Our Darkest Day

by Patrick Lindsay

  The stained-glass memorial window that stands today in the chancel of the chapel at St Ignatius College, Riverview, in Sydney, honouring Lieutenant Colonel Ignatius Bertram Norris, a former student who died leading his men in the attack at Fromelles. As the inscription at its foot attests, the window was the gift of Norris’ son John. It includes the Norris family crest and motto, ‘I serve loyally’. (PATRICK LINDSAY PHOTO)

  Burdened by the increasing weight of casualties, the official system lagged behind somewhat. In reality, in the light of the massive losses, the system coped remarkably well. The official army notification of Norris’ death, the ‘Field Service’ form, was stamped in Rouen in France on 9 September 1916. Ten days later Bessie was granted a widow’s pension of £5 0s. 9d. a fortnight, and their son John a fortnightly pension of £1. Osborne wrote again at the end of that month again seeking the death certificate. It was sent to him on 11 October. That same week, Bessie received Norris’ valise and his brown kitbag from the army. The valise contained a copy of the New Testament, a set of dominoes and a dictionary, among his uniform and clothes. The kit bag held his rosary beads, a wallet with photos of Bessie and baby John and a spirit flask among other clothes. A month later Bessie received Norris’ black kitbag, again forwarded by Thomas Cook & Sons for the army. It contained his field glasses and a greatcoat.

  The following day, on 11 November, Norris’ name appeared on the German ‘death list’, with the notation that he ‘fell in the neighbourhood of Fromelles on 19/7/16’. Four months later, the Germans returned Norris’ ID Disc via the Red Cross and it was despatched to Bessie at her London address on 21 March, one week after it had been received from Germany.

  Like all the other families of soldiers who died, Bessie received her husband’s Victory Medal and Memorial Plaque as his next of kin. They arrived early 1923. They were a pathetic compensation for the loss of an outstanding man. It would be the last Bessie or her family heard of Norris or his final resting place until Lambis Englezos began his quest more than 80 years later.

  BROTHERS IN ARMS

  Stephen Brooks lives at Barooga, on the New South Wales side of the Murray River. His passion for military history goes back more than 20 years and he has a special fascination for Australia’s involvement in World War I. He was first captivated by the AIF’s contribution to the war, in both service and sacrifice, which he always perceived to be far out of proportion to its numbers.

  When he sold the family grain trading business a few years back, Stephen began researching Australia’s contribution to the Battle of Fromelles in earnest. As he delved into the records he was astonished by the number of families who lost two brothers in the battle. Until his research, we had thought that a dozen sets of brothers had perished at Fromelles and we had thought this a shocking figure. Now Stephen has discovered that twice as many sets of brothers lost their lives there. And of those 24 sets of brothers, no fewer than sixteen sets died vainly trying to capture the Sugar Loaf salient. Their names are given in Appendix V.

  At least one set of brothers and two single brothers (of pairs killed at Fromelles) are among those recorded as being buried by the Germans at Pheasant Wood.

  The Wilson boys, Sam, 29, and Eric, 20, were both labourers from Port Macquarie on the NSW North Coast when they joined up. Both served as privates with the 53rd Battalion and charged with their CO, Lieutenant Colonel Bert Norris, as part of the 14th Brigade’s heroic attack at Fromelles.

  Sam was tall with ginger-coloured hair and bad front teeth. He was a bomber in 7 Platoon in B Company of the 53rd Battalion. He was last seen by his comrades in the German lines, singlehandedly trying to hold off a German raiding party in a sap with grenades. One eyewitness report in his file said:

  Private Samuel Wilson was last seen in the German lines holding off a German raiding party with grenades. He lies with his brother Eric at Pheasant Wood. (AWM PHOTO P05445.001)

  Private Eric Wilson and his brother Sam both charged with the 53rd Battalion at Fromelles and both are among the missing Diggers of Pheasant Wood. Little is known about Eric’s fate but his name appeared on the German Death List for Pheasant Wood. (AWM PHOTO P05445.002)

  He held the sap all alone and was himself killed by a bomb when the others had safely got away.

  Sam’s name appeared on the German death list dated 4 November 1916. His younger brother Eric was also a member of 7 Platoon in B Company of the 53rd Battalion. Little is known of Eric’s fate at Fromelles but he charged with his brother and was reported as killed in action. His name later appeared on the German death list. The brothers were named in the first successful identifications announced on 17 March 2010.

  Private Jim Balsdon was a 27-year-old miner who was born in Blythe in England but enlisted in East Maitland near Newcastle, NSW, in September 1915, along with his brothers Russell and Joe. They had consecutive regimental numbers, all served in the 30th Battalion and all attacked with it at Fromelles.

  Two of the Balsdon brothers died as a direct result of the battle, although as so often happens in the fog of war there are conflicting versions of their deaths. One suggests Jim died as a POW after the battle. Another has a report from an eyewitness who was returning to his lines after being wounded on the night of 19 July who claimed to have seen Jim Balsdon’s dead body in no-man’s land. Jim’s identity disc and pay book were returned by the Germans in November 1916. He’s likely to have been buried at Pheasant Wood.

  Russell Balsdon was hit in the neck by a bullet during the attack. He was brought back to his lines and lingered for a week before dying in the 13th General Hospital at Boulogne. He was buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery. The third brother, Joe, was also severely wounded in the arm at Fromelles but survived and returned to Australia in May 1917.

  The Bromley brothers, Sid and Bert, came from Brewarrina in far western New South Wales. Sid, at 23 the elder, was a plumber and Bert, 19, was a clerk with the NSW Railways. They were both in A Company of the 53rd Battalion and both boys were good mates. It seems one brother was wounded and the other died trying to save him, as a note in Bert’s Red Cross Wounded and Missing file attests:

  the soldier A.C. Bromley was killed by bullet wound at Fleurbaix [read Fromelles] on No Man’s Land, he was quite close, and S. R. Bromley, the brother of the soldier, went to pick him up, and was also killed, both evidently by machine gun fire … The brothers were much alike, 5’10”, fair complexion, light brown hair, and were much attached to each other.

  Another witness, who knew both brothers well, states in Sid’s file:

  he was told by Sgt. Angus of A Coy that he had seen both these brothers killed by the same shell at Fleurbaix on July 19th. They were blown to pieces in No Man’s Land.

  Yet another witness was told by one of Bert’s friends that he saw him shot dead by a sniper in the German first lines. Such was the confusion of the battle. Sid’s body was recovered by the Graves Registration Unit after the war, possibly as late as 1921, as his identity disc was sent to his parents around this time. One of the few who fell in no-man’s land who was able to be identified, he is buried at Ration Farm Cemetery. Bert was one of the Fromelles missing. His name is on the German death list and therefore on Lambis Englezos’ list of those likely to have been buried at Pheasant Wood. This was confirmed in April 2011.

  One of the saddest family tragedies at Fromelles centres on the McLeans from Geelong, Victoria. Remarkably, Alexander McLean, aged 47, served in the 60th Battalion, alongside his two sons Alexander Jr, aged 22 and a shop assistant, and Victor, 19, a plasterer.

  Both boys were killed in the battle and their dad, who was with the 60th’s Pioneers, was initially reported as missing but later found his way back to his unit. His file reveals that on 30 August 1917 the Acting Secretary of the Department of Defence forwarded this poignant letter to the AIF Headquarters in London:

  The following copy of a communication which has been received in this Department is referred to you for consideration and favour of report please: -
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  ‘Excuse the liberty I am taking in writing to you. I will state my case and leave it for you to judge. It is now close on two years since my husband and two sons enlisted. They sailed together and were in the same Battalion up till the 19th July of last year, in which I lost my sons, one missing and the other killed. My husband has never been the same in health since that awful day and after being in the trenches last year. He has been before 4 or 5 boards and marked unfit, still they keep him there, although he has been put at H.D.Q. carrying letters etc. I think he has done his bit, and after losing two good sons as Captain Kerr says whom any mother can be proud of, I wish to ask you if you can do anything for me in returning him before another winter sets in now being unfit. His age was 47 last month. Late of the 60th Battalion, now No.3202 Private A. McLean with HDQ, 3rd Division AIF, abroad.’

  The plea must have touched hearts in London because Private Alexander McLean was returned to Australia in December 1917 for family reasons. He was honourably discharged in February the following year.

  The Henderson brothers, Ern and Les, came from Kensington, Victoria. Both attended the Boundary Road State School in North Melbourne. Ern was a 20-year-old labourer and Les, a year younger, was an apprentice boilermaker. Both boys were in the same section of 12 Platoon in C Company of the 60th Battalion and took part in its charge against the Sugar Loaf. Ern was seen to be hit in the neck and crawling back towards the Australian lines. Although he wasn’t far from the Australian parapet when spotted, his body was never found. All that was known of Les was that he was killed in the charge. Both are remembered on the wall at VC Corner.

  The list of brothers goes on.

  Tim and John Carey were both farmers from Kinchela on the northern NSW coast. They were both in the 53rd Battalion. Tim, 25, died from a gunshot to the head in the attack. John, 32, was hit in the head during the bombardment of the support lines while waiting to attack. Tim is on the VC Corner wall, John was buried at Rue du Bois Cemetery.

  Three Choat brothers fought at Fromelles in the 32nd Battalion. Archie and Ray were killed in action, Wes was taken prisoner. In an astonishing feat of courage and ingenuity, Wes escaped to Holland in late 1917, after learning German and disguising himself as a Belgian worker. His brother Archie was buried at Rue Petillon Cemetery and Ray is remembered on the VC Corner wall.

  Charlie and Bert Franklin attended Melbourne Grammar. Charlie went on to Dookie Agricultural College and Bert studied at Bradshaw’s Business College before they joined up and served with the 60th Battalion. The brothers were apparently killed by an exploding shell as they were crossing the River Laies. Charlie was reported killed by shell concussion. One report said his body remained in an upright position sitting in the creek (the Laies). The same witness saw Bert lying dead on the top of the bank of the creek. He tried to reach him but was driven back by relentless machine-gun fire. Both brothers are listed on the VC Corner wall.

  Hec and Rod McAulay were born at Chatsworth Island, near Maclean in the Clarence River district of northern New South Wales. They were amongst 16 McAulays who joined up from the district. Hec and Rod served with the 54th Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Walter Cass. Rod, 35, was a carpenter before enlisting and Hec, 29, worked with the Sydney department store Anthony Hordern and Sons. They were both Lewis gunners and they charged with Cass and the 54th Battalion. Little is known of their fate except that it seems they died during the 54th’s heroic stand behind the German front lines during the night of 19 July. A curious note in Rod’s file states that he was buried by Padre Kennedy, the Catholic Chaplain of the 53rd Battalion, at the military cemetery at Sailly-sur-la-Lys and that a cross with inscription marked the grave. But apparently his body was never recovered because both brothers are listed on the wall at VC Corner.

  George and Robert Wills came from Werribee, Victoria. Robert attended Werribee State School and George went to Maldon Grammar. George was a contractor and Robert a chaff-cutting contractor when they enlisted.

  Both served with the 29th Battalion and charged together at Fromelles. George was 28 when he died on 20 July. No details of his death were recorded but his body was recovered and he was initially buried at Eaton Hall Military Cemetery and later re-interred at Rue Petillon. Robert, 24, suffered a gun-shot wound at Fromelles and was evacuated to England via Boulogne on 21 July but died of his wounds on 2 August at Edmonton Military Hospital and was buried at Tottenham and Wood Green Cemetery Middlesex.

  Arthur and Harry Turner came from Petersham in Sydney’s inner west. Arthur was 19 and an electrician and Harry was two years older and a sawyer. They both embarked with the 3rd Battalion as 11th Reinforcements but were posted to 13 Platoon, D Company of the 53rd Battalion. They attacked with Lieutenant Colonel Bert Norris’ men at Fromelles and both were apparently killed about halfway across no-man’s land. A comrade who reported that he saw Arthur described him as

  Private Hec McAulay and his brother Rod were Lewis gunners with the 54th Battalion. Both charged with Colonel Cass and both died during the 54th’s heroic stand behind the German lines. (AWM PHOTO P02599.004)

  Private Rod McAulay and his brother Sam were two of sixteen McAulays who joined up from the Clarence River district of northern New South Wales. Both brothers died in the fighting behind the German lines. (AWM PHOTO P06085.003)

  a boy of about 19, about 5’8”, fairly thickset. I think he came from Sydney … He fell forward and I went over and had a look at him. I am sure he was killed.

  Both Turner brothers are listed on the wall at VC Corner.

  George, John and Tom Shephard, from North Fitzroy, Melbourne, all joined up together, as their regimental numbers indicate. They all served in D company of 60th Battalion and they all died within a week of each other. George was a blacksmith, aged 26, who was born in Prahran and, like his two other brothers, attended George Street State School at Fitzroy. John, 24, and Tom, 22, had been born in Derby, Tasmania, and both worked as brush makers in Melbourne.

  Tragedy struck the Shephard brothers one week before the Battle of Fromelles when the middle brother, John, died of illness on 12 July in Marseilles. His record says he died from rheumatism, albuminuria (an indication of damage to the kidneys) and pericarditis (an inflammation around the heart) and he was buried at Mazargues Cemetery Extension.

  The surviving brothers, George and Tom, attacked with the 60th Battalion at Fromelles and, like so many of their comrades, fell in no-man’s land in front of the Sugar Loaf. Private Stan Ronald had been a lifelong mate of George Shephard and found himself lying next to him in no-man’s land:

  he was shot in the arm first, and then in the side and back as he lay alongside. Being a mate of his since birth pretty well, I have no hesitation in knowing that it was the senior brother I was with, as we were talking to each other whilst lying on the field, (No Man’s Land). I asked him if he got a bad one, and he said my right arm is broken. I went unconscious at that moment and when I came to about 4 hours later, 2776 Pte. George Arnold Shephard was lying dead by my side. Being a personal friend of the family’s I wrote to them telling them all I knew.

  Apparently no one witnessed Tom Shephard’s death. Like his brother George, he is remembered on the wall at VC Corner.

  Bill and Bob Miller were yet another pair of brothers who charged to their deaths with the 60th Battalion against the Sugar Loaf. They were both born in Northcote, Melbourne. Their two other brothers also joined up, both surviving the war, although one, Richard, who served with the 13th Field Ambulance, returned home disabled.

  Bill and Bob were in 9 Platoon of C Company of the 60th and went over the top in the first wave against the Sugar Loaf. A witness stated in Bill’s Red Cross Wounded and Missing file:

  I saw W. Miller fall first, and his brother ran to speak to him, and he was hit by machine gun fire, I think. One of the same platoon, Alexander, who has lost an eye, and who is I fancy now home, told me that in coming back, he had seen the two brother’s dead. They both came from North Fitzroy, Melbourne.

/>   Both Miller brothers are on the wall at VC Corner.

  Pat, Sam, Tom and Alf McManus, four brothers from South Melbourne, all fought on the Western Front. Pat, Sam and Tom were in the 60th Battalion and attacked at Fromelles. Alf served with the 22nd Battalion and was wounded at Pozières.

  Pat and Sam both fell attacking the Sugar Loaf. Pat was apparently hit by a machine-gun bullet in the stomach soon after hopping the bags. Sam went over with the fourth wave and was hit in no-man’s land. One of his mates reported:

  I knew McManus well. He was a friend of mine. He came from Melbourne. His name was ‘Sam’ and his number was 2819 [sic; actually 2719]. On the 19th July at Fleurbaix, we went over the parapet together in the 4th wave. I was wounded first, in the arm, and McManus was wounded through the lung by a machine gun bullet. We lay down together in a shell hole for 30 hours, when the S.B. came up and took charge of us. McManus died in the hospital.

  There is no record of Sam McManus making it to a hospital, nor any record of his body being buried.

  There is, however, a sad footnote to the story. Sam had a son, born 16 May 1916, two months before his father was killed at Fromelles, and christened Samuel James Anzac McManus. Sam Junior died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 27 March 1945. (VX32003 Lance Sergeant McManus, aged 28, the son of Samuel Paul and Violet May McManus, of Toorak, Victoria, was a member of the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. He was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo.)