What news is this? Official Casualty Lists

This official casualty list was printed in the Ballarat Courier on Monday 24th May 1915.  The casualties sustained by the Australians at Gallipolli to date exceed 3000, which includes 360 deaths.  With our 20/20 hindsight from 100 years into the future, 360 deaths seems like a very low number for what the AIF is experiencing on the Gallipolli peninsula. By chance we saw this article from the Sydney Morning Herald, asking why did official casualty statistics become so distorted?  Why the Numbers of our WW1 Dead are Wrong

And as I turned the 100 year old Courier over this week, I found a memorial notice for Major Richard Wells:

 We've been following Major Wells, and noted that he was mortally injured at Krithia.  Here it is mentioned that his father-in-law Con Burrow is the superintendent of the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum. Letters on Major Wells' service record file are addressed simply 'Con Burrow, Ballarat' so he must have been very well known.

The casualty lists published in the Courier contain the names of many Ballarat men, and the grief in the city must have been profound.  A letter written to the Courier Editor wonders why the Town Hall flag isn't at half mast. 

Ballarat Courier, May 6th 1915

Major Richard Wells, Krithia and Ross McMullin in Ballarat

Today, May 8th, is the centenary of the charge to Krithia. Where or what is Krithia? people say, when I mention this.  After the ANZAC landings, what came next?  Krithia is one part of what came next.

We’ve been following Major Richard Wells, of the 6th Battalion.  He has tree no. 151 in the Ballarat Avenue of Honour, although he was from Melbourne. His father in law Con Burrow, was an outstanding Ballarat citizen, a very military man, and we suspect it was he who ensured Major Wells was included in the Avenue.

The 6th battalion was part of the brigade called to help assist the British in the assault on Krithia, a strategically placed little village on the Gallipoli Peninsula.  Along with other country Victorian battalions the 5th 7th and 8th, the 6th left bitter fighting in the ANZAC sector and were shipped south.  They were already decimated by the fighting on 400 Plateau and Pine Ridge, but were to face worse yet.

Major Wells, Commanding Officer of C Company, 6th Battalion fell at Krithia.  Ron Austin in his history of the 6th Battalion As rough as bags writes “As the battalion advanced along Central Spur in full view of the Turkish defenders, the enemy fire quickly took its toll.  On the right flank of the Sixth’s advance, C Company, lost its company commander, Major Dick Wells, also Lieutenant Richard Kieran, both mortally wounded.”  Major Wells was evacuated to a hospital ship with gunshot wounds to his throat, and he died on 11th May.

The Krithia story is important to Ballarat because many Ballarat men were included in the 8th Battalion, and  were involved in the battle. The casualties at Krithia were higher than the ANZAC landings.

Tonight at Ballarat Library Ross McMullin will be speaking on this story, focussing on Clunes Mathison, the eminent young medical researcher killed at Krithia.  Mathison is the subject of one of the chapters of Ross McMullin’s award winning book Farewell Dear People.  Ross’ talk is part of Heritage Weekend, and free to attend.  It is 5.45pm for a 6pm start, this evening, May 8th.

Major Wells is the third officer on the left.  From "As Rough as Bags" p.26

Richard Wells and Con Burrow, of Ballarat

Richard Wells was the subject of a previous post (24th November 2014), where we found that he was not a Ballarat man, but included in the Avenue of Honour.  His father in law, Con Burrow, lived in Ballarat, and I became curious to know who he was.

This is his entry in Citizens and Sports, one of our favourite resources in the Australiana Room:

Goodness! Can you read all those abbreviations? Con Burrow is evidently one of Ballarat's outstanding citizens, a publican and a military man. Both his sons, Sgt. Arthur Alfred and Lieutenant Sydney are with the AIF, in the 8th and 7th battalions, respectively.  I see now that Richard Wells would have been welcomed into the Burrow family, and everyone must have been very pleased to see that he had been promoted to Major on January 1st.

Imagine Richard's wife - her husband and both brothers on active service.

And this is a link to a quite splendid photograph of Con Burrow, held at the State Library Victoria.