inspired by the life of this soldier from south Brisbane.

Here are a few photos from Miranda:. It was a bit of a walk from the bus I guess, but took only a few minutes. It was a warm day, but there was a lovely cool breeze and blue skies. It took a few minutes to find the grave, but when I did, there was a short feeling of triumph and excitement, but then I only felt incredibly sad.

I placed the little knick-knacks I had collected - a flag, a little wooden cross that an Australian primary student wrote a thank you on, and a felt poppy - around the grave. Everyone else was moving around, mostly looking at Simpson's grave nearby, but I stayed there.

I had planned words on the bus, however, when I got there they simply left my mind. I read the words on his grave, but all I could think of was words from another grave from a few days earlier, with a name at the time I had memorized. I remember the words inscribed on his grave: We left shortly after, but that feeling didn't leave me for the rest of the day.

Andrew Clark was born at his mother's home at Great Eastern Road, Parkhead, Glasgow on 17 March His parents were Andrew Clark Snr and Joanne Clark, nee Dunn. They were married in June but his father was working as a warehouse packer and lived at 96 Gray Street, Glasgow at the time of Andrew's birth. His mother was a mantle worker and lived in her family home with her parents.

They had a second son James. The boys attended school at Strathclyde, Glasgow. In the family emigrated to Australia. They boarded the Everton Grange in Glasgow and arrived in Brisbane on 30 January Mr and Mrs Clark were aged 47 and 41 respectively, and Andrew was 18, and James Andrew obtained a job at the Ross River Abattoir in Townsville.

In May there was a dispute at the abattoir about the employment of German nationals - given the war with Germany had been going for 10 months. There was more trouble at the Council quarry and the local newspaper Townsville Daily Bulletin stirred up nationalistic feelings with its headline "Call to Queenslanders" in June calling for all able-bodied men to volunteer for the army.

The Council renamed German Gardens as Belgian Gardens to make their opposition to all things German clear. Andrew heeded the call and was in Brisbane the next month signing up for the duration of the war. It was 23rd July when he joined and he was placed with the 25th Battalion for training at Enoggera.

With him at enlistment was best mate Henry 'Harry' Burns of similar age. They met at enlistment and became firm friends - discovering they were both from Glasgow and that Harry lived at Hozier St, Glasgow just 13 miles east of Andrew's family home. Harry was also placed with the 25th Battalion. After two months training the two mates were ready to head off overseas with the AIF.

Andrew's parents organised a 'farewell gathering' at their home at Sandy Creek in Brisbane. This is the old name for the suburb of Tarragindi. It was a big event; all residents of the district and other friends attended a big party on Saturday 2nd October at which 'many handsome and useful presents' were presented to Andrew and Harry.

Musical items were provided by Messrs and Mesdames Pollock, Anderson and Ross, and Messrs Anderson, Mc Culloch and Brown-Miller. Andrew and Harry departed Brisbane aboard HMAT Seang Bee on 21 October for the Middle East.

In Cairo, Andrew was transferred from the 25th Bn to the 9th Bn 4 March and after some more training headed off to France arriving in April His mate Harry was sent to England where his found out about his mother's death and that his sister was left to fend for herself in Glasgow. He went absent without leave AWL for three months as he returned to Glasgow to look after his now-unemployed sister Deborah in Bridgetown, Scotland.

He was tracked down by the police, arrested, court martialled and given 6 months jail. This was commuted to 60 days forfeited pay and he was sent off to France to fight. Andrew, meanwhile, was fighting in France but had become sick. He was sent back to England in May for treatment of a hernia, nevertheless he was back in France to rejoin the 9th Bn in September Throughoutthe 9th Battalion was engaged in operations against the Hindenberg Line. Andrew became sick with scabies in July but was back in France in August.

A month later - in Belgium - he was eligible for a fortnight's leave in England and he took advantage of it. It is not certain where he went but it would be likely that he headed up to Glasgow to see his grandparents Andrew and Margaret Clarke, and James and Ellen Dunn.

When he returned to Belgium in September the 9th Bn was in the Steenvorde area doing training, although they were in and out of the Dominion trenches as well. Artillery shelling was very heavy on both sides but there were moments of silence. In December they were in the Passchendaele-Zonnebeke area and then in the new year they were in Messines - in the front line. In earlythe capitulation of Tsarist Russia allowed the Germans to concentrate their strength on the Western Front, and they subsequently planned for a major offensive in March.

So in February the 9th Bn was training for this action and by the end of the month were working in the Support Lines in the Crater Dugouts in Hollebeke, Belgium. Early March saw the 9th Battalion in the front line, relieving the 16th Bn. On the 5th March, at about 6pm, they suffered heavy gas shell bombardments from the Germans in the area of Fusilier Walk and the valley nearby. It lasted about 3 hours but the gas hung around all night. The use of gas shells by the enemy was very troubling.

On the 6th, there was more heavy gas shelling from 4pm and lasting 4 hours. In the diary of Lt Ernest Henry William Meyers C-Coy, 9 Bn there is reference to this gassing.

Ernie wrote that he had been in the front line for seven days:. Twelve officers including Lt Meyers and Other Ranks had been evacuated "gassed" on the morning of the 7th. Many died before they made it to hospital, others died in hospital, and many more were sent home to Australia unfit for service.

Ernie Meyers made a full recovery only to be blown up by another gas shell in August that year. He was awarded a Military Cross with two bars for his bravery, and returned home safely to Australia in Andrew had escaped harm as his company was on front line scouting duties at the time of the gassing and not in the trenches.

From the 8th March onwards Andrew's Company B-Coy was providing a working party to fix trenches and barbed wire. On the 10th March, B-Coy was shifted from their billets in the Tournai Camp to Victoria Dugouts so they would be nearer their daily work. They were doing work on the embankments on the northern edge of the Ypres-Comines Canal and railway excavations.

Andrew was popular with the men in his platoon 6th. A mate said "he was fond of a drop and when he was tight he would say I'm not drunk, I'm poisoned". On 19th March Andrew was working on the canal bank in the Spoil Bank area when a German gas shell came in and exploded near him. His mate Pat Doyle was second next to him and saw Andrew hit. There was a lot of gas hanging around at the time. Shell fragments wounded Andrew in the arm, thigh and knee.

His mate in the same platoon VI Platoon - Bert Daley - dressed his wounds and the Field Ambulance stretchered him out to the Casualty Clearing Station CCS. The combination of the gas and wounds were too much. Andrew died at the CCS the same day and was buried at the Outtersteine Communal Cemetery Extension, Balleul also on the same day.

The CCS Chaplain Rev. This was important for his Free Church Presbyterian parents who were keen to know that he was buried in consecrated ground as were most parents. Two memorials were proposed to recognise Andrew's supreme sacrifice. One was in Honour Avenue at Yeronga see photos at top organised by the Stephens Council.

The other was a cairn, a flagpole and a crow's ash tree Flindersia australis erected in a small area of parkland at the intersection of Fernvale Road and Andrew Avenue, Tarragindi. Andrew Clark was believed to be the only person from the Sandy Creek district who was killed in the war. An adjacent area of land beside the avenue, donated by local families, was also dedicated to the memory of Andrew Clark.

Private Andrew Clark's father - Andrew Clark Snr - died inhis mother Joanna died inand brother James in All the men commemorated here deserve their story to be told but some stories seem a tale of extra lonliness.

John Clarke was one of eleven children of James and Winifred Clarke of Wagga Wagga New South Wales. When he joined the army in July he claimed to have been just 43 years 8 months old but it seems more likely that he was really about 48 and concerned about being too old to enlist.

John was a shearer and engine driver who had come to Queensland with two of his brothers - Thomas and James - in the late s but had lost contact with them. Their parents were both dead; his mother in and his father in John joined the 25th Battalion in Brisbane and embarked 2nd Reinforcements aboard HMAT Shropshire on 17 August While the rest of his battalion headed to Egypt for training, John became ill with influenza and was transferred to hospital in Malta.

He rejoined the unit on 17 October at Gallipoli and was soon manning the trenches. The 25th Battalion, however, had a relatively quiet time because the last major Allied offensive had been launched, and turned back, in the previous month.

Again he suffered from influenza and was sent to hospital in Alexandria while the rest of the 25th stayed on until evacuation of the peninsular on 18 December thence returned to Egypt.

John rejoined his unit in Tel-el-Kebir Egypt and travelled by ship to Marseilles in March The 25th was the first AIF battalion to arrive there.

Now fighting as part of the 2nd Division, it took part in its first major battle at Pozieres between 25 July and 7 August Daily, waves of men - John Clarke included - tried moving forwards across the trenches but were constantly repulsed by the barrage of shells - and thus met with little success.

On the 5th August John was caught in a massive counter attack by the enemy and was supposedly "evacuated wounded" along with nine officers and ORs other ranks.

On that day 24 ORs died and one officer and ORs were missing. In the course of this two week battle the 25th Battalion suffered casualties. At first John was recorded as "wounded" but when they could find no trace of him changed this to "wounded or missing" on 11 October His next-of-kin brother Thomas could not be tracked down and it was discovered he had died so it was up to his sister Sarah Winifred Gunnell - now in Sydney - to deal with the army.

She wrote in March inquiring of his condition and they replied in May that year that they had yet to locate him. When still no trace of him could be found a Court of Enquiry by the CO of the 25th that year 25 July changed his status to KIA - killed in action. The Red Cross reported that after a search of all French hospitals they could find no trace of him either. It would seem from reading his files in the National Archives that the army may have brought some of this upon themselves.

The medical file of another Private John Clark - a 33 year old butcher from Victoria with a Service No. The names are identical and the numbers, sometimes written in thick pencil in a field hospital, look alike. They both left Australia in mid, were sick upon arrival in the Middle East, recovered and went to Gallipoli together, and were sent back to Egypt ill.

John Clark from Victoria was recommended for discharge as medically unfit in August and sent back to Australia. John Clark from Brisbane was sent to France and went "missing" at the same time 5 August It is not hard to believe that the John Clark from Brisbane was thought to have been sent home.

That is what is in his medical file. He, however, is not lost - he rests in the fields of Rue Marle near Armentieres in France. His medals and personal effects were sent to his sister after the war. Fergus John Clarke was born on 15th August in South Brisbane but lived in the small town of Taroom in the Banana Shire of Queensland, about km NW of Brisbane.

His father Charles Clarke was born in London in and married Elizabeth Baird aka Bird and had three children: Charles EdwardSidneyand Fergus John Charles Snr owned the Taroom Hotel on the corner of Dawson and Yalwynd Streets and it was where the family of five resided.

In the hotel burnt down and Charles Snr separated and left Queensland for Auckland in New Zealand. Mrs Clarke rebuilt the hotel, and in applied for, and received, a Licensed Victualler's License. Mr Clarke, it seems, left New Zealand for San Francisco in Fergus attended boarding school at The Southport School TSS on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane. Here he was a Senior Cadet for two years. After school, inFergus moved to South Brisbane where he became a barman, no doubt having skills he developed as a child at the Taroom Hotel.

Brother Charles returned to Taroom to manage his mother's hotel. Sidney took the plunge and married Lilian Violet Williams in and had a son Charles Fergus Clarke the following year. They lived in cattle country in central Queensland. Fergus enlisted in the AIF on 30 August and was placed with the 13th Reinforcements of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment. He embarked HMAT A36 Boonah and departed Sydney on 22 January arriving in Egypt in March where he joined his unit.

Once in Egypt Fergus undertook some training and was seconded to the 1st Light Horse Regiment for six weeks. He patrolled and scouted on the western side of the Nile mainly around the town of el-Bahnasa, protecting the Nile valley from bands of pro-Turkish Senussi Arabs. A the end of April Fergus rejoined the 2nd Light Horse Regiment and continued patrolling in the same area - near towns such as Sohag, Kantara and Romani. This continued for many months. On 18 May, as part of its parent brigade, it joined the forces defending the Suez Canal.

Brother Charles had enlisted in the 14th Light Horse Regiment A-Squadron in the previous November in Brisbane and he had arrived in Egypt in May Fergus and Charles were sent to England in August and September, respectively, for training.

Fergus was then off to France at the end of December and joined the 49th Battalion in the field at Flers. The battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and supported the 13th Brigade's attack at Noreuil on 2 April Later in the year, the focus of the AIFF's operations moved to the Ypres sector in Belgium. There the 49th fought in the battle of Messines on 9th June and the battle of Polygon Wood on 26th September.

Another winter of trench routine followed. Apart from a couple of weeks in hospital with an abscess Fergus had now spent the past five months in and out of the trenches of France. Charles meanwhile had been transferred from the 14th Light Horse to the 49th Battalion but had spent most of in England either sick or in training. In October the 49th Battalion was still at Ypres. On the 9th the Brigade took over the front line relieving the 6th Brigade. During the advance Fergus was wounded in the leg by an enemy shell and taken to Bn HQ to have it dressed.

On his way to the major Dressing Station he died. By then it was 12th October By now Mrs Elizabeth Clarke appears to also have died, so it was just the two sons left: Sidney, who was in Queensland, and Charles Jnr in France. Both brothers were beneficiaries of Fergus's will but Sidney, even though younger than Charles, acted as Next of Kin.

Charles continued in France before being repatriated to Australia in April Fergus is remembered on the Taroom War Memorial, The Southport School Honour Board, and of course in Honour Avenue at Yeronga. Christopher Arthur Clifford was born in Paddington, Sydney, to parents Christopher Clifford and Ellen Clifford nee Irwin.

They had married in Sydney in and had three children: Sarah JaneElizabeth Elsie b and Christopher Arthur b Mother Ellen "Nellie" died in when the family was still in Sydney. After her death they came to Brisbane where the father worked as a Horse Hair Drafter collects and grades horse hair for use in leather upholstery.

They lived at Thompson's Estate at Annerley. The children attended Junction Park State School but Mr Clifford Snr went insolvent in Christopher Jnr did his three years of compulsory Senior Cadet training with Military Area 9A includes Annerley followed by two years with the Citizens Forces 9th Infantry and Artillery while became, and worked as, a school teacher.

He tried to join the army but was rejected because he was under-standard for chest size was Christopher enlisted in the AIF in Brisbane on 25 January - with his father's written permission. He became known as "Charlie" and was called up on 27 March He took a train to Sydney and embarked on the HMAT Hororata A20 for England, arriving in August. Charlie was placed with the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone on the Salisbury Plain for four months and then headed off to France.

He caught up with the 25th Battalion B-Coy in January when they were at Warneton on the Belgian border. The batallion fought to turn back the German spring offensive in April, and then participated in battles at Morlancourt, Hamel, Amiens and along the Somme Valley and having a great deal of success.

At the start of August the 25th Battalion was at Blangy-Tronville on the eastern outskirts of Amiens.