From the Suburbs to the Trenches

I was  recently pleased to discover this book which describes the war service of two young fellows, one of them, Cecil Seccombe of Ascot Vale who served with the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, and the other Ralph Berryman of Hawthorn who served with the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade.  The author, Ralph Seccombe, is a relative of both young men, and relates his own thoughts and impressions as he traces their movements in Gallipoli and France.  The book is available through Amazon.  See also this webpage.

3rd Pioneer Bandsman identified

 Going through her grandfather Ern Crouch's photos, Judy Williams located the above photo, about which she said, "Grandpa had written on the back of this photo "One of the bandboys of the 3rd Australian Pioneer Batt".  The photo is signed "Yours Truly Moule 8 Aug 16"."  

Judy's first thought was that the signature said "Monte", but compared with the other letters in the writing veered towards the thought that the name was Moule. Unfortunately there was no Moule listed in the 3rd Pioneers.

I thought there might be a first initial in the signature - perhaps it said J Coute or Coule?  Wanting to get a better look at the signature, I did a little photoshopping, after which the signature looked like this.    

The first letter of the name did seem to be M, but I thought it would be unusual for someone to sign a card just with their surname - a first initial with a surname, or just a first name would be more usual  The other possibility was Judy's suggestion of a nickname, so taking Monte as being a nickname for Montgomery, I searched in the Embarkation Rolls for someone with the name Montgomery in the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, and found Montgomery Goodall Elrington.  Although born in Echuca,  he was living in Moonee Ponds when he enlisted, which was a bonus for me. 

The B2455 confirmed that Elrington was a bandsman with the 3rd Pioneers, but could I confirm his nickname was Monte?  It eventually occurred to me that Trove might help out here, so I did a simple search on "Monte Elrington" - and up came an immediate result:

"LIKE YOUNG LIONS."  
"I am still alive, and doing tip top," Private Monte Elrington writes to his sister, Mrs. M'Cartney, Moama, from France on June 11. "We are just out on a few days' rest after a push our boys were in, and did well. I was stretcher bearing, and was up with them. Our casualties were light. Old Fritz had a rough time. A lot wore blown up with mines. I had a look at the, crater of one of the biggest, and it was surprising. There were Huns lying everywhere. It demoralised them. Our division took a lot of prisoners. Some of them are very weedy. Our infantry were like young lions, and would stop at nothing. I saw one small Australian taking five prisoners home across No Man's Land, and he did seem proud."

"LIKE YOUNG LIONS.". (1917, September 15). Echuca and Moama Advertiser and Farmers' Gazette (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 4. Retrieved January 21, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154416742

 Judy's grandfather and great-uncle, Ern and Bill Crouch of Murtoa had been in the Depot Band based at Victoria Barracks since December 1915, as had Monte Elrington.  It wasn't until February 1916 that all three had joined the 3rd Pioneer Battalion.   Ern had a photo of the Depot Band but it is difficult to identify Monte in that photo. 

Ern also had a long portrait of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion Headquarters Company, including the band, and I have made a provisional identification of someone I think is Monte Elrington, which you can see marked here. 

If anyone can help with this identification, or any of the others in the 3rd Pioneer Headquarters Battalion or the Depot Band, please get in touch.

Pack up your troubles: Music and the Great War

Grainger Museum

24 April 2015 - 20 December 2015 

 

The Grainger Museum's contribution to the Centenary of ANZAC is the exhibition Pack up your troubles: Music and the Great War. With a focus on Australia, the exhibition explores the powerful and varied role of music and musicians during World War I and why music resonated so strongly across a broad spectrum of domestic, civic and military life.
On display are popular songs, printed as sheet music with striking covers, which chart the entire course of the war, from those first months through to Armistice and beyond. Other features of the exhibition include posters, artworks, photographs and musical instruments: those that went to war – or were made there.

The University of Melbourne's own collection items are complemented with loans from a number of public institutions notably the Australian War Memorial, the National Film and Sound Archive and the Performing Arts Museum, and generous private lenders.
For the first time at the Grainger Museum, iPods can be borrowed by visitors in order to hear music associated with items on display. Hear band music, songs and even Nellie Melba or Percy Grainger performing to raise money for the war effort. There is also a short silent movie of Australian archival footage from the National Film and Sound Archive which, with vivid immediacy, illustrates a rich diversity of musical experience from a century ago.

While preparing this exhibition, note was taken of the photos on the 3rd Pioneer Battalion Band page, and some of those photos may feature in the exhibition.

Thanks to Liz Pidgeon for the reminder!

3rd Pioneer Battalion Headquarters Company, 1916

A detail of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Headquarters Company photo taken at Salisbury Plain in 1916.  In theory, if your relative's name appears in this embarkation roll, they should be included in this photo.  There are a small number of identifications on the website, and any further identifications would be welcome.  Photo courtesy of Judith Williams.

Les Vosti and the 3rd Pioneer Band

Les Vosti of Epsom Rd, Ascot Vale, is pictured on the far right of this detail of a photo of the Headquarters Company, 3rd Pioneer Battalion.  It was taken  during training at Salisbury Plains in 1916 prior to their embarkation to France.  You can find the whole band pictured at the bottom of this page about the 3rd Pioneer Battalion Band - and perhaps help with identifications if you can. 

C Company, 3rd Pioneer Battalion

In the back row, far left, is No 840 Private Fred Gunson Marsden who joined the 3rd Pioneers in Queensland in 1916.  He was identified in a photograph of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion by his granddaughter, Ellie Tyssen.

Some years ago I put some sections of a very long photo of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion on my website in the hope of identifying which particular embarkation it represented.  After some very useful comments by Edwin back in 2013 I focussed more on the officers in the photo, and thought I had identified one of them.

Then I heard from Ellie Tyssen who was the first to recognise someone in the lineup, her grandfather Fred Marsden.  Ellie provided the photo above, and hopes that someone may be able to identify her grandfather's comrades.  The man standing on the far left was his mate Harry "Plug" Southerland from the same Company.  C Company were overwhelmingly from Queensland, though with a small number of Victorians included.

You can see C Company, 3rd Pioneer Battalion here.

Unknown Bandsman, 1916

The photo was taken in Melbourne, circa 1916.  Courtesy of Judith Williams.

This photo of an unknown soldier was included with some photos of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion Band.  He also appears in the centre of the top row of the band photographed in January 1916, probably at Campbellfield. 

(Click on the photo to get a larger view.)

If anyone can identify this young man, or any of the bandsmen in the 3rd Pioneer Battalion photos, please let us know.


UPDATE:  After further consideration, it seems likely that the band taken in front of pine trees was the Head Quarters Band, or Depot Band, as it was dated January 1916.  The two identified Bandsmen did not join 3 Pioneer Battalion until late February 1916, so the  Unknown Bandsman may not have embarked with 3 Pioneer Bn.

3 Pioneer Battalion Band in Collins Street, 1916

3 Pioneer Bn Band in Collins St, courtesy of Judith Williams.

Fundraising was done by the soldiers and citizens to find the money to purchase instruments for the 3 Pioneer Battalion Band.  The above march seems likely to have been held on Wednesday 10 May, 1916.  "The route of the march will be as follows: - Leave King street at  half past 11 o'clock, and proceed via Collins, Spring, and Victoria streets to Royal Park, where the men will have lunch."    The centre horsemen of the three directly behind the band was Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Law.  The business on the left, Southwell Coultas & Co was located on the east side of Collins Street, between Swanston and Russell.  they are probably passing Scots Church on the right of the photo.  See the website for further photos of the Band.

Putting out fires on the Western Front

3 Pioneer Battalion waiting at Port Melbourne to board the Karoo, 1916. AWM PB0514

When the War broke out in Europe, John Mathew Farrell was working on ships as a marine fireman.  He didn't join the AIF immediately, and Rod Martin, who tells his story, considers some of the reasons for this, as well as the pressures involved.    Although he enlisted from Scotia Street in Moonee Ponds, he was a country boy from Wangaratta, one of ten children.  Two of his brothers also served.    In his story, Rod describes the lot of the Pioneer, and John Farrell's part in putting out the fires on the Western Front.