Sunday, October 7, 2018

100 Years We Will Remember Them

Lest We Forget


In every Family Tree there are heroes.  Some are unsung heroes, some have done amazing things throughout their life, but there would not be many Australians who do not have included in their ancestors, someone who served in a war.

For some of our, our family come from a Military background, my own included, with 250 years in the Royal Engineers.  Others came to Australia to serve in the Military and to guard the many prisoners under their control.
But for most, they were simply young men and women, who one day were going about their normal life, working on the family farm, finding new careers, and finding themselves the next day, being issued with Army "clobber".
Willing they were, to protect their fellow man,  skilled horsemen, who sailed across the Indian Ocean, to become one of Queen Victoria's army.  
Less than 15 years later, thousands joined, and did selfishly what was expected of them.  Unfamiliar faces in unfamiliar places, who never saw the Australian sun again.
Then but a generation later, their sons and daughters, and often they themselves, once again put their hand up, signed on the dotted line, whether that meant a slight exaggeration about their date of birth or not, and were shipped overseas.  This time though the war arrived on their doorstep. 
Some were taken prisoner, and died in prisoner of war camps.  Those who returned were never the same person, ever.  One only has to walk through a Prisoner of War camp in Europe, to realise and to reflect on the horrors they suffered.  
Within the Jillett/Bradshaw Family tree there are so many of these brave soldiers, thankfully not so many lie buried in far off distant lands, but each year we do remember them.
By honouring the pioneering ancestors, it is important to remember those who served, and while it might be one month early, the message is still clear.

At the Going Down of the Sun and in the Morning
                                                             We Will Remember Them





The Boer War


Those who served in the Boer War
Percy Tasman Morrisby
Rand Rifles
SJ
Raymond Clarke Morrisby
2nd Tasman
SJ
Bernard William Morrisby
French's Lookout
SJ
Joseph Frederick Jillett
New Zealand
RJ
Tasman Jillett
4th Bat  4th Battalion Victorian Horse
TJ

The stories of the grandsons of Charles Dowdell and Susannah  Jillett, are possibly quite unique.
They had three sons serve in the Boer War, and one lays forever buried in a small grave alongside other Australians.   His name is remembered on a Memorial at Colesberg, in South Africa[1].  It is on the lower right of the base.


A rather large report of how Bernard was killed appeared in the Tasmanian Mail June 23, 1900, page 19. The account is by a Theodore Buxton of French's Scouts who relates that having been shot, Morrisby was founded by a party of Australians the following day, alive, but unconscious. He was brought into camp by ambulance having been shot through the head, but with such a wound he could not survive. He died quietly at 3 o'clock Tuesday afternoon February 27, 1900.
Buxton goes on to say... "About half-an-hour after Lieutenant H.E. Spencer brought me a large bunch of roses he had gathered from the farm garden and asked if I would like to make a wreath for him which I did by twisting some vines from the willow tree into a wreath and twining the roses in them. We then went and dug the grave just at the side of the farm and buried him at 6 o'clock.
All the scouts that were in camp attended the funeral, the service being read by the Rev. Mr Wilson of Colesberg, who led the procession the coffin being covered by the Union Jack with the wreath of roses on top. We followed the firing party and also many others that knew him. He lies buried by the side of Australians and his grave is marked by a large wooden cross painted white and his name and corps when he died cut deep and legibly on it.". 


Excerpts from
"Tasmanians in the Transvaal War"  JOHN BUFTON. Ph.D.. F.L.S.. F.G.S., F.R.G.S.. 1905
 
In answer to my enquiry as to Bernard Morrisby's name being absent from the official returns of killed and those who died, I have received the following very interesting communication from Mr. Tasman Morrisby, of Kettering, under date of April 13, 1903: — 
 
"Dear Sir, — In answer to your enquiry of the 7th re Tasmanians in the Transvaal War,' my son, Bernard W. Clair Morrisby, joined the South African Light Horse as a scout at Capetown, and was shot while scouting at Plewinan's Farm. He was a refugee from the Transvaal on the outbreak of war. 
 
My eldest son, Percy T. B. Morrisby, is a member of the Rand Rifles, and was not in active service. My son, A. Clayton Morrisby, was Q.M.S. of the Remount Camp at Worcester, and resigned to occupy a civil appointment in Rhodesia just before declaration of peace. R. C. Morrisby is my son —the G. is an error (in list of men). F. E. Morrisby was my nephew.
 
My dear boy Bernard was not found until two days and a night after he was shot, and was still alive, but unconscious. The report in the 'Mercury' of June, 1900. has been confirmed by other private letters. 
 
Tasmanians have well borne their share. — Yours, etc., 
 
Tasman Morrisby." 




Family Members who Served
Katie Isabella Jillett      husband                       Harold Sedgwick/Claude Annesley



World War One                     The Making of An Anzac

Served in World War I

Oscar Spelman Bradshaw                                               
WB
Copeland Cobden Bradshaw
WB
George Cobden Bradshaw
WB
Royal (Roy) Reginald Bradshaw
WB
Sydney Thomas Patterson
SB
Eric Leyden Morrisby
SB
Rupert Evelyn Morrisby
SB
Reginald Angel Money
SB
Rev Kenneth Graham Henderson
SB
Alan Dudley Henderson  7th Battalion  
SB
Capt. Rupert Howard Henderson 7th Batt
SB
John Eliot Hancock
SB
Crosby Hurburgh
SB
Gilbert Harold Taylor               SN 1406 
SB
Claude Edward Shone
TShone
Alfred James Cooper
TJ
Harold Thomas Jillett
RJ
Herbert Harry Jillett
JJ
Harold Owen Whitehouse
JJ
David John Whitchurch            S/N 4275 
JJ
Charles Leonard Tanner
JJ
John Tasman Tanner
JJ
Walter Race Jillett
JJ
Ellis Risby Taylor
JJ


Those who died
Alan Dudley Henderson  7th Battalion                           Turkey      1915
Capt. Rupert Howard Henderson 7th Batt                      Turkey      1915
Gilbert Harold Taylor         SN  1406                              Turkey     1915
David John Whitchurch                                                   France      1917

John Elliot Hancock                                                         France      1918
















[1] Photos supplied from fellow Boer War researchers



Boer War
            


      Private Bernard William Morrisby 1877 -  27 Feb 1900 Killed at Plewinan's Farm,                         Colesberg Mafeking South Africa, as a member of French's Lookout.


World War I


Sapper Hedley Roy Bowden    3rd F.C. Engineers   Carpenter
23 Jul 1915
Cemetery:
Alexandria (Chatby) Military Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:
Alexandria, AL Iskandariyah, Egypt


 Roy enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at Claremont, Tasmania on October 6, 1914, aged 22 years.  He was allocated initially to the Reinforcements (Tas) Unit however two weeks later he was transferred to the 3rd Field Company Engineers (3rd Fd Coy) as a Sapper, (Regimental number 176).


Aubrey Cecil Bowden no 245
246
Hubert Leonard Bowden  Field Engineers.







John Eliot Hancock 31st May 1885. His mother Clara had died in 1887, and he was living with his grandmother, as his father was in England. He was sent back to England, and enlisted there.
He was employed by Sime Darby and Co as a Merchant in the Mellaca Straits. He has no known grave.  He was a Captain in the 7th Battalion Norfolk Regiment, and was killed at the Battle of Chambrai 21st March 1918.  He was awarded the DSO.  He is named on the Arras Memorial in France.

‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Owing to his company commander being seriously wounded, he took command of the left company in an attack. ‘When they came under heavy machine-gun fire he organised a frontal attack while he, with two N.C.O.’s, rushed across the open from a flank, killed or wounded all the gun team and put the guns out of action. He himself killed six men. In the subsequent fighting he showed great initiative in clearing the houses in a village and directing the advance.’ 
London Gazette 4th March 1918
  

The Arras Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located in the Faubourg d'Amiens British Cemetery, in the western part of the town of Arras. The memorial commemorates 34,785 soldiers of the forces of the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand, with no known grave, who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918


7.1       Alan Dudley Henderson d WWI his brother
            7.2       Rupert Howard Henderson d WWI, his brother


Lieutenant Alan Henderson died of wounds and was buried at sea.  He is remembered on Panel 27 at Lone Pine Memorial


One  mention Captain Rupert Henderson received in the despatches was as follows:
"Acted as CO of the Battalion on the 25th when all senior officers had been killed or wounded. On the 25th and 26th he displayed conspicuous gallantry in rallying all the men of all battalions under particular heavy fire. (Reported by Lt Col R.Cartside Commanding Battalion).


 1.         Gilbert Harold Taylor born 1892

He embarked from Brisbane 13 February 1915, and was in the 15th Battalion. He died on 8th August 1915, in Gallipoli. Buried Embarkation Pier Cemetery



3.1.4  David John Whitchurch   31 July 1892 Oatlands d 3 May 1917
Embarked Melbourne 7 April 1916 aboard HMAT Wiltshire 
Died 3 May 1917 from a bullet wound to the head, just after capturing the first line at Bullecourt and was buried later where he fell.  Previously reported missing by AIF Headquarters on 6 December 1917 David is buried at Villiers-Bretonneux





Roll of Honour They Did Not Return


Roll of Honour



"They Did Not Return"



Bowden Hedley Roy                                WWI                Alexandria, AL Iskandariyah,                                                                                                                                Egypt                       
Gibson Kenneth John                               WWII              Evandale Cemetery
Hancock John Elliot                                 WWI                Aaras Memorial France                                              
Henderson Alan Dudley                           WWI                Panel 27 Lone Pine Gallipoli                                         
Henderson Rupert Howard                      WWI                Redoubt Cemetery Gallipoli                                  
Jillett Gordon Grant                                 WWII              Runnymeade Memorial Sussex
Jillett William Edward                         WWII/Korea        United Nations Memorial                                                                                                                                         Cem.Korea       
Jillett Robert Edward                            WWII/POW        Labuan Memorial Malaysia
Judd Norman Keith                                  WWII              Rheinberg War Cemetery Germany
Meredith Llewellyn Ernest                       WWII              Adelaide River War Cemetery
Morrisby Bernard William Clare              Boer                 Colesberg Cemetery South Africa                             
Paton Kenneth Owen                               WWII              Lutwyche War Cemetery Brisbane
Rogers Peter Kenneth                               WWII              El Alamein War Cemetery
Shone Henric Brian                                  WWII              Port Moresby War Cemetery
Taylor Gilbert Harold                               WWI                Embarkation Pier Cemetery Gallipoli                        
Whitchurch David John                           WWI                Villers-Bretonneux France
Whitehouse Keith Owen                          WWII              Cronenbourg French National Cemetery







Served in Boer War

Jillett Joseph Frederick                  Boer
Jillett Tasman                                 Boer
Morrisby Percy Tasman                 Boer
Morrisby Raymond Clarke            Boer






Known Branches of the Family Boer/WWI


Bisdee John Hutton                        VC/OBE                     Boer/WWI
Chalmers Frederick Royden                                              Boer/WWI/II
Gaby Alfred Edward Lieut                 VC                          WWI
Morrisby Arthur                                                                Boer/WWI
Morrisby Frank Edward                                                    Boer
Seddon Richard John Spotswood                                      Boer/WWI

Arthur Morrisby/John Hutton Bisdee VC/Frank Edward Morrisy/Alfred Edward Gaby VC/Richard John Spotswood Seddon.



 Served in World War I

Barrett Leonard Earl Patterson                  WWI                                    
Bowden Aubrey Cecil                               WWI                                    
Bowden George Henry Stanley                WWI                                     
Bowden Hubert Leonard                          WWI                                     
Bradshaw Alfred Leonard      MM           WWI                                     
Bradshaw Copeland Cobden                    WWI                                     
Bradshaw Oscar Spelman                         WWI                                     
Bradshaw Royal Reginald                        WWI                                     
Foreman Alice                                          WWI                                     
Gatehouse Herbert Godfrey                     WWI                                     
Henderson Kenneth Thorne  Rev             WWI                                     
Hurburgh Crosby                                     WWI                                     
Jillett Harold Thomas                               WWI                                     
Jillett John Robert                                    WWI                                     
Morrisby Rupert Evelyn                           WWI                                     
Oxley Thomas Claude                              WWI                                     
Shone Claud Edward                               WWI                                     
Tanner Charles Leonard                           WWI                                     
Tanner John Tasman                                WWI                                     
Taylor Gilbert Harold                               WWI                                     
Whitehouse Harold Owen                        WWI                                     






                                                                                                              
Served in World War II
Anderson Alick George                                                                         
Bowling Douglas Wyatt                                                                         
Bowden Roy Maxwell
Bowden Ivan Alfred
Bradshaw Alan George                                                                          
Bradshaw Edgar Henry                                                                         
Bradshaw George Cobden                    WWI                                                                                                 
Bradshaw John Jack                                                                              
Bradshaw John Reginald                                                                       
Bradshaw Keith Oscar                                                                           
Bradshaw Leslie                                                                                    
Bradshaw Lionel William Elwin                                                                     
Bradshaw Max Trevor                                                                           
Bradshaw Merlon Alan                                                                          
Bradshaw Noel Leonard                                                                        
Bradshaw Ronald Keith                                                                         
Bradshaw Royal Barclay James                                                                      
Bradshaw Victor Clarence                                                                     
Bradshaw Gordon Alfred                                                                      
Brownell Colin Drummond                                                                   
Butler Dorothy Dennis                                                                          
Butler Eustace Gamaliel                                                                         
Calvert Richard Bruce                                                                            
Cleary Maxwell Stirling
Cooper Frank                                                                                        
Dowdell Douglas Peers                                                                         
Heather Arthur William                                                                         
Henderson Barbara June                                                                        
Henderson Kenneth Graham                                                                  
Henderson Margaret Mary                                                                     
Herron Dalgleish                    M Des                                                     
Herron James William                                                                           
Higgins Leonard Richard                                       
Hough Alfred John                                                                                            
Hough George Henry                                                                                         
Hurburg Maxwell Robert                                                                       
Hurburgh Jack D'Arcy                                                                          
Hurburgh James Douglas                                                                      
Jillett Alfred Henry                                                                                
Jillett Arthur Robert                              WWI                                         
Jillett Cecil Arthernard                                                                           
Jillett David Moyston                                                                             
Jillett Douglas McIlvride                                                                        
Jillett Henry George                                                                               
Jillett John William Leslie                                                                      
Jillett Lawrence Albert                                                                           
Jillett Richard Frank                                                                               
Jillett Robert John William Bayles                                                                  
Jillett Tasman Albert                                                                              
Jillett Thomas Frank                                                                              
Jillett Walter Race                                                                                  
Jillett William Edward                                                                           
Judd Reginald Alfred                                                                             
Kinniburgh Keith                                                                                   
Knibbs Colin Keith Bradshaw                                                                         
Laredo Emanuel George                                                                        
Laredo Frances Roy                                                                               
Laredo Lance Cope                                                                                
Meredith Thomas Keith                                                                                      
Money Reginald Angel                        WWI                                         
Morrisby Alex Rupert                                                                            
Morrisby Eric Leyden                          WWI                                         
Morrisby Ivan Alfred                                                                            
Morrisby Tasman Fairfax                                                                      
Nicholls Frank Ashton                                                                           
Oxley Archibald                                                                                    
Oxley Clement                                                                                       
Oxley Percy                                                                                           
Shone Eric Marsden                                                                              
Tanner Arthur William                                                                          
Tanner David Lee    
Tanner John Bertram
                                                                            
Tanner Harry Robert                                                                             
Tayler Frank Walter                                                                               
Taylor Gilbert William                                                                           
Whitchurch Edgar John                                                                         
Whitchurch Noel Fletcher
Whitchurch Norman Chester                WWi                                                  

Other Forces

Herron Wilfred                                     Occ For                                     
Tichborne Brian                                   1960/70                                    


Prisoner of War

 Cooper Alan James                             POW                           WWII    
 Jillett Arthur Bruce                              POW                           WWII    
Jillett Robert Edward                            POW                           WWII    
Tanner John Bertram                             POW                           WWII

Robert Edward Jillett/Arthur Bruce Jillett/Alan James Cooper/John Bertram Tanner
They are remembered at Ballarat.








Family                                    Spouse                                    

Barrett Clarice Rose                Walter Williamson                                   WWI
Bayles Ruth Hope                   George Crosley                                        WWII                                              
Bradshaw Charlotte Jeanne     David Reid Bryce                                    WWI
Brown Janet Mary Harriett     Albert Frederick Elliott                            WWI/2                                              
Butler Dorothy                       Lieut Douglas Anderson McBride           WWII                                              
Cooper Alan James                 Barbara Joan Esme Johnson                    WWII                                              
Cooper Joan                           Eric George Lyon                                    WWII                                              
Foreman Alice                        Beaufort Gregg                                        WWI
Jager Eva Maude                    Alfred James Cooper                               WWI
Jillett Charlotte                        George Mitchell Wears Ogilvie WWI      
Jillett Katie Isabelle                 Harold Sedgwick/Claude Annesley                                               Boer/WWI
Jillett Phyllis                           Cedric Bruce Orme                                  WWI
Morrisby Dorothy Elizabeth   Gerald Dillon Tayler                                WWII                                              
Ogilvie Jean                            James Henry Wilkie                                 WWII                                              
Pybus Gladys                         Frederick Owen Grey                              WWI
Roberts Mary Cela                  Dr Esmond Shirley Joske                        WWI
Shone Cynthia                        David Bryce                                             WWI
Shone Iris Lavinia                  Marcus George Gibson                            WWI/2                                              
Shone Joyce Esmay                Frederick Walch Edington                       WWII                                              
Shone Kathleen                      Neil Brock                                               WWII                                              
Shone Rita Claire                    Joseph Charles Turner                             WWII                                              
Shone Vera Devereux            Francis Rayland Dixon                            WWI
Whitchurch Lilla Annie          Joseph Leslie Kinniburgh         DSM       WWI/2                                              
Whitchurch Winnie Eleanor   Robert Francis Cowie                              WWII                                              
Whitehouse Fredericka           Capt Charles McCallum Moore WWII
Williams Eileen Kate              George Gustav Porta                                WWII                                              
Young Florence Lavinia         Ian Maxwell Bonnetto                              WWII                                              
Young Florence Lavinia         Frank Walter Miller                                 WWII                                              




                                               They Did Not Return


World War I



Alan Dudley Henderson/Rupert Howard Henderson/Gilbert Harold Taylor/David John Whitchurch/Hedley Bowden

World War II

Kenneth Owen Whitehouse/Gordon Grand Jillett/Norman Keith Judd/Robert Edward Jillett/William Edward Jillett/Kenneth Owen Paton/Peter Kenneth Rogers

No Photos of these men, only of where they are buried.



Bernard William Clare Morrisby    South Africa
Capt John Elliot Hancock               Aaras Memorial
Pte Llewellyn Ernest Meredith       Adelaide River Cemetery Northern Territory
Kenneth John Gibson                     Evandale Cemetery
Henric Brian Shone                        Port Moresby Cemetery