Biography Australian 18th Battalion WW1 Hero Joseph Maxwell VC

Biography Australian 18th Battalion WW1 Hero Joseph Maxwell VC
	Joseph Maxwell VC Aust WW1 Hero Venturing into No Man's Land by John Ramsland,  This is the history of Lieut. Joseph "Darkie" Maxwell VC DCM, MC and Bar, who was the second highest decorated Australian soldier of the First World War. Local historian John Ramsland, has retraced Maxwell's life from childhood on the Hunter coalfields until his death at age 71 in a soldier's settlement home in Matraville Sydney. Around 90% of the book relates to Maxwell’s military life. Maxwell joined the AIF in February 1915 and was immediately allotted to the 18th Battalion, which was being raised in Sydney at the time. He later said his reason for joining was the,“6 shillings a day being paid to a digger compared to the 8 shillings a week he was getting as an apprentice”. He landed with the 18th Battalion on Gallipoli and served until he was evacuated on the 2 December 1915 suffering from jaundice. He fought at the Battle of Pozieres but it was at Westhoek Ridge during the 3rd Battle of Ypres that he distinguished himself earning the Distinguished Conduct Medal. He was commissioned on the 19th September 1917 as a Second Lieutenant. While scouting a patrol east of Ploegsteert near messines he was again recognised for his gallantry, this time being awarded the Military Cross medal. In August 1918, at the Battle of Amiens he earned a bar to his Military Cross. On 3rd October 1918, he was with the 18th battalion when it was attacking the Hindenburg Line along the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme front. It was here that Maxwell performed the acts for which he was awarded the VC. The citation read: Lt. Joseph Maxwell, M.C., D.C.M., 18th Bn., A.I.F. For most conspicuous bravery and leadership in attack on the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme line near Estates, North of St. Quentin, on the 3rd October, 1918. His company commander was severely wounded early in the advance, and Lt. Maxwell at once took charge. The enemy wire when reached under intense fire was found to be exceptionally strong and closely supported by machine guns, whereupon Lt. Maxwell pushed forward single-handed through the wire and captured the most dangerous gun, killing three and capturing four enemy. He thus enabled his company to penetrate the wire and reach the objective. Later, he again dashed forward and silenced, single-handed, a gun which was holding up a flank company. Subsequently, when with two men only he attempted to capture a strong party of the enemy, he handled a most involved situation very skilfully, and it was due to his resource that he and his comrades escaped. Throughout the day Lt. Maxwell set a high example of personal bravery, coupled with excellent judgment and quick decision. After the war Maxwell wrote of his war experiences in the popular book titled hells bells and mademoiselles he was also a contributor to the diggers newspaper called Revielle.

WW1 German POW Photo Register

AUST NATIONAL ARCHIVES WW1 Photos Prisoners at Liverpool NSW
	WW1 German POW Photo Register    For those who have a German background. The archives now have an Album of identification photographs of enemy aliens (both Civilian & POW) who were interned at Liverpool Camp Sydney during World War I. These  were mostly Australian Settled Germans who were considered a security risk during the war. Thinking that the Germans who surrendered to the AN&MEF were some of the POWs also interned at the Camp. There are two register/index of names that gives the prisoner number which is shown in front of the person in the album ( 3rd link below). Click Here to see military books on this WW1 topic. Index of names A to L http://recordsearch....ne.asp?B=332682 Index of names M to Z http://recordsearch....e.asp?B=7075608 Whole Album (652 pages) - prisoner numbers only, no names. http://recordsearch....ne.asp?B=854143

Charles Bean's Great War DVD a Foxtel History Channel Presentation

The video presentation 'Charles Bean's Great War' is a dramatised documentary by 360 Degree Films. It offers an indepth visual record of the life of Charles Bean throughout his civil and military life.
Click here to see more details about Charles Bean Great War Military DVD. 

Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean was born on the 18^th November 1879 at Bathurst, New South Wales.  Bean’s family already had military connections, in that his Grandfather was Surgeon-Major in the army of the East India Company. In 1889, Bean’s family (due to his Father’s ill health) moved back to England, which afforded Charles a great opportunity for education. He was fortunate to gain a scholarship to study the Arts and then Law at Hertford College Oxford. Having completed his education, he returned to Australia in 1904 where he was admitted to the New South Wales Bar.
Bean preferred writing to being a lawyer. In 1907 he wrote a book, ‘Impressions of a New Chum’ it was never published as a single volume but the Sydney Morning Herald published some parts. He found a friend in Banjo Patterson who advised him to go and work at the Herald. So in 1908, Bean joined the Sydney Morning Herald as a junior Journalist.
This change would make a monumental difference to the rest of his life.

In this early period, he had success in publishing several books, With the Flagship in the South (London, 1909) On the Wool Track (London, 1910) The Dreadnought of the Darling (London, 1911) and Flagships Three (London, 1913). Many of these books had a military theme and he had become very well known for his newspaper articles connected to the escalating conflict in Europe.

At the onset of World War One the British Government asked the dominions to nominate an Official Correspondent to their Contingent.  The selection of Australia’s Correspondent was to be decided by the Australian Journalists Association. They decided to conduct a ballot to select who would become the official correspondent with the AIF. It’s interesting, that Charles Bean narrowly won the position from Keith Murdoch, their paths would cross many times in the coming years.
Bean sailed with the first Australian Contingent to Egypt in 1914.
He was a first day lander at Gallipoli where he took some of the first photographs of the action at Anzac Cove. To Bean’s annoyance and frustration the British authorities held his reports of the landings until
13th May 1915. This allowed the English correspondent,Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett to make the first Australian Newspaper reports of the famous 25^th April 1915 landings.
During the 1^st week in May, Charles Bean accompanied the Australian 2^nd Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade south to Helles so that they could take part in the Second Battle of Krithia. He proved himself courageous in the front line at Krithia when he helped wounded infantry off the battlefield. He was actually recommended for the Military Cross medal but was denied the award when it was deemed that he was a civilian.
During the August Offensives, on the 6th August a stray bullet hit him in his right leg. He refused to leave Anzac nor to have the bullet removed so he lay in his dugout for three weeks while his wound healed. The bullet remained in his leg the rest of his life.  He was the only correspondent to remain at Gallipoli for the entire time of the occupation from the landing to the evacuation.
During the Gallipoli Campaign he edited The Anzac Book (London, 1916), which was a collection of Australian digger trench stories and cartoons. It was published in 1916, the proceeds to benefit returned soldiers. The book is very popular to this day and was recently reprinted in its third edition by the Australian War Memorial.

Bean continued his reporting during the period 1916-1918. Throughout the Western Front he made himself present at most of the major Battles undertaken by the AIF. Most importantly, he conceived an idea of a memorial to the Australian fallen and he established his War Records Unit which was to collect battlefield relics and memorabilia from the various Battles. 
He continued to publish, Letters from France (London, 1917) and  In Your Hands, Australians (London, 1918).

After the war his first passion was not to return to Australia but to go back to Gallipoli to make a study of that Battle location. His adventure was latter published in his book Gallipoli Mission (Canberra, 1948).
He returned to Australia where in latter 1919 he took up residence at the homestead at Tuggeranong near Canberra. There he was to create the monumental The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 from his many hundreds of wartime diaries, notes, memory and soldier related information.

In 1921, he married Ethel Young with whom he had played tennis at Tuggeranong.

At the start of World War 2 he wrote a pamphlet, The Old A.I.F and the New (Sydney, 1940). Bean was instrumental in the development and construction of the Australian War Memorial which opened in 1941.
One of his last major works was the one-volume abridgement of the The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 which he titled Anzac to Amiens (Canberra, 1946). 

His last book was a dedication to two men that he had admired during his AIF days. He titled the book, Two Men I Knew. William Bridges and Brudenell White Founders of the A.I.F. (Sydney, 1957)
In latter years he held senior positions with the ABC.

He died in 1968 at Concord Repatriation General Hospital aged 88.

AE1 Submarine Mystery Continues

AE1 Pictured in Sydney Harbour in 1914

The British Telegraph reported in early 2012 that two Anzac Vessels where searching for unexploded WW2 munitions on the sea floor in Simpson Harbour New Guinea not far from where the AE1 was last sighted in 1914. The scanning showed a wreck similar size to the ae1 submarine. But it would seem a more precise search of the 'wreck' was not undertaken.

Did a Group of ANZAC Diggers advance across Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915 ?

Found this clipping when writing the 3rd Battalion Blog.
Rewrite Anzac history ?? may be able to be researched further.
Silly thing is it's kind of possible.
Piece comes from Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), Monday 27 August 1934, page 3.

Randwick to Hargicourt Military History Book of the 3rd Battalion AIF 1914-18

From “ Randwick to Hargicourt History 3^rd Battalion AIF 1914-18 " By Captain Eric Wren.

reprint now available.

Lt Colonel Owen Howell-Price MC
commander 3rd Battalion AIF

On the 17^th August 1914, only days after the outbreak of World War One the author enlisted for service with the 3^rd Battalion AIF.  He quickly rose through the ranks and was present with the Battalion at its Gallipoli Landing on the 25^th April 1915.  
The next day on the 26^th April, the 3^rd Battalion was heavily involved in the defense of Anzac against Turkish attacks. Eric Wren was wounded when a bullet passed through his neck exiting very close to his spine. After Hospital treatment, he returned to the trenches in time for the 3rd Battalion’s famous charge at Lone Pine on the 6^th August 1915. The 3^rd Battalion was the second unit to charge at Lone Pine after the initial attack carried out by the 4^th Battalion. A 3^rd Battalion Hero of that charge was Captain Howell-Price who was awarded the Military Cross Medal for conspicuous gallantry at the Battle of Lone Pine. Howell-Price had shown the greatest bravery in leading the attack. Frequently rallying the men while under heavy fire… he had killed three Turks with his own hands. Captain Owen Howell-Price, survived the Battle of Lone Pine, he was latter to become one the youngest Lieutenant Colonels in the British/Allied Army. He went on to command the 3^rd Battalion AIF before succumbing to wounds received on 4th November 1916 while visiting the front line near Flers France. He was only 26 years of age and is buried at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-L'Abbe, France. His family had suffered during the war with 3 sons being killed in action. 

The Battalion had lost 75% of its members during the three days' fighting at Lone Pine. Only six officers out of 27 were not casualties, and 277 other ranks out of 856. After Gallipoli the Battalion’s next major Battle was at Pozieres France in late July 1916. The Battalion took part in the first attack on the town of Pozieres. The author Eric Wren, then a Captain commanding “C” Company was wounded in the right arm.

Newspaper clipping
Captain Eric Wren 3rd Battalion

The next day on the 24^th July 1916, his wound turned gangrene necessitating the amputation of his arm. He had shown conspicuous bravery on the Pozieres Battlefield being awarded the French Croix-de-Guerre and had been wounded on 3 occasions. In a letter to his parents he said,”his one regret now is that he will not be able to return to the front”. After an appointment to a training Battalion in England, he was deemed unfit for duty and returned to Australia in late 1917. After the war, he resumed his clerical duties with the NSW Railways, he remained a stalwart of the 3^rd Battalion and Limbless Soldiers Associations, being appointed the 3^rd Battalion AIF Association Honorary Historian during the early 1930’s. He died at Melbourne's Caulfield Military Hospital in June 1941 aged 52.

He had written his history of the battalion under the title of "From Randwick to Hargicourt". The title referenced from the 3^rd Battalion’s first assembly at Randwick racecourse in Sydney NSW 1914 to its final retirement, from the fighting after the Battle at Hargicourt. In between, Wren covers all the 3rd Battalion battles, Gallipoli, 2^nd Bullecourt, Ypres, Passchendaele, and the Hindenburg Line but also has collected digger stories of battalion life. Maps complement the text, and the pictures are clearly annotated. Appendices, unit nominal roll (with details of fatal casualties), Honours and awards(with many entries accompanied by a photograph of the recipient), and notes on Battle Honours complete this valuable history.
Captain Eric Wren had first released his Battalion History for the 1935 Anzac Day likewise this reprint is released for the 2013 Anzac Day. Click to see details 3rd Battalion Military History Book.
 

History Australian 6th Battalion AIF.
Click to see the book As Rough as Bags: The History of the 6th Battalion
Little History of the 6th Battalion AIF
The 6th Battalion was recruited solely from Victoria, with Melbourne and towns to the inner north being well represented. Recruitment was completed within 2 weeks of the  commencement of WWI in August 1914. The 6^th Battalion sailed with the 1^st Division less than 2 months later.
The 6^th Battalion landed at Gallipoli as part of the 2^nd wave on the 25^th April 1915. Later they transferred to Cape Helles to take part in the charge on Krithia ( click here if you would like to see the Ron Austin’s book White Ghurkhas written on this attack). Although the boys made a brave advance the ground was flat without feature which offered no protection. Sergeant Neville Rollason of the 6^th Bne wrote of the attack, “We attacked the enemy, advancing under a terrible fire from rifles, machine guns and shrapnel for a distance of 800 yards. When I say ‘we’ I mean the others for I only got 600 yards when I got in the way of a machine gun.” The Battalion suffered heavy casualties within an hour 133 members lay dead.
They returned to Anzac, during the August Offensives, the 6^th Battalion made an attack on the German Officers trench opposite Steele’s Post. Although a daring attack from tunnels in no man’s land the advance failed. It was estimated that 63 men actually made it into the enemy's German Trench as their bodies were never recovered. The attack was reminiscent of The Nek Light Horse Charge. As the Officers of the Battalion wished to call off the attack but were urged by superiors to once again attack.
A 6^th Battlion hero of the 2nd attack was Captain Alf Jackson his CO recommended Jackson for a posthumous bravery award which was never awarded the citation read,”He worked well in a dark underground tunnel organizing and when the advance commenced by his fearless bravery helped the men forward under heavy fire. Even after he was hit,he continued his work until his leg was very badly smashed"

Their first major action in France was at Pozières in July 1916, during which they lost 102 men killed. The 6^th Battalion suffered horrific causalities. 6^th Battalion member Corporal Thomas later wrote,” Pozieres will never be forgotten – a Valley of Death….it was awful, dozens being killed, blown to bits.”
The 6^th Battalion then fought the Second Battle of Bullecourt, before taking part in the Battle of Menin Road in September 1917, where Lieutenant Frederick Birks earned the 6th Battalion's only Victoria Cross.
During the latter part of 1918 the 6^th Battalion made an important successful advance on Lihons.
During the war the 6th Battalion lost 1,066 killed and 2,017 wounded


About the Ron Austin 6th Battalion book Rough As Bags
When the 6th Battalion men sailed from Australia in October 1914, little did they realize, that for the next four years they would travel on a sacrificial journey to Turkey, France and Belgium - that is if they survived the journey many did not.
The performance of our enthusiastic citizen soldiers at Gallipoli, mesmerized the British Command. However by 1918, the AIF had become a professional battle hardened army.
The 6th Battalion was typical of the Australian infantry battalions, and it could be argued that it was one of the best. The 6th Battalion's maturity as a fighting battalion, was sometimes described as being 'as rough as bags'. 
The history of the 6th Battalion is vividly described as the author Mr Ron Austin, research included extensive use of diaries, letters, interviews with veterans, and member photographs, many of which have never been published before. The inclusion of many appendices makes this history a notable addition to Australian military Book Histories.
Several member rolls complete this 6th Battalion History including Nominal Roll Gallantry Award Roll Officers Roll to name a few.