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| No: 100 |
June 2014
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News June Seminars 1: Port Adelaide Heritage walk WEA Centre Adelaide 2:00–4:00pm 10: Bound for South Australia WEA Centre Adelaide 7:00–9:00pm 13: Researching your Scottish ancestors WEA Centre Adelaide 6:30–9:30pm 15: North Adelaide Heritage walk WEA Centre Adelaide 2:00–4:00pm 16: Finding families in newspapers WEA Centre Adelaide 8:00–10:00pm 23: Finding families in newspapers Mount Lofty Districts Historical Society at the Stirling Library 10:00 to noon July Seminars 1: Using SA resources in family history St Peters Library 1:00–4:00pm 13: SE corner of Adelaide Heritage walk WEA Centre Adelaide 2:00–4:00pm 27: Coming to grips with FamilySearch WEA Centre Adelaide 10:00–1:00pm See the seminar program for more details and bookings. Manchester non-Conformist records Ancestry.co.uk have added nearly 400,000 non-conformist records from the Manchester area of England; the links below will take you to the relevant search pages: Manchester non-conformist births & baptisms 1758-1912 Manchester non-conformist marriages 1758-1937 Manchester non-conformist deaths & burials 1758-1987 Shropshire parish registers Shropshire parish registers have been placed online by FindMyPast. Click here to search the index to see what is available. |
In
this issue: |
Graham Jaunay Services |
| South Australian Word War 1 Light Horse With the focus on the centenary of the commencement of World War 1 it is appropriate to look at where the records are held. For readers interested in earlier conflicts involving South Australians please look at Newsletters 43 and 44. The First World War was the last war in which horses were used as an integral part of offensive tactics. Modern artillery made them too vulnerable and their offensive role was replaced by tanks and motorised infantry. The Commonwealth of Australia was a relatively new creation at the outbreak of the War and former South Australian Light Horse regiments were absorbed into the newly established Commonwealth forces as part of the 4th Military District which in turn was reorganised in 1914. Following Federation in 1901, different plumes were authorised for wear by newly raised state light horse units. These included emu feathers for Queensland, South Australian and Tasmanian mounted units. However, when regulations for compulsory training were introduced from 1911, no provision was made for such distinguishing embellishments. Nonetheless, the Queenslanders, the original colony to adorn their head wear with emu feathers clung to their history and continued to wear it unofficially. The government eventually gave in to the pressure and the Prime Minister officially announced the change in Melbourne before the first contingents embarked. Two Light Horse Regiments were raised in South Australia and a third had significant South Australian membership. South Australians were represented in other regiments to a lesser extent.  3rd Light Horse RegimentOn 17 August 1914, the 3rd Light Horse Regiment was raised in Adelaide and Hobart (one squadron). The regiment was assigned to the 1st Light Horse Brigade to serve alongside the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments. While these regiments used cavalry designations, they were in reality mounted infantry armed with rifles, not swords or lances, and mounted exclusively on the Australian Waler horse. 
The South Australian forerunner to this regiment was in part the SA Mounted Rifles of the Boer War that became the 16th Australian Light Horse Regiment in 1904.The old colours of this regiment are in St Augustine's Church at Victor Harbor.The 3rd Light Horse as part of the 1st Light Horse Brigade saw action in Gallipoli minus the horses before being deployed to Egypt to protect the Suez Canal before moving through Sinai and the campaign on the west bank of the Jordan and into Amman and Es Salt. At Gallipoli the Regiment was involved in one of the great tragedies of the War—the charge at the Nek on 7 August 1915 in which 300 Australians died for not one Turk casualty! Campaigns in the First World War cost the regiment 158 men killed and 653 men wounded. Pictured: 1861 Sgt Victor Seymour HARRIS 3rd Light Horse Enlisted 8 Mar 1915 Returned to AUS 22 Dec 1918 11 Jan 1916 - 13th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Borda 11 Mar 1916 - D Squadron formed at Tel El Kebir in Egypt Repatriated to AUS for hernia operation 22 Feb1917 - 26th Reinforcements departed Adelaide on the Morea Based at Moascar 10 May 1917 - Instructor 4 Jun 1917 - Transferred to 1st Light Horse and assigned to the 1st Machine Gun Squadron 27 Jul 1918 - Seriously ill in AUS Stationery Hospital Moascar with malaria and pneumonia Partial nominal rolls of this regiment can be found online at the Australian Light Horse Association website. You can also search Nominal Rolls online at the Australian War Memorial site but you need a name. State Records of SA holds Nominal Roll: GRG149/8.  9th
Light Horse RegimentThe 9th Light Horse Regiment was raised at Adelaide and trained in Melbourne between October 1914 and February 1915. About two thirds of the recruits were from South Australia the remainder from Victoria. The South Australian forerunner to this regiment was in part the SA Mounted Rifles of the Boer War that became the 17th Australian Light Horse Regiment. This regiment as part of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade saw action in Gallipoli when it suffered 50% casualties attacking Hill 60. It was then deployed to Egypt to protect the Canal before moving into Palestine, the capture of Jerusalem and Damascus. The regiment was used in the suppression of the rebellion in Egypt, which broke out early in 1919. The war cost the regiment over 100 per cent casualties, 190 killed and 481 wounded. This Regiment has one very unique distinction in a captured battle standard of a Turkish Regiment and was the only unit to capture such a standard during the first World War. This trophy is in the Australian War Memorial. Partial nominal rolls of this regiment can be found online at the Australian Light Horse Association website. You can also search Nominal Rolls online at the Australian War Memorial site but you need a name. State Records of SA holds Nominal Roll: GRG149/8.  11th
Light Horse Regiment The regiment was raised in August 1914, and assigned to the 4th Light Horse Brigade – a third were South Australians – trained in Brisbane. This regiment as part of the 4th Light Horse Brigade provided reinforcements at Gallipoli before being withdrawn to protect the Suez and then moving into Palestine. In August 1917, the regiment was issued with swords and trained in traditional cavalry tactics including the charge on the Turkish defences around the town of Semakh. The regiment was used in the suppression of the rebellion in Egypt, which broke out early in 1919. The war had cost the regiment over 100 per cent casualties, with 95 killed and 521 wounded. Apart from the Light Horse Regiments, a full strength brigade comprised of a Machine Gun Squadron, a Signal Troop, a Field Ambulance, a Train (or Supply Section), a Veterinary Section, an Artillery Battery (supplied by the British Army), a Training Regiment, and a Double Squadron (a dismounted unit - these were broken up in November 1916 with the men being transferred to the newly formed 4th Camel Regiment).  Pictured: 892 Cpl Hampton R Harris MM 11th Light Horse Enlisted 22 Feb 1916 Returned to AUS 2 Jan 1919 Wounded in action, Hampton was one of the regiment’s thirteen recipients of the Military Medal. His citation reads: Corporal Hampton Roland HARRIS For continued and conspicuous good work particularly when on patrol duties when in charge of advanced parties and in the reserve. On 2-6-17 skillfully handled his patrol with great dash driving the strong enemy force from Hill 510 and occupying that part. On 9.6.17 with a patrol of 8 men he engaged and drove off a party of twenty Turks from Rashid Bek handling his party with great skill and determination notwithstanding the strong opposition of the enemy. Partial nominal rolls of this regiment can be found online at the Australian Light Horse Association website. You can also search Nominal Rolls online at the Australian War Memorial site but you need a name. A Light Horse regiment at full strength comprised of these squadrons of four troops each. Each troop comprised of eight sections of four troopers—384 troopers. Within the section the four men had specific roles to play—three rifle men and one horse holder. Once the fighting position was reached by the riflemen, usually just in range of the enemy where their fire is accurate, the three men dismount and seek cover. The horse holder then was required to gather the reigns of the other three horses and ride off from the battlefield to safety. During the course of the actual combat, the horse holder remained out of range until summoned to bring the horses forward. This may seem the safest role but sitting astride a horse was a good target! One of the four men, the leader would hold the rank of Lance Corporal or Corporal. Apart from the 32 men in each troop there were seven to eight others with specialist roles—the troop commander, the troop sergeant, signallers, saddlers, shoeing smiths, drivers, grooms and batmen and buglers. The Officer Commander of a troop was usually either a Lieutenant or a Second Lieutenant. In addition, the Major in charge of the Squadron was also a member of a troop as was the Captain who was second in command. Four troops made a squadron. Inclusive of all the combat troops and ancillary soldiers, the numbers making a squadron was usually about 158 men. Below is a typical example of a squadron composition made up of four troops.
The main focus for Australian troops in World War1 was the German possessions in the Pacific region, Gallipoli, the Western Front in Europe, and the Sinai, Palestine and Syria campaign. The AIF was broken up into 5 Infantry Divisions and 2 Light Horse Divisions. Each Infantry Division had 3 Brigades and each Brigade had 4 Infantry Battalions. The AIF was never designed to be a completely self sufficient Army. It was organised to provide combat troops with some limited support that would be a part of a larger British army that would provide the essential support services. While it is very difficult in this brief record to outline the changes that occurred during the progress of the war, the 1st Division was structured as follows for the campaign in Egypt and Gallipoli 1914–15: 1st Division 1st Division Headquarters 1st Division Artillery 1st Field Artillery Brigade; 1st,2nd,3rd Field Artillery Batteries; 1st Brigade Ammunition Column 2nd Field Artillery Brigade; 4th,5th,6th Field Artillery Batteries; 2nd Brigade Ammunition Column 3rd Field Artillery Brigade; 7th,8th,9th Field Artillery Batteries; 3rd Brigade Ammunition Column 1st Heavy Battery; 1st Division Ammunition Column 1st Division Engineers 1st, 2nd, 3rd Field Companies (3rd includes some South Australians) 1st Signal Company 2nd Signal Troop 1st Infantry Brigade 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Infantry Battalions 1st Machine Gun Company 1A/1, 1A/2, 1st Light Trench Mortar Battery 2nd Infantry Brigade 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Infantry Battalions 2nd Machine Gun Company 2A/1, 2A/2, 2nd Light Trench Mortar Battery 3rd Infantry Brigade 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th Infantry Battalions (10th: South Australian; 12th inc South Australians) 3rd Machine Gun Company 3A/1, 3A/2, 3rd Light Trench Mortar Battery 1st Division Medical Services 1st,2nd,3rd Field Ambulances (3rd includes some South Australians) 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance 1st Sanitary Company 4th Light Horse Regiment 2nd Light Horse Brigade 5th,6th,7th Light Horse Regiments 1st Divisional Train 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th Army Service Corps Companies (6th inc South Australians) When the Division was withdrawn from Gallipoli and reassigned to France there were a number of changes and additions made and the same applied to the four other Divisions. Units like the 1st Cyclist Company, 1st Salvage Section and the 1st Mobile Veterinary Section were added to accommodate the more open circumstances in Europe as opposed to the cliffs of Gallipoli.  Pictured: Downed German aircraft somewhere in Palestine near 11th Light Horse Regiment lines in March 1918. World War I service records in the National Archives in Canberra usually contain the following documents: Attestation paper – this was completed by the person on enlistment and normally gives next-of-kin, employment details, marital status, age, place of birth and a physical description. Service and casualty form – this shows movements and transfers between units, promotions, when and how the soldier was injured and where treatment was received. Using the material in this record in conjunction with official histories allows one to build up a detailed picture of the actual day to day life of service. Military correspondence – correspondence between the Department of Defence and the soldier’s next-of-kin may include notification of wounds or death, awards and medals and questions about the whereabouts of the serviceman. All World War I service records (series B2455) have been digitised and are available to view online. Using NameSearch or RecordSearch you can quickly find the service records of particular individuals.  Records of Australian servicemen and women who served in World War I in the first Australian Imperial Force (AIF) are preserved in the National Archives in Canberra but each state's archive may also hold some useful information that will help build up a picture of the service person. For example in South Australia, State Records hold material as follows: Land acquired under Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act GRG 35/185: Soldiers registration cards under Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts (1917–23) GRG 35?320: Record of land held by soldier settlers (1918–30) GRG 35/181: Card index of surrenders or forfeitures of properties (1920–50) GRG 35/177: Card indexes of transferred or forfeited properties (1920–50) GRG 35/204: Alphabetical list of settlers showing lease numbers, locations, acreage A number of government departments have lists of employee' war service, such as: GRG 42/177: Employees` record of war service - Murray Bridge Division, South Australian Railways It is also possible to find miscellaneous records such as: MRG 8/19 Photograph montage of A.I.F. members, 1914-1916 (Auburn district) Footnote: The 3rd and 9th Light Horse Regiments descendant is the 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles) – a reserve light cavalry regiment (currently a single squadron) based in Adelaide operating Land Rover four wheel drive vehicles. |
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