The Dungaree March - 1915

The reframe during the commemoration of military events is 'Lest we forget'.  As I reflect on my own interest in history I wonder if the reframe might be better stated 'Lest we forget any more than we already have'.  The Dungaree March features large in the Warwick narrative but access to simple lists of participants, with the exception of the 28 initial participants, is not that easily accessed. McCaughley's limited ditribution work is an exception, but it, like this post, is not complete.  This post is provided in the hope that people interested in seeing which families participated in the March may have easy access to such a list.

Admidst all the other 100th Aniversary commemorations this year is the 100th anniversary of the Dungaree March, one of nine 'snowball marches' in which newly enlisted soldiers marched through regional areas in the hope that they would accrue more recruits to go to the battle fields of WWI as they marched [1, 2].  The Dungaree March traversed 270 kilometres from Warwick to Brisbane via Toowoomba.  The journey was conducted over 15 days, 16–30 November 1915, with the following itinerary.

Day 1. Warwick to Allora
Day 2. Allora to Clifton
Day 3. Clifton to Greenmount
Day 4. Greenmount to Cambooya
Day 5. Cambooya to Toowoomba
Day 6. Toowoomba
Day 7. Toowoombato Helidon
Day 8. Helidon to Gatton
Day 9. Gatton to Laidley
Day 10. Laidley to Rosewood
Day 11. Rosewood to Ipswich
Day 12. Ipswich
Day 13. Ipswich
Day 14. Ipswich to Oxley
Day 15. Oxley to Brisbane

The 'Dungarees' were named after the item of clothing that the soldiers were issued with – the dungaree jacket – which from what I can tell is the jacket with four large front pockets in which soldier portraits are often taken.  'Dungaree' in common speech today refers to bib and brace overalls, but this was not the meaning during the recruitment drive.

Re-enactments

In 1998 a reenactment march lasting 12 days followed by 2 days of involvement with ANZAC Day ceremonies was conducted.  This march placed a number of monuments enroute and resulted in the publication of McCaughley's book [1].

In 2015 the Military Brotherhood Military Motorcyle Club (MBMMC) has planned a reenactment ride for the last week in November 2015 (ride details).  They will be accompanied by The Road Riders for Jesus (ride details).

Monuments and memorials

The march was at one time commemorated at the Warwick end by a fountain in the Condamine River near the O. O. Madson Bridge until a series of floods damaged it sufficiently that it was decommissioned around 2010.

Dungaree Fountain, Condamine River, Warwick.  Photo Simon Hamlet, January 2007.

28 trees were planted opposite the War Graves section of the Warwick Cemetery.  With a plaque to signify the event this was part of the 1998 reenactment march.

There is also a plaque at the Warwick Cenotaph with the names of the 28 enlistees who first left Warwick.

Monument Australia also lists the following other 'Dungaree March' monuments (links take you to the appropriate site).

• Rosewood Dungaree monument
• Forest Hill Dungaree monument
• Ipswich Dungaree monument

A plaque of the Victoria Street Bridge abutment, Brisbane was also installed during the re-enactment. Access to the abutment was improved with a pedestrian overpass by the Brisbane City Council in 2015.

The Dungaree plaque on the Victoria Street Bridge Abutment, looking East to the Brisbane CBD.  Photo Simon Hamlet September 2015.

List of Participants

McCaughley notes that:

Out of the 125 men who marched into Albert Square on 30th November 1915, only 103 have been traced with 34 having only scant records, and 22 being untraceable at this time. [page. 11]

All of the Dungarees are now dead with the last Dungaree, Erik Kingsley Abraham of Boonah, dying in 2003.  He was awarded a state funeral.

The list below is based on McCaughley's [1] list, with enlisted persons listed alphabeticaly by surname within the locality where they enlisted.  NR denotes 'no records' as per McCaughley's list of 103, KIA denotes 'killed in action' or killed as a result of injures obtained while in action (10 people have KIA beside their name). The Brisbane Courier of 27 November 1915 [3], provides a list of 43 recruits which agree with that in McCaughley.

The commanding Officer Lieut. David Johnston Binnie is not included in the list as it is probably incorrect to consider him a recruit.

McCaughley [1] notes the enlistment of 11 un-named persons. These appear under enlisted at Helidon and Gatton.

Most sources consider that the 28 people left Warwick, but I have included 32 enlistees for Warwick as four people enlisted at Warwick but joined the march at a later time.

The Brisbane Courier of 21 November 1915 [4] states ...

When the Southern Downs recruits left here for the march to Brisbane some of the boys who had arranged to join them were unable to be ready in time. The following recruits from this district will join between Toowoomba and Brisbane: Messrs. A. Courtney, C. Goodwin, P. Brosnan. P. J. Fitzgerald, W. Higgins, J. McIntosh, W. E. Girtler, H. Garvey, C. Harris and P Bartnett. It is under stood that Girtler, McIntosh, Garvey, and   Bartnett will join the march at Ipswich.

Brosnan, Harris and Bartnett were not in McCaugley's list, perhaps they are some of the unnamed recruits who joined the march at either Helidon or Gatton.

According to the Australian War Memorial records

• a Patrick Brosnan from Killarney did join on the 15 Novemeber 1915 [5]. He is probably one of the Dungarees,
• there are no records for any Bartnett in WWI.
• there a numerous C. Harris's on the record for WWI and this may be an investigation worth following further.

Enlisted in Warwick (32)

• Anderson, Percy
• Anstey, Henry
• Atkins, Lyall Henry
• Baillie, Richard Patrick
• Barnett, David
• Bell, Alexander John
• Bonnet, H. H. - NR
• Burns, Thomas Frederick - NR
• Clarke, S. J. - NR
• Corby, Samuel James
• Courtney, Allan Douglas
• Darragh, Archibald
• Day, C. W. - NR
• Edmonds, Thomas Christmas
• Evans, Clement Phillip Cotterell
• Glasby, Robert William
• Goodwin, Charles Thomas
• Guy, David
• Hamlyn, A. E. - NR
• Hatton, Wilfred Albert
• Keefe, Andrew
• Lesley, George Henry
• Mann, George
• Maxwell, James
• Meneely, Harold Charles
• Pierpoint, Harold William
• Ross, J. - NR
• Skehan, Daniel Joseph
• Walsh, Edward Joseph
• Warrener, John WIlliam - KIA
• Watson, F. J. - NR
• Welsh, Joseph Patrick

Enlisted in Allora (1)

• Siebenhausen, Clinton Gregory - KIA

Enlisted in Clifton (6)

• Duncan, Walter John
• Hawkins, E. - NR
• Hawkins, J. - NR
• Hazlitt, J. - NR
• Morris , Harry Agnew - KIA
• Rissman, C. J. - NR

Enlisted in Greenmount (3)

• Garvey, Harry Joseph - KIA
• Girtler, William Edward
• McIntosh, James Shaw

Enlisted in Cambooya (1)

• Smith, Fred

Enlisted in Toowoomba (15)

• Baggett, Andrew
• Ball, G. - NR
• Brandon, Frederick Christopher - KIA
• Buchanan, John Tait
• Burton, J. L. - NR
• Gosie, R. - NR
• Jefferys, W. - NR
• Lynam, Maurice - NR
• McMahon, John Leslie
• McMahon, R. - NR
• McMillan, Robert Ewin
• Malone, Patrick - KIA
• Moore, William Pierson
• Solomon, W. S. - NR
• Woods, George Ambrose

Enlisted in Helidon (1)

• Freeman, W. - NR

Enlisted in Helidon (7)

• 7 unnamed recruits

Enlisted in Gatton (4)

• 4 unnamed recruits

• (Bartnett, P.)
• (Brosnan, Patrick ?)
• (Harris, C.)

Enlisted in Ipswich (43)

• Abraham, Eric Kingsley
• Andersen, Jacob Neilson
• Aylott, Frederick Charles
• Aylott, Herbert
• Brady, J. - NR
• Brown, Ronald Bell
• Butson, Ernest William
• Carter, T. - NR
• Castinsos, Peter - NR
• Chalk, Alfred Titmarsh
• Dimmick, H.   - NR
• Edwards, William James
• England, H.  - NR
• Fullelove, Eric
• Harold, W. - NR
• Haylock, H. - NR
• Hinton, Edward John - KIA
• Howard, C. W. - NR
• Keen, David
• Little, Albert
• Little, Robert
• Llewellyn, L. - NR
• McBean, Donald Joseph
• McDonald, Henry Arthur
• McFarlane, Kenneth Leslie
• Mahaffey, Andrew - KIA
• Marsh, Sydney - KIA
• Maudsley, Arthur John
• Mengel, August
• Messenger, Edward Paul
• Mitchell, George - NR
• Nugent, T. - NR
• Pearce, John Joseph
• Robertson, John - NR
• Robinson, Sydney - NR
• Rossiter, Percy - NR
• Stolz, George Henry
• Surawski, Lorenz Andrew
• Surawski, Martin Theodore
• Walker, William George
• Ward, Haviland Vance - KIA
• Werner, Edward
• Woodward, Charles

Enlisted in Oxley (1)

• Webster, G. R. - NR

References

[1] McCaughey N. (2000) The Dungarees : an account of the recruitment march from Warwick to Brisbane by volunteers for the First World War and the re-enactment 1998.

[2] Snowball marches. (2015, March 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snowball_marches&oldid=652760726

[3] OVER 120 STRONG. (1915, November 27). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 5. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20087500

[4] THE RECRUITING MARCH. (1915, November 22). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 8. Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20063628

[5] Australian Imperial Force - Nominal Roll.  Retreived July 24, 2015, from http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1067266/RCDIG1067266--152-.JPG

Version History

1.0 First posted 25 Jul 2015

2.0 Amended 13 Sep 2015.  (i) Added information about the Victoria Street Bridge plaque. (ii) Added Version History. (iii) Added image captions.

Fiction or biography?

While reading an old version of WQ (Writing Queensland) I came across this quote in an article by Katherine Lyall-Watson [1].  This may be of value to my blog readers.

If you're trying to decide whether you should be writing fiction or biography/memior, I think there's a simple test you can do.  Think back to something that has happened that you think could make a good story.  Once you have the scene or event in your mind, see what questions pop into your head.  Do you find yourself asking, 'What if ...', or do you wonder what happened next? 

If you're a 'what if' writer, you will probably gravitate towards fiction, because you'll be somebody who uses every snatch of overhead conversation as a springboard for imagination.  If you're an 'and then what' writer, you'll probably be an excellent researcher and will work really well in the field of biography, because everything you hear and learn will take you back to the source and your research to find out more.

I think I am the latter - at least when I am writing for this blog.

[1] Lyall-Watson, K. (2013). Bringing the dead to life. WQ 234, p. 11.

Grimley's Coach Service - 1949

One of the things I love about old newspapers is the car ads.  While this is not a car ad specifically it does have a picture of a very groovy bus.

I doubt the journey between Warwick and Brisbane would be all that comfortable or swift in this bus. Notice also how short the telephone numbers are!

According to Wikipedia, Grimley's Coach Service was bought out by Skennars in 1952 and the run that would have been the Grimley's run was bought off Skennars by Crisps Coaches in 1992 [1].

This advertisment is from page 3 of the Friday May 6, 1949, edition of the The Warwick Daily News.

[1] Skennars. (2014, December 27). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:45, May 31, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Skennars&oldid=639798679

Letter from a Warwick ANZAC - 1915

Peruse the list of the WWI war dead on the Warwick cenotaph and you will encounter the somewhat uncommon surname of 'Spreadborough'.  A letter discovered on 'Trove' gives an insight into the horror of war from an O. L. Spreadborough, a resident of Killarney, and I assume a relative of the man memorialised on the Warwick cenotaph. This article appeared in Mackay Daily Mercury 12 August 1915, having been copied from the Warwick Examiner.

Here is a link to Trove article

A TURKISH ATTACK.

BATTLE VIVIDLY DESCRIBED BY A YOUNG QUEENSLANDER.

Private O. L. Spreadborough, youngest son of Mr. Richard Spreadborough, of Killarney, has sent an account of one of the Gallipoli battles to Mr. E. H. Day, from which the following is an extract : — 

"On the 18th May the Turks received large reinforcements, and it was evident that they intended to try to drive us into the sea. We made preparations to receive the attack. It started with a bombardment of our trenches at 5 p.m. on the 19th. This lasted till nightfall, when they opened up with their rifles and bombs. The whole front and flanks then became a perfect hell. Grenades were thrown into our trenches, and this lasted until about 2.30 a.m. or 3 a.m., when black forms could be seen, then they became thicker and thicker. Crawling and creeping along, they presented a most wierd sight in the dark. Nearer and nearer they came by this time in thousands, right along the whole of our lines. It looked as if they were going to carry out their threat to drive us into the sea.

"Not a sound came from our lines, but rifles were sighted, and cocked, and fingers ready on the trigger, but never a shot was fired, nor word spoken. At this the Turks became more daring, and came forward in an upright position, thinking perhaps we were asleep or else had frightened us by their threat. On they came, closer and closer, until within 50 yards of our lines. "No surrender" was our watchword, and no man was to leave the trenches. Still closer they came when "crack," and oh; what din?  Screaming and curses, mingled with the groans of the wounded, it was awful. Machine guns were firing their hardest, thousands of rifles were cracking in rapid fire, hand grenades, were exploded by the dozen, hundreds of fellows in their wild humour were calling out "Come on and get some Turkish delight!" Still the Turks, advanced in their mad rush, hundreds of them falling dead dying or wounded. The great dark masses became thinner. It seemed as if they had hopes of us coming out to meet them, but not a man moved. Our little line was firm as a rock, and our trenches looked like a long thin streak of flame.

"After a lull the firing became more rapid, and certainly more deadly, as they drew near, and it seemed that every shot fired brought a man to the ground. What a horrible sight to witness and one can fully realise now how a soldier in the firing line under such circumstances as these temporarily loses himself to everything but to the slaughter of the advancing enemy. It seemed as if all the devils of hell had been let out. The turmoil was awful. On they came and back they were driven only to be cursed at and driven to the charge again at the point of their German officers' swords. Time after time they came at us, and were as often driven back. Their great thick black line, had become considerably thinner by now. In fact, their dead and wounded lay in heaps all over the field. Those who were left came rushing forward right on our parapet, but I don't thing [sic] over a dozen got into our trenches; and these were thrown back dead. This went on till nearly dawn, but our line was never broken, not a man flinched, and as the enemy retired towards their own trenches, they got a warm send-off, and many a man passed in his checks. When it was clear enough to see, the scene before our eyes was horrible to look upon. Thousands   of dead Turks were lying all over the landscape, heaped up, one on top of the other. Take it from me, I was not sorry when it was all over." 

— Warwick "Examiner."