The Story of the Easther Brothers (Part 2)

The main narative regarding the Easther brothers is here.

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From the Quorn Mercury 24th August, 1916

Died on Active Service
The Late SGT. L. R. EASTHER

On Saturday, August 12, the Rev. T. Trestrail received official notice from the Military authorities stating that Sgt. Leonard R. Easther was killed in action at the battle of Katia Oasis, Egypt, between the 4th and 6th of August, the reverend gentleman having the painful duty of breaking the sad news to his mother. The late Sgt. Leonard Ridgeway Easther was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Easther, of Quorn. Sgt. Easther, who was 27 years of age, was employed for a number of years by the Hon. R. W. Foster at Quorn. He then moved to Maitland, where his genial character won for him a large circle of friends. Subsequently he entered the Railway Department, and was employed at the Adelaide booking office. On the outbreak of war he was among the first to volunteer for active service. Sgt. Easther was an excellent type of Australian manhood, and, being a fine horseman, he joined the 3rd Light Horse Regiment, and left for the front in October, 1914. He was wounded at Galipolli, and was subsequently sick in Egypt, where his regiment was engaged in the above battle, and where he lost his life. Two brothers, Tpr. Charles Easther and Pte. Bryant Easther are now in Egypt and France respectively, serving with the colours, On Sunday evening, the 20th inst. a memorial service was conducted by the Rev. T. Trestrail, in the Town Hall for the late Sgt. Easther, and a large attendance was present at the service. A most popular speech was delivered by the Rev. T. Trestrail, which moved several of the congregation to tears. An anthem was rendered by the Methodist Choir, and at the conclusion of the meeting the congregation stood, whilst the organist played the "Dead March".

The Story of Timothy Cornelius Keneally

Timothy was born in Gordon and worked the family farm when he enlisted on 16 March 1916. He had a brother John who enlisted as a driver and survived the war, returning to Australia in May 1919. Timothy had at least one other brother, but his father had died earlier. His mother was ill in Adelaide for many years.

Almost four months later on 12 July he embarked on the “Seeang Bee” at Outer Harbour and a little less than two months after that he disembarked in Plymouth.
The day after disembarkation, 10 September he was taken on strength by the 12th Training Battalion.
During his period in training, Timothy was admitted to Fargo Hospital with bronchitis in September. Four days after Christmas 1916 he found himself in Codford Hospital for almost a fortnight. He was discharged and shortly afterwards was re-admitted, spending another 26 days in hospital during January/February 1917 then another fortnight there in February/March.
After these multiple periods of hospitalisation Timothy finally embarked from Folkestone for France on 22 May 1917. He spent 17 days at Etaples before being taken on strength by 48 Battalion in mid June.
There is no further direct records of Timothy until he is noted as wounded and missing on 12 October, 1917.
No further information regarding Timothy was heard of by early 1918 and in February a court of enquiry found that Timothy had been killed.

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Keneally was in my platoon. He was fair, about 30 years old, came from S. Australia. We went over at Passchendale on October 12th at about 5.30 a.m. I did not see him again but 2 days later I was told by Pte Arthur Williamson, who was in the same L/G team and Keneally, that he had been with Keneally when he got wounded. A sniper bullet entered his left ear and came out at the bottom of his spine. They were in a shell hole and Williamson had to leave him there after doing what he could for him. We failed to take our objective and Keneally was not seen again although S/Bs were there. Bosches came over that ground later.
Pte H.J.Talbot 4606, St. Johns Hospital, Etaples
21.12.17

[Henry Talbot was in hospital with an inflamed knee. A few days later he was transfered to England where he spent the next 9 months in a training camp, before returning to France just before the Armistice. He survived the war.]
[S/B, stretcher bearer]
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Wounded and Missing 12.10.1917
Was in D. Coy, 16th Pltn, Lewis Gun Section, came from S. Australia. I saw him wounded by a sniper. The bullet went in the back of the ear and came out the small of the back. It happened during the hop over at Ypres, on Oct 12th. We had to retire owing to Fritz counter attacking, and he was left there, and would be taken prisoner if he lived, which I thinkis doubtful. We “Went over” together, and were just getting into a shell hole when he got knocked.
T Harvey 3112,
11.2.1918

[Ex school teacher Tom Harvey gave his statement on furlough in England after leaving France. He remained in a training role in England till May 1918 before returning to France. He also survived the war.]
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I know that T.C. Keneally (48. D. XVI) was killed in an advanced position, before we had to retire, on October 12th at Passchendale. He was very badly wounded and was lying just outside the shell hole where I was – I think he was hit in the head as far as I remember. He was quite out of our reach, and it was impossible to get to him. He died before we retired and was not found. S/B Robinson (48 A) attended to him and bandaged him up. He has since been taken prisoner). Ground was lost.
5302 Sergt. Tom London, 3rd Southern General Hospital, Oxford.
23/5/18

[Tom was in hospital in England with a gunshot wound which had fractured his shoulder. He would recover and be discharged from hospital two months later. He never returned to France.
Also recorded as Loudon.]

The Story of William Joh(n) Finlay Larwood.

The enlistment patterns of these 40 men from Quorn follow an interesting pattern. Most of the men enlisted in the first few years of the war. While some other Quorn survivors enlisted later in the war none of the soldiers who eventually died enrolled after late 1916. William, along with John Hawes and Sydney Mills, was one of these later enlistment soldiers.

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Extract from the 32 Battalion Diary, 30/9/1917
Strength 47 Officers 971 Other Ranks
At 3 am grenadiers and Stokes mortars bombarded Cameron Covert and dispersed enemy. At 5am Cameron Covert again shelled and patrols penetrated to 150 yards but found all clear. A number of enemy dead were seen some distance out. Enemy shelled heavily for 5 minutes at 10am. Sniping was brisk during the day. At 9.30pm the battalion was relieved by the 9th Liecester Regiment and marched back to Dickebush. No casualties occurred during the relief. Lt Johnson wounded. 13 O/R killed, 30 O/R wounded in action.

---ooOoo---
William came from Boolcunda East. Like many of the soldiers from Quorn, he was a farmer. He enlisted in October 1916 and embarked on the Berrima at Adelaide in mid December. During his time in training in Adelaide he was admonished with 2 days loss of pay, as he had absconded from the Mitcham training camp for a short while.
Before arriving in Davenport, England he spent about 16 days in the ships hospital with measles.
On the 18th of February 1917 he marched into Hurdcott for training and left there in early July to go overseas.
He was taken on strength by 32 Battalion on the first day of August and was killed on the last day of September near Polygon Wood.
Tyne Cot cemetery was originally a site of some German bunkers. After being captured, the Australians turned one into a dressing station. The first graves were placed there around the end of 1917. The site changed hands a number of times during the war and afterwards a number of smaller cemeteries and lone graves were “bought in”.
In 1921 William was bought in to Tyne Cot cemetery. His body appears to have been identified by a clothing label still held in the Australian archives.

Service Dates

Comparative service dates for the Quorn soldiers. Black squares indicate month of death. Red squares indicate month of discharge for those soldiers who didn't die in service.

The Story of William King

William was not a native Australian born, rather he was an immigrant from the UK. He was born in Hampshire and was married to Victoria Blanche King when He enlisted. As a carpenter by trade, William found a useful role in the Pioneers. William enlisted at Quorn on 13th of April 1916 and joined the 4th reinforcements for the 5th Pioneer Battalion in early June. In mid August he embarked on the Itrea from Outer Harbour.

The Pioneer Battalions performed an intermediate function between the infantry, who chiefly fought and the Engineering companies, who constructed significant earthworks, bridges etc. The pioneers formed fighting units which also could carry out moderate infrastructure building tasks.

At the end of October William disembarked, as did many, at Plymouth and spent time with the Pioneer Training Battalion around Parkhouse and Perham Downs. In late March of 1917 he left for France via Folkestone and on 26th May William was taken on strength in the field.

For the next nine months William was with the Pioneers in France. No special mention of any occurrences appears in his record.
In February William is allowed a fortnight's leave which he spends in the UK.
Another seven and a half months passes with William in France until he is admitted to hospital with a septic thumb. As noted with other soldiers, in the days before antibiotics, infections could and did prove far more serious than we treat them today. William was admitted to the 8th Field Ambulance on the 31st of October 1918. After three days in the Field Ambulance, William is transferred to the 3rd Australian General Hospital at Abbeville. A month passes and William is transferred again to Graylingwell War Hospital in Chichester. During this month the war has ended.

He left for England from Le Havre aboard the Jan Breydel. But by now he seems to be on the mend as the Greylingwell Hospital only consider his thumb as slightly infected.
After six further days William is discharged to furlough on the 20th December. With the war over and his thumb better, William must have been very relieved. Not only that but he gets his furlough extended to the 6th January while he is in London. But when he is due to return on the 6th, William doesn't appear and is listed AWL by the military authorities.

During his leave, William came down with an illness and was admitted to the Military Hospital at Horsham two days before his Furlough was officially ended, which explained his non return to his designated unit. After a further fortnight William was admitted to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital in Brighton and his condition has now been diagnosed as Malaria. In early March William was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, still at Brighton. His unit was slated for return to Australia on that same day, but William is unable to join them. In fact it won't be for another two months that William is able to get aboard the Karoola at Southampton for his return to Australia. On the 6th May 1919 William leaves the Auxiliary Hospital, directly for the ship. Unfortunately, whatever the problem was has not been fully resolved. One month at sea and William is noted as dangerously ill.

He did return to Australia and reached Adelaide on the 21st of June. One month later William died of “Pyemia Exhaustion” at the Australian General Hospital in Keswick with his wife Victoria present.

William is buried in the West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide.

The Story of Wilhelm Kluge

Statement made by No.1653 Pte J.T.C. Haworth 27 Bn.

On the 10th of June, at 10.p.m. we went over on our sector between Morlancourt and Sailly-La-Lec. The missing man left our trench with me and when we had gone a few yards he went down and I did not see him move again. Our wounded were picked up by our stretcher bearers, but the missing man was not found.
The following days the ground was often under heavy fire from the German guns. I did not pass over the same ground again and beyond this statement I am not able to give any further information.

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Wilhelm enlisted in January 1915. At the time he was 23 years old and working as a station hand near port Augusta. He trained in Australia for four months, was taken on strength with 27 battalion and embarked for overseas on HMAT Geelong on the very last day of May. No records for Wilhelm exist for the period from embarkation to January of 1916. Like other soldiers it is likely that Wilhelm served at Gallipoli.

From January he was taken on strength with 27 Battalion at Tel el Kabir and in March he was transferred to the 7th brigade MCG in Ismalia. Wilhelm spent most of March in the 1st General Hospital there being treated for VD. He returned to C company of 27 Battalion, then in June he left Egypt aboard HMT Aragon to arrive in Plymouth on 23rd. For the next 6 weeks Wilhelm was in training around Larkhill and Rollestone in the UK until the 17th of August found him in Etaples. He fought with the 27th Battalion for the next two months until sucumbing to trenchg feet put him back in hospital in Rouen in November. Wilhelm was discharged after almost a month in hospital but he seemed to be attached to the base depot until 28th February, 1917.
This is where Wilhelm's story becomes more tragic. After serving at Gallipoli and several months active service on the western front, Wilhelm deserted in early March. However, he was back with his unit only 4 days later and in another 4 days, on the 12th April, he was court martialled and sentenced to ten years penal servitude. Wilhelm now found himself in Rouen prison.
It is unusual to find sentences of this severity, a number of the other Quorn soldiers absconded at various times, but their sentences were always much lighter, being a few days of FP2 or barrack detention. It is not known what characteristics of Wilhelm,s escapade or external circumstances lead to him being treated so severely.

A month after beginning his ten year sentence Wilhelm had it commuted to two years.
After almost a year in prison, on the 18 May 1918, Wilhelm's sentence was suspended on the basis that he rejoin his unit, which he did on the 21st.

Twenty days later Wilhelm would once again disappear. This time it was not by choice. The investigation at the time sought witnesses, but it was evident that Wilhelm had in fact been killed in action.



Subsequently Wilhelm's body was rediscovered and bought in to the Beacon British Cemetery at Sailly Laurette.

The Story of Herman Theodore Klingberg

Herman was from Arden Vale near Quorn, was a single man and a farmer. He had tried to enlist earlier but been rejected due to his eyesight. Not long after his 23rd birthday, Herman tried again and enlisted in Adelaide. It was 26th August 1916 and within a month he was part of the Artillery Reinforcements. Herman spent a short time in hospital at Mitcham and then in November he found himself in Maribyrnong as part of the 6th Field Artillery Brigade, 12th Reinforcements. His rank was gunner.
Two days before Christmas 1916 he boarded the RMS Orontes in Melbourne with 17 other South Australians in his reinforcement group and sailed for Europe. On this trip he spent two weeks sick with Parotitis, an inflammation of the salivary glands.
On the 17th February 1917 Herman disembarked in Plymouth and the next day arrived in Number 3 Camp, Parkhouse.
Health problems seemed to dog Herman as he spent the first half of March in the Tidworth Military Hospital.
From the end of March to mid June he continued to train with the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery, until on 19th June he left Southampton for France. The next day he marched in to the AGDB at Rouelles and a few days later he marched out to the 2nd Division Artillery.
From the beginning of July to mid October, Herman was part of the field artillery, until on the 16th October he was gassed. He spent the rest of the year in the 83rd General Hospital in Bolougne, leaving for the Number 3 rest camp three days after Christmas, 1917.
1918 began with Herman returning to the 2nd Divisional Artillery on the 9th of January. Records are sparse for this year, but we know that Herman spent 18 days leave in the UK during March. The next record we have is to note that he was killed on the 3rd of September, 1918. Herman was buried in the Roisel Community Cemetery, but this may have been a reinterring from an initial grave in the field.

Quorn Mercury 19 August 1915

Extract from the Quorn Mercury, 19 August 1915

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Answering The Call

Mr. Lloyd Taylor, who left here last week for Adelaide to enlist, has been accepted, and now is in camp. Fresh recruits to volunteer this week are – Messrs. E. O’Malley, of the draftsmen and engineers’ office; C. R. Trathen, teller at the Quorn branch of the National Bank; G. Hooper, son of Mr. J. B. Hooper, at one time a well known auctioneer of Quorn; and W. J. Hanna, employed on the railway staff at Hawker.

The Story of George William Hooper Pt 2

State death records show that George died at the young age of 23. He died at the Port Augusta Hospital on 29th April 1920.

The Story of Edward George Deinhoff Pt 2

State death records show that Edward died at the Port Augusta Hospital on 14th September 1922. He was aged 36.

The Story of Archibald Leonard Jago

Many of the stories about the soldiers from Quorn are short due to the horrifically dangerous nature of the situations they were put in. Archibald’s story is one of those from the other end of the spectrum. He was the longest serving of the Quorn soldiers from this group of forty. He managed to survive the war, but not the army, for a total of 47 months enlistment.

Archibald Jago was born near Carrieton. Prior to enlistment in April 1915 he was a grazier and was also a member of the Yanyarrie Rifle Club for two years.
A month later he embarked from Adelaide on the HMAT Afric as part of the 4th Light Horse Brigade Train as a driver.
Archibald has no entries in his military record for the period between June 1915 and March 1916. Other soldiers records from the same unit indicate that the Brigade Train was at Gallipoli during this time, traveling there on the “Inkosi” from Alexandria in September and some of them leaving during the evacuation in December.

1916
On the 20th March Archibald embarked from Alexandria for Marseilles where he stepped onto French soil eight days later. A month later he was attached temporarily to the 20th Battalion. On the 21st of June Archibald rejoined his normal unit [the records are a little unclear, they refer to the 20th Corps or it could be the 4th Light Horse Baggage Train].
A little over a week later Archibald was admitted to hospital in La Nouvelle. Initial records noted he had influenza but three days later he was transferred to the 3rd Stationary Canadian Hospital in Bolougne where his condition was noted as PUO [Pyaemia of Unknown Origins].
A day later on the 3rd of July he was loaded aboard the HS “Jan Breydel” and shipped to England. Later that same day he was admitted to Graylingwell War Hospital in Bristol.
At the end of July Archibald seems to have been convalescing with a change of units in mind. On the 21st of the month his regimental number was changed from 5988 to 8894 as he left the Light Horse unit he had been with and on the 1st August he was taken on strength by the Australian Army Service Corps Training Depot in Perham Downs.

1917
Toward the end of January 1917 Archibald was again sick enough to be admitted to hospital. This time it was the Brigade Hospital for the Service Corps at Parkhouse.
On 12 February he was discharged from the hospital back to the Training Depot. After a further month in the training depot he was transferred to the 30th Australian Service Corps.
For the rest of the year Archibald moved around England as part of the Service Corps, including Weymouth, Tidworth, Fovant and Westham. He also spent a further six days in the Monte Video Hospital at Weymouth during October.

1918
In April 1918 Archibald was tried for the offence of breaking out of camp and given four days of Field Punishment Number 2. Shortly after this he was sent back to the Training Depot at Parkhouse, then a further month later he was sent back toFrance.
On the 8th May 1918, Archibald was in Le Havre and on the 13th he was marched out to join the 2nd Divisional Train.
At the end of June Archibald was temporarily detached to the 12th Battery, 16th Company AASC. This also happened for a short period at the end of September and end of November as well.

By this time the war had ended and Archibald spent the remainder of 1918 with the 20th Company AASC.

1919
Archibald must have been relieved to have survived the war and in January 1919 he was transferred to the AGBD at Le Havre in preparation for his return to Australia. On the 15th he returned to England and marched into Sutton Veny. Once again Archibald was admitted to hospital. This time his diagnosis was “bronchopneumonia” and he was noted as dangerously ill. On the 9th February Archibald succumbed to his disease. He was buried at the local church, St John the Evangelist, four days later.

The Story of William Charles Pinnegar Brown

William enlisted at Quorn in May of 1916 at that time his wife (Ester Ethel) was also living in Quorn, though she later moved to Parkside in Adelaide. William was born in Adelaide and was 30 years old. He had fair hair and skin as well as blue eyes and was working as a carpenter in Quorn. When he was younger he had done his five year apprenticeship in Unley.
William embarked on the HMAT Anchises on the 28th of August 1916 as part of the 20th reinforcements for the 10th Battalion. Fourteen days later he disembarked at Plymouth and a day later marched into the 3rd Training Battalion at Perham Downs.
He was in England for only two months and then traveled to France on board the “Golden Eagle” to enter Etaples one week before Christmas 1916.
On the first day of the new year William was taken on strength as part of 27 Battalion.
No other information is recorded about William until his death on 5 May. This was the same day that Miller Fergusson was also killed. The war diary entry for the first days of May are included in Miller’s story.

William left his wife and two daughters, Margaret and Olive.

William is thought to be buried in Queant Road Cemetery, but his actual grave is unknown and his name appears on a special memorial. The cemetery is near Buissy which was not reached by the allies until early September 1918. The cemetery was used by allied clearing stations in October and November. After the war Queant Road Cemetery was used to bring in graves from the surrounding areas. There are now almost 2400 Commonwealth soldiers buried or commemorated in this cemetery, 1,400 of the burials are unidentified. There are special memorials to 56 soldiers known or believed to be buried there, including William.

The Story of John Francis Watson.

John Watson was born in Quorn and was 21 years old at the time of his enlistment in early march 1916. John had been a labourer and he enlisted at Port Pirie. He was taken on strength in the Second Reinforcements to the 5th Pioneer Battalion and promptly sent overseas on the HMAT Aeneas. The ship left Adelaide on 11th of April 1916.

Eighteen days later John was admitted to the ships hospital with measles, from which he died, three hours later.
John was taken off the ship and buried in Colombo Cemetery in Ceylon, today known as Sri Lanka.

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John Watson was the last of the Quorn soldiers who I have managed to identify. It has taken some months of research but by lucky accident I discovered a reference to him in the South Australian State Archives. He has been difficult to track down as his initials on the Quorn monument were wrongly given as “R. J.”. There is also little reference to his connections with Quorn in the minimal records that resulted from his extremely short service.

The Story of Roy James Gladstone Burr Pt 2

Since I wrote the original entry regarding Roy Burr the war diaries for the 52nd Battalion have come on line at the Australian War Museum Archives. The following is a transcript of the diary from the addendum to that Diary, including punctuation and spelling as close to the original as possible.
This extract describes the action from the 2nd to the 3rd, September 1916. Roy was almost certainly killed near Moquet Farm on or before the 3rd as the Australians were pulled out of action by the end of that day.

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Addendum:
…About 10.30 a.m. on the 2nd Brigade orders for attacking were received and Battalion Orders (appendix 1) we issued at 1 p.m., and at the same time personnaly gone through by C.O. with Company Commanders of “A” “C” and “D” Coys.
100 rounds – Bombs, and 2 sand-bags per man were issued on the 1st. and all arrangements for the ammunition, bombs, water, and ration supplies were completed during the morning of the 2nd. At about 3.30 p.m. on the 2nd Battalion Headquarters took up position at KAY’S DUMP and at about 4 p.m. Lieut-Colonel K.F.BEEVOR was wounded and command of Battalion devolved on Major D.A. LANE.
Companies commenced leaving LA BOISELLE at 7 p.m. and the last Company had cleared KAY’S DUMP at 9.30 p.m.
Provision had been made for guides for each Company, and tapes laid over open ground from BOX LANE to ASSEMBLE TRENCHES to avoid any loss of direction in the darkness. At 11.15 p.m. “C” Company were in position and in touch with “B” Company on their left. A message had previously been dispatched by O.C. “B” Company to leave men in Front Line to mark flanks of “D” “A” and “C” Companies but messenger failed to deliver same.
Thus from the outset communication with “B” Company was extremely difficult.
About 12.30 p.m. 2-3rd the Battalion Intelligence Officer (Lieut A.H.MAXWELL) was sent along the Companies to Synchronise watches for the second time, make sure that all were in their correct positions and assist Company Commanders with any information required as to their front and objective. At 3.51 a.m. on the 3rd of September BIO reported that all Companies were in position with their 1st wave in front trench and other waves (in some cases two and in others three) in ASSEMBLY TRENCHES.
From information gathered from various sources the Companies commenced their assault about NK 5.14 a.m. leaving their “Jumping Off” point very nearly at the same moment.
The assault was delivered with much spirit and dash and in cases a short, but fierce and bloody hand to hand conflict ensued. Bayonets and rifle butts coming into free play.
Each company siezed its objective and “C” Company evidently pushed forward under our own barrage. The Company Commander (Capt. EKIN-SMYTHE) drew them back towards the their objective but was unfortuneately about this time mortally wounded.
The Company again pressed forwardand as an organised unit ceased to exist.
At 7 a.m. our Scouts in observation posts observed the line shown by Contact Flares. They could only observe as far as the left of “A” Companies objective, and forwarded a sketch showing the Line extending from about 94 towards the Right. There was a break of about a hundred yards and then the Line again delineated extending to somewhere about 24.
At 7.29 a.m. a message was despatched to O.C. “D” Coy seeking information as to whether he was connected up with the 49th Battalion. It may here be mentioned that every Officer in “D” Coy became a casualty early in the battle and messages despatched to them were opened by Lieut D.S.MAXWELL of “A” Company.
At 7.50 a.m. the following message was received from Lieut D.S.MAXWELL “Have captured centre of “A” Companies’ Objective but failed to connect so far on left and right……… have barricaded on right and I am holding on, 8 prisoners I am holding as cannot afford a guard. 0615”.
Orders were immediately despatched to “C” and “D” Companies to work inwards and connect with “A” Company. These messages subsequently proved futile as both Companies had ceased to exist as tactical units.
At 8.57 a.m. a report timed 7.15 a.m. was received from “A” Company that he had gained touch with 49th Battalion on his right and that enemy were preparing to counter attack on his left. This information was sent on to Brigade and Artillery support obtained.
The position of Companies was obscure, as no reports had had been received from any Company other than “A”. A message was despatched to “A” Company at 9.22 a.m. asking point where his left rested and whether he was in touch with “C” Company.
At 9.49 a.m. a message timed 7.25 a.m. was received from “B” Company that two of his platoons were in MOQUET FARM and two platoons at, and mostly to the right of 42, but he was not certain whether 42 was actualy held.
It was not yet known that “C” Company was to all intents and purposes out of consideration, and it appeared that there was a gap between “A” and “C” Companies and probably between “C” and “B” companies. The exact position of “D” Company was also obscure.
At 12.3 noon a message timed 10.59 a.m. was received from”A” Company accompanied with a sketch which showed that the 49th Battalion were apparently at 36 and that trench 36 – 03 was unoccupied by us and apparently unoccupied by anybody.
Also it was clear that his left was not connected up. The situation of “D” Company was also perplexing, as the envelope of my message (D 90) was marked “Opened by me – “D” Company in our section” and initialled by Lieut. D.S. MAXWELL. He also gave the information that he and Lieut Blakney were the only 52nd Officers in that part of the trench. The questioning of messengers elicited the fact that very few of “D” Coy” were in the trench. A message was despatched to “A” Company endeavouring to clear this matter up.
About 1 o’clock the runner sent to “C” Company at 8.5 a.m. returned with the report that he could find nothing of “C” Company and that the Hostile Barrage prevented him approaching line 42-73. About mid day I was informed by the 51st Battn. That only about 30 men of the 52nd could be seen in the vicinity of point 42. Later in the afternoon 10 men from “B” Company reported at Battalion Headquarters and stated that they had come from somewhere near point 42 and had not seen any others of “B” Company by them.
The question of carriers for supplies had become acute, the parties detailled by Companies not being able to cope with the demand. The two bomb teams held in reserve were ordered to keep up the supply of bombs and fill vacancies in teams as required.
At 2.25 p.m. on their return from the Front Line, what remained of these teams were despatched to “A” Company for the purpose of occupying trench 03-36 and a message accompanied with a sketch sent to “A” Company that this trench be made good. The bombers arrived at “A” Company but the runner failed to deliver his despatch. At 3.30 p.m. Nos. 1 and 2 companies of the 13th canadian Battalion were placed under my command. No. 1 Company was directedto reinforce “A” Company, moving by SUNKEN ROAD 21-22-24.
The Battalion Intelligence Officer personnaly directed them to point 21 and the company reinforced the firing line at daylight with only 2 casualties. No. 2 Company was directed to occupy Line 21-01-91-59 and obtain touch with 50th Battalion on the left. The Battalion Intelligence Officer directed this company along its frontage and pointed out Communications Trenches 01-03 and 91-73. Orders were given for No. 2 Canadian Company to bomb up trench 91-73 put in a stop and place a Lewis Gun to protect Left Flank from direction of 49 and MOQUET FARM.
At 5.55 p.m. on Orders received from Brigade instructions were issued to No 1, Canadian Company to bomb to point 42 and along Communications Trenches running NORTH from 73 and 42 placeing stops in these later. This company reported that they eventually gained 73 and had put a stop about 60 yards down trench towards 01. Subsequent definitions of frontage, however, leads to the belief that it wa at 28-04 where they were held up and put up a barricade and possibly a stop was put on Trench 03-01.

…The next paragraph of the War Diary Appendix refers to 3.35 pm on the 4th and goes on to describe further action by the Canadian Reinforcements.

The Story of Herbert Henry Hobbs

Herbert was born on February 4th, 1898. He enlisted in July 1916 at Adelaide. At the end of the next month he boarded the HMAT Anchises and traveled to Europe. He disembarked at Plymouth in October. On the 12th of that month he marched into the 12th training battalion at Codford.

Three days after Christmas 1916, Herbert boarded the Princess Clementine and headed for France.
On arrival in France Herbert spent some time unattached in Etaples, until in early February he was taken on strength by 48 Battalion.

Eight days later, on the 14th, he was wounded by shrapnel in his left foot.

Passing through the 12th Australian Field Ambulance for a short time, Herbert spent the next month in hospital in Rouen. He finally rejoined his unit on the 29th of March.

Thirteen days after rejoining his unit he was reported missing in action.

A court of enquiry was held in December which found that Herbert must have been killed in action.
Herbert appears to have only spent a total of 21 days with his unit up to the time of his death.
As late as 1918 Herbert’s family was still being advised he was missing. The Red Cross continued to look for him amongst prisoners as late as October 1919. No evidence of what happened to him was ever discovered.His father collected Herbert’s medals and other mementoes in January of 1923.

France, Belgium and The UK

Individual cemeteries are not named on these maps as they are too close together. The memorial with 7 Quorn soldiers names is Villers Brettoneux.

The Middle East and Australia

As further research to my Quorn project I have plotted the locations of the graves (red) or memorials (green) if no known grave exists.

The only exception to this is the memorial to Charles Patten whose story has not been published yet.


Charles was member of the Australian Light Horse. He was captured by the turks in Katia and held in Ankara (Angora as it was known then) as a POW. He died of malaria in hospital there and was buried in an unmarked grave which could not be found after the war. Charles' official memorial is now in Baghdad's North Gate War Cemetery in Iraq.

The Story of the Haines Brothers

The Haines brothers were both born in Glenelg. They were living in Quorn, as were their parents, Charles and Clara, at the time the war broke out. Their father was an engine driver.

Hurtle Thomas Haines was the older of the two, almost 24 when he enlisted. He was a locomotive fireman with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. Charles Ernest Haines was 19 and a half, not quite as dark as his brother but with the same colour hair and eyes. The younger Charles was working as a shop assistant when he enlisted but he had been in military cadets for 7 years and the Citizens Forces for 18 months.
They both enlisted at Quorn on the same day and were both attached to A Company of the 2nd Depot Battalion. It was 16 May, 1916.

Their apparent plan to stay together started to come unstuck on the 3 July when Hurtle was admitted to the camp hospital complaining of abdominal pain. He was examined for a hernia but nothing was found, so he was discharged and allotted to the 20th reinforcements of the 10th Battalion. Meanwhile Charles came down with the flu and spent 7 days in hospital at Mitcham. When he was discharged he was sent back to the second reinforcements to the 43rd Battalion, which he had joined previously in June.

Now in different units, the brothers embarked for overseas in August. On the 12th aboard HMAT Ballarat for Charles and 16 days later on the HMAT Anchises for Hurtle.
Both disembarked at Plymouth, with Charles arriving on the last day of September and Hurtle arriving on the 11th of October. Hurtle spent his next few weeks with the Third Training Battalion at Perham Downs while Charles was with the 11th Training Battalion at Cosford.

Neither of the brothers returned to the units they set out from Australia to join. In November Charles was taken on strength by 41 Battalion and on the 24th of that month embarked for overseas via Southampton.
Hurtle was transferred to 27 Battalion and departed from Folkestone aboard the SS Golden Eagle eight days before Christmas, 1916. He was officially taken on strength on new years day, 1917.

Six and a half months after enlisting, both brothers were on French soil.





On the 3 January, Charles was promoted in the field to Lance Corporal but at the end of February he was wounded in the back and side. He ended up in the Ninth Australian Field Hospital. Two days later Hurtle was killed at Warlencourt and buried in the field. Charles was discharged from hospital at the end of March and rejoined 41 Battalion. He too was killed just 4 days after rejoining his unit.
News of Charles wounding reached his parents in Quorn, followed by news of Hurtle’s death. Their father wrote on April 10 enquiring about how Hurtle was killed and how Charles was. His reply was that no further information was known about Hurtle and Charles was also dead.



The brothers’ mother received a pension of 40 shillings per fortnight due to the loss of her sons. By this time Clara was living in Alberton, back in Adelaide. In July, Richard Holberton’s mother Eliza tried to contact Clara through military channels. Even though Richard was a signaler with 48 Battalion, his mother thought Richard and Hurtle were trench mates. Richard must have mentioned Hurtle in letters written home to her. Richard also was killed April.



Today the grave of Charles is in the London Rifle Brigade Cemetery. Hurtle has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial

The Story of George William Hooper

George's Discharge Papers:


















George was born in Port Augusta but his parents were living in Quorn at the time of his enlistment. He had just completed a four year apprenticeship with Cobbins of Quorn as a dental mechanic.

George had spent four years in the Cadets and Citizens Forces, was 18 at enlistment and his apprenticeship had just finished.
He enlisted on the 28th of August, 1915 when he was accepted as a private in C Company of the 2nd Training Depot. In early November George was transferred to the Australian Army Medical Corps at Mitcham due to his experience as a Dental Mechanic. Five days later he was attached to the Sixth Field Artillery Brigade as a dental orderly and on the 18th of November he was reclassified as a gunner and included with the brigade 4th reinforcements.

In March of 1916, George embarked with the brigade reinforcements from Melbourne aboard the HMAT Malwa.
By May George was in Egypt for training. During this time he found himself in the third Australian General Hospital with dysentery for a fortnight. On discharge he spent time in a convalescent camp in Ras el Tin.
In August George traveled to England and by September he was in Winchester. From the 18th to the 20th George was absent from roll call and was found guilty of an offence.

In October he was marched into the 8th Training Battalion and in November he proceeded overseas to France on the SS “Golden Eagle”. On the 12th of that month he marched into Etaples and 13 days later was taken on strength by 32 Battalion.

Georges military record from here on shows consistent problems with health. On the 11th of December he was admitted to hospital sick and over the next nine days is moved through a number of medical units till he finally arrives in Rouen and is diagnosed with “trench foot”.

Trench foot was a significant problem for the soldiers during the first war. Caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to cold and damp, it caused the sufferer’s feet to swell, go numb and change colour to red or blue. At its worst the feet develop open sores and blisters and bad fungal infections flourish. Untreated the condition can lead to amputation due to gangrene. Even when treated early and well the sufferer is subject to intense pain as the feeling comes back to their extremities.

A month later, in the middle of January, 1917, George was released from hospital and on the 20th he marched into the base depot in Etaples.

Two months later George was again admitted to the hospital in Etaples suffering from PUO (Pyrexia of Unknown Origin), simply put, a fever which hadn’t been diagnosed. This time George was put aboard the HS “Newhaven” at Calais and sent to England, where he was admitted to Fort Pitt Hospital in Chatham a week after his initial admission to the Etaples Hospital. George’s medical treatment must have been long as he was transferred, again, to another hospital in Harefield on the 12th of April. On the 7th of May George was given a thorough medical examination and found to be “unfit for general service for 6 months, but fit for home service” and on the 14th he was allowed to go on furlough.

On return from his two weeks leave George underwent another medical exam which confirmed that he was suffering from a pre-existing back injury and he was directed to report to Number 2 Command Depot in Weymouth where he was taken on strength officially on 16th September.

By December George was slated to return to Australia and on the 21st he boarded the HMAT “Persic” for his return journey.In February of 1918 he was back in South Australia at the Number 7 general Hospital in Keswick and was formally discharged due to health reasons on the 18th of March 1918.

The Story of John Edward Hawes

John was a 19 year old farm labourer when he enlisted on 16th October 1916. His family lived on their farm at Wyacca, north of Quorn. His father was also known as John.
John was enlisted as a private and embarked for Europe aboard the HMAT “Afric”. It was the 7th November when he left Adelaide as part of the 22nd reinforcements for the 10th Battalion.
After a Christmas at sea, John disembarked in Plymouth in early January, 1917.
By the end of January John had been admitted to the 2nd Auxilary Hospital in Southall with what was diagnosed as the flu, however after three weeks he was well enough to be released and marched into the 3rd Training Battalion in Durrington.
His training on the Salisbury plains continued until on the 9th of April he was admitted to the Fargo Military Hospital with an ear infection, Otitis Media, possibly a remnant of his earlier flu. His condition didn’t improve, on the 26th he was noted as seriously ill and in the early hours of the 27th he died. The diagnosis was “Pyaemia”, a widespread inflammation which was almost always fatal before the invention of modern antibiotics.
On the 30th April, John was buried in Durrington Cemetery by the local undertaker, Mr Bishop.

---o---O---o---

Disease was an ever present problem. The Australians buried in the Durrington Cemetery from January to April 1917 numbered 87. They all came from Fargo Military Hospital and they died of the following:
Pneumonia 26
Broncho-pneumonia 25
Bronchitis (Acute, 2) 15
Bronchitis and Complications 5
Influenza 3
Tubercle of the lung 2
Otitis Media and Complications 2
Tuberculosis of the lung 1
Appendicitis 1
Brain Concussion (struck by car) 1
Duodenal Ulcer 1
Fractured skull (Bomb, training accident) 1
Heart Failure, Cerebral Haemorage, Brights Disease 1
Lobar Pneumonia 1
Polyneuritis 1
Suicide 1