Letter to the editor - Australian Heroes

Letter to the Editor located in Trove

AUSTRALIAN HEROES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARGUS

Sir-The reports published in your columns of the glorious deeds of our Australian boys at Gallipoli cause a thrill of pride to all who have of necessity to stay at home. Who can read the account of     the attack made by the 8th Light Horse Regiment on the crowded Turkish trenches at "Lonesome Pine" on August 7 last without feeling that thrill of joy that makes   us proud to ha e been the fathers of such sons, To quote Captain Bean - There are no Victoria Crosses but for sheer self sacrificing heroism there was never a deed in history that surpassed the charge which two Australian Light Horse brigades made on the first light of Saturday August 7 in order to help their comrades in a critical moment of a great battle....'Three minutes to go,' said the colonel; then simply, 'Go! ' they were over the  parapet like a flash the colonel amongst them, officers in line with the men...into certain death, at the call of their comrades' need during a crisis in the greatest battle that has ever been fought on Turkish soil."

Can we read such words and not be affected: lifted out of ourselves glowing with pride and enthusiasm and although sorrowing for our glorious sons killed in   action, at the same rejoicing that Australia can produce such heroes'

I have been privileged to speak with some of the 8th Light Horse Regiment invalided home, who took part in that glorious charge, and learn from them that the night before the battle they were all told of the desperate nature of the work before them, but not a man flinched or grumbled.  They shook hands with each other, saying "Good bye" and saving they were not "tin" soldiers but "triers all". These are the men that voluntarily gave up their horses in Egypt and acted as infantrymen, in order to help their comrades; and how many of them are left? Alas only a handful. At the roll-call on the night of that eventful August 7 under 100 men answered to their names

I notice in English papers just to hand that correspondents suggest that for those     killed in action a medal should be issued to the nearest relative recording the fact; so that future generations may be stimulated to like deeds of heroism and in this   I quite concur, and hope that our Minister of Defence will for the glory of Australia, move in the matter so that wives, fathers mother,-sisters and brothers   may have some small token in acknowledgement of the sacrifice made by our heroes; something tangible that can be shown and encourage recruiting and patriotism.    

A. KNIGHT.  Hawthorn, Oct. 6.

The Argus Friday 8 October 1915 page 8

Gallant Light Horse

Another article located in Trove

GALLANT LIGHT HORSE. London Press Eulogy. Compared With Light Brigade.

The British newspapers make a feature of the account given by Captain C. E. W. Bean, official reporter with the Australian Expeditionary Forces, of the gallant charge made by the 8th and 10th Australian Light Horse Brigades at Anzac on August 7.

The "Standard" says that it is a tale of heroism and self-sacrifice which places the   Commonwealth troops high in the front rank of the world's soldiers. "We of the old country," the "Standard ' proceeds, "proudly recognise the stock bred under the Southern Cross as true sons of the men of Albuera and Badajoz. The Light Horse is worthy to be honoured with the Light Brigade."

[Captain Bean's account was published   in "The Argus" on September 28. In it he writes: -"There are no Victoria Crosses - there are no Birthday honours ; but for sheer self-sacrificing heroism there was never a deed in history that surpassed the charge which two Australian Light Horse   Brigades made in the first light of Saturday, August 7, in order to help their comrades in a critical moment of a great battle. The charge was made to assist the new British forces landed four miles to the north of Suvla Bay.]

The Argus Tuesday 5 October 1915 page 7

Gallant Australians - Charge of the Light Horse - part 2

TURKS READY

But from that man we know all that will probably ever be known of what those Light Horsemen found facing them as they ran through the dust haze. The nearer trenches were crammed with troops. The bayonets of the front row of Turks could   be seen just over the parapet-and behind them there appeared to be two rows of Turks standing waist-high above the parapet emptying their rifles as fast as they could fire them. This is confirmed by the accounts of officers in other parts of the line who had a view of the Turks in their trenches. There is no question that the charge of the Light Horse pinned down to that position during its continuance and for hours afterwards every available Turkish soldier within call. Our own machine-guns were able to get in some work amongst those crowded Turks, and those who know say that their losses must have been an ample set off to our own.

So much for the charge of the Third Light Horse Brigade. The First Light Horse Brigade attacked partly from Quinn's Post, on the opposite side of the gully, and partly from the hill in the gully between the two. The Second Regiment was to attack from Quinn's in four lines of 50 each. The first line led by Major T T Logan scrambled from the trench the instant the signal was given, but more than half were actually knocked back killed or wounded into the trench before they were clear of the parapet. The first few out managed to reach a few yards before they were killed. They left their trenches at two points, and there were only from 15 to 25 yards to go. Major Logan is said actually to have reached the Turkish parapet and fallen on to it. Lieutenant Bourne, who led the other party, fell about 10 yards from our trench. The boy who fell beside him had his leg practically severed by machine gun bullets. The Turkish machine guns drew a line across that narrow space that none could pass, and a man who was hit once by them was often hit again half a dozen times as he fell. As the whole of the first line was either killed or wounded within a few seconds, the attack was stopped and the other lines did not start. The First Regiment attacked from the hill in   the gully. In front of that hill is a small   branch of the main valley, very steep on both sides, and only about 40 yards from one side to the other. On the northern slope of this gully the Turks have three   lines of trenches, the farthest up being on the edge of the gully with many other lines of trenches across the gentler slope above it. Two squadrons of the First Light Horse went out, one working up the gully, and the other going straight over the parapet as soon as the first was in position.

BOMB FIGHTING

The lower trench is never held by the Turks by day, and the Light Horse by using stick bombs drove the Turks clean out of the other two. One party rushed the second trench and from there began to bomb the trench ahead of it. Suddenly a white hand appeared over the parapet of the trench in front furiously waving. The colonel of the regiment, who had come out with his men, recognised it for the hand of a subaltern who had led his men right over into the third trench, and immediately leapt over the parapet and joined the party in the third trench, which had previously been in the most un   comfortable position of being bombed by its friends from behind and by the enemy from in front. There for two hours this party remained fighting the Turks in the trenches farther uphill, as best they could with the slender supply of bombs that came over to them. Even to supply those   bombs men had to imperil their lives by running over the top from their own trench in full view of the Turks. But the Turk in his trenches up the hill had it all his own way in this bomb battle. His higher trenches were connected with the trench which we held by frequent narrow manhole tunnels. At the same time as the Turks pitched a bomb through the air towards the lower trench he would bowl a second bomb down the tunnel in the same direction and our men intent upon dodging the bomb that was coming through the air, would find a bomb bursting underneath their feet.  

The first regiment saw the third line melt out us the Third Light Horse Brigade charged across the ridge to their left. The Welsh Fusiliers in the valley on their left advanced through the dust haze until their first two lines fell almost in a heap at the foot of a cliff, down which the Turks rolled bombs upon them, when the attack was stopped. The Turks at once-good soldiers that they are- swooped down this cliff face until some of the Light Horse saw what   they were at, and detached two or three   snipers, who shot 20 of these Turks in quick time. In the meantime all the other at tacks having ended, the whole of the Turkish machine-guns that could bear upon the spot were turned upon the three trenches still held by the First Light Horse, and   after two hours of furious fighting the commander of the regiment ordered a retire ment. They managed to get most of their wounded back into their trenches-they even managed to steal up the gully side and rescue one or two of their comrades of the Third Brigade whom they could see still living. Of the First Regiment only about one in six of the men who went out came back unwounded. And by some miracle the one officer who returned without a scratch, in spite of the fact that he had been through the thickest of that two hours turmoil, was the commander himself.  

 

THE OBJECT GAINED  

So ended the attack of the two Light Horse Brigades. The one man who carne   back from the parapet of the Turkish trenches reported that the Turks there had their packs on and were in full marching order-evidently part of a battalion that had been hurried up from the reserves, or   else which was being hurried off to rein force farther north when this attack in the centre delayed it. The Australian Light Horse in the richest and fullest manner achieved the object for which their help had become necessary at a critical period of a great movement.

And as for the boys-the single minded, loyal, Australian country lads-who left   their trenches in the grey light of that morning to bivouac in the scrub that evening - the shades of evening found them lying in the scrub with the wide sky above them. The green arbutus, and the holly of the peninsula not unlike their native bush, will some day again claim this neck in those wild ranges for its own. But the place will always be sacred as the scene of two very brave deeds-the first the desperate attack made by the Turk across that same neck on the dawn of June 30; the second the charge of the Australian Light Horse into certain death at the call of their comrades' need during a crisis in the greatest battle that has ever been fought on Turkish soil.

The Argus Tuesday 28 September, 1915 page 5

Gallant Australians - Charge of the Light Horse - part 1

Part of an article located in Trove about the battle at Gallipoli on 7 August published in The Argus 28 August 1915.

Gallant Australians - Charge of Light Horse

(From Captain C. E. BEAN, Official Reporter with the Australian Expeditionary Force)

GABA TEPE, Aug 15-It differed from the charge of the Light Brigade in that it was made by horsemen who had volunteered to fight on foot or in any other way provided they could only get to Gallipoli and help the other Australians there. There are the two scaling ladders which they carried with them lying out there in the scrub about halfway to the enemy's trench, and a number of tumbled little heaps of that pea soup coloured Australian khaki. There are no Victoria Crosses - there are no Birthday honours, but for sheer self sacrificing heroism there was never a deed in history that surpassed the charge which two Australian Light Horse brigades made in the first light of Saturday, August 7, in order to help their comrades in a critical moment of a great battle.

When the orders for the attack came along the men grasped at the fact that this might be the last they would see of the trenches. The next night they would bivouac in the scrub on the ridge out beyond the Turkish lines. During the afternoon of the day before when the battle began they had seen the wonderful rush of the First Australian Infantry Brigade against the Turkish trenches on Lonesome Pine. They bad seen crowd after crowd of small khaki fighters, each with the white patches on its arms and back racing across the interval of scrub half hidden in the dust of the bullets and a hell of bursting shrapnel, whilst the waning light of a glorious day spread its warm flush over the landscape. They had seen what looked like the strongest section in a tremendously formidable position captured by a series of determined rushes which went forward for two hours, wave after wave, and from which not one unbounded man turned back. What the infantry had done that evening they themselves would do the next morning.

THE BATTLE BEGINS.

It was all a part-a very small part-of a very big movement. After dark the infantry columns issued from the northern end of our lines and one after another turned to its right into the tangled and almost unknown foothills of the main ridge All through the night came out bursts of rifle firing. A little before day break there came over ever so faint the sound as of water bubbling and boiling. It was the first sign of the new British force landed that night four miles to the north at Suvla Bay.  

It was a matter of intense urgency to hold the Turks to their position around Anzac while the other columns had time to do their appointed work. It was possible that they might not be in position in which case the attack by the Light Horse would have to help them to get there. This is what actually happened. The attack was made by the 8th Light Horse with the 10th Light Horst, following. At 4 o'clock to the moment the bombardment by our guns began. Every gun on land and shore that could be brought to bear emptied itself as fast as the gun's crew could load into the maze of Turkish trenches on the backbone of the ridge in front of the apex of our position. The dust of the bombardment rolled across the ridge in clouds, shutting out any view of the place. For half an hour the slope in   front of our trenches was an inferno and then the uproar ceased as suddenly as it had begun--ceased as, if cut short by the stroke of a knife. At the same instant the Light Horse attack was launched.  

The men were standing there in the trench without the least sign of excitement hitching up their packs, getting a firm foot hold below the parapet. The colonel of the Eighth, Lieut-Colonel A H White, insisted on leading his regiment. He stood by the parapet with his watch in his hand watching the second hand fidget its way round. "Three minutes to go" said the colonel-then simply, " Go!" They were over the parapet like a flash, the colonel amongst them, the officers in line with the men. A tremendous fusillade broke out. It rose from a fierce crackle into a roar, in which you could distinguish neither rifle nor machine gun but just one continuous tempest. It was the greeting of the Turkish   rifles and machine-guns as the Light Horse cleared the Australian parapet.

Many fell back into the trench wounded before they had cleared the parapet. Others were wounded just outside and managed to crawl back and tumble in before they were hit a second and third time and killed, as they certainly would be if they remained lying out there. Colonel White managed to run eight or ten yards before he was killed. Exactly two minutes after the first   line had cleared the parapet the second line jumped out without the slightest hesitation and followed it.  

THE LITTLE FLAG  

No one knows how it happened, probably no one will ever know, but some, either of that first line or of the second managed to get into the extreme right hand corner of the enemy's trench. They carried with them a small flag to put up in the enemy's trench if they captured it, and the appearance of this flag was, to be the signal for a party of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers to attack up the gully to the right. Two men were put in the head of one of our foremost saps with periscopes to watch for the first sign of   this flag in the enemy's trench. At this time a French seventy-five-a gun captured by the Turks from the Servians in the Balkan war-was pouring out her shell at the rate of about one in ten seconds. Machine guns, far too many to count were whipping up the dust, and it was next to impossible to distinguish anything in the haze. But in the extreme south-eastern corner of the Turkish trench there did appear just for ten minutes the small flag, which our party had taken. No one ever saw them get there. No one will ever know who they were or how they did it. Only for those ten minutes the flag fluttered up behind the   parapet and then someone unseen tore it   down. The fight in that corner of the trench, whatever it was, was over; and it can only have ended one way.    

In the meantime ten minutes after the second line, the third line had gone over the   parapet as straight and as quick as the other. The attack was then stopped, and   fortunately was stopped in time to prevent a small part of this third line from reaching the fire zone. There was one point where our trenches were under cover of the slope, and the men had to crawl out some ten   yards or so before they put up their heads into the torrent of lead. A dozen or two were stopped here before they made their rush.

It was all over within a quarter of an   hour. Except for the wild fire which burst   out again at intervals there was not a   movement in front of the trenches-only   the scrub and the tumbled khaki here and   there. All day long the brilliant sun of a perfect day poured down upon them from a cloudless sky. That night, after dark, one or two maimed figures appeared over our parapet and stumbled home into the trench.  They were men who had fallen wounded into some corner where there was a scrap of cover, and had waited for this chance to get back. One of them came from below the parapet of the Turkish trench on the right. He had lain there all day, too close to the parapet for the Turks to see him without exposing themselves. There was another wounded Australian near him. After dark they heard the Turks come out over the parapet, searching the bodies of the men there for papers and diaries so they arranged to make as fast as they could for our trenches. The man who arrived back was shot through the ankle. His mate never came back.

Arthur Andreas Anderson - part 2

In the previous post the Digger Database for Whitehorse and Manningham and the National Archives of Australia site - Discovering Anzacs - were used to trace Arthur Anderson's short time in the A. I F. until his death on 7 August 1915.

A search in the newspaper section of Trove provided two notices in The Argus about Arthur's death.

KILLED IN ACTION.

ANDERSON. - Killed in action at the Dardanelles, August 7, Private Arthur A. Anderson, 8th L.H., 4th Reinforcements, third son of Martin and   Elizabeth Anderson, of Vermont, and brother of Fred., Netta, Ruby, Dave, Bertha, Luke, Roy, aged 20 years.

The Argus Tuesday 21 August 1915 page 1

PRIVATE ARTHUR A. ANDERSON (killed in action) was the third son of Mr. and Mrs. M. Anderson, of Vermont, and prior to enlisting was employed at Mr. D. Harvey's, implement makers, Box Hill. He was educated at Vermont State school.

The Argus Friday 17 September 1915 page 6

Discovering Anzacs includes a copy of the above letter sent to Martin Anderson on 2 April 1917 confirming the details of his death and burial.

From 28 January 1918 Elizabeth Thornton Anderson, Arthur's mother, started receiving a war pension.

On 7 July 1922  Martin Anderson signed a receipt for a Memorial Scroll received by the family.

Two copies of the pamphlet, The Graves of the Fallen were sent to the family 0n 9 August 1922.

On 7 August 1922 Marin Anderson signed a receipt for a Memorial Plaque.

Medals
The family received a Star Medal in October 1920.
On 15 November 1921 a British War Medal was received.
A Victory Medal arrived 1 November 1922.

Arthur Andreas Anderson - part 1

The first name in the list of soldiers from Whitehorse who died at Gallipoli in 1915 was Arthur Andreas Anderson, Service No. 801, 8th Light Horse Brigade. As an exercise I decided to see how much information could be located about Arthur and his family.

The Diggers Database for Whitehorse and Manningham includes entries for Arthur and two of his brothers, David Christopher Anderson and Frederick Martin Anderson, who were also soldiers. The database lists five memorials where Arthur's name is recorded – Nunawading-in memorium, Box Hill War Memorial, Mitcham War Memorial, Vermont State School and the All Australian Memorial Book.

 The next step was to check for information on the National Archives of Australia site - Discovering Anzacs.  This site provides copies of documents relating to the military service of Arthur Anderson. 

The Attestation Papers filled in when he applied to enlist give his place of birth and place of enlistment as Melbourne and his next of kin is his father, Martin Anderson. The address is given as Vermont Post Office (postal address). Arthur was 21 when he enlisted. The date he enlisted was given as 21 September 1914 and he signed the oath on 7 November 1914. Britain had declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and so from that time Australia was also at war. Therefore Arthur Anderson was one of the first Australians to enlist.  Arthur's occupation was listed as a farrier and he was recruited to the 4th reinforcements of the 8th Light Horse.

The Medical Examnination papers provide a description of the soldier. Arthur was 5 feet 5 3/4 inches tall, weighed 5 stone 7 lbs, had a medium complexion, blue eyes, brown hair and his religious denomination was C of E (Anglican). He was passed medically fit for active service on 21 September 1914. This form was signed again by a commanding officer at Broadmeadows on 10 March 1915, three days before he left Australia.

The Statement of Service papers state that Arthur Anderson was at the AIF (Australian Imperial Force) Depot from 21 September 1914 until 9 February 1915 when he transferred to the 8th Light Horse. There was an AIF Training Depot at Broadmeadows.

A copy of a filing card provides the information that Private Arthur Andreas Anderson embarked at Melbourne per H.M.A.T A18 "Wiltshire" on 13-3-15. They would have sailed to Egypt. The next entry on the card states 13/7/15 Taken on strength (joined unit and placed on rations) of 8th LHR from Reins. There are two more references on the card. Arthur Andreas Anderson was killed in action on 7 August 1915 at Gallipoli and buried the same day at Anzac North by Rev Makeham. 

This information is also provided on the Casualty form and the Field Service form. Additional information about where trooper Anderson was buried is supplied on the Graves Registration paper - Point Cemetery, Ari Burnu, ANZAC, Gallipoli. Another paper states that he was buried in row 1, grave 8.

The Inventory of Effects lists a brown paper parcel containing a disc and a chain. On 25th April Martin Anderson signed a card acknowledging the receipt of the parcel which also contained letters and cards. The package had been sent via Thomas Cook & Son on the ship, Argyleshire. On November 30, 1915, Elizabeth Anderson had written a letter to the Secretary of the Minister of Defence, Melbourne, enquiring when her son's effects would be returned and received a reply dated 6 December.

The service files held at National Archives of Australia therefore provide a detailed outline of the military service of each soldier.

Family history and military history

Exploring family history (family stories) can lead to a wider understanding of history in general.

When researching family history, particularly family in Europe, it becomes apparent that wars and battles constantly impact directly or indirectly on the lives of families and on the communities in which they live. Military history therefore can be an important aspect of family or local history research. In the twentieth century World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) were major world conflicts but the Korean War, Vietnam War and other conflicts throughout the world have continued to impact upon the lives of families who served as well as on subsequent government policy and relationships between countries.

With the centenary of World War I (2014-2018) approaching there is a focus on exploring the history of the First World War but anyone investigating family history may need to investigate a variety of military events to really understand their family story. In the history of my family I have found family members who fought in the two World Wars, Boer War and Crimean War as well as family serving in the British Army in India. One member was even stationed in the West Indies for a time. The history of Europe is largely a chronicle of conflict. The history of England, for example, involves conflicts with Scotland, Wales and Ireland plus conflicts within each of those countries, particularly in England. Then there was almost constant hostility with the French and from time to time other countries in Europe. The Crusades form another component of military history over several centuries. Then there were the invasions of the Vikings, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, not to mention the Romans.

Libraries, Archives. Museums and other collecting organisations have resources that can help family historians understand the past in which their ancestors lived. Increasingly documents are being digitised and / or indexed and the information made available online, making it easier for researchers to access information. It is important to remember that research is an ongoing process and that information that is not easily accessible the first time you look may be available in a year or two.