On this day in 1916

19/07/2016

By Tony Cunneen

Today is the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles (often referred to as Fleurbaix at the time).53rd Battalion went into action 20 July at Fromelles under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Bert Norris, the barrister from University Chambers in Phillip Street. Norris was leading his men into their first major battle. He received his last orders from Captain Geoffrey Street, who he probably knew as the nephew of Justice Street. The 53rd Battalion advanced. Norris was killed within the initial 20 minutes, according to Charles Bean. In the heat of battle it was impossible to properly care for the bodies so there was an extensive investigation into the possibility that he was a prisoner. His death was confirmed later. His body was not found until 2010. Lieutenant George Ernest Allan, a 23-year-old law clerk from Bondi was also serving in the 53rd Battalion. He too went missing in action on the 19 July. The Red Cross tried to track down details of his fate. Eventually the various accounts confirmed that he had been shot in the advance. His body has never been located.

The men straggled back to their lines. The uncertain fate of many of the men made the work of Langer Owen KC and the Missing and Wounded Enquiry Bureau both arduous and essential. The case of the solicitor Lieutenant Clarence Collier of the 53rd battalion may serve as one example of how these enquiries developed.

The Collier family in Boundary Road Roseville received a cable from the military authorities after the battle to say that their son was wounded. Then they heard nothing, from the army or from him. They would have known of the battles and enormous casualties from the newspapers that were full of accounts and lists of those fallen in action. They approached the Missing and Wounded Bureau in Pitt Street, which then cabled London. A series of different accounts came back from wounded soldiers scattered in hospitals across England. One said Collier had sprained his ankle; another said he was still at the front. The names of other witnesses were given and they in turn were tracked down and approached. The story of the sprained ankle kept reappearing. In November the family were told that their son was classified as “Wounded and Missing.” London told them to make further enquires in Sydney. They went back to Langer Owen’s office. In addition they went to see returned soldiers from their son’s unit who were in hospital. The bureau went searching for these men.

In early February 1917 Sydney barrister David Wilson went to No. 4 Australian General Hospital in Randwick to interview a soldier from Collier’s unit. The account was written up by Wilson and has the tone and detail of a legal interview.

At Fleurbaix on 19 July Informant and Collier were together in a charge at about 40 yards distance from our parapet. There was a muddy creek waist deep in slush and Collier and informant were lying side by side alongside this creek until a further advance was ordered.. After going a few yards Collier was hit and fell. Informant saw him fall and two days later passed the spot again and noticed that Collier’s body was still there. Death must have been instantaneous. Collier was young, auburn complexion, medium height, rather stout build.

There was some glory amidst the chaos. Major Adam James Simpson, the law Clerk from Hunter’s Hill was serving with the 56th Battalion, and the son of Justice Simpson, the Chief Judge in Equity at the time. He led two companies into the attack and managed to extricate most of them with very few casualties. As a result of the fine leadership he displayed Lieutenant Colonel Humphrey Scott, another nephew of Justice Street, recommended Simpson for the Order for the Crown of Italy.

Tony Cunneen is a regular contributor of legal history articles to _Bar News._

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