Unofficial WWI Memorials a Rookwood General Cemetery Project Rookwood Remembers
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Unofficial WWI Memorials A Rookwood General Cemetery Project Rookwood Remembers The Centenary of the First World War Armistice is of great significance to our nation, as it represents 100 years since the end of the first World War. With so many brave WW1 servicemen and women interred or memorialised within our grounds, Rookwood General Cemetery embarked on a a four year project to research the servicemen and women memorialised in unofficial war graves throughout Rookwood. Over 1700 unofficial WW1 memorials were identified. This includes memorials of soldiers who died in training, returned service people memorialised in family graves, and symbolic monuments erected by families for soldiers killed or missing in action. As a sign of respect to these servicemen and women, their memorials have been cleaned and services have been conducted at each site. Further to this, we are now completing monumental repairs on some of the more deteriorated memorials, whilst sharing the many stories that we have uncovered. This booklet, which will be update annually, is a tribute to Rookwood’s WW1 servicemen and women interred or memorialised in unofficial war graves. We will remember them. The Families Remember Rookwood General Cemetery employees volunteered their time to research the WW1 servicemen and women interred throughout Rookwood in unofficial war graves. As the inscriptions on their monuments did not provide a lot information about their involvement in WW1, we engaged with family members to discover more. Some of the heroic stories we uncovered, as selected by our volunteers, are outlined in the pages that follow. Osborne Herbert Alcorn Osborne Herbert Alcorn was born on the 3rd of October, 1893, in a small cottage at McGrath’s Hill near Windsor, NSW. He grew up at Windsor in a house built by his ancestors, which still stands today. Osborne enlisted in the army at Lismore in July, 1917. He embarked on the ship HMAT Nestor A71 on the 21st of November, 1917. While overseas, most of his time was spent in France and then in the Ypres area of Belgium. He was a Sapper, a soldier responsible for building and repairing roads and bridges, and laying and clearing mines for the troops that followed. Osborne returned to Australia on the Persic, in July, 1919. He was discharged from the army on the 25th of September, 1919 and declared to be of sound health, with no injuries or disabilities, and able to join the work force. Richard John Cutter Richard John Cutter was born in 1865 and enlisted in 1914 in the 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Brigade and he served with the 3rd Regiment for 2 years. His unit embarked from Sydney on the 18th of October, 1914, and whilst serving in Gallipoli he suffered a bomb wound to his right leg. Following this, he was deemed medically unfit and returned to Australia. He was discharged on the 26th of April, 1916. Edwin Arthur Hollinworth At the age of 25, on the 20th of September 1915, Edwin Arthur Hollinworth enlisted in the war and was appointed to the 2nd Light Horse Remount Division. Edwin sailed to Egypt and in March, 1916, he was transferred to the 7th Light Horse division in Cairo. The 7th Light Horse became responsible for a sector on the far right of the ANZAC line and he fought in Gaza, Beersheba, Jerusalem and Amman. On the 16th of November, 1917, he suffered a gunshot wound and lost the use of his left arm. Following this, he was no longer able to take part in the war and returned to Australia. Edwin had brought several souvenirs from the war, which he used to show to visitors. One of these was a bomb that had already been detonated. On the 28th of May, 1936, he was demonstrating to a visitor how the bomb would have worked and inserted the percussion cap into the bomb. Unfortunately, there was sufficient gun powder inside the casing to cause an explosion, and Edwin died almost immediately. The 19-year- old male visitor lost an eye and his daughter Willa, aged 12, suffered shrapnel wounds and abrasions, luckily both survived. William Thompson Lavery William Thompson Lavery, commonly known as Bill, was a Railway Fettler with his Father. He enlisted in the Armed Services on the 6th of November, 1915. He sailed to Alexandria from Sydney on HMAT 49 Ceramic and then across to Marseille. He then traveled by train up to Fromelles 10 days after the battle on the 19th of July, 1916. At the end of the war he was awarded a Military Medal for his brave services. Nurse Bessie Myler Bessie Florence Myler enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the 5th of June, 1917, at the age of 24. She was a trained nurse and worked at the Sydney Hospital, where she won an award for her service. Nurse Myler joined the 14th Australian General Hospital at Abbassia, but was admitted two days later to the same hospital, suffering from bronchitis. She was returned to Australia suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. On her 14th Australian General return, she was given leave to go back Hospital at Abbassia, Egypt to her life in the Blue Mountains, where she died on the 30th of September, 1921. John William Porthouse John William Porthouse enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the 12th of September, 1916. After training in England for three months, he travelled to France and was faced Passchendaele with some of the harshest fighting conditions at Passchendaele. John earned the Military Medal for his actions on the Hindenburg Line where he engaged and silenced enemy machine guns, inflicted casualties on an anti-tank gun crew, all whilst in direct line of fire. Fortunate to survive the war, he returned to Australia on the 15th of June, 1919, eventually settling in Sydney where he passed away on the 28th June, 1949, at the age of 65. Thomas Preston Thomas Edward Preston joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the 11th of August, 1915. On the 17th of July, 1916, in the lead-up to the Battle of Fromelles, when billeted near France, Thomas Preston was punished, forfeiting 7 days’ pay for absence from billet without The Battle of Fromelles pass. He was wounded in action 3 days later. Thomas’ step-brother, Albert Thomson was also in the AIF and involved in the Battle of Fromelles. On the 19th of July, 1916, he too was wounded in action. The Battle of Fromelles is believed to be the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during the entire First World War, with over 5,500 Australian casualties. Thomas is buried in Rookwood Cemetery beside his step-brother Albert, who is buried in an official war grave. John Patrick Scullin Even as a teenager, John Patrick Scullin was determined to fight for his King and Country. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the 10th of January 1916, stating that he was 21 years old. In reality, he was two years younger. On the 20th of September, 1917, 6 days after his 21st Birthday, whilst fighting in the Battle of Menin Road, John was killed in action… Along with 4,629 other soldiers who died that day. John’s family, devastated by the tragedy and unable to visit his grave in Belgium, had his name engraved on his brother’s headstone in Rookwood Cemetery. The Battle of Menin Road Seabrook Family Fanny Seabrook was born in Armidale NSW in 1891, she married William George Seabrook and they became the proud parents of five boys and three girls. Her three eldest sons, George Ross, Theo Leslie and William Keith, joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1916. They fought together in the Battle of Menin Road, on the Western Front. This battle was the first engagement of the AIF in this offence and it proved a success. For the Seabrook brothers however, this was their first and last battle. George Ross Seabrook was reported as Killed in Action on the 20th of September, 1917. He was never found. Theo Leslie Seabrook was reported as Wounded in Action on the 20th of September, 1917. On the 27th, this was amended to Killed in Action. He was never found. William Keith Seabrook (pictured) was reported as Wounded in Action on the 20th of September, 1917. He was admitted to the 10th Casualty Clearing Station and died on the 21st. Following this devastating ordeal, an AIF policy was put in place to ensure that brothers could no longer serve in the same Battalion. Fanny lays to rest in Rookwood Cemetery, with her three sons commemorated on her headstone. Nurse Margaret Shaw Adelaide Margaret Shaw was a trained nurse that enlisted with the Australian Medical Corps on the 27th of November 1916, at the age of 34. Throughout the war, Margaret served as a staff nurse at a number of Australian Auxiliary Hospitals in the United Kingdom. She was returned to Australia on the 14th of January, 1919. It appears that she continued to work as a nurse at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, with her obituary notes stating that she was a “beloved comrade of nursing staff”. George Leslie Wallace At the age of 18, George Leslie Wallace enlisted in the Armed Services on the 27th of January, 1915. He served in Gallipoli and on the 8th of August, 1915, his battalion took part in a costly and only partially successful attack on Hill 971. Later that month, they were involved in another attack, this time on Hill 60, during which they suffered heavy casualties. George was one of those wounded.