Aap australian warstories flipbook by Timothy Campbell

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WILLIAM RUSSELL McLEAN

WILLIAM RUSSELL MCLEAN 1940-1946

AUSTR ALIAN WAR STORIES

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE

WORLD WAR II ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE

1940-1946

AUSTRALIAN WAR STORIES

Copyright ÂŠ Australian Associated Press 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. Australian Associated Press 3 Rider Boulevard, Rhodes Waterside Rhodes NSW 2138 Phone: 61 2 9322 8000 Web: www.aap.com.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Australian War Stories: WWII 1st edition 2013 ISBN 978-1-875322-01-5 Cover design: Anita Belia. Australian War Stories motif inspired by the seven iterations of the Australian militaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rising Sun badge.

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ALBERT CHALLENOR 1914-1915

www.australianwarstories.com.au

LEST WE FORGET

AUSTRALIAN WAR STORIES

In memory of Albert, who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. His family and descendants remain forever grateful.

FOREWORD World War I began when Britain and Germany went to war in August 1914. Australia was preparing for a federal election, but both Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher pledged full support for Britain. The outbreak of war was greeted in Australia with public enthusiasm. Young men rushed to recruiting stations. Among them was Albert Challenor, a 21-year-old galvaniser living in Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eastern suburbs, who signed up on August 18, 1914. The authorities set exacting physical stan-

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dards for recruits. Most of the men who enlisted in August 1914 anticipated they would be sent to Europe. Instead, after the troop convey left Australia in November, the men learnt they would be landed in Egypt. Their task: to meet the threat a belligerent Ottoman Empire (Turkey) posed to British interests in the Middle East. When the Anzacs landed in Egypt, they began four and a half months training near Cairo. They then left by ship for the Gallipoli peninsula, stopping at the Greek island of Lemnos on the way. After months of waiting, those early Australian recruits were glad to be sailing towards the Dardanelles. Alongside them were troops from New Zealand, Britain and France. The members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) landed at what became known as Anzac Cove on April 25, 1915, and established a tenuous foothold on the steep slopes above the beach. Albert Challenorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s battalion was part of the so-called second and third wave on that fateful day. During the early days of the campaign, the Allies tried to break through Turkish lines, while the Turks tried

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to drive the allied troops off the peninsula. Both failed in their objectives and the ensuing stalemate continued until just before the end of 1915. The most successful operation of the campaign was the evacuation of troops on December 19 and 20, under cover of a comprehensive deception operation. The Turks inflicted only a few casualties on the retreating forces. After Gallipoli, the AIF was re-organised and expanded from two to five infantry divisions, all of which were progressively transferred to France, starting in March 1916. When the other AIF divisions arrived in France, the war on the Western Front had become a stalemate, with the opposing armies facing each other from trench systems that extended across Belgium and northeast France, from the English Channel to the Swiss border. The development of machine-guns and artillery favoured defence over attack, and a hostile stasis lasted until the warâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final months. Throughout 1916 and 1917, the Australians and other Allied armies repeatedly attacked, preceded by massive artillery bombardments

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intended to cut barbed wire and destroy enemy defences. After these bombardments, waves of attacking infantry emerged from the trenches into no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land and advanced towards enemy positions. The surviving Germans, protected by deep and heavily reinforced bunkers, were usually able to repel the attackers with machinegun fire and artillery support from the rear. These attacks often resulted in limited territorial gains, followed, in turn, by German counter-attacks. Both sides sustained heavy losses. In July 1916, Australian infantry were introduced to this type of combat at Fromelles, where they suffered 5533 casualties in 24 hours. By the end of the year, about 40,000 Australians had been killed or wounded on the Western Front. In 1917, a further 76,836 Australians became casualties in battles such as Bullecourt, Messines, and the four-month campaign around Ypres, known as the battle of Passchendaele. In March 1918, the German army launched its final offensive of the war, and met with initial success. Between April and November the

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stalemate of the preceding years began to give way, as the Allies combined infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft more effectively â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as demonstrated in the Australian capture of Hamel spur on July 4, 1918. The Allied offensive, starting on August 8 at Amiens, also contributed to Australian successes at Mont St Quentin and PĂŠronne and to the capture of the Hindenburg Line. In early October, the Australian divisions withdrew from the front for rest and refitting; they were preparing to return when Germany surrendered on November 11. Meanwhile, the Middle East campaign had begun in 1916, with Australian troops participating in the defence of the Suez Canal and the Allied reconquest of the Sinai Peninsula. The following year, Australian and other Allied troops advanced into Palestine and captured Gaza and Jerusalem; by 1918 they occupied Lebanon and Syria. On October 30, 1918, Turkey sued for peace. Unlike their counterparts in France and Belgium, the Australians in the Middle East fought a mobile war against the Ottoman Empire,

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in conditions of extreme heat, harsh terrain and water shortages. Nevertheless, casualties were comparatively light, with 1394 Australians killed or wounded in three years of war. For Australia, as for many nations, World War I remains the most costly conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, more than 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. Australian women volunteered for service in auxiliary roles as cooks, nurses, drivers, interpreters, munitions workers and skilled farm workers. Back home, families and communities grieved over the loss of so many men, and women increasingly assumed the physical and financial burden of caring for families. Social division grew, reaching a climax in the bitterly contested (and unsuccessful) conscription referendums in 1916 and 1917. When the war ended, thousands of ex-servicemen, many with physical or emotional wounds, had to be reintegrated into a society

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keen to consign the war to the past and resume normal life. Australian War Memorial Canberra, ACT, Australia

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1914 Double Bay and Duty Albert Challenor (“Challo” to his mates) was born in the inner Sydney suburb of Annandale on December 26, 1892, to Thomas Challenor, a galvaniser, and his wife Mary Ann, both migrants from Staffordshire. Within a few years the family moved to Queensland and in 1901 Thomas, Mary Ann and their seven children – Elizabeth, Margaret, Albert, George, Hilda, Rose and

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Sydney – were living in Brisbane. Albert attended the (non-denominational) Normal School, on the corner of Adelaide and Edward streets, Brisbane. Built by convict labour in 1862, it later became a demonstration school, a place where teachers learnt to teach. In 1878 The Queenslander newspaper praised the school as an institution that “would be a credit to any community in the country”. While there, Albert became a good footballer and learnt to write in the clear, curly script with which he would later sign his enlistment documents. All Australian schoolboys between 12 and 14 had to be junior cadets, but Albert went on to be part of his school’s senior cadet corps. The Challenors returned to Sydney when Albert was a teenager. His parents had separate addresses in 1914. Albert lived with his mother in Epping Rd, Double Bay, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, while his father lived in Darlington, in the city’s inner west. Albert followed in his father’s footsteps and became a galvaniser, skilled at coating iron or

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steel with zinc to stop rusting. Galvanised pipes were replacing iron and lead pipes throughout the city, so there was plenty of work. Albert landed a job as a galvaniser with the department store Anthony Hordern & Sons Ltd. In his spare time he enjoyed playing rugby. But his life was about to change. Tensions that had been building up on the other side of the world reached a crisis when the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were shot dead by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. The assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. Because of a complex web of treaties that were in place, a full-scale war was inevitable. While all this was happening, Australia was building up to its sixth federal election. On July 31, Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson was officially advised war was imminent. Even before Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, both sides of Australian politics had rushed to support the Mother Country

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in whatever conflict was coming. Both Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher made speeches pledging their support for the British Empire. “Remember that when the empire is at war, so is Australia at war,” Cook said, adding that “all our resources in Australia are in the empire and for the empire and for the preservation and the security of the empire”. Labor leader Fisher made a stirring promise: “Australians will stand beside our own to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling.” Things moved rapidly over the next few days, with Britain, France, Russia and Belgium lining up in opposition to Germany and AustriaHungary. On August 2, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) signed a secret treaty with Germany against Russia. On August 3, Germany declared war on France. On August 4, Britain declared war on Germany, with the result that Australia, too, was at war. The nation’s four million people were gripped by patriotism and enthusiasm for the war. The Sydney Morning Herald of August

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6, 1914, had no doubt war would change the new nation: “It is our baptism of fire … Australia knows something of the flames of war, but its realities have never been brought so close as they will be in the near future.” Many people thought the war would be over by Christmas. Recruiting stations began to open across the country on August 10 and men rushed to be part of the initial quota of 20,000 men Australia had pledged. Many would-be recruits travelled hundreds of kilometres, only to be turned away because they could not meet rigorous physical standards. Soldiers had to be 18 or older, at least 167.6cm (5ft 6in), with a minimum chest measurement of 86.4cm (34in). They also had to have all their teeth. Men who had been turned away from one recruiting station often tried their luck at another. Others lied about their age. Eight days after the recruiting stations opened, 21-year-old Albert Challenor joined the queue in Randwick. He was fair-haired, blue-eyed, with a fair complexion, unmarried, of the Church of

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England faith and happy to declare himself “a native-born British subject”. At 169cm (5ft 7in) and with a chest measurement of 89-94cm (35-37in), Albert had the physical attributes to be a member of the Australian Imperial Force. During his medical examination on August 28, a couple of “distinctive marks” were noted: Albert had two V-shaped marks on his left arm and a scar on the back of his right wrist. It was a thorough examination and the medical officer noted Albert did not present any of the following conditions – “scrofula; phthisis; syphilis; impaired constitution; defective intelligence; defects of vision, voice or hearing; hernia; haemorrhoids; varicose veins, beyond a limited extent; marked varicocele with unusually pendent testicle; inveterate cutaneous disease; chronic ulcers; traces of corporal punishment, or evidence of having been marked with the letter D or BC; contracted or deformed chest; abnormal curvature of spine; or any other disease or physical effect calculated to unfit him for the duties of a soldier”.

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The examining officer added: “He can see the required distance with either eye; his heart and lungs are healthy; he has the free use of his joints and limbs; and he declares he is not subject to fits of any description.” Albert declared his previous military experience – two and a half years in the senior cadets at school – and gave his next-of-kin as Mrs Thomas Challenor, of 53 Epping Rd, Double Bay, Sydney. Albert was now a member of B Company of the new 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, AIF. The battalion had been formed the previous day, September 17. (A brigade was made up of four battalions, and a battalion comprised four companies.) Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Astley John Onslow Thompson, the 4th Battalion’s commanding officer, signed the form declaring Albert “fit to serve”. On August 21, Albert took the oath required of all enlisted persons, swearing to “well and truly serve our sovereign lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force from today until the end of the war and a further period of four months thereafter

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unless sooner lawfully discharged, dismissed or removed therefrom; and that I will resist His Majesty’s enemies and cause His Majesty’s peace to be kept and maintained; and that I will in all matters appertaining to my service faithfully discharge my duty according to law. So help me, God.” The officer who witnessed Albert taking this oath was Major Charles Macnaghten. Albert’s reward was the rank of private, a low threefigure service number (250) that was proof of his eagerness to sign up, and a salary of six shillings a week (one shilling a week was held out of every soldier’s pay packet, to be paid at the end of a soldier’s service). He was also issued with his uniform: a khaki woolen jacket (with a double pleat at the back and four pockets), heavy cord breeches, plus boots, puttees (lengths of cloth to wrap between the ankles and the knees) and the famous slouch hat, turned up on the left and featuring a plain khaki band, chinstrap and “rising sun” badge. A soldier’s equipment also included such items as a

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dixie (mess tin), water bottle, mug, entrenching tool, .303 Lee and Enfield rifle and bayonet. On August 31, Britain’s First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, asked for plans to be drawn up for a Gallipoli campaign. Meanwhile, in Sydney’s east, the infantry brigade was getting used to life at their base at Randwick racecourse. Troops there received basic training and lots of physical exercise. Friends and relatives were permitted to visit between 4.30pm and 7pm on weekdays, and from noon to 7pm on Sundays. The Australian Labor Party won the September 5 election and Andrew Fisher again became prime minister. On September 6, Churchill noted the threat posed by the Ottoman Empire and wrote: “The price to be paid in taking Gallipoli would no doubt be heavy, but there would be no more war with Turkey. A good army of 50,000 men and sea power – that is the end of the Turkish menace.” The men of the 1st Brigade AIF, yet to set sail from Sydney, were still in training. They did drills in Kensington’s sandhills and often marched,

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in uniform, through surroundings suburbs to cheering crowds. “The officers responsible for the drilling of the men had good reason to be proud,” The Sydney Morning Herald reported of the September 14 march. The 4th Battalion, which had many men of Scottish background, took pride in having the only official pipe band in the AIF. On September 17 the 4000 troops based at Randwick and Kensington marched out, in full uniform, in two groups. The 3rd and 4th battalions headed down Randwick Rd (today known as Anzac Parade) and entered Centennial Park through the Kensington gates. The Evening News reported the men “took 20 minutes to pass any given point”, but their timing was so precise that when the 1st and 2nd battalions, coming via a different route, met up with them the leaders swung in behind without missing a beat. “Singing in subdued tones was permitted, so was whistling, and the inspiriting tones of more than one mouth organ helped the long brown columns to keep in step and move with a swing,” the report

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said. “A brewer’s dray heavily laden with casks of beer which was drawn up on Randwick Rd, set company after company singing, ‘We are so dry! We are so dry!’” The group marched to South Head via Bellevue Hill (stopping for five minutes every hour for a smoke and a rest) and returned via Charing Cross, Waverley. All the men got drenched by heavy rain, but were in good spirits when they arrived back at camp in time for lunch. On October 19, after one last march, the men were taken by tram to Circular Quay. Albert was allocated to the HMAT Euripides, a triple-screw steamship that was equipped to carry 136 officers, 2204 other ranks, plus 20 horses. The 4th was the last of the 1st Brigade’s battalions to arrive. “Arrangements not quite so good as 3rd Battalion but still orderly and quiet,” the official record noted. The wharf was crowded with relatives and sweethearts, but the men had been told breaking ranks would be dealt with severely. According to 4th Battalion Private Robert Kenny, “every man stood like a statue”.

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The men were allow to take on board personal items such as soap, spare laces and socks, but no civilan clothing. They were promised: “Soldiers when discharged will receive a suit of plain clothes and a cap free or sum of 20 shillings in lieu, a fair indication of its value.” Also forbidden on board were private diaries, although many ignored this command. The following day, at 6am, the Euripides set sail. Its first stop was to be the Western Australian town of Albany. The Euripides, built in Belfast by Harland and Wolff for the Aberdeen Line, had been requisitioned by the Australian government and fitted out as a troop ship after her maiden voyage to Australia a few months earlier. During World War I, she would transport more than 38,000 troops. During those first few days of heavy seas, the troops were kept busy with drills, inspections and parades. October 24 saw a break from routine: “Parade cancelled and washing day held,” Lt Col Onslow

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Thompson noted in the battalion’s official war diary. Another soldier on the Euripides, Private Bert Smythe of the 3rd Battalion, wrote home on October 25: “The tucker is not so very plentiful as at first. We only get enough butter and jam now to last one meal. Otherwise it is OK. We are entering some port or other tomorrow and today they put us through some ceremonial drill for the occasion. I hope they let us off for an outing. It would be great to feel solid earth under us once again.” The Euripides arrived in Albany as scheduled on October 26 and took part in an official parade, but the men did not get to “feel solid earth”. Instead, they spent the next few days doing exercises, including “boat pulling”. Many were sick with influenza when the fleet sailed out of Albany, bound for Egypt. Smythe was not enthusiastic about the conditions on board: “We have all our meals downstairs, two decks under the forecastle. It’s very hot and stuffy, too. When we drink anything

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hot, the perspiration streams from us.” On November 1, at 6am, the troop convoy sailed from Albany. The mix of passenger ships and converted cargo vessels carried 20,758 members of the AIF and more than 7000 horses. And for many, Albany would be the last they would ever see of Australia. At 10pm Lt-Col Onslow Thompson on the Euripedes received a signal that “Great Britain has declared war against Turkey”. On November 3, British warships opened fire on Turkish forts guarding the entrance to the Dardanelles. On the same day, on board the Euripides, there was a parade, with all ranks wearing life vests. Onslow Thompson learnt on November 9 that HMAS Sydney had engaged and destroyed the German cruiser Emden near the Cocos Islands. Albert and the rest of the 1st Infantry Brigade, steaming towards Sri Lanka, got a half-holiday. On November 15, the Australian fleet anchored outside the breakwater at Colombo. No shore leave was granted and they set sail again at 7pm on November 17. The voyage to Aden included

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some excitement – a court martial, as well as the rescue of two men who had fallen overboard. While at sea Albert also performed another duty, to write his will. He wrote: “In the event of my death, I give the whole of my property and effects to Mary Ann Challenor, 28 Golden Grove Street, Darlington, Sydney, New South Wales.” It was signed and dated November 19, 1914. The troops still expected to disembark in England – it was not until November 28 the Australians learnt they would be landed in Egypt. Their duty: to help defend Britain’s interests in the Middle East and the Suez Canal against the Ottoman Empire. On December 3, after weeks at sea, the 4th Battalion arrived in Alexandria and began to disembark. The troops were taken to Cairo, then to Mena Camp outside the city. The 4th Battalion’s tents, erected in orderly lines, offered the men a clear view of the pyramids. On December 14, the men of the 4th Battalion began their daily “training syllabus”, which was maintained through the next four and a

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half months: waking at 6am, breakfast at 7am, followed by parade and drills. The training ground was soft sand, which made marching hard work – especially during dust storms. However, the troops got to relax most afternoons, before parade in the evening. They were given seven hours of leave every six days. Most spent their time off in Cairo where, according to a shocked Smythe, “fully 90 per cent of the houses carried on a business that is very heavily punished in Sydney”. The soldiers got the occasional treat from home – letters, socks and blocks of Fry’s chocolate. They also bought things such as figs, dates and curios from local vendors. Albert’s first Christmas abroad was spent in the shadow of the pyramids, in a tent city housing thousands of soldiers. So was his Boxing Day birthday. The Anzacs were issued with festive food, such as plum puddings, supplemented by fruit and treats they bought from the Egyptian vendors clustered about Mena Camp. When war had broken out a few months earlier, many had believed it would be all over by Christmas. For

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the men of the 4th Battalion, the war hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even begun.

1915 Destiny and Dardanelles In January, the 4th Battalion moved to a four-company structure and Albert found himself in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Câ&#x20AC;? Company. Training continued unabated. On January 7, the 4th Battalion carried out exercises in a dust storm that lasted three days. On February 4, a field firing competition was held between the battalions: the 3rd won. On February 8, the 1st Brigade moved to Beni

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Yusef to begin a week of tests and exercises that included night work and a simulated attack. They marched back to camp overnight and, as a reward for their good work, were given the rest of the week off. The 4th Battalion enjoyed oneday holidays on March 19 and 24. On March 29, Sir Ian Hamilton, the British general who would lead the Gallipoli campaign, went to Mena Camp to inspect the 1st Division AIF, which included Albert and the 4th Battalion. Hamilton’s diary noted: “A devil of a blinding storm gave a foretaste of dust to dust. That was when they were marching past, but afterwards I inspected the infantry at close quarters, taking a good look at each man and speaking to hundreds … There is a bravery in their air – a keenness upon their clean-cut features – they are spoiling for a scrap!” At the start of April, the commanding officers received orders to move and Mena Camp was packed up. Early on April 5, the 4th Battalion set sail from Alexandria on the HMTS Lake Michigan, bound for the Greek Island of Lemnos.

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After landing at Mudros Harbour on April 8, they practised drills to disembark and secure a beach while under fire and then move forward. They sailed from Lemnos at noon on April 24, shortly after receiving a message from King George V, and headed for the Gallipoli peninsula, where they waited with the rest of the fleet in the darkness off Kaba Tebe (the beach now known as Anzac Cove). Early on April 25, the first wave of Anzacs and other troops packed into the small boats that would be towed towards the shore. Hamilton wrote: “Almighty God, watchman of the Milky Way, shepherd of the golden stars, have mercy upon us … Thy will be done. En avant (forward) – at all costs – en avant.” Hamilton also described the landing: “The boats approached the land in silence and the darkness, and they were close to the shore before the enemy stirred. Then about one battalion of Turks was seen running along the beach. At this critical moment the conduct of all ranks was most praiseworthy. Not a word was spoken - everyone

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remained perfectly orderly and quiet awaiting the enemy’s fire, which sure enough opened, causing many casualties.” The 4th Battalion, waiting to be part of the second and third wave, heard the “first shot fired from shore (at) 4.50am”. By lunchtime they, too, were in the thick of it. Sergeant Apcar de Vine landed about midday “under a hot shrapnel fire”. He was later detailed to “carry ammunition to the firing line all the rest of the day” as the shells rained down. The 4th Battalion established themselves in trenches above Anzac Cove to the right of the divisional front. Although “pressed hard most of the night”, they held on. “All companies in firing line and support and none in reserve,” the battalion’s war diary noted. “Approximately 60 casualties.” The following day, the 4th set about improving their trenches, despite “troublesome” Turkish sniper fire. That afternoon, after receiving word of a general advance (“evidently in error”, noted the battalion diary), the 4th pushed inland,

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but were forced back by heavy fire. As the men struggled back to the trenches, the 4th Battalionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commanding officer, Lt-Col A.J. Onslow Thompson, was shot dead and Major Charles Melville Macnaghten was wounded. Albert must have remembered that, in August 1914, Onslow Thompson had signed his enlistment papers and Macnaghten had witnessed him taking the oath. It would be another fortnight before Onslow Thompsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body could be retrieved and buried. Macnaghten would later return to the fighting and, in July, assume command of the 4th Battalion. For now, however, the men of the 4th were busy avoiding sniper fire and generally digging in. On April 30, they were pulled back to the beach and reorganised, with Lt-Col A.J. Bennett assuming command. Just six days after the Anzac Day landing, 643 Australians had been killed in action at Gallipoli. Albert must have counted himself lucky not to be among them. That evening, the 4th Battalion moved forward into the trenches at the head of Shrapnel Gully. Days of improving

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the trenches followed. The battalion’s official war diary outlines what was happening in those early days of May 1915. On May 1, it records: “7.0am. Ordered to withdraw – 8.55am order cancelled after B Coy [Company] had withdrawn. A C & D Coys were in support and in trenches most of the day. B B Coy returned at 4.0pm and held in reserve. Artillery fire ‘Hell’. MGs [machine-guns] very hot, also sniping all the afternoon. Major Bennett promoted to Lieut Colonel.” On May 2, the 4th Battalion’s B and C companies were concentrated to the south of Wire Gully, a deep ravine with a niche that became the battalion’s assembly area. “Fine clear weather,” the diary recorded. “Sea calm. Work of improving trenches continued all day. Turks were reported to be massing in the gully 224J. Navy shelled gully & ridge at about 6pm. The night passed quietly with the exception of some sniping. Appointment of Lieut. Col AJ Bennett DSO to command 4th Batn (Battalion) AIF confirmed in orders from 1/5th.

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Appointments of the following to be Lieutenants confirmed in orders: WO Pearce HC, CSM Clark AW, CSM Foster CW, CSM Home J, Cpl Mann HA (Sig. Off ).” News that the Turks were establishing new gun emplacements was confirmed later that day when the 3rd Battalion trenches were shelled. The battalion’s war diary for May 3 noted: “No casualties reported. Fine clear weather. Line of trenches on left centre held by C Coy was shelled … Capt J.K.G. Magee and Lieut J Home were wounded. There were two other casualties. In the afternoon Battalion Headquarters were shelled out. Lt Col A.J. Bennett was grazed and one man killed. The work of improving trenches especially communications trenches continued all day but the digging drew fire and had to be stopped till nightfall. Slight bombardment by Navy was carried out at 6.30pm.” Sniping and occasional shelling were part of a normal day on Gallipoli. May 4’s diary entry began: “Fine. Sea calm. Day passed quickly, enemy being very inactive. The sniping at about

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8.0pm became very heavy but eased up after a short time. Work of trench improvement continued all day and night. Sandbagging greatly used. Shortage of bags.” The deadly fire came from about 700m away. The Turks had established a new gun position, which went on to become known as “Beachy Bill” and claim an estimated 1000 Allied lives during the Gallipoli campaign. May 5 again dawned “fine, clear, calm sea”, according to the 4th Battalion diary. “Night passed without incident. Sniping very severe. Firing of Battn well under control. Enemy used a number of hand grenades without effect. Enemy shelled trenches during morning & afternoon chiefly C Company’s trenches. The work of improving trenches continued all day. Casualties C Coy – killed 5, wounded 6. Sandbagging carried out to great effect both day and night.” Albert Challenor was killed in Wire Gully on May 5, probably one of the “killed 5” noted in the diary. He was 22 years, four months and 10 days old. The exact time and circumstances of his

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death were not recorded, but he was buried in Wire Gully. The 1st Brigade’s official war diary entry for May 5 notes that about 6am, “enemy shelled Captain Clayton’s trench with shrapnel and knocked it about badly. Several casualties. Artillery Officers came up and reconnoitred for gun and observers’ positions. Hand grenades were issued for use in the trenches. Reinforcements of two officers and 45 other ranks joined the brigade.” Albert’s war was over, after a mere 11 days of fighting. He was one of eight 4th Battalion men killed in action on May 5 – and one of 1805 Australian soldiers killed in action at Gallipoli during May 1915. In the same month, another 469 soldiers died of wounds and 24 of disease. No one knows where Albert lies. His grave – like those of so many other soldiers who were buried in haste in the trenches above Anzac Cove – was probably obliterated by later shellfire. Albert’s record of service contains just two entries: “Embarked at Sydney on the HMAT Euripides 19/10/1914” and “5/5/15 killed in action”.

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A fortnight after Onslow Thompson’s death, his body was recovered by the 3rd Battalion and buried at 9pm. The 4th Battalion’s chaplain, Major William McKenzie, wrote: “I had to kneel and keep head and body in a crouching position while reading the service. Hundreds of bullets swept over us while this was going on.” The 4th Battalion’s diary noted the lieutenantcolonel’s burial and added: “Night passed quietly. Casualties killed 4, wounded 3.” May 19 was a more exciting day for the 4th. The battalion’s diary notes: “Enemy opened heavy bursts of fire which lasted till 12.35am. Sniping continued intermittently till 3.30am when enemy attacked. The attack started weakly in front of D Coy. The enemy troops after advancing a short distance turned to their right and moved towards their right across the fire from D & A Coys. They seemed bewildered by our fire. The attack then developed on our left without result and at 9.30am enemy gave up attempt. Enemy losses very heavy in comparison to ours. Excellent work was done by No 57 Cpl Bram MGs [machine-guns] who

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removed MG from tripod and putting it on the parapet did good execution among the enemy. Our casualties were made heavier by troops’ anxiety to shoot after daylight, thus exposing themselves unduly. D Coy’s trenches were heavily shelled all afternoon (from “Goben”). Required much repairing at night. Weather bright and clear. All ranks stood to at 3.0am.” On May 24, there was a short armistice, from 7.30am to 4.30pm, to allow both sides to bury the dead. “The burial of the dead was finished about 3pm,” Hamilton noted. “Some 3000 Turkish dead were removed from or buried in the area between the opposing lines. The whole of these were killed on or since May 18. Many bodies of men killed earlier were also buried.” Flies and fleas were the twin scourges on Gallipoli. A. Carruthers, of the 3rd Field Ambulance, wrote about them with great emotion in The Anzac Book, which was published in 1916. “Do you but go into the trenches in endeavour to perform your duty to your country, and the flies immediately try to dissuade you by getting

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into your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Nothing will drive them away,” Carruthers wrote. “Nothing that human ingenuity can devise will cause them to retreat; they defy our puny efforts… “With the setting sun the flies retire, but operations are simply handed over to their allies, the fleas; and no worthier ally could be found than those pilgrims of the night.” The fleas would begin their assault “as soon as you lie down to enjoy a well-earned rest”, attacking “on every flank with fixed bayonets”, Carruthers wrote. On June 26, seven weeks after Albert’s death, an advertisement was published in The Sydney Morning Herald’s “Roll of Honour” column. It read: “CHALLENOR – Private Albert Challenor (Challo), killed at the Dardanelles. Inserted by his mates Tom Ryan, Bert Williams, Bill Pepper.” On July 8, Albert’s sacrifice and otherwise uneventful life was summarised in an item in The Sydney Morning Herald, midway down a column headlined “Men of the Dardanelles”. He was one of 19 casualties similarly listed that day. Across the world, the wheels of bureaucracy

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Never forgotten: Albertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name on a Roll of Honour at the War Memorial.

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Beach scene: The shores of Gallipoli were often busy with Allied soldiers.

The view from the hill: Landing piers at Anzac Cove.

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Waiting and watching: Sniper post at Gallipoli.

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Tents and trenches: The scene above Anzac Cove.

Rushing into danger: Anzac troops during a battle at Gallipoli.

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Ready, aimâ&#x20AC;Ś: Soldiers balance their rifles on the lip of a Gallipoli

Brothers in arms: An Anzac Digger offers a wounded Turkish soldier a drink.

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Tent city: A view of Anzac Cove from Plugg’s Plateau.

Fix bayonets: Australian soldiers had to deal with Gallipoli’s difficult terrain.

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Sharing burden: stretcher-bearer John Simpson (centre) and his donkey

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began to move. Albert’s belongings – listed as “19 films, one wallet, letters, one photo, one cigarette case, one gold watch, one handkerchief ” – were forwarded to Egypt and, in September, the “brown paper parcel” containing them was dispatched to the beneficiary stipulated in his will: his mother Mary Ann. The 4th Battalion hung on at Gallipoli. In August, along with the rest of the 1st Brigade, it led the charge at Lone Pine, one of the campaign’s most famous battles. At 3.15pm on August 6 the men of the 4th Battalion moved into position ready for the attack on “Lonesome Pine”, and at 5.30pm they moved - “A, C and D Coys attacking, B Coy in reserve”, the official diary records. A few hours later, the diary notes: “Objective gained but Bn [battalion] suffered severe casualties.” They spent the next few days hanging on and improving the trenches before being given a two-day break and then returning. On September 13, the 4th Battalion was taken off Gallipoli on the HMTS Osmanieh to train and refit on Lemnos. Its men returned to Gallipoli

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on October 30 and occupied trenches at the head of Clarke’s Gully. The weather turned cold in November but the battalion diary notes a lack of various supplies. “Great scarcity of timber and iron for preparing winter quarters,” it notes in mid-November. By the end of the month it was snowing and the men were on reduced rations. On November 29, the diary records: “From today quarter ration of water only. Rations also cut down.” The men were not always on their best behaviour and punishments were doled out for misdemeanours such as “conduct to the prejudice of good order & discipline”, “wilful neglect of arms and accoutrements”, “neglect of trench standing order” and “insolent language to an NCO”. In December, a steady trickle of men were on sick parade or being sent to hospital with ailments ranging from influenza, dysentery and rheumatism to “eye trouble” and “venereal”. By the middle of the month the men were quietly preparing to evacuate the peninsula. On

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December 19, the diary reports: “Completion of ammunition store destruction.” The same day, the men of the 4th began to evacuate via Watson’s Pier. At 2am on December 20, “telephone communication was cut off ” and the last of the men sailed away from Gallipoli under cover of darkness, bound for Lemnos. After landing at Mudros the men spent a few days at Sarpi camp. On December 22, the diary notes that “sheepskins, puddings and billeres were drawn from the comforts depot and issued to the men of the battalion”. On Christmas Eve they boarded the HMTS Simla, bound for Egypt. Christmas Day was spent on board the ship. “All ranks very comfortable,” the battalion diary records. The eight-month Gallipoli campaign had cost 8709 Australian lives. The 4th Battalion had buried 34 of its dead (and six soldiers from other units) at Wire Gully. Today the graveyard is known as the 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery. Of the 116 graves there, seven contain the remains of unidentified soldiers.

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For years there was correspondence between Albert’s parents and the army about where his medals and pension (two pounds per fortnight) should be sent. For more than two decades, Albert was remembered annually in sorrowful but proud “Roll of Honour” and “In memoriam” notices in The Sydney Morning Herald. In October 1915, Australia’s Prime Minister Andrew Fisher resigned because of ill health and was replaced by his pro-conscription deputy, William Morris Hughes.

1916 - 1918 Bereavement and Bureaucracy After being evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915, the 4th Batvtalion’s men were transported to Egypt. By January, they were back in training. The daily routine around the endless marching was: reveille at 6.30am, followed by breakfast at 7.30am, sick parade at 8.30am, fall-in at 9.30am, “dinner” (lunch) at 12.30pm, tea at 4.45pm, first post

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at 9.30pm, last post at 10pm and lights out at 10.15pm. Major Scott was clearly a stickler, adding this note to the document outlining the battalion’s Egypt routine: “Weather permitting, all tent curtains will be rolled up and tent cleaned for inspection before 0900 daily. Blankets neatly rolled will be placed on the right of each tent on line by the right.” The battalion diary entry for New Year’s Day reads: “Btn parade 0900-1130 & 3-4pm. Addressed men on parade as to the necessity of good behaviour & obtaining respect of natives etc. Church parade 9am. Practised march-past afterwards. Men still bivouacing but health good.” On January 3 it rained all afternoon and night. The diary notes “much discomfort in consequence – sick parade went up to 67”. Also on January 3, the parcel containing Albert’s personal belongings was dispatched from Egypt to Australia on the HMAT Ulysses. Its contents were insured for three pounds and 10 shillings.

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On March 8 – five months after it was dispatched from Gallipoli – Mary Ann Challenor signed a Thomas Cook & Son receipt acknowledging the delivery of the parcel containing Albert’s gold watch, wallet, cigarette case and other personal effects. Most of the Anzacs who were now back in Egypt were destined to move on to the Western Front. On March 23, the 4th Battalion caught the train to Alexandria and boarded the HMTS Simla, bound for the French port of Marseille. They arrived there on March 29, disembarked the following day and were put on a train bound for the north. By April 2 they were at Étaples (or “Staple”, as the battalion’s diary called it) to be prepared for the very different form of warfare being waged on the Western Front. On April 4, the men got a taste of what was to come when the battalion was “lectured on gas and was marched in gas helmets through trench containing gas & trench in which lachrymatory shells had burst”, as the diary put it. Though Albert had now been dead for almost

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a year, Defence Department protocols meant the file of correspondence about him continued to grow. On April 4 – the same day as the 4th Battalion’s gas lecture in Étaples - a captain at Base Records Office wrote to Thomas Challenor: “Dear Sir, With reference to the report of the regrettable loss of the late No 250, Private Albert Challenor, 4th Battalion, I am now in receipt of advice which shows that he was killed in action at Gallipoli Peninsula, on May 5, 1915. These additional details are furnished by direction, it being the policy of the Department to forward all information received in connexion with deaths of members of the Australian Imperial Force. Yours faithfully…” Meanwhile, in France the men of the 4th Battalion were moving closer to the front. On April 24, the battalion’s chaplain, William McKenzie, took steps to ensure a significant event the following day would be suitably marked. The battalion’s diary records McKenzie “drove in officers’ mess carts to canteens at Bailleul and Bac St Maur & purchased for £10 10’ cake sufficient

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to provide ½ lb per man to mark anniversary of landing at Gallipoli. Money to come from Regimental Funds (Divisional Order).” On April 25, even before the Anzac Day cake was distributed to the 4th, a shot rang out. The diary records: “Early this morning No. 2625 Pte G. Gibb, D Co (D Company) killed by rifle bullet while on fatigue duty. Later in the day another casualty No. 2024 Pte Smith slightly wounded…” The following day, A Company’s headquarters were hit by 22 shells from a 5.9 inch gun. On May 5 – the first anniversary of Albert’s death on Gallipoli – the men of the 4th Battalion were in the muddy trenches at Petillon, near the French town of Armentieres. Back in Australia, four “Roll of Honour” advertisements, each with a small verse, appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, all placed by Albert’s relatives. One read: Years may pass, and time may fly, Every leaf may fade and die, Every rising sun shall set, But, dearest Albert, we shall never forget.

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On July 1, the Battle of the Somme began.. The 4th Battalion’s first major engagement on the Western Front was the Battle of Pozières, which began on July 23. The 4th Battalion’s diary entry for July 22 studiously notes the “3 lines of objectives” of the attack scheduled to begin the following day. The July 23 entry begins: “First message received about 0230 by summons from Capt Pearce and Lieut MacCarthy. Both reported their companies in position about 70° SE of Albert & Bapaume road. Both were in touch & Lt MacCarthy was in touch with 3rd Bn on right… trench digging proceeded uninterruptedly and after a couple of hours the men were well dug in. “Prisoners were well smoked out of houses and this Bn sent on 9 to APM at Albert. Lieut MacCarthy captured a howitzer & kept it covered. Lt Cooke captured a 7.7mm field gun and marked it with Bn name & date, also a MG [machine-gun]. Enemy shelled & we had some casualties estimated by 1430 to be 13 killed & 67 wounded. Included Lt MacCarthy killed (own shrapnel), Lieuts Haig & White wounded. Our guess shooting short &

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communications so bad it took hours to increase range.” The diary records an “entirely successful” attack on July 25: “We killed 60 Germans in the trench and many more who fled from it, took 5 wounded and 10 unwounded prisoners, 4 machine guns, 3 automatic rifles & much material. Our losses were 2 killed and 6 wounded.” The fighting around Pozières was vicious. Australia’s official war historian Charles Bean wrote on July 25: “Again the enemy’s artillery was turned on. Pozières was pounded more furiously than before, until by four in the afternoon it seemed to onlookers scarcely possible that humanity could have endured such an ordeal. The place could be picked out for miles by pillars of red and black dust towering over it like a Broken Hill [NSW] dust-storm.” On July 26, the 4th Battalion diary said the men were “very cold and hungry”, but a “lull in bombardment occurred between 0300 and 0600 and was fully utilised to get large supplies, water, food”.

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The Battle of Pozières lasted until August 7, but the 4th Battalion was to take part in many similarly bloody confrontations before the Armistice on November 11, 1918. As the second anniversary of Albert’s death approached, the 4th Battalion was in the thick of fighting around Bullecourt, as part of the British 5th Army under Sir Hubert Gough. “The enemy shelled this position very heavily throughout the day and night inflicting over 80 casualties, a large proportion being killed,” the battalion’s diary notes. The first battle for the French village, which had happened the previous month, had resulted in 3000 Australians killed or injured and more than 1000 taken prisoner. On May 3, Gough had ordered another attack at Bullecourt. On May 6, the diary records: “The enemy again shelled this position very heavily and inflicted severe casualties on the Bn.” After a week of furious fighting, the Germans abandoned the blood-soaked area – and the Australian battalions were allowed to withdraw,

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recover and reinforce. The second battle of Bullecourt cost a further 7000 casualties, and advanced the line only about one kilometre. Charles Bean called it “in some ways, the stoutest achievement of the Australian soldier in France”. Back home, the second anniversary of Albert’s death was marked by five “In memoriam” notices in The Sydney Morning Herald. One read: The dearest spot on earth to us, Is an unknown grave in Gallipoli. Albert’s “loving father and mother” wrote: No one knows how much we miss him, Friends may think the wound is healed, But they little know the sorrow, Deep within our hearts concealed. Through 1917 and 1918, the 4th Battalion fought bitterly, not just at Bullecourt, but at Menin Rd, Polygon Wood, Ypres, Passchendaele and elsewhere in France and Flanders.

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On September 20 and 21 they were fighting at Polygon Wood, a pitted landscape of mud and blood. That single day saw more than 5000 Australian soldiers killed or wounded, but there was no sympathy a few days later in the 4th Battalion’s official diary for a captain who had “acted like a child and was incapable of exercising any command” after a shell had burst near him. The captain was brought before the commanding officer “and in presence of Adjutant told that on account of this report he would not be entrusted with command of B Co (B Company) but would be left out of the line and his conduct in future closely watched”. In March 1918, the Germans launched their spring offensive and Australian troops helped fight back at towns including Villers-Bretonneux. The 4th Battalion took part in the major Allied offensive launched east of Amiens on August 8. The Allied advance that day was such a success that German General Erich Ludendorff called it “the black day of the German Army in this war”.

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The men of the 4th Battalion were given a break from the end of September, and at the start of November were preparing to head back to the front. They were in the French village of Bazuel when the Armistice was signed at 5am on November 11. “In billet at Bazuel,” the battalion’s war diary for November 11 reads. “Company parade in the morning. Afternoon 4th Battalion v. 3rd Battalion at Tug of War. 4th Battalion won in 2 straight pulls. Armistice signed by Germany.” The guns fell silent at 11am on November 11. World War I was over. November 12’s activities began with a parade and an address by the commanding officer at 10am. “Battalion marched to Football Ground to match 4th Battalion v 1st Battalion 3rd Grade. 1st Battalion won 5-3. 2pm Company parades and march to Football Grounds. 4th Battalion v 1st Battalion 1st and 2nd Grades. Results. 1st Grade 1st Battalion won 6-3. 2nd Grade. 4th Battalion won 8-3.

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The next few days passed in similar fashion, with the men playing quoites and more tug-ofwar and football. November 18 saw “the first fall of snow”, the diary records. On November 19, “a very dull day”, a wire arrived to prepare the men to move. On November 21 they moved to Mazinghein (“billets very poor”). From there they went to Beaurepaire (“billets very good”), Avesnelles and Solre-le-Chateau. The men were kept busy with football, marching, lectures and entertainments. On December 1, they watched a performance by the “Sentimental Blokes”; on December 4 a euchre tournament was held in the Solre-le-Chateau concert hall. On December 17 the battalion arrived in the French village of Acoz: “Inhabitants very friendly and decorated the main road with flags and greenery,” the diary notes. “Welcome to Australia’’ was a notice displayed above the roadway.” Christmas Day was spent in Acoz: the diary records that the “4th Battalion Comforts Fund Committee sent £200 for Xmas” and that dinner

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was “exceptionally fine”. Soon the soldiers began being loaded on to the troopships that would take them home. The 4th Battalion’s original members, including Albert Challenor, had left Australia in November 1914 believing the war might be all over before Christmas 1914. However, some of them did not arrive back for demobilisation and discharge until May 1919. The battalion’s casualty figures for World War I were 1203 killed and 2282 wounded (including gassed). The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. It officially ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied powers. In 1919, Charles Bean returned to Gallipoli. He found Wire Gully “full of the skeletons and uniforms of the dead – chiefly of marines in the lower part and valley bed, and of Australians and Turks farther up. The remains, sometimes of several men together, lay in the little pits like rags poked into drawers.”

POSTSCRIPT Thomas and Mary Ann Challenor were back living together within two years of the end of the war. In August 1920, Thomas was evidently anxious to receive any benefits owing as a result of his son’s sacrifice. He wrote to the Defence Department that he would like any such payment “to be in cash, as I am 61 years of age and I have done no work for six months, as it is hard to get work at my age”. On September 3, 1920, Albert was posthumously awarded three war medals: the 1914/15 Star (No.

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10446), the British War Medal (No. 3236) and the Victory Medal (No. 3236). Thomas died on April 29, 1927. Mary Ann died on May 17, 1935, 12 days after the 20th anniversary of Albert’s death at Gallipoli. She had placed “In memoriam” notices in The Sydney Morning Herald on every anniversary of his death. The previous year, Turkey’s President Ataturk, who as Mustafa Kemal had been a senior officer at Gallipoli, wrote a tribute to all who had died in the campaign. “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives in this land they have become our sons as well.” The Lone Pine Memorial at Gallipoli was

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completed in the mid-1920s, “to the glory of God and in lasting memory” of the Anzacs who fought and fell on the peninsula and have no known graves. Albert’s name appears among the names of the 4th Battalion’s fallen. The Australian War Memorial was opened in Canberra in 1941, in the midst of another conflict. Albert’s name is still there on the Roll of Honour, marked by a red poppy.

Timeline ALBERT CHALLENOR 250

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December 1892 Born in Annandale, Sydney.

August 1914 Enlists at Randwick, in Sydney’s east. Becomes a private in B Company of the newly formed 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, Australian Imperial Force. Service number is 250.

August 1914 Takes the oath required of all enlisted persons.

August 1914 Passed as “fit for active service” after medical examination.

October 1914 Members of the 4th Battalion taken by tram to Sydney Harbour to board the HMAT Euripides (ship A14 in the convoy carrying the first Australian and New Zealand contingent).

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20 October 1914 The Euripides sails from Sydney at 6am. 26

October 1914 The Euripides arrives in Albany, Western Australia, at 1pm.

1 November 1914 The Euripides sails from Albany at 6am. 19

November 1914 Writes and signs will: “In the event of my death I give the whole of my property and effects to Mary Ann Challenor, 28 Golden Grove St, Darlington, Sydney, NSW.”

November 1914 Lt-Col Onslow Thompson receives orders to land his troops in Egypt.

3 December 1914 The 4th Battalion arrives in Egypt.

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December 1914 Celebrates 22nd birthday.

1 January 1915 Moved to C Company. 5 April 1915 Leaves Alexandria on the HMTS Lake Michigan. 8 April 1915 Arrives at Mudros Harbour, Lemnos. 24 April 1915 Sails from Lemnos. 25 April 1915 Takes part in the second and third wave of Gallipoli landings and digs in above Anzac Cove.

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26 April 1915 Lt-Col Onslow Thompson, commanding officer of 4th Battalion, shot and killed. 5 May 1915 Albert killed in action in Wire Gully. 11 May 1915 Lt-Col Onslow Thompson’s body recovered and buried. 24 May 1915 A “Casualty Form – Active Service” is filled out for Albert. 27 May 1915 A duplicate of Albert’s casualty form adds a note that he was “buried in Wire Gully”.

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19 June 1915 Copy of the document confirming Albert’s death is made for War Pensions Office. 22 June 1915 Major Cyril Griffiths, at the AdjutantGeneral’s base in Alexandria, Egypt, signs Army Form B2000A, the official Field Service “report of death of a soldier” for Albert. “Pay book not received,” it notes. 6 August 1915 Battle of Lone Pine, Gallipoli, begins. 17 August 1915 First anniversary of 4th Battalion’s formation. 18 August 1915 First anniversary of Albert’s enlistment. The 4th Battalion relieves the 2nd Battalion at Lone Pine.

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23 September 1915 Albert’s will forwarded to the authorities. 29 September 1915 A “brown paper parcel” of Albert’s personal effects is dispatched from Gallipoli to Egypt, to be forwarded to his mother. 20 December 1915 The last Australian troops – including the 4th Battalion – are pulled out of Gallipoli. 3 January 1916 The parcel containing Albert’s belongings dispatched from Egypt to Australia on the HMAT Ulysses. 8 March 1916 Mary Ann Challenor receives the parcel containing Albert’s personal effects.

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4 April 1916 Base Records Office writes to Thomas Challenor confirming “additional details” about Albert’s death. 5 May 1916 First anniversary of Albert’s death. 21

January 1918 Albert’s mother is granted a pension of two pounds per fortnight.

November 1918 Armistice signed at 5am. Guns fall silent at 11am.

March 1920 Base Records Office writes to Mary “Ann Challenor asking whether mail concerning her late son will “reach you safely” if addressed to 28 Golden Grove St, Darlington, NSW.

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15 March 1920 Mary Ann writes back, saying mail addressed to her at 28 Golden Grove St, Darlington, “will be sure to reach us”. 9 August 1920 Base Records Office writes to Mary Ann to find out whether Albert “had any nearer blood relations than yourself, for instance, is his father still alive”. 15

August 1920 Thomas Challenor pens a note to Base Records, introducing himself as “father of deceased and next of kin” to Albert.

August 1920 Base Records forwards a copy of Thomas’s August 15 letter to the District Finance Officer at Victoria Barracks “for any action you may deem necessary” and writes to Thomas to explain the original letter had been written to ensure that Albert’s war

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medals were “handed over to the next-ofkin in accordance with the instructions governing the disposal of these items”. 26

December 1920 The Ministry of Defence booklet Where The Australians Rest (published as a “gift for the bereaved”) is sent to Thomas, coincidentally on what would have been Albert’s 28th birthday.

August 1921 Memorial Scroll dispatched to Thomas.

August 1921 Thomas signs receipt for “one Memorial Scroll and King’s Message, in connexion with the late No 250 Private A Challenor, 4th Battalion”.

23 November 1921 Albert’s Memorial Plaque No. 302329 is sent to Thomas.

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August 1922 Thomas signs a document acknowledging receipt of “one Victory Medal in connexion with the late No 250 Private A Challenor, 4th Battalion”. He also receives the 1914-15 Star Medal and the British War Medal.

January 1926 Government dispatches the registration form for Albert’s name to be listed on the Lone Pine Memorial at Gallipoli.

FAMILY NOTES

AUSTRALIAN WAR STORIES

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WILLIAM RUSSELL McLEAN

WILLIAM RUSSELL MCLEAN 1940-1946

AUSTR ALIAN WAR STORIES

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE

WORLD WAR II ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE

1940-1946