Letters to Lily Vale

 
When War was declared in August 1914, Ern Latchford was working as an Instructional Officer at the 58B training depot in Ascot Vale.  Instructional Officers had been selected to train boys involved in  the compulsory Universal Training Scheme.  The local area - Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Ascot Vale, Flemington - was designated Area 58. On reaching 18 the boys would transfer to the militia 58 Infantry (Essendon Rifles).

Instructional Officers were too valuable to be allowed to enlist with the AIF - they were needed for training at home, and Ern was dispatched to train Light Horse recruits at Broadmeadows.  It was not until 1916 that he was permitted to enlist for overseas service, and embarked as a Lieutenant with the 38 Infantry Battalion.

Using Ern's own letters, as well as detailed research, Mark Latchford has recreated Ern's world, from his infancy, through work at Coles Book Arcade, his interest in military cadets, selection as an Instructional Officer, embarking with the 38th Battalion, being recuited by General John Monash to join a British force in Persia, taking on the training of the White Russian Army in Russia, his postwar Army career and involvement in the 2nd World War.  

There is also the romance with the love of his life, Linda Dehnert of Lily Vale,  Ballan, to whom he devotedly wrote every week until they finally married.  

Ern's letters recreate his war experience for Linda in an articulate and immediate fashion.  He told what it was like to be there - a most remarkable historical record of his time, which will reward the reader.

"Letters to Lily Vale”: The Life and Letters of Ernest William Latchford MC, MBE 1916 to 1919 France, Persia and Russia, by Mark Latchford, Openbook Howden, 2020: ISBN 9780648845621. 

Available from the History Victoria Bookshop.

Lieutenant Mitchell and the gas mask

Australian War Memorial K00035

Fitting gas masks to horses is probably not the first thing which springs to mind when we think of training up the troops to deal with gas attacks, but it becomes obvious if you think about the damage that can be done to the war effort if the horses aren't available to transport guns and equipment, not to mention the disruption to traffic if they drop on the roadway. 

So when Leslie William Mitchell of 15 Locke Street, Essendon, was appointed to be a Gas Instructor to help troops survive gas attacks, horses probably featured in his lectures.   As a new recruit he was identified early as having potential if trained as an officer, and when he attended a Gas School during training in England, he was also identified as a valuable instructor, and this became his main contribution to the war effort.   See Lieutenant L W Mitchell's story for more of an unusual service career.

Private Wren Teale of Moonee Ponds

The above newspaper photograph which includes Hugh Lindsay (Wren) Teale was spotted in Winner  by Cheryl Griffin, who is doing a mighty job for Coburg at the Fighting the Kaiser blogspot.  Cheryl looked for "Wren Leale" on the Coburg Cycling Club Honour Board and realised he would be W Teale on the board.     Wren, from McPherson St, Moonee Ponds,  is seated front left in the photo.  He served with the 38 Inf Bn, and was killed in action on 19 Nov 1917.

Photos of Instructional Staff - SSM Latchford

 Ern Latchford as a member of the 6th Australian Infantry Regiment, aged 18, seen in the back row, second from the left.  His friend Rupert Holden is in the back row far right. Taken at Lancefield Junction, 1907. 

Officers of the Area 58B (Ascot Vale) Instructional Staff, taken early in 1914  at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Ern is in the back row, second from the right. Compare this with a very similar photo on this page.  

In 1907 Ernest Latchford was an enthusiastic member of the Volunteer militia camped at Lancefield Junction with the 6th Australian Infantry Regiment.  In 1910 he applied for a position with the Instructional Staff whose role it was to train the thousands of new Senior Cadets produced under the new system of compulsory military training for boys.  By 1914 Ern had arrived at the Area 58B Ascot Vale Senior Cadets as Staff Sergeant Major Ernest Latchford.  At that link you will find a series of photos showing Ern's progress from the age of 18 to 28, when he was permitted to join the AIF, and later as a Commissioned as an officer with the 38 Inf Battalion.  The photos come to use courtesy of Mark Latchford.

Other collections of photos and postcards can be seen here.

38th Battalion on the spot

A machine-gun post on the Somme Canal - deceptively quiet in 1918. 

 Private William James Bale enlisted on Anzac Day 1917.  Once in England for training he became ill and spent some time in hospital and convalescing.  He did not arrive in France until February 1918.  Intended for the 59th Battalion, he was transferred as soon as he arrived in France to the 38th Battalion.  

Rod Martin outlines the Australians' campaign of 1918 that contributed to the end of the war, and William's part in it.