AT THE FOOT OF THE SPHINX

Turning the pages of the 100 year old Courier yesterday (February 5th) we discovered a gem.  The Courier, 100 years ago, was not regularly publishing photographs, so this must have caused quite a sensation at the time.  We have tried to find out a bit about the Ballarat soldiers in the photo. 

The caption has not reproduced adequately so we reproduce it below

The group depicted above is composed almost exclusively of Australians now serving in Egypt.  It embraces : - 1^st row (reading from left to right) Armourer Sergeant I.R.Parker, Ballarat;  Bugler Matthew, Scotland; Sergeant-Bugler H. Smith, Ballarat; Bugler A. Dunkeld, Scotland; Bugler B. Walker, Geelong; Bugler L. Hagger, Geelong; Bugler F. Hassell, England; C. Matthews, A.M.C., Melbourne; Bugler D. Summers, Avoca; Bugler Liddle, Queensland;  2^nd row, 1 and 2 unknown;  3. Mohamed Masoufy, 8^th Battalion Guide, Cairo; 4. Bugler E. Youlden, Ballarat; 5. Bugler Gladmann, Ballarat.  We are indebted to Mrs. G. H. Parker, of Bertlyn, Lyons St Sth, mother of Armourer Sergeant Parker, for the loan of the photograph.

Armourer Sergeant Ivo Reginald Parker, remarkably, has the Service Number 9, and the 5^th tree in the Avenue of Honour.  He enlisted on the 17^th August 1914, clearly anxious to serve his country - he’d been a military cadet for 2 years.  Previous to enlisting he’d worked for Jelbarts, in Mair Street. Unfortunately Staff Sergeant Parker became very ill while at Gallipoli (typhoid) and returned to Australia in 1916, discharged as medically unfit. He returned to live in Ballarat. 

Sergeant Bugler H. Smith – this appears to be Harry P. Smith of the 6^th Battalion, originally of Ballarat East. He too enlisted on the 17^th August, and was also a military cadet.  Smith was at the Gallipoli landings, and although he enlisted as a private he was rapidly promoted through to Lieutenant. He was wounded several times but was still able to be a part of the Evacuation; later in Egypt he became so ill with enteric fever he was returned to Australia in 1916 for ‘three months change’!  In April 1917 he rejoined the war in France, and in August 1918 was wounded and hospitalised in England.  He did not return to France before the Armistice.  He returned to Australia in April 1919, after an adventure on the way in South Africa, where he ‘failed to embark’ after shore leave in Cape Town, and was arrested AWL.

Bugler E. Youlden – in fact Ernest C. G. Youdan – was the son of Constable William Arthur Youdan, the constable in charge at Scarsdale, who’d been awarded £50 and a valor badge when he “closed with armed desperado Geo. Shaw.”  Bugler Youdan survived Gallipoli, but died in France in 1916 at Pozieres. His mother Agnes was living in Lydiard Street when she claimed a pension in respect of Ernest’s death, and she received 25 shillings per fortnight.

Bugler Gladmann – we think this is Charles R. Gladman, born in Ballarat but enlisted in Bacchus Marsh on the 12^th September 1914. He was with the 8^th Battalion, and was wounded severely in action many times, but after hospitalisation was always able to return to his unit, until late in 1917 when he was returned to Australia, having by this time lost his left eye, and almost all his vision in his right eye. After returning to Ballarat, he lived in Hickman Street.

 

Private George Douglas

This week’s post presents a problem many family historians encounter – “the mystery man”.

Private George Douglas’ Service Records on the National Archives of Australia website, state that his place of birth was Ballarat East, and that he enlisted in Ballarat. His occupation was given as Miner, and his Next of Kin was his sister Olive. His age is 23 years and 1 month, in December 1914.

So he should have been born around 1891, but when we look in the Victorian Birth Death and Marriage records, we cannot find him.  A search for his sister Olive is also inconclusive.  We can find a George Douglas, with a sister Olive, but his birth year is 1886, making him much older than 23, and neither of them were born in Ballarat.  A search of the Victorian Death Index also doesn’t reveal anything.

His enlistment papers suggest he was originally in the Light Horse, but he is listed in the All-Australia Memorial as part of the 3^rd Reinforcements for the 7^th Battalion.  This means he was serving under Lt.Col. Harold (Pompey) Elliott, in the Infantry.  In the Memorial, his address is given as North Carlton – what was he doing there, if his occupation was “miner”?

So there are many questions we can’t answer about this fellow. Nevertheless, we are going to include him, and follow his experiences through the Great War, as he represents many of those soldiers about whom nothing much is known.  Just maybe, by including him here, someone will be able to give us better details.

George Douglas enlisted on 10 December, 1914, and after only about 3 months training, he left Australia on 25 February, 1915.

"ANZACs in the Making" from The All-Australia Memorial: History, Heroes, and Helpers
a copy can be found in the Australiana Room at Ballarat Library

Ballarat Showgrounds

Its Show Weekend in Ballarat: the Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society has been part of Ballarat life for over 150 years now.

It seems like an appropriate time to bring out these photographs of the Ballarat Showgrounds during the Great War, when they were the site of an AIF training camp...

Photographs from the Ballarat Courier Christmas special, December 14, 1915

But dont strain your eyes to try and recognise any features of today's showgrounds!  These are photographs of the showground situated off Wendouree Parade, on the North East corner of the Lake shore.

Detail of 1936 survey map showing new showgrounds site on Creswick Road, and old site near Lake Wendouree

This 1936 map shows both the showgrounds sites.  The new site in Creswick Road was officially opened in 1933.  The old site was at first thought to be a great place to relocate the Ballarat Base Hospital, but funding was not available for this.  The site was cleared during 1933 and the land sub-divided into 61 residential allotments.  Extraordinary, but there was not a great deal of interest in the land - it was the mid-1940s before all the blocks were sold.

Just as a footnote, the old showgrounds were also used during the Spanish Influenza pandemic: people with influenza could be isolated and treated there. But the conditions were very spartan!

This blog has even more relevance for today's Courier page 1 headline is "Vic Park on radar: key site identified for new showgrounds" (November 8, 2014)

If you'd like to read more about the Agricultural and Pastoral Society, or if you live in the Brawn Avenue area, you should look at Golden Showtime, the history of the Society.  There are more  photographs there, and on page 65 an interesting map of the subdivision, which outlines the old oval - maybe your house is on it!