Maryanne Rodwell shares the story of her grandfather, Patrick Gorman and wishes to remember not only him, but the other men of her family who served their country at times of war.

Patrick Gorman, my mother’s father, did not really perform any act of heroism as such, but was brave enough to enlist at what could be called “a mature age” of 43 years and 9 months, leaving behind his wife Coretta and five children: Charles, Edward, Theresa (my mother, who was aged ten when her father died), Kathleen and Fred. Private Patrick Gorman, Service Number 159, embarked from Victorian shores on the HMAT Ulysses.

Patrick Gorman, born in Melbourne, did not arrive at the battlefield of Gallipoli. Along with many others, he drowned when the troopship he was on – the “Southland” – was torpedoed in the Aegean Sea near Lemnos on 2^nd September 1915 on its way to Gallipoli.  Of the many books written about Gallipoli and the First World War I have only come across two that refer to the incident of the Southland in broader detail: the history of the 21^st Battalion “Red and Black Diamond”, and “Boy soldier” by James Martin, in which my grandfather Patrick Gorman even rates a mention.

36 servicemen died when the Southland was torpedoed: fourteen by the explosion and twenty-two by drowning, which included Brigadier Colonel Linton and my grandfather.

I am lucky that I have two of the three original medals awarded to Patrick Gorman, which I proudly wear every ANZAC and Remembrance Day. I also have the “Dead Man’s penny” awarded to his widow, as well as some tiny silver medals with red, white and blue ribbons on them, and a tiny silver “Papal” medal with a yellow ribbon because he was a Catholic.

I try to march under the 21^st Battalion banner each ANZAC Day, then race back to march for my father with his unit – the 4^th Anti-Tankers, but given the times between the two units are getting closer – and I’m getting older – it makes for a hard decision on which banner to march for each year.  I’ll be at a loss when I discover who, on my mother’s side, fought in the Boer War.

I have now discovered that not only did my grandmother have her husband, Patrick Gorman, serving in the First World War, but she also had a son from her first marriage serving as well, a Private Robert George Rice.

I would like to honour the memory of,not only Patrick Gorman, Robert George Rice and John Murphy, but also a son-in-law of my grandmother’s – a John Dobbie.

In memory of –

Private Patrick Gorman – Service No. 159 – 21^st Battalion A Coy. Commemorated at Helles Memorial. Panel 201-204. No 93.

Robert George Rice – Service No. 2358.  4^th Australian Division – Field Battery AASC 14^th Battalion (above photos)

Private John Dobbie – Service No 5085. Driver. 46^th Battalion

John P Murphy – 21^st Battalion

Robin Lee tells the story of her grandfather Robert Bryant and describes how war has touched so many in her family.

War was no stranger to the family – before World War One, my great-grandfather was a member of the Suffolk Regiment and saw service in the Boer War, Burma and Egypt as a mounted soldier

My grandfather Robert Bryant, whose service number was 28 (he enlisted on the first day at age 19), sailed on the HMAT Orvieto.

He landed on the beach at Gallipoli at dawn on the 25th and was wounded later in the day. He was sent back to Gallipoli, fought at the battle of Lone Pine and remained for another 4 or 5 months before suffering severe gastro-entertis, common among the soldiers living in such dreadful conditions for so long.

Back in London, as he recovered, he met a young English woman Ada and at the age of 21 they married. Due to his service and injuries, grandfather was not sent back to Turkey or to France (where his brother Alf won a Military Medal for bravery under fire). Instead, he was posted to the fledgling ANZAC Provost Corps, Australia’s first military police force, at Tidsworth UK.

Grandfather survived the war and returned to Melbourne, his wife and baby girl (my grandmother and aunt) arrived later on a war bride ship. My father, of the same name, was born a year later in 1920. I am lucky enough to have mementos of grandfather’s service – his lucky 1914 shilling that he carried throughout his service, his Gallipoli pay book, his medals and the New Testament he was given by a British soldier in Cairo when they were at Mena Camp. Sadly, grandfather died at the age of 50, on the steps of Flinders Street Station from a heart attack.

Grandfather’s brother Alfred Bryant also fought at Gallipoli, although was not at the landing on April 25th. Alf went on to fight on the Western Front and won a Military Medal for bravery under fire in the Somme, near a small town called Lahors. My mother’s grandfather Major Armadale Charles Anderson from Tasmania also fought in the Somme and was mentioned in despatches for bravery. They and other family members who fought in WWI all came back – our family was very lucky.

Grandfather’s daughter, my aunt Marjorie, is 96 now and lives in Canberra. She is very fit and well and may very well be one of the few surviving first descendants of a Gallipoli veteran in Australia.

As for my father – he joined up at the outbreak of WWII and quickly achieved the rank of Lieutenant at the young age of 20. He was promoted to Captain when he was 21, in the Middle East, apparently the youngest Australian officer to be made a Captain. He was quickly promoted to Major and saw service in the Middle East and then New Guinea.

Father then joined the British Commonwealth Occupied Forces in Japan, and has some most interesting memorabilia and photos from there, around Hiroshima and Kobe particularly. At one stage he was on ship which called in to a Russian port and was accused by the Russians of spying. It made the news in Australia and almost caused a diplomatic incident.

From Japan he went to Korea and was based at Headquarters during the Korean War. Amongst a swathe of medals he also holds a US Presidential citation for his service in Korea.

After the war he was posted to the Territory of Papua New Guinea in a military posting as Government Secretary to the Administrator, Sir Donald Cleland. By 1964 PNG was being guided towards Independence and my father was appointed as the first Chief Electoral Commissioner, tasked with developing and implementing the electoral system for the country.

Aboriginal servicemen and women, past and present, were honoured on Saturday 31 May in Melbourne at the ninth annual Victorian Indigenous Remembrance Service held at the Shrine of Remembrance as part of National Reconciliation Week.

A wreath was laid on the Shrine Forecourt to commemorate the estimated 800 – 1,000 Aboriginal Australians who fought in the First World War and the 3,000 – 4,000 in the Second World War.

Media Release

Read more on the service of Aboriginal Australians in WWI

 Today is the 70^th anniversary of the Second World War D-Day landings – the largest amphibious operation in the history of warfare.

Australia’s main contribution to the D-Day landings was in the air with up to 2,500 Australians flying in Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force Squadrons. Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army personnel also participated in the D-Day Landings. 

On D-Day, 18 Australians made the ultimate sacrifice, including the Australian airmen killed on the night of 5–6 June.  Today, we pay tribute to their service and sacrifice and promise to always reflect on their enduring contribution.

Seven Australian veterans of the D-Day landings and the Normandy Campaign will later today (Australian time) join the Prime Minister at a Commonwealth service in Bayeux Cathedral, Normandy, to remember lost mates and honour the truly remarkable feats of all those who served and died in the Campaign 70 years ago.

Media Release

Eighty years ago the people of Victoria raised £250,000 to build the Shrine of Remembrance. Today, significant funds are required to support the Shrine in providing commemorative and education programs that honour our service men and women. 

Donate to the Shrine to ensure the baton of commemoration from our veterans to future generations. 

www.shrine.org.au/donate

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Damian Drum, today attended an information forum for the veteran community of Mildura and surrounding regions.

Minister Drum announced that the Victorian Government had allocated funding of $1,320 to the Mildura RSL Sub Branch to install seating at the Mildura War Memorial in Henderson Park.

He also took the opportunity to update the community on initiatives to commemorate the Anzac Centenary period (2014 – 2018).

The East Melbourne Historical Society has launched a World War I section on their website – and encourage people to add details to this project. 

Everyone can participate by gathering or documenting information on WWI:

• Photos, memorabilia and family records
• Stories in books, newspapers and on-line
• Memorial plaques in churches and public places
• War memorial, church, national and state archives

Visit the WWI section of the East Melbourne Historical Society website –

http://emhs.org.au/ww1/people

‘Band of Brothers’

Anzacs in a front line trench on the Gallipoli Peninsula 1915. Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.

See WWI in Pictures

Australians! The Empire needs you.

See WWI in Pictures

Did you know children were recruited for the war effort too? Throughout the war years Victorian children’s efforts amassed an astonishing £422,470.

How did the children raise so much money?  Country children ‘gathered bones, fat, bottles, wool from the fences and scrub, iron and kerosene tins; they snared and skinned rabbits, trapped foxes, caught fish, dug gardens, cleared tracks . . . ‘ City children ‘have sewn and knitted, made paper and leather flowers, fashioned things of wool and wire, grown wonderful beans on pocket-handkerchief allotments, planned concerts and bazaars.’  

WWI History