ANZAC Stories - What Price Armistice?

Today is Armistice Day. I'm old enough to remember it being called Armistice Day when I was at school. My children know it as Remembrance Day. Armistice Day marks the end of fighting in the First World War. Several Armistices had been signed, first with Turkey in October, 1918 then with Austro-Hungary on 3 November. Discussions with Germany began on the 8th, although it was orchestrated by the French commander so that the Germans were forced to ask for an armistice (the American commander, General Pershing, sneered at the Germans for asking for an armistice, labelling them weak). The German government representative was then promptly told that the Germans had only three days in which to decide and they would be afforded no cease fire in the meantime. You can read a fuller account of the manouevrings here.

Negotiations on the final form of the armistice began at about 2 am on 11 November and were finalised and the document signed about 5.10 am. The Germans recognised the intent to cripple their country framed within the terms, but little ground was given, and with a revolution already in place at home there was nothing to be done. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles followed up ferociously in hobbling Germany, and so the foundations were laid for World War II.

A radio message, broadcast from the transmitter on top of the Eiffel tower, was sent out at 5.45 am, as all fighting was to stop at precisely 11 o'clock that same morning. The body of the message sent was clear and succinct:

1. Hostilities will be stopped on the entire front beginning at 11 o'clock, November 11th (French hour).

2. The Allied troops will not go beyond the line reached at that hour on that date until further orders.

Marshall Foch

Do you see that second point? Allied troops not to go beyond the line reached at that hour on that date until further orders. The consequences of that were two-fold. Firstly, that along the line bombardment actually increased dramatically throughout the morning. Secondly, that the soldiers did not feel they could really relax, did not feel that the war was really over, because it was only until further orders. Maybe the further orders would be to really stop, to really end this thing and go home. But maybe the further orders would be to resume and carry on till God knows when.

Most shelling stopped at 11 am (some continued past the hour), but right up until that time men were being thrown against machine guns nests, were having their guts blown out, were dying and for what? Numerous accounts state that the German soldiers had some weeks before lost their stomach for the war, fighting mainly rear guard actions as they retreated. But the Allied Generals, scenting blood (not their own) and glory (more certainly theirs, or so they thought) stepped up the attacks and sacrificed more young men. The shelling particularly intensified. Almost 11,000 men were killed on that last day, for no purpose and little gain, as the land the Germans were to cede was already laid out in the terms of the Armistice itself.

Toward the end of World War I Britain had developed a system of using sound to pinpoint enemy guns. The French enhanced this by inventing a means of recording sound waves on photographic film which allowed the effectiveness of the gun batteries to be measured. Photography was very expensive so this new development was not used often, but on Armistice Day everything was set and ready to record the occasion. (you can read more about this here)

Actual sound footage of the Armistice, recorded on the day and recently found again. Photo: Imperial War Museum

(I'm no technician, but there look to still be some blips after 11 am on that image. What caused those?)

This sudden cessation of the bombardment and the ambiguity of the orders caused great strain among some of the soldiers. The Germans waited in their trenches, unsure if they were about to be attacked, guns and grenades at the ready. When they finally realised it was the Armistice many were unsure what to do next. While the Allied soldiers knew what was happening, they also didn't know what it really meant. Both sides spent the day in a kind of limbo, the silence after all the roar and fury a physical, weighty thing. Soldiers on both sides cracked under the strain, their nerves shattered.

While the fighting had ceased the war had not. Technically it did not formally end until 28 June 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. But the US didn't ratify Versailles until 1921 and the British government (and therefore Australia) remained technically at war with Turkey until the Treaty of Lausanne on 24 July 1923.

11 November, 1918 was the day the fighting stopped, but it wasn't the day the dying stopped. If you have followed this blog in the past you'll know of a small number of the casualties in my family from the First World War, the ones during the actual conflict and the ones after but as a result of that hell visited upon earth. Stanley Archer O'Toole, David Spence Lincoln, and his brother Frederick who died many years later but lived with lungs ravaged by gas, Arthur Leicester Kerswell and his brother John Lewis Kerswell, and their mother, Sabina and young brother Dick, who both died of Spanish Flu, unwittingly brought home by Arthur. And for the few I have written up I keep uncovering more. And beyond the people from my family there are so many others, stretching out around the world.

It was not the War to End All Wars. It was never going to be, But any hope was crushed by politicians and generals who wanted to grab and punish and boost their glory and their election prospects. It continues on. We will take time today to reflect on war and those lost, but we should also take time everyday to keep our politicians and generals in check, to stop them, particularly stop the politicians, from using war and threats of war as smokescreens, as vote-buying, as glory-boosting. What point the words if we allow the same to be done over and over? How hollow our respect and our bowed heads if we buy into that cynicism? There are just wars which should be fought, but when war is used like this it becomes just war. It is up to us how really, at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

Happy Father-in-Law's Day

It's Father's Day today. Father's Day is a bit awkward for me as I have no relationship with my father (and I am not going into why, just accept that that is all you are getting).

But I do have a father-in-law, and I count myself very lucky. My father-in-law is a lovely man. He is kind and caring. He supports me in how I manage my children (as does my mother-in-law, but today is Father's Day). He is never mean or cruel. He does not manipulate or humiliate. He doesn't lie or re-write the past. He is generous with his time and with his care. We know we are important to him and that we can always ask him for help.

He is a quiet man, never rude or intrusive.

He is impossible to buy a gift for.

He is a gifted woodworker. I have many pieces of furniture made by him. He is very intelligent and insightful, a great problem solver. He should have been an engineer, but ended up a bank manager, a job he did with great attention, grace and consideration.

He clearly loves my mother-in-law very much, and takes his share of the housework. He treats all women with respect.

He spoils his grandchildren way too much. And his son. And me. He is on a steep learning curve about teenage girls (my spouse is an only child, so this is new territory, and my daughter is certainly putting him through his paces. Yes, Father has a younger sister, but her as a teenager was a long time ago).

He worries too much.

In three days my father-in-law will turn 76. He laments entering his late 70s. But he is very fit, very active and doesn't look his age. He also doesn't act "old". So he should be very proud of this milestone.

This is my favourite photo of him, taken when he was three years old.

Happy Father's Day, Pa. We love you.

The Drink You Have? - James Slater

James Slater, one of my fourth great grandfathers. How did he end up in Australia? As with any of these things, it is best to start at the beginning. James Slater was born in the town of Ashton under Lyne in Lancashire in June 1778, not far from Manchester. He was the second of six children to Daniel Slater and Mary ni Standfield. He had one sister, Sarah, and four brothers, Moses, Daniel (who died as a small child), John and Matthew. The family, like many in the area, were heavily involved in the textile industry. Ashton under Lyne was known for mining and for textile production. You look at a Census and those are the sorts of jobs you most commonly see – mining and textile production. Daniel, James' father, was a staple maker, that is, he made staples (that's the metal teeth) for carding cloth. Daniel's father, grandfather and great grandfather were all weavers¹.

Okay, maybe we need a quick run-down on textile production. You start with raw fibre – a fleece or cotton bolls or flax, whatever. The fibre has to be processed. A fleece is skirted (all the yucky edge pieces and daggy bits taken off), any obvious vegetation picked out, washed and then it's graded (which just means sorting the fleece into fibre types: fine and soft through to thicker and coarser). Cotton has to be separated from its husk and any seeds removed (someone correct me if I am wrong – I have never done cotton picking). Flax is an involved process, soaking the stalks so they start to rot, breaking down the stalks so the fibre can be removed. It is long, hard and dirty work. There is much more to it than this, but again, I haven't done it, only seen it done. Norman Kennedy gives a great demonstration and explanation of the process on one of his videos, "Spin Flax and Cotton".

Flax is put onto a distaff and is then ready for spinning. Cotton and fleece need to be carded. That's a sort of brushing process to align fibres ready for spinning. Carders are paddles with a cloth attached to one side. The cloth (often leather) has staples all over it – dog grooming brushes are basically little carders. You also get drum carders – rotating drums, again covered by carding cloth.

Once the fibre is ready, it is spun into thread or yarn on a wheel or spindle and can then be woven or knitted or whatever.

So you can see Daniel's job was right in there, an important part of the local industry. Everyone in the family was also capable of weaving and I can't help think that at least some of them must have been spinners also.

There is a town not far from Ashton under Lyne. It's called Mossley and is on the old border of Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire. In the local parish Church of St George on 24 August, 1797, James Slater and Mary Mayall came with their infant daughter, Sarah, for her christening². The parish register does not indicate that they weren't married. Mind you, the parish register doesn't indicate much about any of the mothers listed in it. Sarah's entry is typical - “Sarah, daughter of James Slater, Land End, Clothier by Mary”. It reads like a horse breeder's record.

Church of St George, Mossley, image from GENUKI

The following month, on 26 September 1797, James Slater, weaver, married Mary Mayall in Manchester Cathedral. That sounds posh and important, but really it was a cost-saving measure. There was a dispute about fees raging at the time. If you lived under Manchester Cathedral's jurisdiction and married in your local church you had to pay two fees, one to your church, one to the Cathedral. If you married in the Cathedral you were only liable for one fee³. The Cathedral wasn't supposed to be double-dipping like this, but it was a nice little earner, so it was clung to for as long as possible.

James and Mary continued to live in Mossley over the next few years. It was a centre for fibre production and was not too far from James' family. There is some question over who Mary's family was, but it is thought that she came from Saddleworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which isn't far from Mossley.

Little Sarah died sometime between her parents' marriage and the birth of her sister (also Sarah) in 1798.

There then followed Mary (1800), Ann (1801), Esther (1803), Miles (1805), and Daniel (1807). These children were all christened at St George's. Sometime between 1807 and 1809 the family relocated to Ashton under Lyne, where Moses (1809), Miriam (1810) and Maria (1812) were born. Daniel died, aged about three, in 1810.

For all the Mossley christenings James was listed as a clothier or weaver, but sometime during or after these he retrained as a carpenter, and not just any old carpenter. He was specifically interested in the construction of fibre production machinery. This was the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Production was shifting from small family outfits to larger scale operations and to factories. Several inventions were driving this movement in fibre and cloth production – the Spinning Jenny, the Spinning Mule, powered carding machines and powered looms, and James was learning to make all of these. He was at the cutting edge of a new era.

So there they all were, James, Mary and eight surviving children. James' father had given up the staple factory and become clerk at St Michael's Church in Ashton under Lyne. Life was comfortable, everyone was making a good living...

And then it gets weird.

Calendar of all Prisoners in the New Bailey Prison at Salford Manchester this 20^th day of January 1813.

No. 73 James Slater, 26 years [sic]

By whom and when committed: R Wright, Esq, 7^th January

Charged on the oath of William Staning and others, with stealing one twilled sack, at Ashton-uner-Line, the property of Samuel Howard

Event to Trial: Transported 7 years.

Yes, you read that correctly – one twilled sack.

Why would he steal a sack? He could make one, his wife could make one, most of his family could make one. They probably had some lying around. It makes no sense.

Just to make things look suspicious, the court records show that John Milne was awarded £47/19/- for “the costs he has been put unto in the prosecution of James Slater [and six others] for felony”. I went looking for John Milne, to find out who he was and what was going on (Lancaster Archives are very generous with their free online records). It turns out John Milne was the coroner attached to Lancaster Quarter Sessions and coroners were only paid for convictions, that is, if prosecutions were successful. So it was in their interests to ensure that there was plenty of evidence against the accused, rather than getting to the truth of the matter. Mmm, British justice.

A distant cousin and I have been discussing this on and off for about a year now. Initially we were wondering if perhaps James was framed. New South Wales was just getting its wool production industry off the ground, and someone with James' skills would be very useful. And James later showed a great dislike for corrupt magistrates (well, who doesn't, but he was prepared to fight – see Rum and Raisings for more on this). It is a definite possibility.

I have also been discussing this, via email, with Assoc. Prof. Grace Karskens of UNSW. You want to know about convicts and the early days of the colony? Grace Karskens is the name that comes up time and again. So many books, so many academic papers, such an extrordinary depth of knowledge. So I put the question of a frame-up to her (I am indebted to Assoc. Prof. Karskens for her patience and generosity in time and knowledge in this matter).

Did you know that in the 1810s there were reports of people committing crimes so that they could be transported? “Stories were filtering back about the availability of land, opportunity, not to mention the wonderful climate. It was certainly a risky strategy, but then things were pretty terrible for working people in this period”⁴. So perhaps James was angling for a better life.

But this doesn't make much sense. James' father was quite well off. When he died he left four houses, one for each son. James' retraining had come at a time when oversupply of weavers and increasing mechanisation had caused a collapse in weavers' wages. His new occupation would have seen him in demand. So I don't know if this quite fits. On the other hand, in NSW he would be at the forefront of the industrialisation of fibre and cloth production, rather than just one of the many, and he certainly wouldn't have to worry about seeing future earnings driven down as had happened when he was a weaver. So maybe there was an attraction.

It's funny, when you run the facts past someone else sometimes you see a pattern you hadn't noticed before. I asked Grace Karskens if it was possible that James was actually running away. Let me put that another way. I wonder if James was running away from Mary. Is deliberate transportation what you do when divorce is not widely available?

Divorce was far from common, really a domain of the rich and then only of those who were game to bear the scandal. James and Mary had married following the birth of a child, so maybe they married because they felt they had to. Once out here he was in no great rush to be reunited. He didn't send for her, as he could have. He lived with at least one other woman in Sydney (we'll get to that). He didn't pay for Mary to come along when the children made their way out as bounty migrants (we'll get to that too). Perhaps this was a desperate alternative to divorce (I make no value judgements, but if I were Mary I'd have killed him).

“I think it is possible men might have used transportation to get away from wives and families. Butcher George Cribb (arr 1807) apparently arrived with his partner in crime and lover Fanny Barnett! They later got married, then the original Mrs Cribb turned up and Fanny had to make a hasty exit”⁵.

Where does the truth lie?

Was James framed? Did he deliberately steal so he could come out here and start anew? Was he, in effect, getting a Clayton's divorce?

What do you think?

Back to the known facts.

Remand cell, Lancaster Castle. Image c Maxine Clayman

James was initially held at Lancaster Castle. How comfortable his stay was would have depended on what his family were willing to provide and what "fees" (aka bribes) they could pay the gaolers. He was removed to the hulk Captivity at Portsmouth on 17 April 1813, where he stayed until 17 January, 1814⁶. James was put aboard The Surrey which set sail on 22 February of that year.

And for that little trip to hell you shall have to wait.

1Joyce Gardner, Gardney Roots - A Family History: The English Connection - Slater/Hilton/Gardner, CD-ROM (Nambucca Heads, New South Wales: Joyce Gardner, 2004

2 Church of England (Manchester, Lancashire, England), Manchester, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1541-1812, "Mossley, St George Parish Register," Sarah Slater, Baptism record, 1797; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Mar 201

3 The full story can be found at GENUKI, Manchester Cathedral http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Manchester/Cathedral.shtml
4Email from Grace Karskens to Megan Hitchens, 31 May 2014
5Email from Grace Karskens to Megan Hitchens, 2 June 2014

6 Home Office, "Convict Prison Hulks: Registers and Letter Books," database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Mar 2013), entry for James Slater; citing Class HO9, Piece 8.

Rum and Raisings - James Slater and the Rum Corps

I know a few of you are waiting for me to write about John O'Toole and his marriage to Mary Marcella Hall. I will get to that, but I am waiting on a certificate (isn't it always the way?). In the meantime here is another chapter in the varied life of Mary Marcella Hall's great grandfather, James Slater.

How much have we heard lately about the Rum Corps? Everytime there's a mention of Eddie Obeid or Chris Hartcher, the Corps gets brought up - "The most corrupt public figure since the Rum Corps" (um, actually I think that dubious honour goes to Robert Askin - he died with all his corrupt dealings unpunished and his ill-gotten gains intact. At least this lot are being pursued), "nothing like it since the days of the Rum Corps" and so on.

Redcoats at Old Sydney Town. Image from Wikimedia Commons

Yes, things are bad. Many of our politicians are little more than self-serving, greedy, manipulative pigs who treat the public (their BOSSES, which they seem to have forgotten) with utter contempt. I'd love a federal ICAC, but both LNP and Labor have yet again blocked that (ask youself why, what are they trying to hide).

But are things really as bad as the days of the Rum Corps? Look into it a little and you may find that the answer is no¹.

Why no? We have ICAC, which has been fearless, and the judiciary has remained separate from the corrupt operators. That was not the case with the Rum Corps.

Some things are the same. There are brave, hard-working journalists doing all they can now, such as Kate McClymont of the Sydney Morning Herald, and there were brave, hard-working journalists then, too. They did all they could to expose the dealings of that ruthless bunch of jumped-up bully-boys.

So let's start with what the Rum Corps actually was. First off, it was the New South Wales Corps. It was given the nickname Rum corps when it gained a monopoly on trade goods coming into the colony (the most popular means of payment for goods was rum). The NSW Corps was sent out with the Second Fleet to replace the Royal Marines. It was to be the permanent military force in the Colony and subject to the rule of the Governor. It was not made of the best the English army had to offer. Some members had been in military jails, or were known troublemakers. Many had been in occupations displaced by the industrial revolution and had joined the army as a last resort². When Governor Phillip left the Colony to return to England there was a power vacuum, and Grose, head of the NSW Corps, filled it. He gave large land grants to officers, and assigned them convicts to work the land, paid for on the public purse. This was then extended to other Corps members. Produce from the farms was sold to the government at a steep profit. Grose ensured the Corps had a monopoly on Rum importation and on Rum distillation, and a general monopoly on trade³. During 1793 there was a drought and a resultant shortage of grain. Rather than ensure a good supply to the populace, much of the grain was held back for distillation. At one point John Macarthur was Colonial Secretary, which meant that the man with the largest trade capacity in the colony was also in charge of government business and trade. As Max Gillies once said, not so much a conflict of interest as a confluence.

All this sounds fairly familiar – those in power granting favours and control of money-making enterprises to friends and colleagues. It's not that different to all the murk surrounding Cascade Coal or AWH. But Grose went further. He suspended the civil courts and set up military rule, giving judicial appointments to Corps officers and friends, such as John Macarthur.

Francis Grose. Image from Wikimedia Commons

The Corps enjoyed the exercise of power and stymied the efforts of two subsequent governors, Hunter and King, to bring them to heel. Then Bligh came along, who immediately set about reining them in. He took strong measures to give relief to the settlers on the Hawkesbury (who were struggling after a flood) and acted to end the monopolies of the Corps and Macarthur (Macarthur had been using the supply problems from the Hawkesbury as a means of raising prices on some commodoties, such as sheep). Bligh was something of a bull in a china-shop, and a known authoritarian, but it was the threat to vested interests that caused the Great Rebellion⁴. Forget the rewritings of history that have since taken place - it was not a blow for democracy or the overthrow of a scoundrel and dictator. And Bligh did not hide under a bed – that story came from the colony's first political cartoon, commissioned or drawn by Sergeant Major Whittle of the Corps within hours of Bligh's arrest. It is probable that Bligh was actually trying to escape from Government House to join the settlers on the Hawkesbury⁵.

Macquarie, the next governor after Bligh, was able to restore some order and stabilise the currency by bringing in the holy dollar and dump, but it took time to truly break the corrupting influence of the Corps in New South Wales. The problems with the judiciary continued for many years, well into the rule of Governor Darling. Those who had risen to the top in the bad old days remained firmly entrenched.

What's the big deal about the Rum Corps and the judiciary? Well, just imagine if ICAC was headed by Ian McDonald, or Joe Tripodi, or Arthur Sinodinos. What if Chris Hartcher could pass judgement on his case if it comes to court, or could sit in judgement on Darren Webber or Nick di Girolamo? This is the situation that existed in New South Wales in the early part of the 19^th Century.

And James Slater got caught up in it.

The Monitor was a Sydney newspaper that only operated between 1826 and 1828 but in those two years it fiercely targetted the misuse of judicial power. There were numerous reports, including the appalling case of a convict shepherd complaining to his master of insufficient rations and being sentenced by his master, a magistrate, to 500 lashes. In another case, a man was imprisoned for fourteen weeks without formal charge for insulting a clergyman-magistrate before finally being released⁶. James' problems were mild by comparison.

In the early months of 1828, James was ordered by a local magistrate, G. Innes, to put up his servants when they were in Sydney (Innes had moved out to Bathurst, but sent his convict servants up to Sydney to complete some business for him). The servants stayed with James in his Pitt Street residence for a number of days and James then duly presented Mr. Innes with an invoice for expenses incurred, amounting to £4 15s 6p. Innes' response was to issue a summons for “harbouring prisoners of the crown”⁷. The Monitor continues:

But it didn't end there. James had had enough of corrupt lawyers and corrupt judges (he's the one I think was framed to get him out to NSW), and what's more he was literate and smart. James got a counter summons issued against Innes, but was told there was insufficient evidence that the money was actually owed. He approached the Solicitor General, Commissioner Foster and asked how to proceed. Foster told him to get affidavits from Innes' servants, which he did. On 5 June 1828, James appeared before Commissioner Foster and presented the affidavits which Foster refused to receive. Moreover, Foster dismissed the suit. James asked for an adjournment of ten minutes so he could fetch a witness. This was also refused⁸. They all back each other up.

As far as I can tell, James Slater had little option but to give up. He was owed over £4 and had incurred at least another £1 in legal expenses, but there was little he could do. The corrupt establishment in New South Wales had well and truly won. I am sure James would have loved an ICAC.

1Don't think for a minute I do not believe things are bad. There is no denying the corruption, calumny and fraud that is coming out in ICAC and that many of us were fairly certain was going on before that. Just ask anyone living on the Central Coast how much they thought was being spent on the election campaigns of the three Liberal candidates. There were unhappy mutterings well before the 2011 election.

2“So... What Was the Rum Corps?” Linda Mottram interviews Paul Burton of State Library of NSW, ABC 702, 13 November 2012, http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2012/11/so-what-was-the-rum-corps.html

3The 1808 'Rum Rebellion', State Library of New South Wales, http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/terra_australis/rebellion/index.html

4 In the 1850s William Howitt wrote a history of Australia. Howitt was a Temperance man and keen to paint alcohol as the cause of all Australia's woes, hence the appellation of the Rum Rebellion (prior to Howitt that event was known as the Great Rebellion).

5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion

6 “To the Editor”, The Monitor, 28 June 1828, p. 5, col. 3; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 5 Nov 2012), Digitised newspapers and more

7 “Domestice Intelligence”, The Monitor, 17 May 1828, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 23 Feb 2013), Digitised newspapers and more

8“To the Editor”, The Monitor, 7 June 1828, p. 5, col. 3; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 23 Feb 2013), Digitised newspapers and more

The Death's in the Mail

It's Mother's Day today. And I got the usual question from my spouse, "What would you like?", which is better than happens to my sister. Her spouse likes to surprise her. She says some of the surprises are still in their boxes.

So what do I like for Mother's Day? Or birthday or Christmas for that matter?

Simple - death certificates.

My idea of an exciting gift. Yes. I know. I am weird.

Oh, sometimes I mix it up and get birth certificates, or marriage certificates. But this year it has been, yet again, death certificates.

Death certificates can be problematic. The person who fills them in doesn't always get it right, sometimes the person filling in the certificate doesn't really know the deceased. This is particularly the case with older certificates. In the past, death certificates had to be filled out by the head of the household in which the deceased died. This isn't too bad if the deceased was at home, or in the home of offspring or siblings, but what if they were visiting someone? What if that someone just thought they knew about the friend's parents, birthplace, etc? What if there was no one for the friend to ask?

If someone died in hospital it got even worse. Then it was up to the doctor to fill in the certificate, and he may or may not know and may or may not listen. If you want to see the mess that a doctor could make, have a look at my post about Laurence O'Toole.

Sometimes people deliberately lie on death certificates. They see it as an opportunity to rewrite history, for whatever reason. James Leake did this on Annie Leonard's death certificate, and I know that he knew the truth, because he knew Annie's previous husband, he knew all her children, but he chose instead to try to write Laurence O'Toole out of the family history. I'd love to know why he did this, but I guess I never will.

And then, as I have written before, there is the difference between the UK and Australia. Australia wanted a LOT more information than the UK. We don't realise how spoilt we are until we try to order a certificate from Great Britain. You can read more about this in my post on the death of George Valentine Leonard.

Even working out which is the correct person can be problematic. I was supposed to get two death certificates, but I am only getting one - for Emily O'Toole  ni Butler (it didn't arrive in time, c'est la vie). I wanted the certificate of Annie's mother, Ann Leonard ni Allen. All I get to help me choose is the name, age (if I'm lucky) and district. Nothing else. Look at NSW BMD and it is a different story. You get mother and father's names as well. That little bit extra is a huge help (providing it is filled in. Usually it is, but not always, and not always correctly, so you still have to be careful).

So I looked for Ann Leonard. There are three possibilities. But the women all have similar birth years (worked out from the ages) and they are all three in the right part of London. It will take a while to work out which one is my Ann Leonard. But when I do it will be Mother's Day all over again.

In the meantime, each to their own. I hope you had a great Mother's Day, or you helped someone else have a great Mother's Day. Me, I've got mine coming in the mail.

ANZAC Stories - William James Atkinson

This post may feel a little odd, a little dry - facts and figures and not much else. Just about all the information from it has been taken from a WWII service record. It took some time to decipher all the acronyms and abbreviations and to then work out where the different training camps and postings were. One thing that comes through loud and clear is the huge investment in time and teaching that went into creating a fighter pilot. Months and months, and they were doing well to last six to eight weeks once they got operational. William Atkinson lasted six months.

William James Atkinson was born on 14 August 1922 to Clifford C. Atkinson and Elsie May ni O'Toole (the daughter of William O'Toole and Emily ni Butler, if you are trying to work out a connection). He grew up in Cremorne on Sydney's lower North Shore and attended North Sydney Boys' High School from 1934 to 1938. He studied English, Maths I & II, Geography, French, Elementary Science, Latin and History for his Intermediate certificate and achieved a first-class pass in Maths I and Geography. William went on to his Leaving Certificate, continuing the English, both Maths, Geography and French and adding Chemistry and Economics.

On graduation, William went to work for the National Bank of Australasia (now the NAB). He was a teller's clerk in the North George Street branch in the city.

In late 1940, aged 18, William enlisted, joining the 1st Machine Gun Regiment. He was stationed in Newcastle, patrolling the northern beaches, but by August of 1941 he had decided he wanted something more. He applied for the Air Force and on the 17th of that month passed his medical and was accepted. William was described as 5 foot 9 inches and 10 stone exactly (140lb, about 63 1/2 kg). His chest was 33 inches (36 on expansion), his complexion medium, with blue eyes and brown hair. His mother, Elsie, was listed as his next of kin.

Photograph of William James Atkinson from his service file. Don't blame me for the resolution.

Usually I am looking at WWI Enlistment papers, but time had moved on. After so many years, it is to be expected that enlistment papers would change, however there are particular changes that stand out, such as questions on education (not present on WWI papers). The most striking, however, is the addition of a question regarding race. In the first World War, race did not seem to be an issue. The emphasis was on able-bodiment, health and previous experience, even if it was just with a rifle club. Health and experience were still important in World War II, but suddenly there was this race question.

WWI Enlistment form:

3. Are you a Natural born British subject or a Naturalised British Subject?

WWII Enlistment form:

3. Are you a British Subject or a Naturalised British Subject of pure European descent?

The Air Force had their own questions when William applied for Air Crew:

7. Are you a British subject? Of pure European descent?

8. State the Nationality of your Parents.

The best answer to 8 was "British". I understand the correct answer to "British subject" is "yes", but William and Clifford and Elsie were all born here, in Australia. Their nationality, looking on it with modern eyes, should be Australian, yet it is "British".

William joined the Empire Air Training Scheme and was first sent to 2ITS (Initial Training School) at Lindfield, more commonly referred to as Bradfield Park. Recruits were taught the basics of military life, along with maths, navigation and aerodynamics. In November he was moved to the 10 Elementary Flight Training School in Temora, where he began initial flight training with Tiger Moths. In February William was transferred to 2 Embarkation Depot back at Bradfield Park for medical and training assessment, where he remained for four weeks before being sent to No.2 Service Flight Training School outside Wagga Wagga on 8 April, 1942. He was to undertake 16 weeks of intermediate and advanced courses, training in CAC Wirraway single-engine aircraft, but the RAAF decided to change the organisation of its flight schools. 2SFTS was disbanded and the staff and students split between 5 SFTS at Uranquity and 7 SFTS at Deniliquin. William went to Deniliquin.

Wirraway training at Wagga, c.1941. From Wikicommons

His course included instrument flying, night flying, advanced aerobatics, formation flying, dive bombing, and aerial gunner training. William was being trained as a fighter pilot. In his service record there are two dates given for the awarding of his Flying Badge, 28 April 1942 and 2 May, 1942. He passed the intermediate course on 2 May 1942 and the advanced course on 25 June, 1942,. He headed back to Bradfield Park on 8 July to await further assignment.

On 24 August, 1942 William left Australia to complete his training in Britain in preparation for operational flying. He arrived in the UK on 18 November 1942 and was sent to the No.11 Personnel Despatch and Reception Centre at Bournemouth¹. This was where all RAAF aircrew would wait, some for months, to be assigned to units. The accommodation was made up of seconded hotels, stripped of their luxury fittings and furnishings and decked out with basic beds and lockers. But there were plenty of dance halls, and lots of girls, so it wouldn't have been dull². Bournemouth was, however, a target for German bombing raids, and 11 PDRC was later moved to Brighton where it was subject to fewer attacks. William waited at Bournemouth until 2 February, 1943, when he got his appointment – 5 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit.

5 (P) AFU operated out of Ternhill in Shrophsire and Clavely in Cheshire, and specialised in single-engine craft. William trained with the unit for five weeks before been assigned to 58 Operational Training Unit at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. Grangemouth specialised in training Spitfire pilots and had simulated night flying exercises (using special darkened goggles)³. On assignment to 58 OTU, William was a sergeant and a pilot, rather than just a Trainee Pilot. He finished his training in early July and spent ten days at 1 Personnel Despatch Depot, West Kirby, Cheshire (now Merseyside). And then he was off to North Africa to fly air support for the invasions of Sicily and Italy.

On 27 September, 1943 William was back in at West Kirby, again awaiting assignment. He held tight until 1 November, 1943 when he was sent to 2 Tactical Exercise Unit. This was really the 58 OTU, re-organised and re-named while William had been in North Africa. The 2 TEU operated out of Balado Bridge, Kinross. There was a temporary surplus of pilots and 2 TEU was designed to give pilots as much air warfare experience as possible while they were waiting to go into combat⁴.

Finally, on 4 December, 1943 William was assigned to a squadron – the 131, flying Spitfires over occupied Europe. At the time that William joined 131 Squadron they were flying Mark IX Supermarine Spitfires, but later he flew Mark VII. 131 Squadron was based at various locations throughout the war, from Scotland to India. During William's time it was operating out of south-west England, providing fighter cover for convoys and flying offensive missions over north-western France⁵.

131 Squadron badge. From RAFweb

William flew as part of 131 Squadron from 4 December 1943 to 1 June 1944⁶ and achieved the rank of Warrant Officer. There would have been many missions, but I only have documentation for his last - 265 Rhubarb Mission. Rhubarb missions were fighter sweeps against targets of opportunity. They formed part of the “softening up” of German forces in anticipation of D Day. There is a full account of this mission and transcripts from the subsequent investigation here. (Google translate or similar may be needed, depending on the level of your French)

There were four Spitfires assigned to 265 Rhubarb mission, Flying Officer Stanley Catarall in command, with William flying Red 4 in Spitfire Mk VII MB 887. They took off from Taunton, Somerset at 11.43 in the morning and flew across the channel⁷. They flew in low just south of Saint Brieuc in the Côtes d'Armor in Britanny, diving to zero feet then climbing to about 800 feet. Catarall noticed a train just west of the town. He ordered the attack and all four planes headed in, firing on the train from the side. At the end of the train was a flak wagon with a 20mm quad mount flak gun, or flugabwehrkanone. Flak is not an ammunition type, it is an action, specifically ground fire on aircraft. The flak gun opened fire.

Catarall was hit. He could see Red 2, but Red 3 and 4 were behind, so he called them. Red 3 replied, but there was no answer from Red 4.

Flight Lieutenant Richard Paget de Burgh was in Red 3. He had seen Red 4 just before the attack. When Catarall put out his call, Paget de Burgh turned to look for his team member. There was no sign of him. After repeated calls Red 1 made the decision to turn for home. The three remaining Spitfires landed back at base at 13.20. William was recorded as “Missing Presumed Dead”. It was five days before D-Day.

William Atkinson's plane and body have never been found. However, while checking up on references for this post I came across a new development. There were only three Mark VII Spitfires shot down over Britanny, all from 131 Squadron. In November 2012 the wreckage of one was located and it is hoped it will recovered and properly identified sometime during this year. I hope it is Spitfire Mk VII MB 887 and that William can finally be laid to rest.

1It took a while to work this out. On William's service record it looks like “GDRC”. Only by greatly enlarging it was it seen, finally, to be PDRC. Others in the Air Force thought it was GDRC and this error has been copied across to his Service And Discharge papers.

2For an account of life in 11PDRC Bournemouth, see WW2 People's War, BBC Home, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/44/a2307944.shtml
358 Operational Training Unit (OTU) RAF Grangemouth & Balado Bridge, Wallace Shackleton, Kinross, http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wwshack/Misc/Grangemouth.htm
4Clegg Eric “A Pilot's View”, http://homepage.ntlworld.com/colin.clegg1/page9.html
5Royal Air Force, History RAF Formations, http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/131squadron.cfm; Rickard, J (17 December 2010), No. 131 Squadron (RAF): Second World War, http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/131_wwII.html
6I can apply to the RAF for William's full flight log, which will give details of his missions, but as it attracts a £30 fee it will have to wait a while.
7I wonder if William knew that his great great grandmother, Anne Allen, was born in Taunton.

For more ANZAC Stories, see ANZAC Stories, ANZAC Stories- Stanley Archer O'Toole, ANZAC Stories - The Lincoln Brothers, ANZAC Stories - The Kerswell Family
 

John O'Toole - Diving into Life

I have had paralysing anxiety about writing this, probably because I know a few people who fondly remember John O'Toole. So I am keenly feeling the responsibility that goes with this post. There is a responsibility with every post – make sure it is accurate and fair, well sourced, well written. I just am acutely aware this time.

John O'Toole was my great grandfather. He died before my mother was born, so hopefully this will shed some light on his life for her. If I make mistakes in this, or if you have extra recollections of John, please post a comment.

John O'Toole, c. 1927. Have a better or earlier photo? Please let me know.

 John was born in Chippen Street, Redfern on 22 June 1867. Mrs. Pike was the midwife in attendance. But beyond that I know very little about his early life. I know he went to school, but I don't know where. I know that when he was about three years old the family left Redfern and went back to Sydney proper, moving into 29 Clarence Lane¹. The O'Tooles moved at least twice more within Sydney before relocating to Balmain in 1880. John's father died in Callan Park Hospital in 1882 when John was only 15, but for some reason John is left off the list of children on the death certificate and instead listed as his father's father². The doctor responsible for filling in the death certificate got a little confused, it seems.

The death of Laurence had a lasting impact on the family. Everyone had to pull together, but they stayed afloat, thanks in no small part to William, Laurence and Archer, who were all working. John went to work as soon as he was able. He was a journalist at the Balmain Leader with his brother, Archer. He had an aptitude for numbers and kept the books for his brother, William. He also worked in O'Toole Bros. Tobacconists behind the counter as needed and went on to have a part share in the business. According to his son, Leslie's birth certificate, John was a clerk in 1901, although I don't know who for. Whatever he turned his hand to, he did to the best of his ability, be it journalist, clerk, accountant or tobacconist.

When it became known that Callan Park was to become a dedicated Mental Asylum, closing its doors to local medical patients, the people of Balmain began a campaign for the establishment of a cottage hospital. John became a subscriber and an active campaigner. I do wonder if this was partly motivated by his father's death in Callan Park. In March 1887, aged not quite 20, and two years after the hospital opened, he nominated for a position on the committee, but was unsuccessful. However, in 1888 John became an auditor for the committee, a position he held on and off for over a decade. The hospital is still in operation, in its original premises in Booth Street, Balmain.

The O'Toole boys were known for their service to their community and John was no exception. As well as his work for the Balmain Hospital, he was also a keen member of the Balmain Working Men's Institute and regularly served as an auditor for that organisation. He also held other positions, including vice-president in 1907³. The Working Men's Institutes provided a place for working men to relax and to further their education. The education aspect was important as many had been purposefully locked out of education opportunities when younger. Wide-spread, free, secular education was just coming in, improving the lot for the children (a system of public education we now see being undermined). The Institutes filled the gap for the fathers at least. The Balmain Institute had in its purpose-built premises on Darling Street (built 1887) a 400-seat lecture theatre, a six-table billiard room (billiards was an important source of income), smoking rooms, card rooms, meeting rooms, class rooms, a large reading room and the largest library of the Sydney institutes, boasting 6540 books, against the 2000-2500 in each of the other four (Glebe, Leichhardt, Newtown and Rozelle). While many of the books were fiction, there were also “the standard works of contemporary Socialist thought”⁴. The lecture program also featured socialist speakers, supporters of workers' rights and the betterment of the working classes and supporters of the ideas of Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley. The institute members as a whole were Protestant and mainly independent Protestant at that. Most members were also trade unionists or at the very least supporters of their brothers in the unions. Many were also members of the temperance movement and of fraternal lodges. The lecture theatre was also used for political rallies and suffragist meetings. As a member of the committee and then of the executive, John would have been in the thick of all this activity. I think it is fair to say he would have been left-leaning in his politics.

Balmain Working Men's Institute, Darling Street, Balmain. Photo by author.

John was also an active member of the Rechabites. The Rechabites were a Friendly Society and part of the temperance movement. Friendly Societies were first established in the late C18th to help working class people. Members paid in a nominal fee and the money was used to provide funds for health insurance, sickness benefits and death benefits. Many Friendly Societies met in public houses. The Rechabites were established in 1835 by a group of Manchester Methodists to counter what they saw as alcoholic threat to the income and health of Friendly Society members. The first branch in Australia was set up in 1843 and maintained a strong membership into the C20th. William, Larry and Archer O'Toole all had strong temperance ties and now John was following suit. I wonder if Laurence's drinking during his sea-going days had contributed to the family's aversion to alcohol.

Along with the Rechabites, John was a member of the International Order of Good Templars⁵, another temperance organisation. He belonged to the local branch “We Hope to Prosper No. 177”. The Good Templars was started in the United States in 1850 (it is now based in Sweden) and, while similar to the Masons in structure and regalia, had no gender or race restrictions, welcoming all equally. Think about that. The C19th and all races were welcomed equally. The C19th and women were welcomed on an equal footing with men. This was fairly radical. Whether everyone was TREATED equally I cannot say - culture is a very strong force.

There were two Johns O'Toole in Balmain, just as there were two Williams (and for the same reason). The one repeatedly mentioned in the newspaper court reports for obscene language, theft, drunk and disorderly and “riotous behaviour” is not my John O'Toole.

And then there was swimming. John was one of the founding members of the Balmain Swimming Club and also their founding Secretary. He served for three years, receiving an inscribed gold medal at the end of that time⁶. He was unanimously re-elected to the position in 1888⁷ and served on and off for many years.The Club was formed in 1884 and is still going (Dawn Fraser was a member and did her training at the Balmain Baths). John was the club's distance diving champion (swimming underwater) and unofficially held the Australian record for a short time. Unfortunately, on the day of the official meet he was pipped by D. Landeyon. John swam 80 yards, but Landeyon managed 85 yards and 2 feet. However, the matter was not so straightforward, as the Sydney Morning Herald reported:

In the contest for the Distance Diving Championship, a mishap occurred that nearly proved fatal. D. Landeyon, of Newcastle, was diving, and had gone the length of the baths, when he came almost to the surface. It was then seen that he was exhausted, but notwithstanding he turned and made a start back. He had gone about half-way back when he turned towards the sand. At this time he appeared to be in difficulties, his head being still under water, but his feet were just above the surface. Messrs. R. Fergusson, J. O'Tool, [sic] and J. Trelevan immediately jumped in and helped him out. Landeyon was then speechless, but on recovering somewhat he explained that he was so exhausted that he was unable to lift his head out of the water to get air, and in reality was drowning.⁸

This incident was reported in papers across the colony and even as far as New Zealand.

Balmain Swimming Club meet 1902 from "1884-1984 Celebrating a Centenary - Balmain Swimming Club"

Balmain Swimming Club, as well as having the standard races and the distance diving, also had novelty events at their swim meets, such as Diving for Saucers. The idea was to dive down and retrieve as many objects as you could before you had to come to the surface. The Balmain Baths is an ocean baths. The water is not clear, there is seaweed, so it is not like diving for objects at your local council pool. John frequently took the honours in this, which is not surprising, given how long he could hold his breath. He also regularly won prizes in other races and events, as did his younger brothers. The club prizes were usually items donated by local businesses or people “of note”, and included things such as lamps, biscuit barrels, silver platters. On one occasion John won a microscope⁹.

I visited the Club archives, hoping to find a photo of John from those early years. There were photos of the rest of the executive, but none of him. When I asked why this was I was told that some years previously a number of photographs and documents were stolen from the archive, including every photo of John. If the person who did this ever reads this post, I ask you to quietly return them to the archive so that EVERYONE can enjoy them. They are club property and should be where they really belong – in the Balmain Swimming Club archive.

One of the many lovely things about genealogy research is the surprises one often gets. While going through my records to check some references for this post, I came across something I had not taken in before. As well as his involvement with the Balmain Swimming Club, John was also a founding member of the NSW Swimming Association. He was the pro tem secretary until the first formal meeting to form the association¹⁰ and was then a member of the committee¹¹.

I know John loved singing. I know he loved playing the piano. I don't know if he had lessons or was one of those lucky freakish people who can just sit down and play. But he was well known for his ability and his fine voice. Whenever there were social nights for the Rechabites, or the Working Men's Institute, the Balmain Swimming Club or the Templars, John featured on the list of entertainments and was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Balmain Observer with words of high praise. It got to the point where his performances were being used, along with those of some other members, as incentive to the public to attend¹². He was also known as a lively MC. There are family stories (which I have only heard in the last year since I got in touch with Mum's cousins) of John playing the piano and singing at home, and the house and street filling with those who had come to listen. His favourite song was “The Holy City”, which was written in 1892.

One of my favourite clippings only mentions John in passing, but it has to be loved:

The Balmain Observer, 8 April 1887, page 5, column 3. From Trove

“General friskiness”. Just beautiful.

So there was John, very active in the community, very civic minded, very busy. And then a lot of his activity stopped. Why? Very simple. He got married. But that is a story for another day.

1City of Sydney, "City Assessment Books 1845-1948," database, City of Sydney Archives (http://www3.photosau.com/CosRates/scripts/home.asp : accessed 26 Feb 2013), entry for Laurence O'Toole Rates assessment 1871; Citing City of Sydney Assessment book CSA 027334.

2New South Wales Department of Attorney General and Justice NSW, death certificate 1882/002774 (1882), Laurence O'Toole; NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, Chippendale.

3"Balmain Workingmen's Institute Visit to Newtown," The Balmain Observer, 28 Sep 1907, p. 3, col. 3, 4; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 6 mar 2014), Digitised newspapers and more.

4Morris Roger K, PhD “Working Class Learning One Hundred Years Ago: Workingmen's Institutes in Inner City Sydney”, Paper presented at the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing and Community Education, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2006, p4

5"We Hope to Prosper, No. 177," The Balmain Observer, 17 Aug 1889, p. 6, col. 3; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 6 Mar 2014), Digitised newspapers and more.

6"Sporting” The Balmain Observer, 12 Nov 1887, p. 3, col. 2; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 17 Apr 2014), Digitised newspapers and more.

7"Balmain Swimming Club" The Balmain Observer, 14 Apr 1888, p. 5, col. 3; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 17 Apr 2014), Digitised newspapers and more.

8"Balmain Swimming Club" The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 Apr 1889, p. 5, col. 6; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 6 Feb 2012), Digitised newspapers and more.

9"Balmain Swimming Club Races" Australian Town and Country Journal, 23 Jan 1886, p. 40, col. 2; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 6 Feb 2012), Digitised newspapers and more.

10"Meetings" The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 Sep 1887, p. 14, col. 2; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 27 Aug 2012), Digitised newspapers and more.

11"Swimming" The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 Sep 1887, p. 5, col. 5; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 27 Aug 2012), Digitised newspapers and more.

12"Current Items" The Balmain Observer, 30 Jun 1888, p. 4, col. 4; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 6 Feb 2012), Digitised newspapers and more.