WAR: 1914
August 4th, 1914 –
Britain declares war on Germany as a result of its invasion of neutral Belgium. Being part of the British Empire, Australia is also at war and commits to supporting Britain in the conflict.
August 10th, 1914 –
Alfred Niblett (Lilydale): When the war begins he is 29 years old and living and working in Lilydale, he had arrived from England just two years earlier. Being on the Imperial Army Reservist list he reports for duty at the British Consulate in Melbourne on this day and is accepted. He would soon be sent for training alongside the AIF at Broadmeadows, and then sail for England with the first convoy to serve with the Royal Field Artillery.
August 11th, 1914 –
Harold Hughes (Montrose): After finishing his schooling at the Montrose State School he worked for the London Bank in Geelong, where he became a Lieutenant in the Senior Cadets at Geelong. He then went on to university studies in England and was here when the war started. On this day he enlisted in the Universities and Public Schools Corps in London, he is 19 years old.
August 15th, 1914 –
The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) is formed, it is to be an expeditionary force of 20,000 full time volunteers to go overseas to serve in the conflict.
August 16th, 1914 –
Ralph Goode (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a grocer at Hutchinson’s Store in Lilydale to enlist in the AIF. He is 26 years old and is the first man from both Lilydale and the Shire of Lillydale is join the AIF.
Stoker James McClure (Yering), HMAS Pioneer: He is part of the crew that captures the German steamer ‘Neumunster’ west of Rottnest Island. He is the first man from the Shire of Lillydale to see action in the war.
August 17th, 1914 –
William Aicher (Mt Evelyn): Even though his parents were both born in Germany, he doesn’t hesitate to leave his job as a metal spinner to enlist in the AIF. He is 22 years old and is the first man from Mt Evelyn to join the AIF.
Frederick Davies (Kilsyth): Leaves the family property ‘Valley Farm’ in Kilsyth to enlist in the AIF. He is 22 years old and is the first man from Kilsyth to join the AIF. Three of his brothers would also enlist later in the war.
Horace Twiner (Mt Dandenong): Leaves his job as a farm labourer in the district and enlists in the AIF. He is 20 years old and the first man from Mt Dandenong to enlist in the AIF.
Harry McCormack (Wandin): Leaves his job as a clerk to enlist in the AIF, he is 19 years old and the first man from Wandin to join the AIF.
Herbert & Edwin Meade (Mooroolbark): Both men had grown up in Mooroolbark. At the time Edwin was working on the family orchard in Yarra Rd, Croydon and Herbert as a shop assistant when the brothers decided to enlist in the AIF together. Edwin was 25 years old and Herbert 21, they are the first men from Mooroolbark to enlist.
Albert Street (Gruyere): Leaves his job as a driver to enlist in the AIF, he is 20 years old and the first man from Gruyere to join the AIF.
Henry Holbrook (Montrose): Leaves his job as a clerk to enlist in the AIF, he is 20 years old and the first man from Montrose to join the AIF.
Arthur Newman (Yering): Leaves his job as a musician and enlists in the AIF, he is 20 years old and the first man from Yering to join the AIF.
Archie ‘Smiler’ Williams (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a printer with the ‘Lilydale Express’ newspaper to enlist in the AIF, he is 19 years old.
Alexander Bonney (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a fireman and enlists in the AIF, he is 27 years old.
Walter Clegg (Wandin): Leaves his job as a storeman and enlists in the AIF, he is 31 years old.
Horace Allen (Mt Evelyn): Leaves his job as a clerk and enlists in the AIF, he is 29 years old.
William McLeod (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a linesman at the Post Master General’s Office to enlist in the AIF, he is 28 years old and married with two children. Although he is living at Windsor at the time he had spent the past two years living and working at Lilydale’s Post Office and had played football and cricket for Lilydale.
Alfred Parish (Lilydale): Originally from Paris, France, he leaves he job as a horse breaker to enlist in the AIF to go and fight in support of the land of his birth, he is 25 years old.
Charles Willimott (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a grocer to enlist in the AIF, he is 26 years old.
Thomas Williams (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a timber worker and enlists in the AIF, he is 33 years old.
Adrian Camp (Wandin): Leaves his job as a carpenter and enlists in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
August 18th, 1914 –
Lyndon Watt (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a clerk at the Lilydale Railway Station to enlist in the AIF, he is 19 years old.
Leopold Muir (Wandin): Leaves his job as a farm labourer around the Wandin district to enlist in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
John Taggart (Wandin): Leaves his job as a driver around the Wandin district and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 19 years old.
Frank Olle (Gruyere): Leaves his job as a school teacher at the Gruyere State School and enlists in the AIF, he is 27 years old.
William Johnson (Mt Evelyn): Leaves his job as a farm labourer and enlists in the AIF, he is 26 years old.
Jack Lester (Yering): Leaves his job as a worker at Olinda Yarra in Yering and enlists in the AIF, he is 23 years old.
Wilfred Tucker (Mt Dandenong): Leaves his job as a cyanider and enlists in the AIF, he is 23 years old.
Harry Allen (Mt Evelyn): Leaves his job as a tobacco worker and enlists in the AIF, he is 28 years old and married.
Frank Kingsley-Norris (Lilydale): He had been born in Lilydale where his father was the local doctor. At the time he was a 21 year old medical student studying at Melbourne University when he enlists in the Australian Light Horse. The following is an excerpt from his auto-biography ‘No Memories for Pain’.
‘Recruiting was opened and the doors were crowded. I do not believe that the stirring challenge to right a wrong really meant very much to me or to thousands of others, but what an opportunity, what an adventure, if only I could be in time, as according to the papers it might all be over in a few months. Fortunately, I was just twenty-one and my parents, who were in London, could not say nay or counsel me as to the wisdom of finishing my course, as many others were doing.
We told the Warden of our decision and trooped down to the Town Hall for a not too strict medical examination. All clear and, on paper anyway, I became a soldier, No 101, at seven shillings a day. My name, my number and my religion were to be stamped on an identity disc, to be worn at all times around my neck.
Next day we trooped down to Victoria Barracks for our posting. I had no idea what unit to join, but after talking it over with a medical student from Trinity who was applying for the 2nd Field Ambulance, with which he had served in the militia, I decided to keep with him.
In the Barracks we joined a motley crowd carrying their bare essentials in all sorts and sizes of containers, suitcases, Gladstone bags and newspaper parcels. Sergeant-Majors with needle-pointed, waxed moustaches and voluminous voices were shouting instructions in an endeavour to reduce the chaos to some sort of order.
From one corner came the command, ‘All for the 2nd Field Ambulance, fall in here’. I fell in. ‘Attention, left turn, quick march’. In the crowded confusion I became separated from my fellow student and also from my sense of direction – I turned to the right and found myself in another group. Fortunately, I recognized three students of my year.
Carrying our odd bags and parcels, we marched off in the rain along St Kilda Road, puffed with cheers of the pedestrians on the footpaths, and then entrained for Broadmeadows. Only when we were lined up on the platform did I realise that I had joined a Light Horse Unit’.
August 19th, 1914 –
The Broadmeadow Army Camp is officially opened as the site of the main camp for the reception and training of recruits for the AIF from Victoria.
Pte Frank Kingsley-Norris (Lilydale), 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance: In an excerpt from his auto-biography ‘No Memories for Pain’.
‘From Broadmeadows Station we shambled along in the rain for about a mile and turned into camp. There was only one short metal road in the area, after which we plodded across the sticky black mud to our lines, sited in the most remote corner of the camp. Our bell tents had been erected and, having sorted out our group of ten, we dumped our gear and sat down, sheltered from the rain at last.
There was a trumpet call which someone recognized as ‘cookhouse’ and I picked up my enamel pannikin and eating irons and joined the line. With a generous dollop of stew on my plate, two thick slices of bread and jam and a ladle of tea in my pannikin, I had my first and by no means worst, army meal, sitting in the mud in our tent’.
Douglas Fergus Scott (Mt Evelyn): Leaves his job as a motor mechanic to enlist in the AIF, he is 24 years old.
Arthur Chapman (Wandin): Leaves his job as a clerk to enlist in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
Hugh Wilson (Coldstream): Leaves his job as a blacksmith to enlist in the AIF. He is 25 years old and is the first man from Coldstream to enlist in the AIF.
Henry Hunt (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a grocer to enlist in the AIF, he is 26 years old.
Arthur Sangston (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a mill carter to enlist in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
August 20th, 1914 –
Charles Noden (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a carpenter to enlist in the AIF, he is 19 years old.
Arthur Bedbrook (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a groom and gardener and enlists in the AIF, he is 27 years old.
Harry Matthews (Seville): Leaves his job as a traveller and enlists in the AIF. He is 21 years old and is the first man from Seville to enlist in the AIF.
August 21st, 1914 –
Howard Guttmann (Olinda): Even though his parents were both born in Germany, he doesn’t hesitate to leave his job as a labourer and enlist in the AIF, he is 26 years old. He is also the first man from Olinda to enlist in the AIF during the war.
Arthur Fenton (Mt Dandenong): Leaves his job as a dairy man to enlist in the AIF, he is 19 years old and is the first man from Mt Dandenong to enlist.
Charles Clarke (Mt Dandenong): Leaves his job with the Tramways and enlists in the AIF, he is 25 years old and is married with one child.
August 24th, 1914 –
Arthur Mattingley (Wandin): Leaves his job as a blacksmith in Wandin to enlist in the AIF. He is 46 years old and married but tells the authorities he is only 38 years old.
Thomas Mackay (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a driver in Lilydale and his home in Croydon to enlist in the AIF, he is 26 years of age.
Harry Hoadley (Olinda): Leaves his job as a cook and enlists in the AIF, he is 31 years old.
Leo Maxwell (Wandin): Born in Wandin, although living in NSW at the time, he enlists in the AIF, he is 22 years old and divorced.
Henry Lalor (Montrose): Leaves his job as a clerk and enlists in the AIF, he is 20 years old.
August 25th, 1914 –
Frank Nicholls (Wandin): Leaves behind the family farm in Queens Rd, Wandin to enlist in the AIF, he is 23 years old.
Lance Matthews (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a horse breaker and enlists in the AIF, he is 23 years old.
Leopold Muir (Wandin): Although allotted to the 6th Battalion, he is discharged as medically unfit due to the condition of his teeth. He later re-enlists in July 1915.
August 26th, 1914 –
Stoker James McClure (Yering), HMAS Pioneer: Is part of the crew that captures the German vessel ‘Thuringen’ off Rottnest Island.
James Metcalf (Mooroolbark): Leaves his job as a farm labourer in Mooroolbark and enlists in the AIF, he is 19 years old.
Richard Grossman (Mt Dandenong): Leaves his job as a carpenter and enlists in the AIF, he is 24 years old.
Harold Ritchie (Kilsyth): Leaves his studies to enlist in the AIF, he is 21 years old.
August 28th, 1914 –
Ordinary Seaman Samuel Rouget (Wandin): He is transferred from HMAS Melbourne to HMAS Protector, a gunship that had been in service since the Colonial days. On this day he left Sydney as part of the crew of HMAS Protector to escort the two new Australian submarines, AE1 & AE2, as a unit of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, assembled to capture the German New Guinea colonies.
September 1st, 1914 –
Sr Alice Card (Olinda): She is on the staff of the American Ambulance Hospital when it opens at the Lycee Pasteur in Neuilly sur Seine, France with 170 beds. Later that month they get their first patients, French soldiers wounded in the fighting at Marne. She would serve here throughout the war and is possibly the first Australian nurse to go into active service in the war.
September 3rd, 1914 –
Adolphus Geiger (Lilydale): Was living in Perth, WA when he left his job as a motor mechanic to enlist in the AIF, he is 23 years old.
September 9th, 1914 –
Clyde and Walter Hoffman (Montrose): Both twin brothers enlist in the AIF on the same day, they are 21 years old.
September 10th, 1914 –
John Mounsey (Seville): Leaves his job as a labourer in South Australia where he is living and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 45 years old and a widower with children.
September 12th, 1914 –
Albert Lockwood (Silvan): Leaves his job as a blacksmith and enlists in the AIF, he is 18 years old and is the first man from Silvan to join the AIF. Although accepted and allotted to the 3rd Signal Troop, he is later discharged for refusing to be vaccinated against smallpox prior to going overseas.
Percy Whyte (Olinda): Leaves his job as a horse driver and enlists in the AIF, he is 26 years old and married. His brother James would follow him and enlist in a few weeks’ time.
September 14th, 1914 –
Reg Peisley (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a harness maker and enlists in the AIF, he is 29 years old.
September 15th, 1914 –
Joseph Sies (Wandin): Leaves his job as a coach builder and enlists in the AIF, he is 19 years old.
Fremont Tabbut (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a boot maker and enlists in the AIF, he is 23 years old and originally from Minnesota in the USA where he had served for a time with the American Marines before immigrating to Australia.
THE SURRENDER OF GERMAN RABAUL
September 17th, 1914 –
Ordinary Seaman Samuel Rouget (Wandin): On board the HMAS Protector, he is in Rabaul Harbour when the surrender of the German New Guinea colonies is signed. The HMAS Protector is acting as one of the guard ships.
Donald Lord (Mt Evelyn): Leaves his job as a motor mechanic and enlists in the AIF, he is 26 years old and married.
September 18th, 1914 –
Herbert Read (Seville): Leaves his family’s property ‘Tecoma’ in Seville and enlists in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
John Rose (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a labourer to enlist in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
September 19th, 1914 –
William Colville (Wandin): Leaves his job as a horse breaker to enlist in the AIF, he is 40 years old.
William Teese (Mt Evelyn): Leaves his job as an engineer and enlists in the AIF, he is 41 years old and married.
Pte Frank Kingsley-Norris (Lilydale), 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance: In an excerpt from his auto-biography ‘No Memories for Pain’.
‘We had been in camp about six weeks when the rumours began. All doubtful information was known as a ‘furphy’. The communal latrines for rankers were the great gossip centres, certainty, conjecture and rumours were bandied about from seat to seat. The sanitary cart consisted of a large galvanized tank mounted on two wheels on the side of which was the name of the maker – FURPHY’.
Pte Donald Fergus Scott (Mt Evelyn), 6th Battalion: In a letter to his parents.
‘I speak very highly of the officers and the general treatment at the camp. The work at first appeared hard to one who had not done much walking, but it was all undertaken with a hearty cheerfulness. All in the camp are looking forward to proceeding to the front and hope the rumour is incorrect that they are to be detailed for garrison duty to Great Britain. We volunteers fight for the flag and we will be disappointed if we do not have the chance of fighting’.
September 21st, 1914 –
Leonard Lawlor (Coldstream): Leaves his family’s farm in Coldstream to enlist in the AIF, he is 21 years old.
September 23rd, 1914 –
James Whyte (Olinda): Leaves his job as a drover and enlists in the AIF, he is 33 years old and married. He had previously served in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer with the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles. His brother Percy had enlisted a few weeks before.
September 25th, 1914 –
Michael McCristal (Lilydale): Leaves his job on the railways to enlist in the AIF, he is 25 years old.
September 26th, 1914 –
Pte Arthur Sangston (Lilydale): While still at Broadmeadows Military Camp he is discharged from the AIF as ‘not likely to become an efficient soldier’.
September 29th, 1914 –
Robert Purves (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a labourer to enlist in the AIF, he is 28 years old.
Nathaniel Davidson (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a boundary rider to enlist in the AIF, he is 28 years old.
October 1st, 1914 –
Barney Gilson (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a butcher to enlist in the AIF, he is 35 years old.
October 2nd, 1914 –
Gilbert Mounsey (Seville): Leaves his job as a stockman in South Australia to enlist in the Australian Light Horse, he is 22 years old. Another three brothers would later follow him and enlist as well. His father, John Mounsey, had been a local volunteer who had served in the Anglo-Boer War.
October 9th, 1914 –
Herbert Mackin (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a farrier and enlists in the AIF, he is 29 years old and married.
October 12th, 1914 –
John Casson (Kilsyth): Leaves his job with the railways and enlists in the AIF, he is 21 years old.
Lt Harold Hughes (Montrose), Royal Warwickshire Regiment: Having enlisted in England, he is gazetted to become a Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He had previously served as a Lieutenant in the Senior Cadets in Geelong.
October 15th, 1914 –
Article published in the ‘Lilydale Express’ –
OUR SOLDIERS. PRESENTATIONS AT THE CAMP.
The President of the Lillydale Shire (Cr Wallace), Crs Hughes, McGhee and Blair, Messrs Phillips, Milne, Simpson, Janson, and A Stallworthy (hon sec), journeyed to Broadmeadows Military Camp on Thursday, 15th inst, and presented a very serviceable leather wallet and a typewritten letter under the seal of the shire council and signed by all the councillors, the shire secretary, and Messrs Phillips, Janson, Milne, Gilson, Beresford, W Hill, Pettit, Simpson, McGregor, Dr Short, and Stallworthy, to the following thirty-five members of the Expeditionary Forces from the Lillydale Shire:
Frank Nicholls, Samuel Goodwin, Thomas McKay, Fred Davies, E Meade, H Meade, Jas. Murphy, A H Robertson, A R Williams, L Watt, W L Aicher, D F Scott, J Taggart, Hugh D Wilson, Corp McLeod, Leo Muir, Ralph Goode, A Parish, A J Mattingley, Corp C Noden, A Niblett, W Colville, Jas J Jeffries, Thos E Milner, A E Bedbrook, C Willimott, L J Lawlor, R L Purves, Henry Hunt, Alb Lockwood, Leonard Dawes, Fred Dawes, Norman Rooney, B C Gilson, M McCristal.
October 17th, 1914 –
Iver Hamilton (Mt Evelyn): Leaves his job as an overseer and enlists in the AIF, he is 25 years old.
THE FIRST CONVOY
October 18th, 1914 –
Over the coming days hundreds of soldiers board troopships around Australia and set sail for the convoy’s meeting point just off the coast of Albany, Western Australia. The following local men were part of that first convoy.
In Sydney the loading of AIF troops for the first convoy begins.
HMAT Argyllshire
Dvr Leo Maxwell (Wandin), 1st Field Artillery Brigade
October 19th, 1914 –
In Melbourne the loading of AIF troops for the first convoy begins.
HMAT Wiltshire
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance
Pte William Johnson (Mt Evelyn), 2nd Field Ambulance
Pte Harry Allen (Mt Evelyn), 2nd Field Ambulance
Pte Harry Matthews (Seville), 2nd Field Ambulance
Trp John Taggart (Wandin), 4th Light Horse Regiment
HMAT Hororata
Cpl William Aicher (Mt Evelyn), 6th Battalion
Pte Horace Allen (Mt Evelyn), 6th Battalion
Pte Henry Hunt (Lilydale), 6th Battalion
Pte Harry McCormack (Wandin), 6th Battalion
Pte Donald Fergus Scott (Mt Evelyn), 6th Battalion
Pte Lyndon Watt (Lilydale), 6th Battalion
Pte Richard Grossman (Mt Dandenong), 7th Battalion
Pte Clyde Hoffman (Montrose), 7th Battalion
Pte Walter Hoffman (Montrose), 7th Battalion
Pte Henry Lalor (Montrose), 7th Battalion
Pte Wilfred Tucker (Mt Dandenong), 7th Battalion
Pte Horace Turner (Mt Dandenong), 7th Battalion
HMAT Benalla
Dvr Arthur Bedbrook (Lilydale), Australian Army Service Corps
Pte Frederick Davies (Kilsyth), 8th Battalion
Pte Henry Holbrook (Montrose), 8th Battalion
Pte Jack Lester (Yering), 8th Battalion
Pte Thomas Mackay (Lilydale), 8th Battalion
Pte Lance Matthews (Lilydale), 8th Battalion
Pte Edwin Meade (Mooroolbark), 8th Battalion
Pte Herbert Meade (Mooroolbark), 8th Battalion
Pte Adrian Camp (Wandin), 8th Battalion
Pte Archie ‘Smiler’ Williams (Lilydale), 8th Battalion –
In a letter to his mother.
‘We broke camp on Monday ___ at 9am, entrained at Broadmeadows and at 1pm went aboard the ____ at the railway pier; we sailed at 3pm the same day for ____. The trip was full of interest to the troops. Many of us had never been outside the Heads – indeed many from the country districts had never seen the ocean at all and to them the huge porpoises, whales, sharks, albatrosses and various other sea inhabitants encountered were very interesting. The weather too was good and not many seasick’.
October 20th, 1914 –
HMAT Armadale
Dvr James Whyte (Olinda), 1st Australian Reserve Park
Dvr Percy Whyte (Olinda), 1st Australian Reserve Park
HMAT Karroo
Gnr Alfred Niblett, (Lilydale), Royal Field Artillery
HMAT Shropshire
Gnr Arthur Fenton (Mt Dandenong), 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Gnr Howard Guttmann (Olinda), 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Dvr Albert Street (Gruyere), 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Cpl Arthur Chapman (Wandin), 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Shoeing-Smith Hugh Wilson (Coldstream), 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Pte Arthur Mattingley (Wandin), Divisional Ammunition Column
HMAT Southern
Dvr Alfred Parish (Lilydale), 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Dvr Charles Clarke (Mt Dandenong), 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
Pte Frank Kingsley-Norris (Lilydale), 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance.
In an excerpt from his auto-biography ‘No Memories for Pain’.
‘It was obvious that something was astir. Next day after church parade we were told to pack and pile our kitbags and after dinner there was a full muster mounted parade. Off down the camp road, left wheel past the old hotel at the road junction, then right wheel down Sydney Road leading to the city.
At Latrobe Street we wheeled to the right and headed for Victoria Docks where our transport was berthed. We had our horses loaded in their stalls by the end of the afternoon, and with none to wave us farewell we were away, as the evening shadows added to our mixed feelings’.
Walter Staff (Wandin): Leaves his job as a mill worker in Woori Yallock and enlists in the AIF, he is 32 years old.
October 21st, 1914 –
HMAT Orvieto
Drv Harry Hoadley (Olinda), 5th Battalion
Pte Frank Nicholls (Wandin), 5th Battalion
Sgt William McLeod (Lilydale), 5th Battalion
Pte Frank Olle (Gruyere), 5th Battalion
Pte Arthur Newman (Yering), 5th Battalion
Pte James Metcalf (Mooroolbark), 5th Battalion
Spr Charles Noden (Lilydale), 2nd Field Company Engineers
Spr Joseph Sies (Wandin), 2nd Field Company Engineers
October 22nd, 1914 –
William Lysaght (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a butcher and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 24 years old old.
October 24th, 1914 –
Albert Briers (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a butcher and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 21 years old.
October 27th, 1914 –
James Currie (Seville): Leaves his job as a motor engineer and enlists in the AIF, he is 37 years old. He had previously served with the Queen’s Edinburgh Volunteers in Scotland.
Richard Pendlebury (Seville) – Leaves his job as a painter and enlists in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
Charles Campbell (Kilsyth) – Leaves his orchard at Kilsyth and enlists in the AIF, he is 29 years old.
Ormond Footit (Lilydale) – Leaves his job as carrier and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 23 years old.
October 31st, 1914 –
HMAT Ascanius
Pte Walter Clegg (Wandin), 11th Battalion
November 1st, 1914 –
Thirty-eight Australian troopships and ten New Zealand troopships, making up the first convoy, leave Albany, Western Australia bound for Egypt. All of them would travel further than any army in history to defend the British Empire. Sadly though, of the forty-six local soldiers on board the first convoy, twelve would never see Australia again, their fate being a grave in a cemetery overseas.
Able Seaman Robert Croydon McComas (Montrose): Is part of the crew of the HMAS Sydney who is escorting the first convoy.
November 2nd, 1914 –
Dvr Adolphus Geiger (Lilydale), 1st Division Motor Corps: Leaves Australia bound for Egypt on board the HMAT Freemantle.
Pte Thomas Williams (Lilydale), 11th Battalion: Leaves Australia bound for Egypt on board the HMAT Ascanius.
Pte Alexander Bonney (Lilydale), 11th Battalion: Leaves Australia bound for Egypt on board the HMAT Ascanius.
November 6th, 1914 –
George Williams (Lilydale): At the time he is living at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where he is working as a carpenter. He leaves his job to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, he is 25 years old.
November 7th, 1914 –
Stanley Nicholas (Lilydale): Leaves his property in Murrindindi, NSW and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 39 years old and married.
THE SINKING OF THE EMDEN
November 9th, 1914 –
Able Seaman Robert Croydon McComas (Montrose), HMAS Sydney: Is part of the crew of the HMAS Sydney when they engage in a naval battle with the German ship Emden. The enemy ship is run aground on the Cocos Islands and captured. He later writes to his family saying: ‘if ever I was proud to be an Australian it was the day we captured the Emden’.
Pte Archie ‘Smiler’ Williams (Lilydale), 8th Battalion: On board the HMAS Benalla, in a letter to his mother:‘We got a wireless that the Sydney, one of our convoy, had sighted the German cruiser Emden, which had been causing much trouble in the Indian Ocean. At 6.00am that morning she gave chase, and got within range at 9.50am and opened fire, and in twenty minutes the Emden was so disabled that she had to be beached on one of the Cocos Islands. Later in the day the Sydney captured a collier of the enemy’s and after taking off her crew, sank her’.
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: On board the HMAS Wiltshire, from his diary – ‘A very exciting day ‘HMAS Sydney’ sailed west at full speed. 10am attack alarm sounded, our stern guns cleared ready for action. We are fifteen miles east of the Cocos Island.
11.00am message to say ‘HMAS Sydney’ in action, great excitement on board.
11.30am another message saying the ‘Sydney’ had smashed the boat, which had been beached on Cocos Island to save sinking. Another message saying boat is ‘Emden’, great rejoicing and cheering, also that two killed and thirteen wounded on ‘Sydney’, which put a damper on our celebrations.
It was a great sight when the Japanese cruiser, which is with us, sailed across our bows at full speed with all guns cleared for action to help the ‘Melbourne’ protect our west flank in case the ‘Sydney’ had more than she could manage. She was so close that we could see the men at the guns. There is another German cruiser about called the ‘Konigsberg’, so things are a bit exciting at night. We were approx two thousand miles from Australia’.
November 10th, 1914 –
Ernest Clow (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a shoemaker and enlists in the AIF, he is 20 years old.
Gnr Alfred Niblett, (Lilydale), Royal Field Artillery: On board the HMAS Karroo, in a letter to a friend in Lilydale –‘I suppose you have all heard about the Sydney smashing up the Emden off Cocos Island. It was a blessing all round to have that boat out of the way; it meant a lot to everybody too, as she was not a great way off Australia when the Sydney went after her. You can imagine the rejoicing on the boat because we could have nothing against her guns.
That was the first piece of excitement. The next was when we had our boat run into us at four o’clock in the morning. We had the back of the boat all smashed right in. The other vessel rebounded and hit us again on the side, knocking that in also, but as luck would have it she never made a hole or leaked. It shook us up a bit I can tell you’.
November 11th, 1914 –
Lt Harold Hughes (Montrose), Royal Warwickshire Regiment: Sails from England to France and is attached to the 2nd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. He would be promoted to Captain in February 1915.
Duncan Campbell (Wandin): Leaves his job as a canvasser and enlists in the AIF, he is 21 years old.
Felix Hargrave (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a labourer and enlists in the AIF, he is 22 years old.
November 15th, 1914 –
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: On board the HMAS Wiltshire, from his diary – ‘Land in sight at daylight, dropped anchor off Colombo at 2pm. Hundreds of natives in their katamarangs and sampans to see us, a wonderful sight. Colombo from the sea is a beautiful sight some very fine buildings. A five funnel Russian cruiser, ‘Akold’, here, also Sydney and numerous other boats. At night it’s like fairyland, reminded me of St Kilda beach’.
November 19th, 1914 –
Ordinary Seaman Nolan Footit (Gruyere): Is transferred to HMAS Una, a sloop that was a former German motor launch, and sails with it as part of the crew for the next few months around the waters of New Guinea.
Kavan Lawlor (Coldstream): Leaves his job as farrier’s floorman and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 30 years old. His older brother Leonard has already enlisted.
November 20th, 1914 –
Pte Archie ‘Smiler’ Williams (Lilydale), 8th Battalion: On board the HMAS Benalla, in a letter to his mother: ‘On the 20th of November we were inoculated against typhoid. The life on board ship is fairly easy, chiefly lectures, physical drill etc’.
November 21st, 1914 –
James Mackie (Seville): Born in Scotland, he had only been in Australia for three years when he leaves his job as a baker at his father’s store in Seville to enlist in the AIF. He is 19 years old and requires his father’s permission to go overseas. In giving his consent his father writes to the authorities that he ‘had great pleasure in granting him my permission to join the expeditionary force in the time of need like this’.
November 24th, 1914 –
Norman Mounsey (Seville): Leaves his job as an engine cleaner in South Australia and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 23 years old. One brother had already enlisted and another two would follow later. His three brothers would serve with the 9th Light Horse Regiment while he would be with the 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance.
November 25th, 1914 –
Noel Syme (Gruyere): Leaves his job as a farmer in the Gruyere district and enlists in the AIF, he is 23 years old. His grandfather is David Syme, the founder and proprietor of The Age.
November 27th, 1914 –
Ordinary Seaman Samuel Rouget (Wandin): Is transferred to HMAS Fantome, a Cadmus class sloop, and would spend the next few months as part of the crew as they undertake survey operations around Australian waters as well as performing a number of patrols around the Asia-Pacific region.
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: On board the HMAS Wiltshire, from his diary –‘We are well into the Red Sea, I’ve had enough of it all ready. I did not know what it was to sweat till I got here, was doing fatigue in No 5 hold, getting up rotten potatoes; I’d sooner be a stoker in the furnaces’.
November 28th, 1914 –
Norman Fitzpatrick (Lilydale): Attempts to enlist in the AIF but is rejected on account of varicose veins.
December 1st, 1914 –
James Rushton (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a labourer and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 23 years old.
December 2nd, 1914 –
George Vale (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a miner and enlists in the AIF, he is 36 years old.
December 3rd, 1914 –
The first convoy arrives at Alexandria, Egypt. Eventually the men will be disembarked and most are sent to Mena Camp, Cairo next to the famous Pyramids.
December 4th, 1914 –
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: On board the HMAS Wiltshire, from his diary –‘Great satisfaction, leave granted for squads of fifty men ashore at a time in charge of officers. Great disappointment, all leave stopped owing to some men breaking ship and swimming ashore previous night, also pelting native water police with potatoes. On account of this we weighed anchor at 10am and put out to sea and dropped anchor about three miles out’.
December 5th, 1914 –
Sgt Noel Syme (Gruyere), 1st Australian Clearing Hospital: Leaves Australia bound for Egypt on the HMAT Kyarra.
December 8th, 1914 –
Pte Donald Fergus Scott (Mt Evelyn), 6th Battalion: At Mena Camp, Cairo. In a letter to his parents – ‘We disembarked at Alexandria and went by train to Cairo and then marched out to the present camp (about 10 miles) in full marching order – rather a long way after being seven weeks in the boat. We are right under the Pyramids and Sphinx almost – only a hill between us and nothing but the great desert around us. We do not have to do as much drill as at Broadmeadows, four hours a day only, not including marching – and each man gets leave every three days.
We go into Cairo either by electric tram, donkey, carriage, taxi, or even a camel at times. Cairo is not the city it is cracked up to be and everything is frightfully dear. At first glance everybody appears to be in a chronic state of poverty and filth and they speak the vilest of English.
It was wonderful to walk around the Pyramids and the Sphinx and through the temples and tombs, which have been dug out of the same by Egyptologists, Napoleon, Gordon and Kitcheners all fought battles round about where we are camped. The English soldiers are not in any way nearly as big as the Australians. The New Zealanders are all right but they are not as well equipped as our men’.
December 9th, 1914 –
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: In a letter to his family – ‘I had a grand trip but am not sorry to be off the boat. We were on board eight weeks, all but a day – a long time. How it was that we were so long on the trip, was on account of being anchored at Port Said and Alexandria waiting for a berth at the quay. I had two lots of leave granted at Alexandria and I can tell you I’ve seen sights that I never thought existed in this world. Poverty! We don’t know what it is in Australia.
I think the natives are the most filthy people in the world. I went through the native quarters. The streets are only as wide as some of our lanes and here you find the utmost filth of every description – rotten fruit, vegetables, meat and stinking water on the ground, to say nothing of the mangy dogs and donkeys and here the natives buy all their food – meat hanging in the street, bakers with cakes something like dried pancakes lying on the ground and fish fried in some kind of oil. It is no wonder that the place reeks with disease.
The natives pestered the life out of us trying to sell oranges, dates, walking sticks, post-cards, etc and we often had to get the assistance of the native police to clear them off; the police do it properly, and often treat the natives unmercifully with their sticks. I saw women and children struck across the face. We remonstrated with the police, but they only laughed at us and told us the natives are used to it and know what to expect if they don’t do what they are told. The police treated us with great civility and often came to our assistance. The business portion of the city is very fine and there are some beautiful buildings. The shopkeepers are all French or Egyptian and very few of them speak English’.
December 10th, 1914 –
George Ingram (Seville): Leaves his job as a carpenter and enlists in the AIF, he is 30 years old and married. Having previously served with the artillery in the militia he is soon seconded to the Tropical Force to help man the guns on Matupi Island in Rabaul Harbour.
December 13th, 1914 –
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: At Mena Camp, Cairo. From his diary – ‘At daylight what a sight, nothing but sand, not a sign of vegetation anywhere. I’ve heard of the Sahara desert, now I’ve seen it, God help the man who’s ever lost in it. Very hot in middle of day, my eyes are very sore from the glare off the sand. Put in day dragging stores for cook house, very glad when night came when I rolled myself in blankets and slept the sleep of the just. The sand makes a great bed but dew is very heavy and its very cold during the night. Very fair water supply but rather poor ‘tucker’.
December 14th, 1914 –
Frederick Crooks (Wandin): Leaves his job as a labourer in the district and enlists in the AIF, he is 21 years old.
December 15th, 1914 –
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: At Mena Camp, Cairo. In a postcard to his young sister Winnie –‘This place that I’m at is such a funny place, nearly all the people are black and the men wear dresses blue, red and green all colours, and the ladies have a cloth half way over their faces and they ride such funny little donkeys and when the milkman comes in the morning he brings his cow to your door and milks in your jug’.
December 16th, 1914 –
George Lysaght (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a stud groom and enlists in the Australian Light Horse, he is 19 years old.
Fred Whiteside (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a locomotive fireman and enlists in the AIF, he is 27 years old.
December 18th, 1914 –
Charles Ebeling (Wandin): Enlists in the Royal Australian Navy for a period of five years, he is 24 years old.
December 20th, 1914 –
Gnr Alfred Niblett, (Lilydale), Royal Field Artillery: Arrives in England and is assigned to the 19th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery that is attached to the Indian Contingent. In a letter to a friend in Lilydale – ‘All the Australian and New Zealand troops got off at Alexandria and went to Cairo and we came to England. When we were a day out from England news came through by wireless that the Germans had bombarded Scarborough – an unprotected town – killing over 100 and wounding a great many. That was a narrow thing for England.
You have no idea what the Germans have been doing to the Belgians. There are hundreds of wounded in our town (Leicester) and some Belgian people are living in a house opposite our place. Honestly speaking you have to pay nearly twice the price you do in Australia at present. Although mind you most of the town are prosperous making war material which will no doubt last for months.
As soon as my leave is up I am going to Woolwich and will wait there to go to the front any time so probably I shall be in the thick of the war within three weeks from now and I will do my best to express my feelings towards the Germans if I am able. It seems hardly true that I am sitting at home thousands of miles away from Lilydale writing to you all, where my thoughts often wander, and I wonder how you are all getting on. I am looking forward to renewing old times in the near future, if God spares me, with many others through this cruel war’.
THE SECOND CONVOY
Troops load on to ships at Sydney.
December 21st, 1914 –
Richard Glass (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a labourer and enlists in the AIF, he is 30 years old.
HMAT Persic
Cpl Stanley Nicholas (Lilydale), 5th Light Horse Regiment
December 22nd, 1914 –
Troops load on to ships at Melbourne.
HMAT Ulysses
Pte Barney Gilson (Lilydale), 14th Battalion
HMAT Themistocles
Pte Herbert Read (Seville), 6th Battalion
Pte Leonard Lawlor (Coldstream), 6th Battalion
Pte John Rose (Lilydale), 7th Battalion
Pte Fremont Tabbut (Lilydale), 7th Battalion
HMAT McGilvarry
Pte Charles Campbell (Kilsyth), 8th Battalion
HMAT Ceramic
Dvr James Currie (Seville), Divisional Supply Column
Cpl William Teese (Mt Evelyn), Divisional Ammunition Column
Dvr Donald Lord (Mt Evelyn), Australian Army Service Corps
Pte Charles Willimott (Lilydale), Mechanical Transport Division
HMAT Borda
Cpl Herbert Mackin (Lilydale), 7th Mobile Veterinary Section
HMAT Berrima
Pte George Vale (Lilydale), 8th Field Ambulance
Leonard Giddins (Olinda): Leaves his job as a coal lumper and enlists in the AIF, he is 21 years old.
December 25th, 1914 –
Pte Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: At Mena Camp, Cairo. From his diary –‘Christmas Day. Was awakened at 4am by bands playing carols. Jack Stubbs came into camp at 5am with a great Union Jack round him, had a night out but doesn’t know where he got flag, at present it floats over our tent. Went to Church Parade. Our Christmas dinner consisted of – stew, rice and raisins, tinned fruit, tinned milk, Worcestershire sauce, dried raisins. Went inside the Pyramid of Cheop, saw the King’s tomb and Queen’s passage, one hundred and fifty yards long’.
December 31st, 1914 –
The Second Convoy leaves from Western Australia
Allen Mounsey (Seville): Leaves his job as a labourer in South Australia to enlist in the Australian Light Horse, he is 19 years old. Two brothers had already enlisted and another would follow later.