FLY-SIZE MOTOR

Posted on by
Reply

FLY-SIZE MOTOR RUNS (1937)

So tiny that it rests easily on a finger nail, an electric motor constructed by an Italian youth weighs less than an ounce. The Lilliputian power plant has forty-five Parts and develops about eight-one-thousandths of a horsepower.

Kurt Singer – a Jewish resister

Posted on by
Reply

Kurt Singer (1885-1944) was a conductor, musician, musicologist, and neurologist. Though described by his daughter Margot Wachsmann-Singer as ‘more German than the Germans,’ he was dismissed as a Jew from his roles in Germany’s musical life after Hitler’s takeover in 1933. He then turned to ‘Jewish’ undertakings and from 1933-1938 led the Berlin Jüdischer Kulturbund (Jewish Culture League), an organization devoted to Jewish culture performed by and for Jews. This organization, which existed from 1933-1941, was at the centre of Singer’s life and death.

The son of a rabbi, Singer was born on 11 October 1885 in Koblenz. He studied medicine and musicology in Berlin, where he became a neurologist. Combining his interests in medicine and music, in 1912 he founded the ‘Berliner Aerztechor’ (Doctor’s Choir), which he also conducted. During World War I, he was a military doctor, earning an iron cross for his service. After the war, he acted as music editor for the Berlin newspaper Vorwärts, the central organ of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. He also wrote and published such works as Wesen und Heilwirkung der Musik (The Healing Power of Music) as well as Berufskrankheiten der Musiker (The Occupational Illness of Musicians), and produced valuable research on German folk song and the composers Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. In 1927, his diverse musical accomplishments earned him a post as Intendant of the Städtische Oper (Municipal Opera House) in Charlottenburg, Berlin, under Heinz Tietjen.

When the Nazis came to power, Singer lost this position. One of the regime’s earliest decrees was the Gesetz zur Weiderherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums (Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service) of 7 April 1933, passed six days after the boycott of Jewish businesses. By means of the Law’s Aryan paragraph, ‘civil servants who are not of Aryan ancestry’ were to be dismissed. This measure prevented non- Aryans from holding positions in the public sphere, especially at cultural institutions such as state-run music conservatories, opera houses, concert halls, and theatres. In response to such Nazi legislation, rising anti-Semitism, and simple mathematics (Berlin had a significant Jewish population), Kurt Baumann, who had worked as Singer’s assistant at the Municipal Opera House from 1930-1932, drafted a detailed proposal for a Jewish cultural association and contacted Singer. Baumann was wise to contact Singer. Singer had envisioned a similar organization and – as a combat veteran and respected figure in German national circles – was the perfect spokesperson for such an endeavour. Baumann and Singer revised the initial proposal for the League, and then recruited other Jewish leaders, such as Berlin’s chief rabbi Leo Baeck, journalist Werner Levie, and conductor Joseph Rosenstock, who had been removed from his post as music director at the National Theatre in Mannheim. When Baumann approached theatre critic Julius Bab with the project, Bab was justifiably skeptical: ‘Are we allowed to do this?’ Indeed, it was not clear how the organization would win the Nazi government’s sponsorship.

A born leader, Singer has been described as charismatic and a ‘great personality.’ He drew on these attributes as he struggled to generate interest within various government offices. He was eventually invited to meet with Hans Hinkel, who had been appointed head of the Prussian Theatre Commission by the new Prussian minister Hermann Göring immediately after Hitler’s ascension to power. In April 1933, Hinkel began negotiating with Singer the operating terms for the creation of the Kulturbund. In the middle of May, Hinkel summoned Singer to a final meeting with Göring, who warned: ‘If all of you do everything right and obey Herr Hinkel, then everything will go well. If all of you behave badly, then there’ll be trouble, you know that.’ In this way, the Kulturbund received the Nazi government’s ‘blessing,’ and one of the most paradoxical partnerships in German history began.

During the Kulturbund’s tenure, Singer did his best to meet the various demands of the heterogeneous Jewish community involved through a repertoire both familiar and ‘Jewish.’ He also struggled to maintain the organization despite economic hardships and emigration. To do this, Singer turned to Kurt Sommerfeld, a former musician in the Kulturbund, who had left the ensemble in 1936 to participate in the newly formed Palestine Orchestra. In a letter of 1937, he asked Sommerfeld to help prevent additional musicians from emigrating to join the Orchestra. Though Singer generally helped Kulturbund members leave Germany, Singer’s devotion to the Kulturbund at times bordered on delusional as conditions for Jews in Germany worsened. This detachment from reality became more dangerous in the following year.

In 1938, Singer travelled to the United States, where he visited his sister and lectured at Harvard University. Ernest Lenart, the Tempelherr in the League’s inaugural performance (1933) of Lessing’s Nathan the Wise and an émigré since 1938, visited Singer during his trip. Lenart told him about Kristallnacht, the catastrophic pogroms of November 9-10, and urged him to remain in America. Singer replied: ‘Dear Lenart, I must go back.’ Despite being offered a university position during his stay in the United States, out of loyalty and the importance he placed on the Kulturbund, Singer refused. Upon hearing news of Kristallnacht, he returned to Europe to, in his own words, ‘rescue what could be rescued.’ En route in Rotterdam, friends and acquaintances were able to intercede and persuade Singer to suspend his homecoming. Within a few days, he believed the Kulturbund could no longer function in Nazi Germany. He remained in Holland and, until he realized the severity of the situation, participated, to a limited extent, in musical activities there, including concerts at the Joodsche Schouwburg (Jewish Theatre), which the Nazis established in 1941 on the model of the Berlin Jewish Culture League. With the Nazi occupation of Holland, Singer tried to return to the United States, eventually pinning all his hopes on a non-quota-visa. But no means of escape was forthcoming. On 15 July 1942, the first deportations from Amsterdam to Auschwitz began. Between August 1942 and November 1943, the Jewish Theatre, of all places, was used as a deportation centre and Jews in the region, including Singer, reported there to await transport. Because of his ‘outstanding service to Germany’s artistic community,’ Singer was sent to the ‘model’ concentration camp Terezín, where he died in January 1944. On 11 October 1997, a memorial tablet was erected in Singer’s honor on Mommsenstrasse in Charlottenburg.

By Lily E. Hirsch
http://holocaustmusic.ort.org

Street Scenes in Perth, Western Australia 1907

Posted on by
Reply

Entrepreneur Leonard Corrick’s camera moves up and down the streets of Perth recording the action on the street. At one point a man bumps into another man in the street and fisticuffs ensue as the camera moves past.

New Zealanders Albert and Sarah Corrick and their eight children burst onto the Australasian variety performance circuit in 1897. The Corrick Family Entertainers, later known as the Marvellous Corricks, promised regional and metropolitan audiences wholesome family fare spiced with ‘Vim, Verve, Vivacity, Variety’.

Video – Perth 1907

ANZAC – Australia’s youngest casualty

Posted on by
Reply

James Charles (Jim) Martin (3 January 1901 – 25 October 1915) was the youngest Australian known to have died in World War I. He was only 14 years and nine months old when he succumbed to typhoid during the Gallipoli campaign. He was one of 20 Australian soldiers under the age of 18 known to have died in World War I.

James Martin was born to Amelia and Charles Martin on 3 January 1901. His father was born Charles Marks, in Auckland, New Zealand however, after emigrating to Australia and settling in Tocumwal, New South Wales, he changed his name to Martin to avoid discrimination for being Jewish. Charles worked as a grocer, handyman and (horse-drawn) cab driver. His mother, Amelia, was born in Bendigo in 1876 to Thomas and Frances Park. Her parents had emigrated to Australia during the gold rush in the 1850s. The youngest of twelve children, she married Charles just before her 18th birthday.

Martin’s family moved to many different suburbs in and around Melbourne before finally settling in Hawthorn in 1910. Born in Hawthorn, he was the third of six children, and the only son. He attended Manningtree Road State School from 1910 to 1915, during which time he also received basic military training as a junior cadet under the compulsory training scheme.

At the outbreak of World War I Martin enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 12 April 1915, against the wishes of his family. His parents finally agreed however when he made it clear that he would sign on under an assumed name and never write to them if they did not consent. He gave a false date of birth to the recruiting officer, claiming to be 18, when he was actually 14 years and three months.

Martin joined the 1st Reinforcements of the 21st Battalion as a private and trained in Broadmeadows and Seymour (later Puckapunyal) camps in Victoria before boarding HMAT Berrima in June 1915 to deploy to Egypt. In late August, he was sent to Gallipoli on the steamer HMT Southland, to take part in the fighting against the Turks. En route, his ship was torpedoed by a German submarine off the island of Lemnos and he was rescued after spending four hours in the water. After being picked up, Martin rejoined his battalion at Mudros Island where they were transferred to the transport ship Abassieh on 7 September.

The following morning, just before 2:00 am, Martin’s platoon, 4 Platoon, landed at Watson’s Pier in Anzac Cove. He then served in trenches around Courtney’s Post, which was positioned on the ridge overlooking Monash Valley. During this time he wrote to his family telling them that “the Turks are still about 70 yards (64 m) away from us” and asked them not to worry about him as “I am doing splendid over here”. Throughout his time in Gallipoli, although his family were writing to him, Martin did not receive any letters from home due to a breakdown in the mail system.

Following a period of cold temperatures and heavy rain Martin contracted enteric fever (typhoid) in the trenches. After suffering mild symptoms for about a fortnight during which time he refused treatment, he was subsequently evacuated to the hospital ship Glenart Castle on 25 October 1915 after he developed diarrhoea. He died of heart failure that night, at the age of 14 and nine months, and was buried at sea the next day. At the time of his death only Martin’s parents and his best friend, Cec Hogan—who was himself only 16—knew Martin’s real age. Nevertheless, on 18 December 1915, Melbourne’s Herald newspaper reported Martin’s death in an article titled “Youngest Soldier Dies”.

Martin was awarded the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. His name is recorded on the Australian memorial at Lone Pine and on the Australian War Memorial roll of honour in Canberra.

His Majesty’s Troopship Southland – an incident of the Gallipoli campaign

Posted on by
Reply

HMT Southland was an ocean liner launched in July 1900 as SS Vaderland for Red Star Line service between Antwerp and New York. During her passenger career, the ship initially sailed under British registry, but was re-registered in Antwerp in 1903. Vaderland was a sister ship to Zeeland and a near sister ship to Kroonland and Finland.

After the beginning of the First World War, Vaderland was re-registered in Liverpool and converted to a troopship, ferrying troops of the Canadian Expeditionary Force from Halifax to Liverpool. While under the operation of White Star–Dominion in 1915, she was renamed Southland to avoid the German-sounding Vaderland.

The Southland was later used in the Mediterranean to carry troops of the 6th Essex regiment and two companies of l/7th Essex, transported from Devonport to Gallipoli from 4 July 1915 to 11 August 1915, and later from Alexandria, the Australian 22nd Battalion (6th Brigade) 2nd Division AIF with some troops from the Australian 23rd Battalion, General Legge and staff and 2nd Division Signals Company. During its sail from Egypt to Gallipoli on the 2 September 1914 at 9:45am it was torpedoed at right forward by the German submarine UB-14 30 nautical miles (56 km) from Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. The ship did not sink immediately, and was eventually beached on Lemnos, and all but 40 of 1400 men were able to leave in lifeboats and were picked up by other transports and HT Neuralia, although mostly by HMS Ben-my-Chree by about midday though some troops spent up to 4 hours in the water. During the subsequent rescue operations Ben-my-Chree took on board 649 troops and 121 crew from 21 boats and rafts and provided medical attention as required until all were transferred to the troopship SS Transylvania in Mudros harbour. Southland eventually limped back to Mudros assisted by HMS Racoon and was repaired.

The sinking was reported as

“A Splendid story is told of the sinking of the transport Southland in the Mediterranean Sea. When the torpedo struck the vessel rolled and the order was given to abandon the ship. There was never a cry or sign of fear. The Australian soldiers merely came briskly on deck singing ‘Australia will be there.’ The troops all went to their stations and lowered the boats in an orderly manner. The subalterns searched the interior of the ship for wounded and finally came on deck to find only the general staff on board. They helped to lower the last boats and got into a half swamped one themselves. Fourteen persons were killed by the explosion and twenty two were drowned including Brigadier General Linton.”

A record of this event is recorded in the war diary of Captain Herbert Franklin Curnow Thursday 2nd September Up 6am. Drew 120 rounds of ammunition and iron and landing rations. Pulled into Lemnos and dropped anchor about 10am. The Military Landing Officer came on board, got my disembarkation return and meantime informed us that the “Southland” having on board 2 Aus Div H.Q 6th Inf Bge HQ., 21 Bt 1 Coy 23rd Btn. some A.S.C. A.M.C. & Signalling details had been torpedoed behind us. Later ascertained about 25 lives lost including Col Linton, Brigadier. Turned in soon after dinner.

However, a member of Australian unit reported one crew shot for behaving improperly. The remaining men and ship’s crew were able to got to the Allied vessels later the same day. HMT Southland carried James Martin whose experiences, and those of his friend Cecil Hogan, were described in a book by Anthony Hill.

The sinking was depicted in the painting Sinking of the Southland by Fred Leist, who was appointed an official war artist in September 1917, and attached to the 5th Division AIF.

Southland was repaired and returned to White Star–Dominion for Liverpool–Quebec–Montreal service in August 1916, but on 4 June 1917 was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine SM U-70 while 140 nautical miles (260 km) northwest of Tory Island off the Irish coast with the loss of 4 lives.

First Australian Imperial Force – Mutiny on the Western Front.

Posted on by
Reply

The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during World War I. It was formed from 15 August 1914, following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany. Generally known at the time as the AIF, it is today referred to as the 1st AIF to distinguish from the 2nd AIF which was raised during World War II.

The 1st AIF was a purely volunteer force for the duration of the war. In Australia, two plebiscites on conscription were defeated, thereby preserving the volunteer status but stretching the AIF’s reserves towards the end of the war. A total of 331,814 Australians were sent overseas to serve as part of the AIF, which represented 13% of the white male population. Of these, 18% (61,859) were killed. The casualty rate (killed or wounded) was 64%. About 2,100 women served with the 1st AIF, mainly as nurses. Close to 20% of those who served in the 1st AIF had been born in the United Kingdom but all enlistments had to occur in Australia (there were a few exceptions). As a volunteer force, all units were demobilized at the end of the war.

The Australian infantry did not have regiments in the British sense, only battalions identified by ordinal number (1st to 60th). Each battalion originated from a geographical region. New South Wales and Victoria, the most populous states, filled their own battalions (and even whole brigades) while the “Outer States” often combined to assemble a battalion. These regional associations remained throughout the war and each battalion developed its own strong regimental identity.

In the manpower crisis following the Third Battle of Ypres, in which the five divisions sustained 38,000 casualties, there were plans to follow the British reorganisation and reduce all brigades from four battalions to three. In the British regimental system this was traumatic enough; however, the regimental identity survived the disbanding of a single battalion. In the Australian system, disbanding a battalion meant the extinction of the unit. In September 1918, when the call was made to disband eight battalions, there followed a series of “mutinies over disbandment” where the ranks refused to report to their new battalions. In the AIF, mutiny was one of two charges that carried the death penalty, the other being desertion to the enemy. Instead of being charged with mutiny, the instigators were charged as being AWOL and the doomed battalions were eventually permitted to remain together for the forthcoming battle, following which the survivors voluntarily disbanded.

Charles Bean in the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 – Volume VI – The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Allied Offensive, 1918 described the situation as follows:

The 1st and 4th Australian Divisions were now relieved and went to the rear for the “Corps” rest for which they had been hoping since July. General Monash had also insisted that the three remaining Australian divisions must go into rest after the next battle. While he was in the thick of preparation for that offensive, another sharp trouble, though much less serious than it might appear to non-Australians, descended on him.

The Army Council in London was concerned at the depletion of the Australian infantry through lack of reinforcements. It pointed out that the 57 Australian battalions were 8,500 men short, and that reinforcement drafts for the next four months, estimated at 3,000 monthly, would be insufficient to keep up even the present strength. Battalions which entered the battle with 300-400 men were in some important respects uneconomic, requiring the same staff as a battalion that took in 750. In the British Army this difficulty had been met by disbanding the fourth battalion in each infantry brigade; a similar measure had long before been adopted by the French and Germans, and this policy had already been approved for the A.I.F. in February: Battalions had been earmarked for disbandment but, in view of the extreme reluctance expressed by the Australian Government, it was to be carried out only gradually as it became unavoidable.

Three battalions had been thus disbanded in the spring; Haig entirely accepted the Australian Government’s condition, but in June he pointed out that of the 57 remaining battalions 5 now had less than 700 men, 17 less than 800 and only 11 more than 900, which was the strength then laid down as minimum. He considered this (‘a rather alarming degree of unevenness.” Birdwood (as G.O.C., A.I.F.) explained that there were still hopes of keeping the battalions at 900 and that they were disbanded only when so weak as to be inefficient as fighting units. On August 29th the Army Council drafted a letter to Haig saying that, in view of the shortage then evident, it considered that the reduction of the remaining four-battalion brigades to three-battalion ones should be carried out as soon as possible. Before sending this letter it passed the draft to A.I.F. Headquarters for comment, and Birdwood asked Monash for his views. Both realised that the step would cause intense heart-burning, and Monash, even now that his battalions were going into battle 300-400 strong, urged that it should be postponed till the new year.

It is not likely that weather conditions will permit of our carrying on for much longer at the same intense pressure at which the Corps has been going for the last five months, (he wrote to Birdwood on Sep. 7). In all probability if we carry on, at latest till the end of October, we ought to be able to carry on right over the winter. It was possible, he added, that G.H.Q. might then be able to do “what we all desire”-keep the Australian Corps entirely out of the line for the four winter months. Australian battalions had never been so effective as in the last month when they were all far below strength; he urged that 750 should be considered a sufficient strength even for next year. I welcome any pretext (he said to a friend on Sep. 8th) to take the fewest possible men into action. So long as they have thirty Lewis guns (per battalion) it doesn’t very much matter what else they have.

And it was true that the A.I.F. battalions, entering these great battles with 300-400 rifles, still attacked on fronts of 850-1,000 yards, and had even attacked on fronts of up to a mile. Carrying parties could not be provided; Lewis gun teams were reduced to two men, and Vickers gun crews could no longer carry full loads of ammunition. These and the food supplies had to go by pack or waggon, and in recent fights this had worked very well. Monash asked to be allowed to reorganise his battalions on a three company basis, but he well knew that most of them had already done this for themselves, and reduced their companies to three or even two platoons. Finally he asked to be allowed discretion to recommend the disbanding of “one or more battalions” if he and his generals found it advantageous. Birdwood insisted on prompter action, pointing out that the principle had already been determined in January. He and Monash now agreed that it should not yet be applied to the four original brigades, but he informed the War Office that it would be applied in all unreduced brigades as soon as found necessary.

It was immediately after this that Monash learnt of the coming withdrawal of “1914 men” (estimated by him at “upwards of 6,000”) on furlough to Australia, which obviously would render the disbandments more urgent. The battalions selected by divisional commanders on the advice of their brigadiers were the 19th, 21st,25th,37th, 42nd,54th and 60th; and on September 23rd the order went out for their immediate disbandment: in each case their records, and a few representatives were to go to training battalions on Salisbury Plain, whose companies would assume the battalions’ names, but the rest would reinforce some other battalion or battalions of their own brigade.

To officers and men of these battalions the blow was overwhelming. The step might be necessary-but why should their battalion be chosen. Men and even officers held among themselves indignant meetings. In the first battalion to hear of its fate, the 37th, Col. Story, a fine leader, took the step of protesting not merely to the brigadier, but over his head to Gellibrand, Monash and Birdwood, a serious breach of discipline. Moreover in the bitterness of the moment Story’s letter was foolishly drawn, disparaging sister units. He was relieved of his command, but his attitude had become widely known. At a meeting the men of the 37th agreed that on the final parade they would obey every order but the last-the order to march to their new battalions. On September 22nd when that parade took place, they did so, obeying every command but the final one. Brig.-Genl. McNicoll was then summoned and spoke to the men, but with the same result. The officers then reluctantly obeyed an order to fall out; after them the sergeants did the same-and one corporal and one private. The remainder were told that, if they did not join their new units that afternoon, they would be posted as absent without leave. Being left to themselves they at once re-established strict military form in the battalion, choosing from their own number commanders to carry on temporarily the absent officers’ duties. It was noticeable that those selected were not the “bad hats” or of the demagogue type, but the men most fitted to lead in action, and strict discipline was maintained. The battalion marched back to its huts; men already in detention for various offences were retained under guard ; the medical aid-post was re-formed by the orderlies, and church parade for next day arranged with the padre, who went with the men.

The “commanders” had meals with the men, rations being obtained through the support of other units who “lost” occasional boxes of food from their own waggon-loads as they passed near by. There was keen sympathy for these troops throughout the force and, one after the other, the other selected battalions, when ordered to disband (mostly on September 24th and 25th) took the same action. General Gellibrand had asked for representatives of the 37th to meet him, and later went to the camp and talked the matter over with the men in a friendly, informal way. Monash also spoke quietly to representatives of the 37th, and battalion Commanders and brigadiers addressed all the recalcitrant battalions. The men’s argument was the same in every case and was entirely sincere.

Look Colonel (said those of the 25th to Col. Davis) the 25th from the first has been built on esprit de corps. We have been taught that the regiment is everything. You have often told us that we must sacrifice everything for its honour. We have always obeyed you and we always will-in everything but what you now ask. We cannot obey you in this just for that reason-we would sacrifice everything for the battalion. They told General Wisdom that it was their unanimous wish to go into the next battle and to be given the hardest task: there would either be no 25th left to break up, or they would leave such a record as would make it impossible to break them up. All the resisting battalions said they were keen to enter the great attack that they knew to be impending, but they demanded to be allowed to go in with their identity unchanged. A point elicited by Gellibrand was that the amalgamation of two battalions would be much less keenly felt than the extinction (in the field) of one of them.

Some units were clearly affected by their commanders’ arguments, the strongest of which was that they could not indefinitely resist, which the men knew to be true; but only one battalion gave way. It is a tribute to the unrivalled hold of Brig.-Genl. “Pompey” Elliott on the loyalty of his men that the 60th Battalion, after disobeying its commander’s order to join the 59th, agreed to do so upon being addressed by this beloved stout-hearted Australian. What was Elliott’s disgust when next morning, September 27th, he learnt that the other battalions were being allowed to go into the coming battle intact. As the great offensive was only a few days distant Monash had urged upon Rawlinson that the disbandment should be deferred for a fortnight, and asked him to press this upon Haig. The news of the order, says a record of the 21st Battalion, “was received with deafening cheers.” Naturally trouble at once recurred in the 60th, but Elliott again addressed it.

“By using my influence to the utmost,” he wrote in his diary, “I managed to sway the men over the line. My brigade is the only one in which the reorganisation was successfully accomplished.”
This incident has been called that of “the mutinies over disbandment,” and so in the strict sense of the terms it was; but the refusal was not treated as mutiny by any authority, Australian or British. In contrast to the mutiny in the 1st Battalion, it had its origin in some of the best men and finest qualities of the A.I.F. Australian soldiers had experienced few ties of loyalty in their civil lives; and a public loyalty once conceived was sustained with a flaming zeal disconcerting to those who had encouraged it. If, as General Brudenell White always strongly wished, it had been possible to tie the A.I.F. battalions oversea to the corresponding regiments of the citizen forces in Australia, so that the home regiment fed battalions or even companies overseas as in the New Zealand force, this trouble would probably never have arisen. But the A.I.F. was an improvised force and the disbandment of a battalion carried too many of the consequences of its extinction.

Mutiny was one of the only two offences punishable in the A.I.F. by death. No man was punished for his part in the disbandment mutiny. The mutiny in the 1st Battalion was in a totally different category. The men who refused duty, 119 in number, were tried and, with one exception, found guilty, not of joining in a mutiny, but of desertion. The ending of hostilities caused General Monash not to enforce the penalties and almost certainly saved him and the A.I.F. from having to face difficult problems whose solution would have called for not only tact but the highest qualities of wisdom, leadership and moral courage. Monash had some of these. In this decisive fighting, for such it was, he was right to work his troops to the extreme limit of their endurance, which normally is beyond the limit to which men themselves think they can endure. At such times victory often goes to the troops that hold out longest, withstanding strain, toil or exhaustion in perhaps unbelievable degree and for an unbelievable time; and the value of different armies depends largely upon how far they are ready to do this. On the other hand students of history may doubt whether mere eagerness for military prestige could ever, as Monash apparently imagined, maintain the will to such sacrifices, or could be wisely substituted for the high aims of justice and humanity in implanting a motive for which ordinary men, in such a war, will readily die.

The 21st Battalion Australian Imperial Force

Posted on by
Reply

The 21st Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was raised in 1915 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I and formed part of the 6th Brigade, attached to the 2nd Division. It fought during the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front before being disbanded in late 1918. The battalion was the first Australian battalion to commence active operations on the Western Front and also had the distinction of being the last to pull back when the Australian Corps was withdrawn from the line.

Returning to Egypt via Lemnos, the battalion undertook Canal Zone defensive duties and further training. During this time the AIF underwent a period of reorganisation while its future employment on operations was decided. A number of units from the 1st Division were split up and used to provide cadre staff for newly formed battalions, however, the 21st Battalion, like the rest of those from the 2nd Division remained intact. In mid-1916 the decision was made to transfer part of the AIF to Europe to take part in the fighting along the Western Front, and in March 1916 the battalion arrived in France. In April they became the first Australian battalion to “commence active operations on the Western Front”. In July 1916, during the Battle of Pozières, the battalion was committed to the battle, but was mainly used to carry out portage tasks. Later, in August, during the fighting around Mouquet Farm, the 21st Battalion suffered its most significant losses of the war.

Throughout 1917, the battalion took part in two major battles. The first came in May, when the 21st Battalion fought in the Second Battle of Bullecourt. In October, during the fighting around Broodseinde they advanced over 3 kilometres (3,000 m) before being withdrawn from the line for rest.

After a period in reserve for rest and reinforcement the battalion was called upon to help to defend against the German Spring Offensive of April 1918. After this was defeated, the Allies launched their own offensive, known as the Hundred Days Offensive and subsequently the 21st Battalion went on to participate in the battles of Hamel, Amiens and Mont St. Quentin. During the fight for Mont St Quentin, Sergeant Albert Lowerson was awarded the Victoria Cross. He had led seven men, attacking the flanks of a post, rushed the strongpoint and captured it, together with 12 machine-guns and 30 prisoners. He was severely wounded in the right thigh, but refused to leave the front line until the position had been consolidated.

As a result of the heavy losses that the battalion suffered during this time, coupled with the limited reinforcements arriving from Australia following the defeat of the conscription referendum, the 21st Battalion’s strength fell to the point where it was able to field little more than a company of men fit for active service. As a result it was ordered to disband and provide reinforcements to other battalions. On 25 September 1918, however, the battalion’s personnel mutinied in protest against the order to disband and subsequently the order was rescinded. Thus, the 21st Battalion took part in the final Australian operation of the war, joining the attack at Montbrehain on 5 October. The following day, however, upon a request made by Prime Minister Billy Hughes, the Australian Corps was withdrawn from the line. The 21st Battalion had the distinction of being the last Australian battalion to be withdrawn.

Following this, the battalion was formally disbanded on 13 October 1918 and its personnel dispersed to other units as reinforcements. Throughout its service during the war, it suffered 872 men killed and 2,434 wounded (including those that were gassed). Members of the battalion received the following decorations: one Victoria Cross, five Distinguished Service Orders with one bar, one Order of the British Empire, 22 Military Crosses with seven bars, 29 Distinguished Conduct Medals, 117 Military Medals with seven bars, seven Meritorious Service Medals, 24 Mentioned in Despatches, and eight foreign awards.

The 21st Battalion received the following battle honours for its service during World War I:
Suvla, Gallipoli 1915–1916, Egypt 1915–1917, Somme 1916, Pozieres, Bapaume 1917, Bullecourt, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Hamel, Amiens, Albert 1918, Mont St Quentin, Hindenburg Line, Beaurevoir, France and Flanders 1916–1918.

The 21st Battalion attacks Mont St Quentin, 1 September 1918

The 21st Bn AIF Unit History can be ordered for online download here.

The 21st Bn AIF Unit History can be ordered on CD here.

28 Battalion AIF – Unit History

Posted on by
Reply

“The 28th: A Record of War Service in the Australian Imperial Force, 1915-19, Vol. I Egypt, Gallipoli, Lemnos Island, Sinai Peninsula” By COLONEL H. B. COLLETT – 1922

The 28th Battalion was raised at Blackboy Camp in Western Australia on 16 April 1915. The battalion left Australia in June, and, after two months spent training in Egypt, landed at Gallipoli on 10 September.

The 28th Battalion was raised at Blackboy Camp in Western Australia on 16 April 1915 from recruits previously earmarked for the 24th Battalion, which was instead being raised in Victoria. The battalion left Australia in June, and, after two months spent training in Egypt, landed at Gallipoli on 10 September.

28 Bn in Egypt

28 Bn in Egypt

At Gallipoli, the 7th Brigade, which included the 28th Battalion, reinforced the weary New Zealand and Australian Division. The 28th had a relatively quiet time at Gallipoli and the battalion departed the peninsula in December, having suffered only light casualties.

After another stint in Egypt, the 7th Brigade proceeded to France and the Western Front, as part of the 2nd Australian Division. The 28th Battalion took part in its first major battle at Pozières between 28 July and 6 August 1916. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division returned to the south in October, where the 28th Battalion took part in confused and costly fighting to the east of Flers, in the Somme Valley.

For many of the major battles of 1917 the 28th found itself in supporting roles. At the second battle of Bullecourt, the 28th provided reinforcements who were nonetheless involved in heavy fighting. The 28th went on to attack as part of the third phase at the battle of Menin Road, capturing its objectives in seven minutes, and was in reserve during the capture of Broodseinde Ridge. The battalion was also in reserve for the battle of Poelcappelle on 9 October, but, with the attack floundering in the mud, it soon became embroiled in the fighting.

In April 1918, the 28th fought to turn back the German spring offensive and, from 8 August participated in the joint British and French offensive that marked the beginning of Germany’s defeat. The Battalion was prominent in the fighting to secure crossing points over the Somme River around Peronne, and in the advance beyond Mont St Quentin. The 28th’s last actions of the war were fought as part of the effort to break through the Beaurevoir Line in the first week of October 1918. The first members of the battalion began returning to Australia in January, and the 28th was disbanded in March 1919.

The Unit History Volume 1 is available in PDF eBook format. Volume 1 of the Unit history covers the Unit formation, transport to Egypt, action in Gallipoli and the Sinai from 1915-1916. A second Volume was never produced.

To order the unit history on CD, go here.

To order and download the Unit history, click here.

To preview the ebook in Flash, click here.

To download a preview of the book, click here.

Blackboy Camp

Blackboy Camp

Gallipoli

Gallipoli

28 Bn at Gallipoli

28 Bn at Gallipoli

Map at Gallipoli

Map at Gallipoli

Tallest statue – The Spring Temple Buddha China

Posted on by
Reply

The Spring Temple Buddha is a statue depicting Vairocana Buddha located in the Zhaocun township of Lushan County, Henan, China. At 128 m (420 ft), which includes a 20 m (66 ft) lotus throne, it is the tallest statue in the world. When the 25 m (82 ft) pedestal/building it is placed upon is taken into account, the monument has a total height of 153 m (502 ft). As of October 2008, the hill on which the statue stands is being reshaped to form two further pedestals, the upper one being 15 m tall. The total height of the monument is now said to be 208 m.[2]

The project as a whole was estimated to cost around $55m, $18m of which being spent on the statue. It was originally estimated to consist of 1,100 pieces of copper cast, with a total weight of 1,000 tonnes. Beneath the statue is a Buddhist monastery. Plans of the construction of the Spring Temple Buddha were announced soon after the blowing up of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in Afghanistan. China has condemned the systematic destruction of the Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan which is a ironic considering the depredation of the Cultural Revolution and the destruction in the invasion of Tibet and the ongoing persecution of religious minorities, however……que sera sera.

The Spring Temple Buddha derives its name from the nearby Tianrui hot spring, which spews water at 60°C and is renowned in the area for its curative properties. The Foquan Temple, built during the Tang dynasty, houses the “Bell of Good Luck”, placed on top of Dragon Head peak. This bronze bell weighs 116 tons.

Koikyennuruff ranges or Stirling Ranges, Western Australia

Posted on by
Reply

Mr. Dale was at this time stationed at King George’s Sound, and late in 1831 he was requested by Captain Stirling to proceed to a high hill named Toodyeverup, or Toolbrunup, near the middle of the Koikyennuruff range of mountains. The Governor wished to ascertain the nature of this hill, and also of the adjacent country. In addition, the King George’s Sound natives had described two kinds of grain—kuik and quannet—which the White Cockatoo tribe used for food, and which, they said, grew in the vicinity of the Koikyennuruff Range. The kuik resembled rice, and the quannet was compared to a large pea. The former was eaten raw, the latter was ground and cooked in the ashes like a damper.

On the morning of the 21st January, a party comprising’ Mr. Dale, Mr. Clint, three soldiers, and Nakina (a native of King George’s Sound) left Albany. They walked through the cleared parts of the settlement, and entered the bush and woodlands to the north. Soon they struck a native path leading over the higher lands, which they followed until they were confronted by the King River. They crossed and resumed their journey on the other side, and a north by east course was made over hills, by large lakes, and through voiceless valleys, until they reached the eastern slopes of Porrong-u-rup. Thence they entered a dense forest which seemed to have no outlet, but after struggling through its dark recesses they emerged into an open country almost destitute of trees. Over this plain, bisected here and there by dry channels, they made a tedious course to the vale of Kalgan. The river was here but a chain of brackish ponds, from which the ground rose gradually into flattened eminences, bordered with narrow strips of white gum trees. Ramparts of mountain ranges were observed from these eminences, and presented bold and varied outlines, and gave some character to a scene that was otherwise monotonous and even depressing. On the 23rd January, while they were priding themselves on the killing of a kangaroo, they fell in with the White Cockatoo and the Will tribes of natives, With Nakina as interpreter they asked many questions of the country round about and the ranges for which they were making. One native named Armie consented to guide them to their destination. He conducted them to the western base of Toodyeverup, where was a deep channel with pools of brackish water. There the party camped.

Soon after daylight on the following morning Dale, Clint, Nakina and Armie set out to ascend Toodyeverup. At its base was a small spring of excellent water where they were able to slake their thirst—an agreeable change after the brackish liquid they had been compelled to drink. Then they went up the mountain, climbing from crag to crag, until they reached its summit. Dale reckoned the elevation to be about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. The ascent proved so steep and difficult that even Nakina and Armie could not accomplish it, and they stopped half-way up. Dale pushed on though he hoped for little from the view because of clouds which enveloped its apex. Just as he gained the top the clouds cleared away, but the panoramic view disclosed was disappointing. Though the area presented was large no object of importance was discerned; the principal feature was the dead-level appearance of the low lands. The surface of the immense plain to the north and east-south-east was diversified with open downs and extensive forests, whereon were numbers of bright bare spots which were supposed to be salt lakes. Towards the sea coast the country was mountainous, but as smoke rose from several native fires in that direction, the view obtained was obscure. He took angles and bearings of his position and descried Mount Hallowell, Talyuberlup, Mount Manypeak, the east hummock of Porrong-u-rup, Baldhead, Mount Gardener, Mount Barker, Yakkerlip, Mount Lindsay, and a peak of Koikyennuruff.

A start homewards was made on the 9th, and after a fatiguing day’s journey the explorers reached a lagoon at the northern base of Porrong-u-rup. Two miles beyond they passed through a gorge in the range, and in descending the southern side were gratified to discover a rich tract of land covered with verdant grasses and trees of gigantic growth. This valley resembled those at Mount Bakewell, and was watered by a spring of delicious water. On the 27th they returned to Albany. A limited area of fertile soil was discovered by Dale, but he did not obtain specimens of the kuik and quannet seeds. The White Cockatoo natives were cross-examined, but their replies were vague and could not be relied on.

Dr. Collie made another excursion from King George’s Sound in 1832. Leaving Albany on February 9, he crossed King River at the usual native wading place, and then with his party went over to the Kalgan River. He inspected the country north-east and west of the river, elaborating much of the information gained in the previous year. Some fine soil with excellent pasture was discovered here and there. He went near the Koikyennuruff Range of mountains, and had Porrong-u-rup as one of his most conspicuous landmarks. The Kalgan was more thoroughly examined than on his previous excursion, but taking the country as a whole, little of general interest was observed, and on the 12th February Albany was reached.

With indefatigable energy Collie continued to go out into the surrounding country, but the only other expedition of any note was that made in four days and a half at the end of May and beginning of June. He went 65 miles north by east of Albany, and passed on the south and west side of Mount Barker. The country inspected held out in his opinion special facilities for overland communication with Swan River. Abundantly grassed valleys and hills were traversed, which were fed by ample springs of water, In one meadow he found a bullock in high condition feeding; he was well satisfied with the country he inspected near Mount Barker.

Pictures of the Stirling Ranges, of Mt Toolbrunnup (1052 metres) or taken from Mt Toolbrunnup (ascending and from the summit.)