William Charles Gilbert, 15th Field Company, Australian Engineers (348)
Local Tunneller – Lieutenant William Charles Gilbert, 15th Field Company, Australian Engineers (348), was born in Ballarat East in 1888.
He listed his trade as a well borer and a 7 year apprenticeship with the Phoenix Company in Ballarat. He enlisted on 12 July 1915 at the age of 27
and returned to Australia in 1919.
In June 1918 he received a Military Cross ‘For conspicuous gallantry and untiring devotion to duty. From 29th September to 1st October 1918,
in the vicinity of Bellicourt and Estrees, he repeatedly carried out forward reconnaissances under continuous shell fire, and obtained valuable information
on location and condition of wells, roads, cellars and dug-outs, and furnished the first reconnaissance reports of the captured portion of the Bellicourt Tunnel.’
(As mentioned in the London Gazette).
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1068167–39-.PDF
More on Tunneller Gilbert (who also enlisted in WW2) can be found via Tunnellers.net:
http://www.tunnellers.net/gpag.html
Robert Adam Clinton – 1st Australian Mining Corps
Robert Adam Clinton – 1st Australian Mining Corps, was a mining engineer from Ballarat. He enlisted at the age of 36 in September 1916. Born 25 October 1879 at Taradale, near Ballarat, Victoria, Robert was the son of Adam Donaldson and Wilhelmina (nee Cameron) Clinton. The Electoral Roll of 1906 records him as a miner at Laverton, Western Australia.
He was one the team of officers from the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company who were responsible for firing the massive explosive charge in a mine under Hill 60.
He died in Melbourne East at the age of 46 in 1936.
More on Robert Adam Clinton:
http://www.tunnellers.net/ca___clpag.html
https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=55776
http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1537935/
PHOTO:
Outdoors group portrait at a rest camp of the team of officers from the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company
who were responsible for firing the massive explosive charge in a mine under Hill 60
which completely destroyed the German front line at the northern end of Messines Ridge on 1917-06-07.
The officers are (left to right): back row: Lieutenant (Lt) John MacDiarmid Royle; Lt James Bowry;
Lt Hubert Henry Carroll, MC. Front row: Captain (Capt) Oliver Holmes Woodward, MC and two bars;
Major James Douglas Henry, CO, OBE, DSO; Capt Robert Adam Clinton, MC. Capt Woodward
was responsible for closing the main electrical switch and Lts Royle and Bowry the two auxiliary switches
that detonated the explosives. Capt Clinton had been in charge of the digging of the advanced tunnels
under the German trenches, while Major Henry was responsible for synchronising, by means of a stopwatch,
the detonation at Hill 60 with the detonation of other explosive charges all along Messines Ridge.
(Donor J. MacD. Royle) (Original print held in AWM Archive Store. Formerly 3DRL 3852)
MINING MUD & MEDALS Facebook and WIKI page:
MINING, MUD & MEDALS Facebook page is designed to highlight the role of the ANZAC tunnellers in WW1 – especially those who hailed from the Ballarat Electorate as well as many other WW1 related information. The Facebook page connects with similar groups on many levels, for example, it is regularly updated with news items, hyperlinks to handy research websites, specialist information, photos, and advance notices about ANZAC related events. Anyone interested in the history of WW1 will find a plethora of interesting items on this site which is aptly named: Mining Mud & Medals.
https://www.facebook.com/MiningMudMedals?bookmark_t=page
…as they say there’s more……
Mining Mud & Medals are working hard on a Wiki page, with information on:
The Mining Corps, the Battlefields, biographies, miners, maps and repatriation.
http://www.miningmudmedals.org
If you have WW1 ‘Tunnellers’ in your family, please contact us via:
miningmudandmedals@gmail.com
Major General Harold Edward ‘Pompey’ Elliott
Major General Harold Edward ‘Pompey’ Elliott.
‘The War that changed us” is the story of Australia and the First World War revealed through the lives of six Australians.
Brought to life through personal testimony, dramatic reconstruction, expert analysis, location filming and colourised archive.
One of the people highlighted in the documentary was Major General Harold Edward Elliott, better known as “Pompey”.
On ABC TV this week, the last episode of: ‘The War that changed us”. If you’ve missed the last episode (or would like to see the series again)
you can still see it via this link:
http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/war-that-changed-us/DO1245W004S00
Historian Ross McMullin, spoke in the series about ‘Pompey’, but has also written a book about him:
https://www.nla.gov.au/harold-white-fellows/writing-about-pompey-elliott
‘Pompey’ also had a strong link with Ballarat. He was born near Ballarat in 1878 and he obtained his early education at Ballarat College.
In the central part of Ballarat, on Sturt street, there stands a special statue dedicated to him. It was unveiled in 2011.
http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/556122/pompey-statue-to-be-unveiled-in-ballarat/
http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2011/05/10/3212405.htm
Sapper Harold Evelyn Baxter
Harold Evelyn Baxter – place of association: Snake Valley
On his enlistment papers, he has his father living in Snake Valley.
PHOTO: An Australian cemetery on the beach at Anzac Cove.
The grave at the far right is of 182 Sapper (Spr) Harold Evelyn Baxter,
2nd Field Company Australian Engineers. A telephone mechanic from Melbourne,
Victoria, prior to enlistment, he embarked on HMAT Orvieto on 20 October 1914 for Gallipoli.
Spr Baxter was killed in action on 3 June 1915, aged 23 years. (Via AWM)
Wartime memories of Ballarat – at the Gold Museum
Wartime memories of Ballarat – at the Gold Museum in Ballarat.
A special exhibition showcasing part of the Gold Museum’s collection of military history.
Items such as WW1 honour boards, various displays of WW1 and WW2 memorabilia,
including photos and costumes.
For more on the Gold Museum and it’s collection:
