3 Claude Harold Annesley enlisted in World War 1. -

World War 1 - A decision to enlist.

Queens Beach

Life may have been getting difficult for them at that time, and Claude decided to enlist. 

He joined the 9/47th Battalion on 13^th March 1916.

His description reads:  Age 33 year 8 months, Height 5 ft 10.5 inches weight 145 lbs, fair complexion, fair hair and grey eyes.

He joined firstly as a Private from 14^th March 1916 to 8^th June 1916.

He was then promoted to Corporal

Then Sergeant until 30^th September 1916

Then he was promoted to 2^nd Lieutenant from 1^st October 1916

He attended the Citizen Force Camps Training Centre, Charleville and Toowoomba October 1916

Then 9/47^th Battalion from 29^th November 1916.

He embarked from Sydney on the “Ayreshire” 24^th January 1917 and arrived at Devonport UK 12^th April 1917.

He undertook training at Tidworth, obtaining the level of distinguished at the school of Musketry. 

                                    He had a fair knowledge of the Lewis Gun.

From June 1917 to 9^th August 1917 he was at the School of Instructors Candashar Barracks Tidworth.

He left on 9^th August 197 from Southampton to France.

On 10^th August he joined the depot from England at Havre (on the Normandy coast)

On 24^th August he marched out t Unit again in Havre

On 1^st September 1917 he was taken on strength to Belgium

On 1^st November 1917 he was a Lieutenant

On 16^th November 1917 he was ordered to be Bombing Officer with the 4^th Australian Division.

On 26^th November 1917 He was granted leave due to a casualty in the field

On 23^rd February 1918  He returned from Leave

On 2^nd March 1918 he was detached for duty at x Corps School in France

On 16^th March 1918 He was placed on Reg. Seconded List invalided

On 13^th March 1918 He was reported as a casualty at Boulogne (Northern France near Belgium)

On 18^th March 1918 He was reported D.A.H. at Wandsworth

On 4^th April 1918 he was transferred to Cobham Hall in Wandsworth

On 14^th Mary he transferred from Cobham Hall and discharged to Sutton Veny.

On 15^th May 1918 he was M/I  from Headquarters London

Over the next few weeks he was subject to a number medicals from a variety of doctors. 

On 11^th June 1918 he was placed on the Supry List for return to Australia.

On 20^th August 1918 he was at Hurdcott

On 23^rd September 1918 due to medical condition we was returned to Australia.

On 29^th November 1918 he left England on the Runic.

On 26^th November 1918 he disembarked at Melbourne for Brisbane

On 12^th December 1918 his appointment was terminated.


********************************************************************************

 Claude reported for sick leave for a lot of time. 

The following reports from Officers provide an insight into Claude and his unwillingness to continue on the fighting front.

 Aus/C89/8.   13.3.18

To C.O. 47^th Battn.   I beg to report that I examined Lieut Annesley at Dijou Comp on 22.2.18.  My opinion then was that, although he was in an anemic condition, he was in a fit condition to remain in the Field.  Advising him at the same time, to receive temporary treatment from me.    Sgd  J.D. Farrell  Capt  R.M.O. 47^th Bn.

A letter from Lt Col. A. P. Imlay, the Commanding Officer of the 47^th Btn. A.I.F.    Written in the field

To Headquarters, 12^th A.E.Bde

Attached re Lieut Annesley. C.H. 47^th Bn forwarded for your information.

This officer was sent to X.Corps School at Boeschere on 24^th February 1918 after having previously been passed fit for service by the R.M.O.  Since he has joined the Bn this officer has done a tour in the line and I understand it is his intention by going to an outside M.O. to avoid further service.  Is it possible for him to be boarded by A.I.F. Medical Officers with a view to some service being obtained from him.

He enlisted in Queensland 14.3.16, joined Battalion 27.8.18 and so far, in my opinion, the expense entailed in his military education has been wasted if he succeeds in his desire to return to Australia.

In the field  14.3.18

H.Q. 4^th Aust. Division

I strongly recommend the action referred to above.   Signed J. Gellibrand.  Brig. Gen. Commdg. 12^th A.I.Bde    15.3.18

D.A.C.,A.I.F. 47/1/78      dated 23^rd March 1918

Sir, I beg to inform you that yesterday I was evacuated from the X Corps School and sent to No 63 C.C.S. suffering from “D.A.H”.  I am to be sent to the Base tomorrow.  I will keep you informed of an important move that happens to me in the future.

I have the honour to be Sir, Your obedient servant.    Sgd  C.H. Annesley

17^th March from Major General S.G. Sinclair-McLaren, requesting that C.H. Annesley be medically boarded.

20^th March from Col T.H. Dodds, requesting that C.H. Annesley be specially brought before an A.I.F. Medical Board

26^th March from  Major J.W. Donnelly as Lieut Annesley was transferred to England on 18^th instant on the hospital ship “St Denis” kindly arrange that be brought before an A.I.F. Medical Board

3^rd April 1918 Lt A. Charlesworth advised that he had been Unit G.S. 2 mos, Unfit H.S. (Act. Duty with troops) 6 weeks, Unfit H.S. (Sedentary emp. Only) 4 weeks.  Admitted Cobham.

Several letters follow then on 12^th April 1918 Colonel T.H.D.  advises – In view of medical report on the above named officer, will you please take action to ensure that he immediately rejoins his unit in the Field on being fit for General Service.

On 29^th May 1918 from Headquarters in Tidworth, Lt. Col. S. Bruggy advised that Lieut Annesley was boarded to 20^.5.18.  “Unfit GS. 1 month fit H.S.”, further board 20.6.18.  On the latter date if marked G.S. his name will be submitted to War Office for early passage overseas.

Letters follow dated 28^th May, 26^th June and 14^th July which indicated that the he had been before the medical board and was unfit.

On 10^th July Brig. General T. Dodds summarised his appearance at the medical boards April May and June.  And added….

I am to inform you that, taking into consideration the report submitted on this Officer by his Battalion Commander and R.M.O. it has been decided that, if he is not fit for general service at his next board, he will be returned to Australia for termination of his appointment in the A.I.F.  In view of his short service in the Field it is not considered advisable to retain him indefinitely on home service in England!

On 8^th August Lt Col Knox advised headquarters to arrange his return to Australia and for termination of appointment with A.I.F.

The medical reports indicate that his Malaria which he contracted in Africa had caused his disability, coupled with stress and strain

One report mentioned his urine was coffee coloured, and others note that he has arteriosclerosis and exhausted.

  “He has marked cardiac irregularity and definitely thickened arteries and is unlikely to be of any use on the front”

His Medical Report on an Invalid, notes that he is a grazier.  And that his disability is malaria, which commenced in Africa.  He gets attacks of malarial fever in a cold climate.*    

  (*Medical opinion may differ 100 years later.)   Grazier?

***********************************************************************************

Claude returns to Australia.

Some interesting developments then emerge.

On 7^th August, 1918 Miss Evelyn Clarke of 57 Pitt Street Sydney writes to the AIF requesting any information about Lt Annesley as she had not been able to contact him. 

On 12^th August 1918 the Major at Officer I/C. Base Records writes to her stating that the latest report received here concerning Lieutenant C.H. Annesley was to the effect that he had been discharged on 14^th May 1918 from hospital (where he had been previously admitted suffering from Disordered Action of the Heart) to No. 1 Convalescent Depot.  He then advises her to direct mail to the 47^th Battalion.

Om 8^th May 1919, after Claude has been terminated from the A.I.F., Evelyn Clarke again writes to the Officer in Charge of the Base Records, as she had been unable to get in contact with him for some time and mail had been returned. 

On 13^th May 1919 the Major writes another letter to Miss. E. Clarke, The Army writes and tell her the only address they have is c/- GPO Brisbane, but if she contact the Staff Officer for Invalid and Returned Soldiers at Victoria Barracks, he may be able to provide her with a more definite address.


The second interesting correspondence came from Dover.

On 21^st February 1921, Mr Arthur Elwin writes to the Army from 2 Castle St Dover, advising he had sent a letter on 20^th September last to his client Mr Claude Harold Annesley, addressed “Bowen” North Queensland, but that it had been returned.  He too was seeking his address.

On 7^th April, 1921 the Major wrote to Arthur B. Elwin Esq. advising that the address they had in records was c/- GPO.  He also writes to the DFO 1^st Military District, that if ex-officer Annesley applies for his gratuity, to inform him of his address

On 16^th April the office advises the address is c/- Orallo via Roma. 

On 30^th April, Major writes again to Arthur Elwin and provides the address of Orallo.

Two people looking for Claude.  Perhaps Evelyn was a nurse he met in England?  But who was Arthur Elwin?

Who was Arthur B Elwin Esq?

Arthur Brooke Elwin was the son of Edwin Elwin Esquire, a solicitor at Dover in Kent.

He married in 1893 in Dover Cecile Lydia von Lenthe from Switzerland.  They were married by the groom’s uncle Rev Arthur Elwin.  Rev. Elwin was quite well-known, and wrote several books about his time as a missionary in, China.

The firm became known as Knocker, Elwin and Lambert, Solicitors and eventually the firm over several years merged to become Bradley’s Solicitors, who still operate in Dover in Kent.

The records pertaining to Knocker, Elwin and Lambert are stored in the National Archives, England

 How would Arthur have known Lt Claude Annesley?

Claude must have corresponded with Arthur Elwin at some time, because the letter was addressed c/- Bowen, Queensland. Claude left Bowen in 1916 when he joined the AIF.

From Claude’s Army records it is a fact that he spent quite a lot of time in England, recuperating from his illnesses.

Tidworth is a town in south-east Wiltshire, England with a growing civilian population. Situated at the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain, it is approximately 10 miles west of Andover, 12 miles south of Marlborough, 24 miles south of Swindon, 15 miles north by north-east of Salisbury and 6 miles east of Amesbury. Its population is approximately 9,500.

Claude returned home.  Obviously he went to Sydney first, perhaps he was in a hospital, or did he return to a welcoming homecoming in Bowen?

Those questions cannot be answered, and the story of Claude and Katie then centres around the soldier’s selection which he won in the ballot of April 1919.

He was given 1277 acres of land at Gunnewin.  


 Gunnewin is close to Injune, and the Carnarvon Gorge National Park in Central Queensland.

Where did Katie and Valerie go while he was in the Army?  Claude was training from March to November 1916 and didn’t leave Australia until January 1917

The census records show that a Katie Isabella Jillett was living with her father in Water Street Brisbane in 1917.  Katie Isabella Annesley (incorrect transcription) was also living at the same place.  

Did she live with her parents while Claude was at War?  Why two records of the same name? 
Should one have said Catherine Isabella Jillett?  

Probably as one thing that is certain in researching family history, that transcription errors are prevelant!

Her mother, Catherine died December 1918 and was buried at Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane.

Did Claude ever receive his letter from Elwin?  Did the contents of the letter then change Claude’s life?

Questions!    Questions!    



But one thing that Claude's War Records indicated was that he had been in South Africa in the Boer War.  Why then could no record be found of this?



New records at the National Archives of Australia indicate that whilst he was taken off the Roll on 23rd October 1917 her was appointed on 1st July 1920 to the Australian Military Reserves and he retired from there on 20th November 1928.






*********************************************************************************

Claude had an interesting time during the war. 

From his service notes, he was only on the Western Front on active duty for a very short period of time. 

The battles around Ypres were brutal, and one has to wonder at the extreme courage that servicemen took with so many lives lost.  Dotted throughout the region are mass graves, signifying the sacrifice that young people made.  It would not be the place that anyone would want to be.

His Battalion

47^th Battalion First World War

Originally raised in Egypt in 1916 during the First World War, the 47th Battalion was formed as part of the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) that took place following the Gallipoli campaign. 

At this time it was decided that the AIF would be expanded from two divisions to four. In order to achieve this new battalions were formed by splitting existing units and using a cadre formed from their experienced men along with freshly trained reinforcements sent from Australia. Taking its experienced men from the 15th Battalion and its new recruits from Queensland and Tasmania, the 47th Battalion formed part of the 12th Brigade, which was attached to the 4th Division. Following this, the battalion was transferred to France and Belgium where it fought in the trenches of the Western Front for the next two and half years.

During this time, the battalion fought in a number of significant battles, including the Battle of Pozières in 1916 and the Battles of Bullecourt, Messines and Passchendaele in 1917. Later, in early 1918, the battalion was heavily involved in turning back the German advance during the Spring Offensive, taking part in the fighting that took place around Dernancourt. It was during this fighting that one of the battalion's members, Sergeant Stanley McDougall performed the deeds that led to him being awarded the Victoria Cross, Australia's highest decoration for gallantry. After this, however, casualties amongst the units of the Australian Corps led to the order for three brigades to disband one of their battalions and as a result of this the 47th Battalion was disbanded on 31 May 1918

 During its service in the war, the battalion lost 661 men killed and 1,564 men wounded. Members of the battalion received the following decorations: one VC, four DSOs with one bar, one MBE, 13 MCs, 13 DCMs with one bar, 86 MMs with four bars, two MSMs, 16 MIDs and two foreign awards.

4 th Division World War I unit history

The 4th Division began forming in Egypt in February 1916. The new division included the 4th Infantry Brigade, 4th Field Company, 4th Field Ambulance and 7th Army Service Corps Company which had fought at Gallipoli. The 12th and 13th Infantry Brigades were formed by taking half the personnel of the 4th and 3rd Infantry Brigades.

The division was initially stationed on the Suez Canal. In June 1916 it moved to France, taking over part of the "nursery" sector near Armentieres. Its stay there was brief and soon it was accompanying the First and Second Divisions to the Somme sector. In August 1916 it relieved the Second Division on the Pozières Heights and repulsed a major German counterattack. It then drove north to the outskirts of Mouquet Farm. A second tour of the Somme at Mouquet Farm followed in September and a third at Flers in October.

On 11 April 1917 the division assaulted the Hindenburg Line in the First Battle of Bullecourt. The battle was a disaster and 1170 Australian prisoners were taken by the Germans. In June it participated in the Battle of Messines. In September it participated in the Battle of Polygon Wood.

In March 1918 the division was rushed to the Somme region to stem the German Offensive. There it repulsed the advancing Germans in hard fought battles at Hebuterne and Dernancourt. In April its 13th Infantry Brigade was involved in the counterattack at Villers-Bretonneux.

The division went on to fight in the Battle of Hamel, Battle of Epehy (with distinction), Battle of Amiens and the Hindenburg Line, finally reaching the town of Bellenglise.

After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Germany implemented the Schlieffen Plan. Updated in 1906, this plan called for German forces to swing through Belgium with the goal of encircling French forces along the Franco-German border and winning a quick victory. With France defeated, troops could be moved east for a campaign against Russia. Put into operation, the early stages of the plan were largely successful and the German cause was further bolstered by a stunning victory over the Russians at Tannenberg in late-August.

In Belgium, the Germans pushed back the small Belgian Army and defeated the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at Mons. Retreating south, the BEF and French forces finally succeeded in checking the German advance at the First Battle of the Marne in early September. Counterattacking at the Aisne, the Allies had little success. In the wake of the battle, both sides began the "Race to the Sea" as they attempted to outflank each other. Moving north and west, they extended the front to the English Channel. As both sides sought an advantage, they clashed in Picardy, Albert, and Artois

First Battle of Ypres - Setting the Stage:

Having moved north, the BEF, led by Field Marshal Sir John French, began arriving near the Belgian town of Ypres on October 14. A strategic location, Ypres was the last obstacle between the Germans and the key Channel ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer. Conversely, an Allied breakthrough near the town would allow them to sweep across the relatively flat terrain of Flanders and threaten key German supply lines. Coordinating with General Ferdinand Foch, who was overseeing French forces on the BEF's flanks, French desired to go on the offensive and attack east toward Menin.

Unaware that large elements of Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg's Fourth Army and Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria's Sixth Army were approaching from the east, French ordered his command forward. Key among the German forces were new large formations of reserve troops which included many recently enlisted students. On October 19, the Germans began attacking and pushed back the French. At this time, French was still bringing the BEF into position as its seven infantry and three cavalry divisions were responsible for thirty-five miles of front running from Langemarck south around Ypres to the La Bassee Canal.

                                    German bunker                In Flanders Fields (all so flat)