Letter from a father to a son

Whilst looking for information on Private Sidney Long, I discovered this letter held at the Australian National Archives which was written to Private Roy Long (Sidney’s brother) by their father.

The letter is dated 14th January 1915, Roy Long joined up on 24th March 1915. He was killed in action on 29th July 1916 whilst serving with the 28th Battalion aged 20.

It is a remarkable piece of history:

Dear Roy

Just a line to you to let you know how I and mother are getting on, have you enlisted if not you had better do so at once you are doing your duty and fighting for your country. So Roy do what I tell you join the Forces at once it will make a man of you and me and mum will be much pleased of you. Things are looking very great over here, Fred is going to enlist very shortly and so would I if I was a bit younger, if you can’t pass let me know. Make up your mind and be a man and we will think a lot of you. We aint going to stop you from going to the front.

Best love from your loving father and mother.

National Archives of Australia - Digital Image 8204649

Source: National Archives of Australia

Private Sidney Victor Long, 8th Battalion AIF.

Private Sidney Victor Long, 5715, 8th Battalion AIF

(Private Long's story is truly amazing. He first enlisted in 1914 with the 11th Battalion and was sent to Gallipoli where he was invalided out and returned to Australia with a Gun Shot wound to the neck. 10 Months later he re-enlists with the 8th Battalion and is sent to France, only to be killed at the Battle of Menin Road on 25th October 1917).

Born in Long Gully Victoria. Son of the late James William Long of Long Gully, Victoria, Australia.

He attended the Camp School, Bendigo.
He was employed as a Miner.

Height 5’ 7” Weighed 11 stone 10 lbs, Brown eyes and Brown Hair and he spoke with a slight stutter.

His younger brother Roy Neville Long was K.I.A on 29th July 1916 whilst serving with the 28th Battalion (no. 893) aged 20.

Prior to the war he served 3 years in the 5th Victorian Infantry.

He first enlisted at Blackbay, Western Australia on 3rd November 1914, service no.1580 aged 29.
7th May 1915 3rd Reinforcements of the 11th Battalion.
10th June 1915 Admitted to Hospital with Septic wound to hand.
12th June 1915 Discharged and rejoined 11th Battalion.
6th August 1915 Admitted to Hospital from 2nd Field Ambulance with a Gun Shot Wound in the Neck from at Charge. Subsequently transferred to the C.C.S.
8th August 1915 embarked on Hospital ship “Delta” to Alexandria.
12th August 1915 Admitted to no. 1 Auxiliary Hospital at Heliopolis.
16th September 1915 Invalided to Australia.
17th September embarked on the “Beltana” for the purpose of returning to Australia for Discharge.
17th October 1915 Disembarked at Freemantle.
10th November 1915 He was medically examined where the finding said that he had had a bullet wound to the neck and his neck was stiff and inclined to one side and held forward.
15th November 1915 Discharged from 8 A.G.H as permanently unfit, incapacity of one quarter.


He re-enlisted in 4th August 1916 at Bendigo, Victoria.
3rd July 1916 embarked on the “Ayrshire”.
2nd September 1916 arrived in Plymouth, England and proceeded to the 2nd Training Battalion at Perham Downs.
15th September 1915 sent overseas to reinforce 8th Battalion
17th September 1916 arrived at Etaples.
18th September 1916 appointed Lance corporal.
30th September 1916 reverted back to Private.
2nd October 1916 Joined 8th Battalion.
13th November 1916 sent to Hospital
14th November 1916 rejoined Battalion.
21st December 1916 Wounded in Action, Gun Shot Wound in Right Arm and admitted to C.C.S.
22nd December 1916 Admitted to Hospital at Rouen with G.S.W and Trench Feet.
23rd December 1916 Transferred to England.
24th December 1916 admitted to Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot, England.
5th February 1917 He was discharged from Hospital
22nd February 1917 Marched into Perham Downs Depot joined 1st Com Depot.
15th March 1917 Transferred to Wareham and the 4th Com Depot.
19th March 1917 Back to Perham Downs with the 4th Com Depot.
23rd March 1917 Transferred to the 65th Battalion from the 8th.
19th September 1917 Transferred back to the 8th.
14th October 1917 proceeded oversees to join the 8th.
18th October 1917 joined 8th Battalion in France.

25th October 1917 he was Killed in Action aged 32.

He is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery Passchendaele .

Source: National Archives of Australia

Private Harry Steane, 8th Battalion AIF

Private Harry (Herbert Henry)Steane,1274, 8th Battalion AIF

He was born in Warrington, England. The son of Sarah Ann Coggins (formerly Steane), of Fairbarn Rd., Stannington, Sheffield, Yorks, England, and the late Charles Steane.

Height 5’ 10”, weighed 10 stone 4 lbs, Brown eyes, Black Hair and a dark complexion.

He was employed as an Orchardist.
He enlisted on 5th October 1914 at Horsham, Victoria.

5th Januray 1915 posted with 2nd Reinforcements of the 8th Battalion.
5th April 1915 Arrived in Alexandria from the “Clan McGillivary”
17th May 1915 He was wounded by a Gun Shot Wound in the left Shoulder and Buttock.
24th May 1915 he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Valletta, Malta.
20th June 1915 He embarked in the “Euripides’ for England.
27th June 1915 Admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital, in Netley England.
22nd Feb 1916 He rejoined the Draft and left Weymouth for Egypt om the “Kingstonian”.
5th March 1916 He arrived in Alexandria .
11th March 1916 He rejoined the 8th Battalion.
26th March 1916 left Alexandria on the “Megantic”.
31st March 1916 Disembarked at Marseilles
29th June 1916 Died of wounds received in Action, aged 21.

In his book “Cobbers in Khaki” Ron Austin gives this account of the night Steane died:

“On 24th June the 8th Battalion relieved the 12th Battalion Royal Fusiliers in the Messines Sector…..The poisition occupied was overlooked by the enemy who occupied the high ground around Messines. This meant any movement or trench work was restricted to the hours of darkness….The worst shelling being by minewerfers on the night of 29th June, which resulted in 5 deaths and 24 men wounded. The wind had changed to the right direction the following night and the allied gas attack on the enemy lines provoked another deadly artillery response by the Germans. One of the Australian casualties was Private Herbert Steane, a 21 year old from Horsham.

After his death, his mother wrote: “But the best of all in my idea is he volunteered for his country at once and was in the first landing on Gallipoli and I think that is a very great honour.””

He is buried in Berks Cemetery Extension, Ploegsteert, Belgium.

Harry Steane is remembered on the Stannington Sheffield War Memorial.

For more information you can go to the Stannington Sheffield War Memorial Website.

Source: National Archives of Australia

Nelson Carter's House gets a Blue Plaque.

A blue plaque has been unveiled to commemorate Eastbourne war hero

Nelson Victor Carter VC.

The Blue Plaque

33 Greys Road

The blue and white sign fixed above the door of the house where the VC recipient lived, at 33 Greys Road, Old Town, Eastbourne. Nelson Victor Carter was born in Eastbourne on the April 9, 1887.
He then went on to work, following a serious operation in 1912, as a commissionaire at the Old Town Cinema in the High Street, Eastbourne

Greys Road looking towards the Park and Old Town (33 is on the near left hand side).

He was survived by a wife and child who still lived at the Greys Road address when Mrs Catherine Carter received the Victoria Cross from the King on her husband's behalf, in May 1917.

Nelson Carter’s VC is now on display at the Redoubt Fortress on Eastbourne’s seafront.

For Nelson Carter's story click here.

Selsey War Memorial, Sussex.

Whilst on hoilday at Selsey in West Sussex i visited the beautiful church of St Peters and the War Memorial.

St Peters Church, Selsey.




The offical guide to St. Peters Church contains this information about the War Memorial.

"The War Memorial at the entrance to the churchyard erected in 1920, is of outstanding interest. It is designed in the form of the ancient Palm Cross which stood outside the church from the time of St. Wilfred until the Reformation. Five fragments of ancient Anglo-Saxon carved stone, believed to have some from the shaft of the original cross, are let into a square block from which its replica rises. Three of theses were removed from the church of the rebuilt church, and two, carved with Saxon “basket and scroll” work, were rediscovered by Mr. Heron-Allen in the wall of a summer-house at Grange Farm. The carving is identical with that on a similar cross erected by St. Wilfred at Bewcastle, Cumberland in AD 670.

Miss Clayton was responsible for the building of the stone wall which now separates the churchyard from the street. "

The memorial bears the name of 57 men of Selsey who gave there lives for their country during the Great War.

If you are interested about the history and service of any of the men recorded

on the Memorial visit http://www.roll-of-honour.com/ or just click here.

This an excellent site and a great resource.

The memorial contains the name of one former resident who fought with the Australian Imperial Force, Private Walter James Homer, 106, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, A.I.F.

Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery

On a visit to Fromelles and VC corner, i came upon this cemetery. It is probably the most beautiful and peaceful corner of the Western Front i have visited.


It can be found by following the road north-west from VC Corner Cemetery and taking the D175 turn to the right shortly after the road crosses a stream - Layes Brook, which was a feature of the 1916 battlefield near Fromelles, and also important earlier in the War and further south near Neuve Chapelle.

It is reached by a path that crosses a moat and one enters the cemetery through a small entrance house. The moat runs all around the cemetery, and a bench at the rear left is a good spot to sit and enjoy the tranquility here. It is a wonderful place to stop and contemplate life. Ducks live in the moat and can be seen wandering among the graves here.

Started very early in the War, in October 1914, this cemetery was used until July 1915, and at the time of the Armistice contained just 123 burials. After the Armistice more burials were brought here, from other small cemeteries and the battlefields nearby, including Aubers Ridge, Loos and also Fromelles.

These later graves more than doubled the total number of burials here; there are now 356 burials here, with 207 of these unknown. There are 56 Australian graves here, but only 4 of them are named.

Many of the graves of unknown soldiers from the Great War in war cemeteries simply state "A Soldier of the Great War: Known Unto God". Occasionally there was sufficient information to identify the unit the soldier had served with, in which case this was included on his headstone, or else his rank or just the fact he was an officer.

The Trousered Nurses.

In today’s world the kafuffle over nurses wearing trousers to tend the wounded would simply not happen. But in 1914, eyebrows were certainly raised and excuses were made to help combat some out-raged sections of society.

The British Nursing Journal in September 1914 tries to explain the uniform to its readers.

"British Field Hospital For Belgium.

News has come from Miss Theresa Bryan that the Field Hospital of which she has charge, and which went to Belgium last week, received the warmest and most enthusiastic welcome, and is arranged in one of the big hospital buildings in Antwerp, where it is of the greatest use at this juncture, as owing to the terrible battles close by the staff have been deluged with work since their arrival, and have wired urgently for more doctors and nurses to be sent, and the following went over on Tuesday, Mrs. Dalton, Miss Mitchell and Miss Tanner, three more started on Wednesday. The hospital is under the direct command of the Queen of the Belgians and of the Belgian Red Cross Society.

A good bit of criticism about “trousered nurses ” has appeared in the press. To be quite accurate, four lady farmers form part of the unit of the Belgian Field Hospital, their dress of trousers, long covert coats, high riding boots, and hats certainly gives these ladies a masculine apperance. We learn that their duty will be to attend to the domestic work, such as cooking and washing, and not ‘I snatching the wounded from the field of battle.” No doubt they will discard the “master of foxhounds’” costume when engaged at the wash tub."


From ‘A War Nurses Diary’, this volunteer explains what it is like to see these ladies for the first time at Victoria Station.

"Arriving in London we found our Directress much distressed because some of the nurses had backed out - they felt it too dangerous, I expect. Quickly I urged my friend to accept a vacancy and accompany me. She saw the Committee, was approved, and we sent the following seductive wire to her parents, "Lord - - and the Committee have accepted G - - as nurse. Please wire consent." Later on came the answer "Cannot refuse. God bless you."

We all met on Victoria Station, a motley crowd. Nine nurses in flowing violet cloaks and sky blue dresses, four or five men-doctors in khaki, three students from the London Hospital, also in khaki, four lady-doctors, three or four lay-helpers - ladies well known in society, three or four gentlemen-chauffeurs, and last, but not least, four lady farmers. These latter were dressed in officer's uniform-khaki tunic and breeches, with sun helmets. They were highly connected and highly interesting personalities. They brought with them a farm-wagon and a dray-horse, presumably because we were called a Field Ambulance! Later on we abandoned the wagon and horse, with other impedimenta."



In the photograph in “The War Illustrated” The caption reads: "A party of Red Cross nurses about to depart for the front. Those on the left will be mounted on horses enabling them better to minister to the needs of those that have fallen on the battlefields. "

So there you have it, the B.N.J. says that they will not be 'snatching' the wounded from the battlefield, but 'The War Illustrated" says that they will be 'mounting horses enabling them to tend the wounded on the battlefield.'

The Lady Famers in their trousers certainly caused quite a stir back in 1914.

Photos : The Great War in a Different Light

Lance Corporal Leslie Alfred Bailey, 8th Battalion, AIF.

Lance Corporal Leslie Alfred Bailey, 5030, 8th Battalion AIF

Born 1st June 1894, the son of Richard Henry and Sarah Frances Bailey, 71 Clarke Street East, Prahan.

He attended State School and obtained a Merit Certificate.

1st July 1913. He passed his Lieutenant exam with the 49th Infantry Battalion, Victoria Citizen force. (Whilst in the Citizen force he completed just over 3 years; 12 months has a Sergeant and Colour Sergeant, 2 years as a 2nd Lieutenant, 1 month as a Lieutenant.).

26th July 1915 He enlisted at Prahan, aged 21, he was employed as a clerk.
He was 5’ 6” in height, weighed 9 stone, and had Brown eyes and black hair.

11th August 1915 he was appointed to 20th Depot Battalion at Castlemaine.
6th March 1916 he was sent to Braodmeadows Melbourne with the 39th Battalion.
23rd March 1916 he was allocated to 16th Reinforcements, of the 8th Battalion.

1st April 1916 he left Australia aboard the “Suffolk”.
14th May 1916, He arrived in Suez for 2nd Training battalion.
28th May 1916 he left Egypt for France
4th June 1916 He arrived in Marsailles.
7th June 1916 he arrived for training at Etaples.
29th July 1916 he joined the 8th Battalion.
30th July 1916 he was promoted to Lance Corporal.


18th August 1916 killed in action by a shell, aged 22.


A letter dated 28th August 1919 States:

“On August 18th 1916 there was a raid by the Battalion on the German lines in front of Pozieres. The raid failed and about 20 failed to return that night.” (Sgt. P.J. Wilson. 8th Battalion Records).


The Australian Red Cross reports gives these details about his death:

“We were going across to the German trenches and Bailey was on my right. I saw a shell burst quite close to him and after the explosion I saw no trace of him. We made the attack and then retired over the same ground but I never saw him again. It is probable that he was blown to pieces by that shell.” (Pte, J.Hawkins 4796.)

“If this was L/Cpl. Bailey, so I think it is, I saw him killed on Aug. 18th. At Mouquet Farm in our communication trench by a H.E. shell which knocked over about six of us. He was killed instantly. I know nothing as to burial. I saw the above happen. He was 5ft 6ins in height: sickly-looking; dark, slight moustache and slim build.” (Pte. J.A.Watters 3997).

“He knew Bailey and Perraton (whose name he gave before it was read to him) and they were great friends, both being in A Company. They were both formerly officers in the Australian Citizen’s Force and gave up their commissions to come out to the A.I.F. The casualty was at Pozieres- the second stunt- and they were in the trenches for the first time having joined the Battalion on July 29th. Informant (a very intelligent witness) could not recall names, but clearly remembered several men saying that they saw Perraton and Bailey, who went over together blown up by the same shell in No Man’s Land.” (Pte G F Fletcher, No 3057)

“Pozieres. Bailey was blown and hit by a shell and Perraton was with him and must have been killed also. Bailey and Perraton were friends of mine. We came from the same place. Bailey’s people wrote to me and I made all the inquiry from the Battalion and one man told me he saw bailey killed and I wrote his people. I can’t remember who told me this.” (Pearce, 3893).


He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux War Memorial.

Source: Australian National Archives