GALLIPOLI AND BEYOND 2015

On Saturday, 18^th April we joined with the Gallipoli and Beyond program to conduct a tour of the cemetery lead by Frances Barrett.  Frances selected memorials in the cemetery of fallen WW1 soldiers from the collection put together by Bill Pritchard, which is an amazingly detailed hand-written record of each and every one – down to the colour of their eyes, eyewitness accounts of their deaths, etc. 

A large group attended and we visited graves where there are memorials to the following :

Douglas Dunbar Jamieson Captain, Douglas Dunbar Jamieson Attached to 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance Enlisted 29 June 1915 Died 29 July 1918, aged 39 years, Egypt Athol McGregor Kirkwood Private Athol McGregor Kirkwood (rank at DoD Corporal) 6th Battalion “C” Company Enlisted 17th August 1914 at age 19 years 4 months Killed at Gallipoli on 27th July 1915 Arthur Eric CHESHIRE Private Arthur Eric Cheshire – Service # 1079 29th Battalion "D" Company, Enlisted on 15th July1915 aged  20 years 4 months, Killed at Fromelles, France 19th July 1916 Desmond McMahon GAVAN DUFFY Lieutenant Desmond McMahon Gavan Duffy 3rd Div Cyclist Battalion, moved to 20th Battalion Enlisted 6th December 1915, aged 26 years 11 months Killed at Flers, France  on 15th November 1916 Michael Francis STARR Patrick Thomas STARR Private Patrick James Starr     Service # 3465 8th Battalion  11th Reinforcements, Enlisted 2nd August 1915 aged 20years 9 months,   Killed at Passchendaele, Belgium   4th October 1917 Private Michael Francis Starr    Service # 3464 8th battalion 11th Reinforcements, Enlisted 3rd August 1915  aged 25 years 10 months Killed at Passchendaele, Belgium   4th October 1917 Colin Campbell SHARP Frank Harold SHARP Private Colin Campbell Sharp, (later Lance Corporal) 14th Battalion, 7th Reinforcements Enlisted 10 December 1915 Killed 20 August 1916, aged 19 years, Pozieres, France. Private Frank Harold Sharp 29th Battalion, 2nd Reinforcements Enlisted 22 February 1915 Killed 17 February 1917, aged 18 years James Dixon ROWLANDS Private James Dixon Rowlands – Service # 2208 (then Corporal) 24th Battalion 4th Reinforcements Enlisted 14th July 1915 aged 20 years 6 months Wounded in action 5th August 1916 Killed in action 5th October 1918 at Montbrehain, France Alfred Ernest JOHNSTON Reginald JOHNSTON Private Reginald Johnston  Service # 7510 6th Battalion  25th Reinforcements, Enlisted 15th June 1917 aged 32 years 4 months, Killed at Strazelle, France, 7th June 1918 Private Alfred Ernest Johnston   Service #  721 9th Battalion "F" Company, Enlisted 24th August 1914  aged 29 years 9 months, Killed at Gallipoli, Turkey  25th April 1915 George William Percy KAY   Private George William Percy Kay 5th Battalion, 8th Reinforcements Enlisted 21 May 1915 Killed 6 June 1918, near Hazebrouck, France George Lush FINLAY William Seymour FINLAY 2nd Lieutenant George Lush Finlay 5th Battalion Enlisted 14th February 1915 aged 24 years 11 months.  Died at 20th General Hospital Camiers 9th February 1919. 2nd Lieutenant William Seymour Finlay 24th Battalion “D” Coy Enlisted 16th May 1915 aged 34 years 9 months Killed in action at Gallipoli 29th November 1915 Leslie Stuart BURNISTON Howard McCulloch BURNISTON Private Leslie Stuart Burniston   Service # 2409 8th Light Horse Regiment  17th Reinforcements Enlisted 8th February 1916 aged 31 years 2 months. Died at Advance Dressing Station, Khuweiffel, Palestine 6th November 1917 Private Howard McCullock Burniston   Service # 5548.A 21st Battalion, 13th Reinforcements Enlisted 8th May 1916  aged 31years 5 months. Killed at Villers-Bretonneux, France  7th August 1918 Albert John WALKER Signaler/Private Albert John Walker 8th Light Horse Regiment ‘D’ Enlisted 11 January 1915 Killed 16 October 1918, aged 23 years, 4th British General Hospital, France
MOVING TRIBUTE The following poem was discovered – written by Sir Frank Gavan Duffy, Supreme Court Judge, to his son, Desmond McMahon Gavan Duffy.  “How can I shut my ears to Honor’s call I cannot stay, Dear Father, bid me go” ”Answer it then”, I said “And if you fall God take you, and God help us in our woe.” So you strode unfearing, proud, elate, To quit the ordered quiet of your life And share the solder’s harsh, uncertain fate, Your eyes aflame with rapture for the strife. And we who stayed behind foreboding ill, Counted the cost, but put our fears aside And set a halting but insistent will To dream of meeting in some happier tide. Or summon pleasant pictures from the past – the smiling babe frank schoolboy, trusted friend, …And now our foolish hopes and fears are cast Into oblivion, for the dreaded end Has come upon a battlefield in France. Sleep, son, beneath the soldier’s rugged cross, Your duty done, nor time nor evil chance Can stain your name, or bring you sense of loss. And we – we whisper while the hot tears run Down our worn cheeks, “Dear Lord, Thy will be done”. Desmond Gavan Duffy was born on 13 December 1888. He was the brother of (Sir) Charles Gavan Duffy, who also served in the War and became a Supreme Court judge in 1933. Desmond studied at Riverview in Sydney, where he was prolific prize-winner, before completing his law degree at Melbourne University. He was a member of the Melbourne University Rifles. Once admitted to practice in 1913, he was associate to his father, Sir Frank Gavan Duffy, a judge of the High Court, in Melbourne. He then moved to Sydney and was admitted to practice in New South Wales in May 1914 and set up as a barrister in Denman Chambers. Desmond Gavan Duffy enlisted at the Sydney Town Hall in November 1915. He embarked with the 3rd Divisional Cyclists Battalion aboard the HMAT Demosthenes in May 1916. In October 1916, he became a 2nd lieutenant in 20th Australian Infantry Battalion. Gavan Duffy was killed on 15 November 1916, with two other men, when a shell landed on their tent at Carlton Camp, near Flers, in France.  The 20th Battalion provided reinforcements for the attack near Flers between 14 and 16 November 1916, in conditions described as the worst ever encountered by the AIF and it was at this time that Gavan Duffy was killed.
It was very moving and we had a very appreciative group who enjoyed morning tea in the rotunda.  Not only were they treated to Frances' famous scones, but our new committee member, Liz McKenzie, provided Irish Tea Bread, still warm from the oven.  So, as promised, here is the recipe.
Irish Tea Bread   Ingredients 225 g raisins 225 g sultanas 225 g raisins 110 g candied peel cut into 5 ml pieces (I hardly ever add this..) 225 g Demerara sugar 275 g Lapsang Souchong, Earl Grey or any other hot tea 110 g pecans 1 large egg at room temperature lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons milk 450 g self-raising flour 2 x 450 g loaf tins lined with baking paper Begin this the evening before by placing all the fruits, including the candied peel (if used), in a bowl, then dissolve the sugar in the hot tea, pour this over the fruits, cover the bowl and leave overnight so the fruits become plump and juicy.   The next day, pre-heat the oven to 170°C, then place the nuts on a baking sheet and pop them into the oven for 6-8 minutes (use a timer, as they burn easily). Then, when they're cool, roughly chop them. Next, add the beaten egg mixture to the bowl containing the fruits. Then sift in the flour, add the toasted nuts and give everything a really good mixing. Now divide the mixture between the prepared loaf tins and bake them in the centre of the oven for 1¼-1½ hours, until they feel springy in the centre. Then straight away loosen them with a palette knife and turn them out on to a wire rack to cool.