World War I Family Hero – Leonard Ingram Mitchell

Leonard Ingram Mitchell, the eldest son of Reginald and Leticia Kate Mitchell (nee Bell) was born in the Hunter Valley in 1890. He worked with his father as a builder after he left school.

He was a young man of about 24  years of age when World War I broke out in 1914. By 1915 when further calls went out for volunteers, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces on 4 August 1915, at Newcastle. He was mustered into the 30th Battalion.

The 30th Battalion was raised as part of the 8th Brigade at Liverpool in New South Wales on 5 August 1915. Most of its recruits hailed from the Newcastle region and other parts of country New South Wales.

The 30th Battalion embarked on the troopship Nestor which sailed for Port Said on the Suez Canal.

There the 8th Brigade joined the newly raised 5th Australian Division in Egypt and proceeded to France, destined for the Western Front, in June 1916. Although being involved in the Battle of Amiens, the 30th Battalion’s first major battle was at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. It was tasked with providing carrying parties for supplies and ammunition but was soon drawn into the vicious fighting.

Len Mitchell was soon promoted to Corporal and later to Sargent.

Following the disaster at Fromelles, the battalion was rotated in and out of the front line along with others in the brigade but played no major offensive role for the rest of the year.

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In early 1917, the German Army withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. During the general advance that followed, the 30th Battalion had the honour of occupying Bapaume, one of the original objectives for the Somme Offensive.

However, the 30th missed much of the heavy fighting of 1917, being employed in flank protection and reserve roles at the second battle of Bullecourt in May 1917.

 

For the  Third Battle of Ypres which began in August 1917, they were brought forward again.

The preliminary bombardment before the battle lasted for 10 days, during which time 3,000 guns fired 4.25 million artillery shells. Along an 11 mile front the infantry attack comprised a corps of the French First Army on the left, the British Fifth Army in the centre and a corps of the British Second Army on the right of the attack. The German Fourth Army held off the attackers in most places.

Within hours of the start of the battle rain began to fall and crucially did not stop, carrying on into the following weeks. The constant rain produced conditions completely unsuitable for the continued movement of men, animals and heavy equipment, such as artillery and tanks.

The battle, however, continued to grind on in short phases for several weeks throughout the late summer and the autumn.

Success for the allies in late September with the Battle of Menin Road gave them hope to push on towards the Passchendaele Ridge. The Battle of Polygon Wood began on 26 September. The 30th Battalion were entrenched around Hooge Crater.

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It was at the Battle of Polygon Wood on 29 September 1917 that Len Mitchell was seriously wounded in the right shoulder.

He was evacuated to England. After surgery and convalescence, he was returned to Australia on the Field Marshall in March 1918. He was discharged as medically unfit on 23 May 1918.

Australian War Diaries can be found at the Australian War Memorial at https://www.awm.gov.au/ 

Unit Diary

Page for 29 September 1917, from the Australian Imperial Forces Unit Diaries 1914-18 War, 8th Infantry Brigade September 1917, AWM 4(Australian War Memorial), 23/8/22. (30th Battalion mentioned in daily plans.)

 

Leonard Ingram Mitchell’s full military records can be found at the  National Australian Archives at  https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/

He returned to working with his father in the building trade. He married Margaret Sylvia McInnes in 1926.

Len Mitchell had a brother and a number of first and second cousins who also served:-  Roy Hamilton Mitchell, Phillip John Vincent, James Joseph Thomas Bell, Louis Augustus Bell, Arthur Campbell Bell, and William George Blanchard.

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World War I Family Hero-Roy Hamilton Mitchell

Roy Hamilton Mitchell the second son of Reginald and Leticia Kate Mitchell (nee Bell), was born in the Hunter Valley about June 1893.

His father had been a builder at Gloucester for many years before the family moved to Mosman in Sydney.

His mother had been born at Picton and was the seventh child of James and Elizabeth Bell (nee Crockett). James Bell had worked his way to Sydney as a sailor on a convict ship in 1837. His brother George Bell had come with him.

As a young man, Roy Mitchell was very keen on engines and was apprenticed as an electrical engineer to Brian Bros and Stanton Cook.

He was in his early twenties when World War I broke out. He enlisted on 1 September 1915 some three weeks after his elder brother, Leonard.

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After several weeks training, Roy embarked on 30 November 1915 on the troop ship, Suffolk, as part of the 4th Field Company of Engineers, bound for Egypt. These soldiers were to be deployed on the Gallipoli Peninsular. However, on arrival, they found that the Australian and New Zealand troops had been evacuated, and returned to Egypt.  (During the Gallipoli landings and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, Tel-el-Kebir was a training centre for the First Australian Imperial Force reinforcements).

On disembarking Roy Mitchell was transferred to the 14th Field Company as a Sapper.

(A sapper, also called pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses- such as laying razor wire trench fortifications, as well as working on road and airfield construction and repair.)

The 8th,14th, and 15th Field Companies were part of the Australian 5th Division.

Roy Mitchell displayed leadership and was promoted to a Lance Corporal before his unit embarked for the Western Front. This unit was originally deployed around Rouen in France. (In the First World War the city was safely behind the lines and became a major logistics centre with numerous base hospitals. Commonwealth camps and hospitals were stationed on the southern outskirts of Rouen.)

Campaigns for the 14th Field Company includes Fromelles, Bullecourt, Polygon Wood, Villers-Bretonneux, Morlancourt, Amiens, Peronne and the Hindenburg Line.

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Above: Polygon Wood (Copyright Nola Mackey 2014)
Below: The Australian 5th Division Memorial (copyright Nola Mackey -2014)

5th Division Memorial

Much of the day to day life in the trenches for Roy Mitchell can be found in the Unit War Diaries at AWM4 14/33/1 March 1916 to AWM4 14/33/25 March 1918.

 

14th Field Company-29 Sept 1917

Page for 29 September 1917, from the Australian Imperial Forces Unit Diaries 1914-18 War, 14th Field Company September 1917, AWM 4(Australian War Memorial), 14/33/19.

As can be seen from the above extract this unit was working in the Butte area at Polygon Wood on 29 September 1917, when Roy Mitchell’s older brother Leonard, was seriously wounded in the shoulder. It is interesting to speculate if they met or knew each other was in the area. I believe although not impossible, highly unlikely, given their different jobs on the front line. (In the 8th Brigade Infantry War Diary, mention is made that the 30th Battalion and the 15th Field Company having had contact on 28 September 1917).

From Spring 1917 the whole war became more mobile, with grand offensives at the Battles of Arras, Messines, and Passchendaele, there was no longer a place for a tactic that depended upon total immobility for its employment. It was about this time the Australian Tunnelling and Mining Companies came under direct control of the British Engineers who changed tactic when the men were employed

Underground work continued, with the tunnellers concentrating on deep dugouts for troop accommodation. To assist the attack, the Royal Engineers constructed 20 kilometres (12 mi) of tunnels, graded as subways (foot traffic only); tramways (with rails for hand-drawn trollies for taking ammunition to the line and bringing casualties back); and railways (a light railway system). Just before the assault, the tunnel system had grown big enough to conceal 24,000 men, with electric lighting provided by its own small powerhouse, as well as kitchens, latrines and a medical centre with a fully equipped operating theatre.

To improve the logistical movement of artillery and supplies an extensive programme of road building was started. Ten field companies, seven tunneling companies, four army troop companies, and nine battalions were put to work repairing or extending existing plank roads. From the middle of October until the end of the offensive, a total of 2 miles (3.2 km) of double plank road and more than 4,000 yards (3,700 m) of heavy tram line was constructed.

 Except for a couple of bouts of sickness including Mumps, Roy Mitchell spent more than two years on the front line. He was on leave in Paris when the Armistice was declared.

He re-joined his unit and was transferred to the Australian Engineers, Mining and Boring Company.

This company was attached to the British Royal Engineers and was tasked with the rebuilding of roads and bridges in France to begin the mammoth task of moving of troops and equipment from the front lines back to Britain. From early December 1918 to March 1919 Roy Mitchell was involved in these activities.

On 7 March 1919, he finally transferred back to the 14th Engineers and was sent to England, where he boarded the Devonha for return to Australia.  The ship arrived on 8 May 1919 and an interesting incident occurred when it reached Adelaide. Details can be found here.

Roy Mitchell was finally discharged a few weeks later.

Roy Hamilton Mitchell had a brother and number of first and second cousins who served in World War I.  I have written blogs on the following:-  Leonard Ingram Mitchell, Phillip John Vincent, James Joseph Thomas Bell, Louis Augustus Bell, Arthur Campbell Bell, William George Blanchard.

Although Roy Mitchell showed courage and leadership during his years of service on the Western Front during World War I, it was his daring and courage after the war that made him famous.

Australian World War I Battlefields – Family Hero, James Joseph Thomas Bell – Anzac

As we watched on TV, the Anzac Anniversary Ceremony broadcast from Albany Western Australia, yesterday, the question was asked; Did our family have anyone, who sailed out on the troopships from Albany a hundred years ago? The answer was yes, we did.

James Joseph Thomas Bell, known as ‘Tom’ was born in 1891, the eldest son of William James Allen and Louisa Mabel Grace Bell (nee Day), of Gundagai, New South Wales. He enlisted at Kensington Army Recruiting on 2 September 1914 and was one of the first in the state to join-up.

After nearly six weeks of basic training, the 1st Battalion marched out of the Kensington Racecourse Camp to Fort Macquarie, where they embarked on HMAT Afric on 18 October 1914. This ship of nearly 12,000 tons, with a speed of 13 knots, belonged to the Federal Steam Navigation Company of London and had been requisitioned, along with many other ships, by the Australian Government as a troopship.

The Afric and several other ships sailed from Sydney, for the port of Albany in Western Australia, to await the arrival of all the other Australian and New Zealand troopships, which were to be escorted by several war ships across the Indian Ocean. There were a total of forty ships in the complete convoy, and 27,000 able-bodied men, who were originally to sail to England, for further training to fight with the British soldiers, on the Western Front.

The Afric arrived at Albany on the 25 October. On 30 October the fleet learned that Britain and Turkey were at war, and the Australian and New Zealand troops were to be diverted to Egypt. The convoy of ships left Albany harbour on 1 November 1914.

Further details of the soldier’s training and life on the troopships, and camps, as well as throughout the war can be found in the ‘unit histories’ at the Australian War Memorial at http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/awm4/

After disembarking at Alexandria on the 5 December the 1st Battalion marched to Mena Camp near Cairo.

(Below) A general view of the camp at Mena and a hotel, which was converted to a camp hospital.

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The ‘Unit history’ then detailed the training over the next four months before the 1st Australian Battalion embarked on Minniewaska on 5 April for the Dardanelles Campaign.

The Australian and New Zealand forces went into battle on 25 April 1914, against the Turks on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Tom Bell was part of the 1st Brigade, which ‘dug-in’ and manned the trenches on the steep Gallipoli shoreline.

C E W Bean in Volume II of the Official History of Australia in the War 1914-18, has maps and full descriptions of life and action in these trenches.

See “Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 – Volume II – The Story of ANZAC from 4 May 1915 to the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula (11th edition, 1941) found at http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/AWMOHWW1/AIF/Vol2/

Tom Bell was severely wounded in the abdomen, in action at Lone Pine, on 26 June 1915, and was stretchered off to the ship, Gascon, where he died at 4.30 pm on 29 June. He was buried at sea about three miles off Gaba Tepe. He is memorialized on the Lone Pine Memorial at Gallipoli.

Private J J T Bell kept a diary while overseas, and this was returned to his parents after his death. Years later his youngest brother, Oscar Isaac Bell prepared some extracts for publication in the Gundagai Independent, and his daughter sent me a copy, which I shared with everyone in the Bell Family Newsletter No 5 (July 1986). Here is a copy of those extracts, which tells part of Tom’s story in his own words.

Extracts from the Diary of an Anzac

The following extracts are from the diary of Private J J T (Tom) Bell, No 1023, ‘D’ Company, 1st Btn., Infantry 1st AIF Division, eldest brother of Mr O Bell, of ‘Lone Pine’, Gundagai. Tom was severely wounded at ‘Lone Pine’ and was being evacuated to the Base Hospital on the Isle of Lemnos. He died on the way and was buried at sea.

The diary extracts read:-

Sunday, 18 October, 1914

We marched on-board Troopship Afric, and moved out to sea, which was very rough. We were all very sea sick.

Sunday, 25th October, 1914

We arrived at Albany. We have to wait a week for all the rest of the Troopships and our warship escort to catch up. Amongst our escort are three Japanese warships.

Sunday, 1st November, 1914

We leave Australia. Our troopships sail in three columns of five, with warships all around us.

Monday, 9th November, 1914

The German cruiser Emden, sighted by escort Sydney. They blazed away at each other for nearly two hours. The Sydney scored several hits, and the Emden beached herself on Cocos island to save herself from sinking. She was being coaled at the time and the Sydney then captured the collier and sank her after taking her crew off. 200 Germans killed on the Emden.

Tuesday, 24th November, 1914

We enter the Red Sea. We pass three Indian troopships returning to India for another load of Indian troops.

Saturday, 5th December, 1914

We arrive at Alexandria, Egypt. There are hundreds of English, French, and Indian troopships and warships in the harbour. They all saluted us as we passed.

Thursday, 10 September, 1914

I met a lot of Gundagai men today, Lt Beeken, from Solomon’s Store, Bugler Fitzsimmons, Larry Quinn, Bill Laffin, Harold Hansen, Micky Burke’s son, Tom Smith and George Bramley. Sir George Reid inspected us.

Wednesday, 24th February, 1915

I met Fred Elworthy, Jim McLean, Clem Harris, Bill Oliver, Doug Carr, Bill Eurell and Jack Rolfe.

Saturday, 10th April, 1915

We leave Alexandria, preparatory to sailing across the Mediterranean to the Dardanelles. We have five Generals aboard with us. General Birdwood gave us a very stirring address. He said that before we land we would be issued with 3 days’ rations and two hundred rounds of ammo. He advised us to be very careful of our water supply.

Monday, 12 April, 1915

We get a good view of the Dardanelles. We enter a bay at Lemnos Island. Hundreds of troopships, battleships, cruisers, submarines and other craft, and moving around us everywhere British, French, Indian, Russian and other nations were represented. The crew of the Queen Elizabeth pay us a visit. They said,”Look out for the Turks”.

Saturday, 24th April, 1915

We steam out from Lemnos Bay. Everyone seems to think there is something doing. We anchor on the north side of Lemnos Island. We are surrounded by cruisers. We are issued with three days rations, and ammo. Which weighs over 100 lbs altogether.

Sunday, 25th April, 1915

We arrive at Gulf of Saros. We land in knee deep water, under heavy rifle and shrapnel fire. The noise is terrific. We chase Turks with our bayonets from the shore for three miles. I could feel the bullets- whizzing past my face but I was lucky. We dig in. We were covered in the landing by heavy artillery fire from our warships. While chasing the Turks, we sang “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” and other songs.

Thursday, 20th May, 1915

I heard the two Putlands were killed. I met Clem and Vern Harris, Bill Eurell, Bill Oliver and Roley Carr.

Monday, 24th May, 1915

An armistice to bury our dead, after 23 days continual bombardment. We were relieved by the 7th Light Horse. I heard George Elliott is about. Will try and find him during next lull.

Friday, 11th June, 1915

I met George Elliott tonight. We had a long yarn about home and it cheered us both up.

Friday, 25th June, 1915

I met Bill Oliver and Fred Cornett. The cruiser Lord Nelson, set fire to the village of Maidos, full of spies.”

Tom Bell was wounded in action the next day and died on the 29th June while being evacuated to the Base Hospital.

See his Personel File at the Australian Archives website http://www.naa.gov.au/

Many of the above mentioned ‘Anzac’ friends did not survive the war either, but it is nice to know they rest in peace and are remembered a hundred years on.

See Lone Pine Memorial at http://www.cwgc.org/

Although we do not plan to go to Gallipoli this year to visit the Lone Pine Memorial, we can find much information on it, at the above Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, to honour our family hero, Private James Joseph Thomas Bell, an original ANZAC.

More Family Heroes in World War I – Sherwood and Bell

It is Anzac Day again and my thoughts return to our family war heroes.

Last year I wrote about my husband’s family, the “ Stapleton bothers’ and their enlistment in World War I and II. This year I am writing about some of my family who answered the called to arms in the defence of the British Empire..

This year we decided we would make the pilgrimage to the World War I Australian Battle Fields to honour the many family members who enlisted in the AIF, some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice.

In this blog I’m concentrating on my maternal grandmother’s family lines of SHERWOOD and  BELL The following men were all cousins of my grandmother.

Robert Edward Sherwood, was born in 1885 near Wilcannia in western New South Wales, the son of William Edward and Margaret Lillian Sherwood (nee Ross), who had married earlier in the year at Bourke. William Edward Sherwood (known as ‘Will’ had a team and was a carrier between Bourke and Wilcannia

In 1898, the summer had been hot and dry, but significant rains had fallen in early February.The annual flooding of the Darling River from above Bourke and and heavy rainfall in western New South Wales caused the river to rise quickly to record heights. William Edward Sherwood had his loaded waggon on the river bank at Tilpa where the river had risen to over 24 feet by the 25 February, and was still rising. It is not known how ‘Will’ was caught in the flood waters but his body was retrieved by the police on 28th and at the inquest a verdict of accidental drowning was given.

I have not yet established where his wife ‘Lillie’, and thirteen year old son, Robert were living it this time, but by 1900 they had moved to Broken Hill. Lillie married William Oliver there in that year.

Robert Edward Sherwood married Mary Ellen Butler at Broken Hill in 1912 and had a daughter Doris Mary, who married Hugh Gannon.

Robert Edward Sherwood enlisted in the Australian Infantry Forces on 22 June 1916 at Broken Hill. His full service records can be found at www.naa.gov.au . He was killed in action on 2 September 1918 a few weeks before the end of the war. By the Commonwealth Graves Commission website at www.cwgc.org/ I know he is buried at the Peronne War Cemetery in the same section as James Joseph Stapleton, one of my husband’s family heroes, whom I wrote about last Anzac Day.

As we are visiting these graves later in the year I wanted to find out as much as I could about what happened in early September 1918.

The Australian War Memorial at www.awm.gov.au can help fill in the story. On their website they now have the WWI War Diaries. These are the official records of the daily diaries of each Battalion, and gives a incredible insight of what was happening at the battle front.

From his service records I knew that Robert Edward Sherwood served in the AIF 27th Battalion.

On the Australian War Memorial website I looked for Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries- Infantry- 27th Battalion- September 1918. There are some 93 pages in this file with all kinds of information. Here follows some extracts-

The 7th AIF Brigade will carry out an attack on the morning of Sept 2nd. 1918.”.. with the objective ….”Capture of Allaynes and Haut Allaines”…

Battle plan for early September -” The attack will be made by three battalions 26th, on the right, 25th in the centre and 27th on the left……

28th Battalion will follow 1000 yards behind the rear of the attacking battalions.”…..

After very heavy fighting the attack was successful and the commanding officer later reported “In the opinion of the G.O.C this fight is one of the most brilliant achievements of the Brigade”.

A report of this action stated there were 1 officer and 36 of other ranks killed; 8 officers and 138 other ranks wounded; with 1 officer and 3 other ranks dying of wounds and 2 of other ranks missing.

A few days later a report was entered that crosses were to be erected for the fallen.

Crosses for the following men of this battalion have been completed and will be taken forward tomorrow morning 14th instant at 9 am.

Then were listed 12 names including that of “ 6327 Pte Sherwood, R E of B Company.

Permission will be given to any NCO or man who desires to accompany this party to HAUT ALLAINES.”

Originally Robert E Sherwood had been, “buried in an isolated Grave in a Field in a Shell Hole just south of Allaines and one and three quarter miles north of Peronne, France. He was later transferred to Peronne Cemetery.”

These diaries and papers are well worth wading through as you can find so much information about what your soldier was experiencing. There are a few surprises too, such as inter Brigade Sports Days where not only the schedule is given but who won each contest. No doubt a welcome break and distraction in the midst of war.

On my maternal family line of the Bell family there were several members who enlisted, but I have only listed a few from one section of the family here.

. William James Allen and Louisa Mabel Bell (nee Day), who resided near Gundagai in western New South Wales, had three sons who went to war.

James Joseph Thomas, known as “Tom” joined up on 1 September 1914. He was at Gallipoli and was severely wounded on 26 June 1915,. and died on board ship on transfer to Alexandrina. He was buried at sea and is memorialized at the Lone Pine Memorial at Gallopoli.

Their second son Louis Alexander, born 1893, was known as ‘Jack’. He enlisted at Gundagai on 18 Aug 1915 a couple of months after the death of his brother ‘Tom’.He was killed in action on 26 October 1917 and is buried Perth Cemetery (China Wall) at West Vlaanderen, Belguim.

Their third son James Allen Bell born 1897, and known as ‘Jim’ enlisted on 2 June 1915 and fought on the Western Front where he was wounded and gassed several times. He survived the trauma of war and finally returned to Australia in 1919.

Alfred and Elizabeth Jane Vincent (nee Bell) also had three of their five sons enlist.. They were also first cousins to the above mentioned Bell brothers. The father Alfred Vincent had died in 1910.

Alfred James, born 1880 the third child, and eldest son, enlisted on 1 January 1916. He was severely wounded and was invalided to Australia and arrived home soon after 28 July 1917.

Philip John Vincent, born 1895, the youngest son was known as ‘Jack’. He enlisted on 14 March 1916 and was killed in action about 5 May 1917. He is commemorated on the Villers- Bretonneux Memorial in France.

I have not identified the third son of this family who went to war, but know he survived and returned to Australia.

I was able to follow the stories of these soldiers, as well as other family members who went to war, through their personal papers at the Australian Archives, their place of burial through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and their unit history through the Australian War Memorial.

I also found several items through several newspapers in the Historical Newspapers on Trove at the National Library of Australia. These were particularly of interest as many of the letters written home to their parents were published in the local newspapers and are in fact the words of the soldiers themselves recording their thoughts and experiences.

All these can be accessed free online at the above mentioned websites and have been invaluable in our preparation for our forth coming trip to the Western Front.

The centenary of World War I is upon us and I encourage all family historian not to just add birth and death dates to your family tree, but to research these men and women lives. They are all heroes.