Engaged to act on another front Solicitors in World War One

By TONY CUNNEEN

To mark the 90th anniversary of Armistice day to be officers in these con- legal processes could be quite tingents. Another influen- difficult, especially if the body this month, Tony Cunneen looks at the stories of tial appointment was an Indi- of the soldier was not located, some NSW solicitors who served with Australian an-born 34-year-old solicitor, or there was a dispute over Major Charles Melville Mac- the next-of-kin, the date of forces at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. naghten, who was in the 4th death, the correct recipients of Some never to return. Battalion. He was an impos- medals, or the loss of the sol- ing, vigorous, impetuous char- dier’s possessions. acter who had gained a reputa- Another practical way of h e Gr e a t Wa r o f expressed a commonly held tion in the pre-war militia for helping the families of soldiers 1914-1918 haunted attitude when he exhorted the transforming inner city youth was through the Red Cross the chambers, courts assembled students of Sydney into soldiers. His command- Missing and Wounded Bureau, T and law offices of Grammar School to “rush to ing voice could be heard echo- which was established mid- , just as it did all other the colours and down the dirty ing around the Domain as he 1915 and funded largely by the walks of life. Many members of Hun! ...What better can you do trained his young men. When legal profession. The Incor- the NSW legal profession gave than to go out and die fight- war broke out he worked porated Law Institute of New up the law to become soldiers. ing for your country?”3 He sur- closely with Sydney barris- South Wales provided prac- Some became senior offic- vived the war. Others were not ter, Colonel Henry Normand tical support for the Bureau ers. Others joined and served so lucky MacLaurin. The two men by guaranteeing a sum of one as private soldiers, despite, in The first adventurous solic- “largely influenced the choice hundred pounds per annum some cases, their advanced itors who enlisted in August of officers throughout the (1st) towards the salary of a perma- age and professional status. 1914 went with the Australian Brigade.” 4 Generally, they nent clerk at the office. Many At home, many solicitors and Naval and Military Expedition- chose men similar to them- solicitors gave up their time to their families worked hard to ary Force (ANMEF) to fight selves in terms of professional visit hospitals to interview sur- help and care for the forces by in New Guinea. John Malbon or business status. A steady vivors to ascertain the details of supporting war related chari- Maughan, a 36-year-old solic- stream of solicitors joined up. men killed or missing in action. ties and organisations such itor from Neutral Bay, was Relatives of such men were as the Comforts Fund2 or the among them. Maughan was Free legal advice invited through regular adver- Australian Branch of the Brit- beginning a military career and charity work tisements to visit the Bureau’s ish Red Cross that would see him later sur- offices to be told whatever Solicitors were demonstra- vive fighting on Gallipoli, Solicitors were keen to help news was available or simply bly loyal to their country and then be wounded in action on out in a variety of ways other to enquire as to the progress Empire during World War the Western Front, where he than as members of the armed of an investigation. Families One. Solicitor W.M. Marks, would be awarded the high forces. Legal firms offered free were desperate for any scrap who saw service in the Brit- honour of the Distinguished advice to soldiers on active of information and often con- ish Navy on a minesweeper, Service Order. service. At the beginning of structed elaborate scenarios While the ANMEF battled the war this offer may have as to the possible survival of a Tony Cunneen BA, MA Dip ED the heat and humidity in New been made out of patriotic loved one: could he have been teaches English and history and is Guinea, the first contingents energy, but it would commit a prisoner, or wounded and the Senior Studies Coordinator at of soldiers sailed from Fort these lawyers to years of pro- suffering from memory loss St Pius X College, Chatswood. He Macquarie near Man o’ War tracted complex matters. With and lying unnoticed in a hos- has published two books, “Suburban Steps in Sydney Harbour. They nearly 100,000 men from NSW pital somewhere? Red Cross Boys at War” and “Beecroft and expected to go to Europe, but going overseas during the war, searchers looking for informa- Cheltenham in World War I”, in disembarked in Egypt. Colo- it was no small service to have tion, scoured hospitals and mil- addition to numerous articles. The nel Leonard Dobbin, a 46-year- offered free legal advice to itary establishments around author expresses his gratitude to old Irish-born solicitor com- them. On occasion, soldiers’ the world. Countless letters solicitor Brian Williamson for his manded the 1st Battalion. He wills were dealt with by solici- and cables were sent. All the valuable advice in the preparation was one of many members of tors who were grieving them- evidence was then evaluated of this article.1 the law who had been chosen selves for lost relatives. The and a report sent to the family.

18 LAW SOCIETY JOURNA L November 2008 The staff of the 1st Australian Infantry Brigade train at Kensington, Sydney, in September 1914: (l to r) Major Francis Irvine, Colonel Onslow Thompson, Colonel Henry MacLaurin and Captain Charles Macnaghten. MacLaurin, a barrister before the war, was together food parcels and killed in action at Gallipoli; Lieutenants A.L.K. other bundles of comforts for within ten minutes Irvine Cooper (left) and soldiers overseas. They had had also fallen. Macnaghten, J.M. Maughan, a plenty of work to do once the a solicitor, served at both solicitor, sail for New landings had been made on Gallipoli, where he was Britain on board the Gallipoli. wounded in a charge that took troopship Berrima in Thompson’s life, and on the September 1914. The Gallipoli 1915 Western Front, but survived to ship was carrying the return to practise in Sydney. first contingent of the One of the first of the AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL Australian Naval and legal professionals to fall in NEGATIVE NUMBER H16711 Military Expeditionary action was the Sydney solici- Force which was tor, Lieutenant Alan Dawson, associate, the barrister Colonel to remove German killed in the confused battles Henry MacLaurin was killed in control from the area. on Galliopli on day one, 25 action. His death was a great Maughan went on to April 1915. Another solicitor, shock to the legal community. serve in Gallipoli and Major Charles Macnaghten, Fighting with Macnaghten the Western Front, went ashore and showed his in the 4th Battalion were the where he was wounded enthusiasm for battle soon Sydney solicitors Lieutenant in action. after. On 26 April a messen- Bertie Stacy and Lieutenant AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL ger burst into the 4th Battal- Adam Simpson. Bertie Stacy NEGATIVE NUMBER H12830 ion headquarters and blurted was reported as being a par- out: “the line is to make a gen- ticularly effective soldier who The Bureau’s detailed, careful Royal Flying Corps. His daugh- eral advance.” Famously, Mac- “displayed gallantry, coolness assessment of evidence shows ter, Helen, was employed by naghten said to his Command- and judgement during the all the hallmarks of legal pro- the British Admiralty decoding ing Officer, Colonel Onslow whole operation”. The report cedures. These report can now messages in foreign languages. Thompson: “I’ll take the right was one of a number of such be accessed today through A.R. Minter’s son, Bruce, also Colonel, if you’ll take the left”. commendations made by the Australian War Memorial enlisted. Then they attacked with their their Company Commander, archives. They are an invalua- Another great fundraiser for men. Charles Bean wrote that another solicitor, Captain ble historical resource. the Comforts Fund was the “led by two of the bravest and Hector Clayton. The men sur- In addition to the Red Cross solicitor and mayor of Hunt- most highly trained officers vived the fighting, but others and free legal advice a number ers Hill, William Windeyer. He in the force, without the vagu- were not so lucky. Major John of solicitors were active in the gave all manner of practical est instruction or any idea Brier Mills a 45-year-old solici- Comforts Funds, which looked support, including donating as to an objective, the 4th ... tor who had survived the Boer after the personal needs of the the flowers he cultivated to the went blindly on to Lone Pine”.5 War, was killed in the Turkish soldiers. Among the Comfort’s fund for sale at one of their Pitt Defeat was inevitable. Mac- attacks in late May. Fund’s leading lights was its Street stalls. naghten did his best to rally Other units containing the Vice President, the influen- The Comforts Fund had its his retreating troops. He was usual proportion of solici- tial and politically committed head office at 113 Pitt Street, shot in the chest, but went on. tors arrived to replace the solicitor, Edward Percy Simp- next door to the Red Cross Then he was shot in the throat. fallen. Captain John Malbon son of Minter Simpson & Co. Missing and Wounded Enquiry He staggered back to an aid Maughan survived New Typical of the patriotism of the Bureau. Law firms surrounded post and collapsed. But the Guinea then went to war again time, his family was involved in both organisations. The noise of battle was too much. with the 12th Light Horse Reg- the war effort. His son Edward Fund’s mostly female volun- He revived, drew his revolver iment. Commanding the Light Telford Simpson was admit- teers worked long, uncomfort- and set off again at the enemy. Horse was a 46-year-old solici- ted to partnership of the firm able hours sewing and knit- He only stopped when he was tor and Member of Parliament, in 1916 while he was on active ting socks, warm clothing and unconscious. The day after Percy Phipps Abbott from Glen service in Europe with the carry bags, as well as putting the battle, Macnaghten’s close Innes. He had another solici-

November 2008 LAW SOCIETY JOURNA L 19 Lieutenant Henry Bowd of the Australian Flying Corps stands in front of an aircraft in the Middle East c. 1917. Bowd, who had been serving articles in Inverell before the war, was killed in 1917 when his plane fell apart during a mid-air manoeuvre. AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL NEGATIVE NUMBER P01034.040 tor serving with him – Ernest Ambrose “Nulla” Roberts, a 43-year-old who practised in Wagga Wagga. Roberts was one of those who had joined up as an example to younger men. He could have kept away from the front line as an orderly with his good friend and com- manding officer, Percy Abbott. However, Roberts insisted on fighting and was killed while duelling with a Turkish sniper fate was only confirmed when monuments was typical of Gunner Cecil Feneley of the in the front lines on 17 Sep- his body was discovered in his peers, most of whom had 1st Field Artillery Brigade tember 1915. His death was 1919. He had probably not had received an education steeped practised in Maitland before widely mourned, particularly time to unpack his gear and in European history. the war. He was killed in amongst the ex-student com- have a sleep before he was The 4th Battalion was put action in France at the age of munity of The Kings School, killed. under the temporary command 27 when caught in a German at Parramatta, which he had Withdrawal from Gallipoli of the newly promoted Major barrage barely eight weeks attended along with his fellow was inevitable because of Bertie Vanderleur Stacy who before Armistice. Light horseman, John Malbon the tactically poor position replaced the now thoroughly AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL Maughan. Such close connec- in which the ANZACs found worn out Lieutenant Colonel NEGATIVE NUMBER P03796.104 tions were common among themselves, exacerbated by Macnaghten. Macnaghten was lawyers. the now freezing weather. On repatriated to Australia, medi- Hunter was killed in action At least two other solicitors 11 December, solicitor Major cally unfit for duty. However, 13 June. Hunter was proba- fell in action on Gallipoli. On Gordon Uther went forward he became the central figure bly a tragically unlucky victim 6 August a number of units with two other officers to check in many services and memo- of German artillery. Over the attacked one of the heavily the frontline in preparation for rials to the men of his battal- next three years many legal defended Turkish positions covering the evacuation. Turk- ion. One other solicitor in the families would suffer the loss at Lone Pine. The indefatiga- ish shells exploded nearby as 4th Battalion was making his of a loved one because of an ble Macnaghten, newly pro- they scrambled up Monash mark as a successful com- unlucky shell. moted to Lieutenant Colonel Valley, but they were safe in its mander. He was Captain Adam Once on the Western Front and recovered from his ear- deep trenches. However, when James Simpson, whose mother the industrial nature and scale lier wounds, led the 4th Bat- they arrived at Russell’s Top was active in the Red Cross. of the conflict dwarfed the talion, was wounded again they were more exposed and, Simpson, the son of Mr Justice individual stories of anyone during the action. His name after waiting a few minutes, Simpson, was proving himself involved. On 20 July 1916, the reappears throughout the they scuttled along the less a fine leader of men. fierce battle of Fromelles took accounts of Lone Pine – call- protected trench towards the Another lawyer who would the life of another solicitor, ing for reinforcements, replac- frontline. After barely a dozen make the journey from Egypt Lieutenant Clarence Collier. ing officers wounded or killed yards a shell landed among to France was Sydney solici- The family received a cable in action, clearing the trenches them, killing Uther and another tor Captain Arthur Welles- from the military authori- of wounded, and organising Sydney barrister, James Logie ley Hyman, who had landed ties after the battle to say the defence against Turkish Harcus, as well as their Battal- on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. that their son was wounded. assaults. Macnaghten’s worst ion Commander, Major Rich- He had been one of the law- Then they heard nothing. injuries were not physical. He ard Jenkins of Hornsby. yers active in the busy mili- The Missing and Wounded was deeply traumatised by his tary courts in Egypt. From Bureau uncovered a series experiences. Egypt 1916 August 1916 he was a very well of different accounts from Among the men killed at respected claims officer at 4th wounded soldiers scattered Lone Pine in the 2nd Battal- Following the Gallipoli Division Headquarters, and in hospitals across England. ion was the South African-born evacuation, the Australians was eventually appointed OBE One said Collier had sprained solicitor, Private Rayner Gar- regrouped in Egypt with new for his work in that role. his ankle; another said he was lake. He disappeared in battle reinforcements from Australia, still at the front. His death a few hours after arrival on Gal- in preparation for transfer to The Western Front, was not confirmed until over lipoli. His wife made enquires the war in Europe. Solicitor France 1916–18 a year later. about his fate through the Red John Maughan was one of the In 1917 General Haig’s step- Cross, but no one knew what Australian troops who travelled The killing started again by-step approach saw a suc- happened, probably because across Europe and assembled not long after the Austral- cession of battles and conse- no one at the battlefront had for battle. His deep apprecia- ians reached France. Solici- quently a succession of deaths time to get to know him. His tion of French and English tor Lieutenant Robert Clive in the ranks of serving solic-

20 LAW SOCIETY JOURNA L November 2008 Gunner Wilfred Kemp, a solicitor from Bellingen, was wounded in France in April 1917 while coming off duty during his first battle. He died some six weeks later, aged 28. When news of his death reached Bellingen, the town flags were put to half mast. AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL NEGATIVE NUMBER P04468.002

liam Morris Hughes. Garran was in charge of enforcing the provisons of the Act. In a famous incident the barris- ter Thomas Bavin walked into Garran’s office and asked: “Would it be an offence under the War Precautions Regu- lations...?” Without waiting for Bavin to finish, Garran responded, “Yes!”.

Sergeant (later Lance been located. Impact of the war Aftermath Corporal) Frank Fry of the Solicitors and their asso- on law firms 3rd Battalion practised in the ciates went into a variety of By the end of the war in Hunter prior to his enlistment. services and death took many Some law firms were particu- 1918 at least 370 law students, He was killed in action while forms. Henry Bowd, articled larly struck by the war. Law stu- barristers, articled clerks and trying to rescue a wounded to Anderson & Halloran in dent Adrian Consett Stephen, solicitors had joined the armed comrade at Hermies in France. Inverell, joined the Austral- son of J. Alfred Stephen of forces. Sixty-two had died from He was just 25 years old. ian Flying Corps in Egypt. He Stephen Jaques & Stephen war related causes. Seventeen AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL was killed on 25 October 1917 (now Mallesons, Stephen of the dead were solicitors. It is NEGATIVE NUMBER P03796.030 when the plane he was pilot- Jaques), joined the Royal hard to understand the change ing fell apart in mid air as he Field Artillery. He was killed in nature that the war wrought itors. Wilfred Foxton King attempted to put it into a tight by enemy artillery fire on 14 on normally peaceful men. Per- Kemp, a solicitor from Bell- manoeuvre. March 1918. Barrister, Harold haps it is best summed up by ingen was wounded on 11 As these battles took place, Vivian Jaques, son of the firm’s the words of Adrian Consett April while coming off duty the traumatised Lieutenant partner Alfred Edmund Jaques, Stephen, whose letters home from his first battle at Arras, Colonel Macnaghten nev- also served and was eventually were published posthumously. and died on 29 May 1917. He ertheless reenlisted under badly wounded, losing his leg He wrote in July 1916, that while was one of five cousins killed another name and ended up on and a finger in action. On 17 he was glad to be safe , “the in the war. Not long after the Western Front. His well- September 1918 Graham Cam- guns call to me from a distance; Kemp was fatally wounded, a known face, his CMG ribbon eron, a solicitor who had been they fascinate and repel, but Hunter Valley solicitor, Frank and accent marked him out articled to J. Alfred Stephen there is a fascination, though Wadhurst Fry, was killed among the close-knit frontline was killed in action. Only a day it might be unpleasant, like the trying to rescue a wounded communities. Eventually he earlier Cecil Bernard Feneley, fascination of a snake.”7 comrade near Hermies in met up with his old associate, another Hunter Valley solicitor, And like a snake, there were France. At Polygon Wood on Hector Clayton who told him was caught in a German bar- dangers. The names of the 26 September 1917, Captain “Don’t be such a bloody goat, rage. He tried moving to what solicitors who fell victim to Hubert Thompson led his Charles!”6. Macnaghten had a he thought was a safer posi- them are: men forward only to be killed great deal of trouble adjusting tion, but in the tragic lottery William Edmund Cotter by artillery. His body was lost to life after the battle at Lone chose the wrong place and was Guy Kennedy Davenport MC in the violence and has never Pine. killed. Feneley and Cameron Alan Dawson, were both killed barely eight Norman Lockhart Dreyer En d n o t e s weeks before Armistice. DSO 1. This article is a condensed version 4. Bean CEW, Official History of Aus- War-related legal cases Cecil Bernard Feneley of two working papers on the legal tralia in the War of 1914-18 The included many that ema- Frank Wadhurst Fry profession in World War I which Story nated from the crowded Charles Bernard Donaldson may be accessed on the website for of Anzac Volume I, Angus & Robert- the Forbes Society for Legal His- son, Sydney, 1921, p.54. and often poorly conducted Rayner Garlake tory at www.forbessociety.org.au. The 5. ibid. 490. camps around Liverpool and Robert Clive Hunter. author’s research is ongoing, and he 6. Chapman I, Iven G Mackay Citizen elsewhere. Camp followers Wilfrid Foxton King Kemp invites people with information on or and Soldier, Melway Publishing Pty provided the usual string of Howard Douglas McKenzie an interest in the topic to contact him: Ltd, Melbourne, 1975, p.93. email [email protected]. 7. Stephen ACS, An Australian in offences as the authorities Walter Thomas McLaren 2. Also known as The War Chest. the RFA, W.C. Penfold & Co, Sydney, tried to control their activities. Thomas Alexander Ogilvie There was a plethora of such funds 1918, p.120. q The War Precautions Act 1914 Ernest Ambrose Roberts which amalgamated and reformed in gave great powers to the gov- William Stewart a variety of ways during the war. 3. “WM Marks Empire Day Address” A bibliography for this article is ernment. The Sydney barris- Hubert Gordon Thompson reported in The Sydneian No. available in the version publish ter Robert Randolph Garran Gordon Arthvael Uther CCXXXVJ, June 1918. Courtesy of online at www.lawsociety.com.au/ was appointed Solicitor-Gen-  Lest We Forget  . journal. eral by Prime Minister Wil-

November 2008 LAW SOCIETY JOURNA L 21