Reginald Harrington's Journey of Remembrance: Final Blog Post (8)

 Reg's journey comes to an end.

As our 2022 Connecting Spirits Community Tour comes to the final week, we also reflect on the end of Lieutenant Reginald Harrington's wartime journey. His letter in May 1918 stated his belief he would now finally be going home. However Reg's health deteriorated quickly and the final letter he wrote to his wife Edith, is difficult to understand and shows his rapid decline. He wrote:

'14 May 1918 ( Royal Victorian Hospital Netley, UK) 

My Dear Darling Ediss

Just a note to let you know I am...tho sound living Dr. says yes...I am losing all...about in a couple of months.

Heaps and Heaps of Love and kisses darling

From your old man.'

Lieutenant Reginald Harrington DCM died on 10 June 1918 and was buried with full military honours in the Netley Military Cemetery on 13th June at 2.00 pm. The Chaplain to the hospital the Rev. F.W Bennett-Symond officiated at the interment. The details from the burial report state:

'The coffin was a good polished elm and the deceased officer was accorded a full military funeral. The coffin was draped with the Union Jack and surmounted by a beautiful wreath. Gun Carriage, Band, Firing Party, Buglers and Pallbearers under the command of an Officer, were present.  Prior to the interment a service was held in the Garrison Church, Netley. Several officers ( patients in the Netley Military Hospital ) were present and acted as Pallbearers. A party of about 50 Australian soldiers followed the remains to the cemetery. The grave will be turfed, and an oak cross erected by the AIF. Lieutenant Balfour, Administrative Headquarters, AIF London, represented the AIF at the funeral.'

One more letter ends this tragic narrative, written by the nurse who cared for Reg at Number 3 General Hospital in France. Katie P. wrote to Edith on 6th October 1918:

'France 6 October 1918

Dear Mrs. Harrington

Your letter has juts reached me and I'm terribly grieved to hear about your husband having died soon after getting to England. We were proud to get him over and he wrote twice to me from Netley saying he wished he were back here with us at No. 3 General. 

You must know he was terribly ill and fought for every inch of his life. Many men would have died long before. But he was a Splendid fighter and his one idea was to get back to you and his little girl. It was very sweet to see him with your photos beside him. Practically blind but wanting to have you near.

Dear Mrs. Harrington please accept my very sincere sympathy. The only consolation you can have is that your husband died for his King and Country and nothing finer could we have. We are very busy now. I'm on this Ambulance train taking down the wounded to the hospitals.

With Kindest Regards

Katie P.'

Today on Saturday 9 October 2022, these final letters were read out at the grave of Reginald Harrington in remembrance of his extraordinary story. Prior to the commemoration our group had a private tour of the Netley Chapel, the only remaining part of the hospital and to read out the details of his funeral in the chapel we visited, was a moving and profound moment of this tour. On this sunny autumn day this man from South Australia, his wife Edith  and little daughter Gwen, were honoured by our group. The Last Post was played and the Ode read on behalf of the Harrington family back home in South Australia. 

Lest We Forget.

 

(A detailed blog about Netley will follow at a later date.) 

The original hospital opened in 1863 and treated thousands of patients over the century it operated. Only the chapel remains of this massive building.

The chapel as it is today.

Looking up to the chapel from the landing site on the Southampton waters.

Lieutenant Reginald Harrington's grave at the adjacent cemetery. 

(Photo credit : Julie Reece 9 October 2022) 

Reginald Harrington's Journey of Remembrance: Blog post 7

 It's back to Blighty for Reg...

 After a day exploring the historic town of Canterbury it's time to resume our journey of commemorations. Our destination for the next few days is on the Salisbury Plains based in Amesbury. We will complete the final dedications to the 2022 soldiers and also reach the final part of Reginald Harrington's journey. 

Picking up Reg's story after his investiture and brief leave in England and Scotland he briefly returned to France on 17 June but one month later in July it was back to England for various training responsibilities in Oxford and on the Salisbury Plains. On 5th December 1917 Reginald Harrington proceeded to France once more to re-join the 59th in the field. The next 5 months saw ongoing sickness and hospitalisations until April 1918 in the final year of the war. Harrington was wounded in action resulting in poisoning and blindness from a gas attack. On May 1st 1918 Reg wrote to his wife Edith reinforcing his desire to just go home. He wrote:

'9 May 1918 ( Hospital in France - just before returning to England) 

Have had a nasty time dear old girl but am Cheerio again. This is the first try I have had at writing for over a fortnight ...was quite blind this is only a film now. Doc says I am doing tip top...very pleased with me and is sending me to England in a day or so where I should pick up a treat. They have been so very good to me here and have also written to you for me once or twice. 

I  have had several letters from home which the Padre has read to me and two, one from Dad and Mum dated March 10th which after  long time I was able to read myself, getting better everyday my Sweetheart and have those snaps of Gwen and you and Rene by me to cheer me up.

Heaps and heaps of love darling...it means HOME this time.

Loving Hubby.'

The White Cliffs of Dover were the signal to Reg and his peers of some respite from the front lines of the western front.

(Photo credit: Julie Reece- 2022 tour) 

Reginald Harrington's Journey of Remembrance: Blog post 6

 From France to Buckingham Palace to Scotland and back to the front in Belgium...Reg's war drags on.

The 2022 Connecting Spirits group have crisscrossed the Somme heading north to the Ypres region in our first week on tour. The horrors of the Somme and now the Ypres Salient have been thoroughly  shared with our battlefields expert Rod Bedford. And as we reflect on the parallel journey of Reginald Harrington, his narrative takes him back to dear old Blighty for his investiture at Buckingham Palace to receive his Distinguished Conduct Medal from the King. Over the last year of 1916-17 however, Reg is finding the separation from his beloved 'wifey' and little Gwen becoming harder to endure. He writes:

'9 April 1917 (FRANCE) 

Since writing my letter of a few days back I have had some wonderful luck. You will remember I told you of a little incident that happened in the advance, well the higher authorities seemed fit to send my name in dispatches and the result was that your old man after 32 months of varied experiences has been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. What do you think of that Mrs. Reg?  Just how I would love to see your face when you get the news, it will help to make up for a lot won't it darling? If ever I get back to Blighty I shall get a little miniature brooch made of  the medal so my own brave little woman shall be able to wear the honour as well....Heaps and heaps of love and kisses my sweetheart to both yourself and our darling baby from your ever loving and affect hubby

Reg.

5 June 1917 (LONDON)

I was given charge of the Australians to be decorated and marched them round to the Wellington Barracks where we were checked off and told  off to different carriage buses to which we were driven through Hyde Park to the spot, there was a big crowd. At the ground we were all taken off  to the chains with our numbers on them. Mine was No. 127 and we were again checked and then some big wig came along  and put hooks into our tunics.  By this time the crowd had got jolly dense  and we were  all wishing it was over. Then some more big wigs got up into the dais and then the Queen Mother arrived. The shouts were deafening but really she is wonderful woman. She had some funny old things with her and then came along the King, Queen and Princess Mary the latter a little darling , now don't be jealous my pet, I am not allowed to call. But everyone loves the Princess, dressed very quietly and just a slip of a girl she is awfully popular with the public. The Queen looked splendid, then there was all the frillies to be gone through, but the whole show was very simple.

Then the show started and one by one the fellows went up to the King along a sort of race up to him and down a race back to his seat, as you marched  up to him your number, rank and name was called out and so after what seemed like ages I stood before the King saluted. He hung the medal  on the hook and then said "Have you just come over from France for this?" I answered yes Sir. " I am afraid you have had some very hot work over there. Were you in the last lot of fighting?" I said yes Sir except for Bullecourt. The the King said, " I think all you Australians have done wonderfully well indeed. I congratulate you all."

Somehow dearie I can't enjoy this sort of thing it was bad enough when I was over here before and if anything worse this time. I can always see the front ahead of me ... can't get it out of my mind and shan't so long as I have to go back. On Sunday I got down to the river at Richmond but had a mad fit on me, felt utterly miserable and could not keep still for a  second. I walked for miles  and eventually got back to London and was wondering what was the best to do when another good  old pal of my old troop in the 4th Light Horse yelled put to me and came running across. 

Next day I reported  and was given leave till the 13th . I booked a ticket to Inverness and tonight my very own sweetheart  I leave for Bonny Scotland and a good clean country...Only one fly in the ointment wifey and that is I am on my own, I want you ever so badly, more than ever I want my wife and baby and if it was not for the hope the prayer that one day I shall get back to you darling, everything would finish for me. Some day dear girl and then please God I shall be worthy of you. 

Heaps of love my sweetheart both for yourself and our darling for ever.

Your loving and affectionate husband

Reg.

15 February 1918 (BELGIUM)

Time goes on my sweetheart and there still seems no better chance of my getting back to you, for a sight of home and my lover ones is all I need to back me up again. This week I wrote out  an application for leave to Australia...goodness only knows if it will receive any consideration...

Here it is cold dear at stand to at 5 o'clock this morning I tell you I nearly froze... This part is fairly quiet just now dearie: we are on the Messines Ridge. 

2 March 1918 (BELGIUM)

 I have headed this letter Belgium, in fact it is correct,  but from where I am writing is a nice little Pill Box. You have read of them, they are part of the Bosch system and a pretty good one too they come in jolly handy to us though for one can keep warm in them no matter how cold it is outside. Today it has been raining and snowing, bitterly cold all round but I suppose it won't be long now before we have the warmer weather with us.

So far my sweetheart I have kept out of harm's way and so go on hoping. ...And now my sweet wife I must finish up ..it has been inky dark tonight but the moon  will be up soon and I shall have to start work. Kiss my daughter for me my wifey and store up heaps and heaps for your own dear old self with all my love darling from

Your ever loving and affec hubby

Reg.' 

Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park (taken during the 2019 tour)

Back to Belgium : Poperinge - behind the front lines

Reg refers to the pillbox: these block houses are still standing across northern France and in the Ypres Salient.

Photo credit: Julie Reece September 2022

Reginald Harrington's Journey of Remembrance: Blog Post 5

 Onto the battlefields...

The last three days the group have been immersed in the narrative of the Somme battles and commemorations of our relatives and those of our broader local networks, have been the centre of our journey. The battles at Villers Bretonneux, Hamel, and across the valley to Albert, Thiepval, Mouquet Farm, Pozieres and Dernacourt were explained in detail by our battlefields expert, Rod Bedford. We visited many key sites including the chateau at Bertangles where Monash was knighted in the field. The evidence of the war still leaves its traces with the landscape revealing many of the old trench lines, craters and occasional shell casing or other bits of the 'iron harvest'. One of the most extraordinary sites were the ancient caves at Nours where thousands of examples of graffiti scratched into the rock by the WW1 soldiers, can be viewed underground.  (a separate post will follow about this site).

Over a century ago this landscape was a very different place, one that Reginald Harrington describes in some detail in his letters to his wife Edith as he recalls his first experiences on the Somme :

'4th June 1917:

We travelled by train in what we call at home 'box trucks'. We lived in them for 3 days and used to get off and light fires alongside the track and boil our dixies. The line was crowded with trains so far as I could see...there were trains...trains...miles of them. Gradually we reached Albert  our base and an air fight was going on. The air just seemed alive with shells bursting around some planes, the Huns had only an hour or so before the station and there was mess everywhere.

We marched out to our billets at Dernancourt and ...then we moved up further to the rear in motor buses. I have never seen so many and at night you could see the lights twinkling for miles. 

The roads were fearful , just a deep slush up and over your ankles. All this part of the country was just riddled with shell holes and only old trenches and broken wire, some where the lines have been.

Then comes Bullecourt, that graveyard of Australian soldiers...Bullecourt will be a painful name in thousands of Australian homes . It was by far the worst bit of hill they have come to yet.'

Albert - the famous golden Madonna the troops nicknamed Fanny Durak after the Australian Olympic diver.

Shell casings  are commonplace on the Somme - known as  the 'Iron Harvest'

Rod Bedford explaining the nature of trench warfare at Beaumont Hamel, a Canadian site.

The Digger memorial at Bullecourt

Commemorating Ngarrindjeri soldier Arthur Walker at Mouquet Farm. 

(All photos taken by Julie Reece, September 2022)

Reginald Harrington's Journey of Remembrance: Blog post 4

 Off to foreign lands....

Prior to Reg's time on the front lines, like so many of the first AIF, their experiences mirrored those of a tourist travelling to foreign places and lands, new and fascinating. Lieutenant Harrington's letters refer many times to the interesting and extraordinary sights he witnessed. En-route to Egypt he wrote about his very first exposure to people and places across the seas:

'Sunday 15th November 1914: 

Ceylon in sight in going on deck this morning and all hands are fairly excited the first land since leaving dear old Australia a fortnight ago. All morning we steamed along the coast, not near enough to recognize the vegetation, and we passed numerous native fishing  boats or catamarans as they are called and funny things they are. Each boat being manned by 3 or 5 Ceylonese, who wear a fig leaf  and a turban. Came to anchor in Roadstead off Colombo at 10 o'clock a.m. and near enough to get a grand view of trees and a portion of the city. 

The scenery through the telescope is really fine and I should love to land and have a look around. Everybody who is not on duty is spending their time hanging over the side or gazing through field glasses at the town and of the latter I have done a good deal. So have the officers. One poor beggar thought he would not live to see it and was buried off the Africa coast this morning.

Monday 16th November 1914: 

Colombo at night as seen from the transports looks lovely and we would all dearly like to get on shore and look around. It must be great on shore and would be well worth a trip . This morning the thing most noticed by me  was the presence of numerous butterflies, all sorts shapes and sizes and of beautiful colors, they were really lovely and one could easily fancy what they would be like on shore.  Red ones with black or fawn wings, pure white, yellow, black and red ones, spotted and salmony colored ones, it is past to state  the blend of colors  but one could watch them a long time without getting tired.'

And as our 2022 group begin their WW1 journey across the former European battlefields, we too play the role of tourists as we soak up the regional differences of the places we visit. Obviously our world is a globalized one, with many recognizable features like those in  our own homeland. However as we begin our adventure,  we immerse ourselves in those things that are different or unusual, just like Reg did 108 years ago. 

Exploring beautiful Amiens on our first day on the Somme. 

(Photo credit: Julie Reece, Sunday 25 September 2022)

The back lanes behind the Amiens Cathedral are recounted by  Sebastian Faulks in his iconic WW1 novel ' Birdsong'. 

(Photo credit: Julie Reece 25th September , 2022)

'The Boulevard Du Cange was a broad, quiet street that marked the eastern flank of the city of Amiens...The Azaires' house showed a strong formal front towards the road from behind iron railings.' (page 3) 

Reginald Harrington's Journey of Remembrance: Blog Post 3

 LEAVING AUSTRALIAN SHORES : 1 November, 1914 and  23 September 2022

As the 2022 Connecting Spirits Community Tour finally depart for Europe, we will look back at the day Lieutenant Reginald Harrington DCM, also finally left Australian waters. His ship was in the very first convoy of troops from Australia that left from Albany in Western Australia on the long journey to the western front via Ceylon, Egypt, Turkey and finally to Marseilles. He writes of the sadness about leaving his young wife Edith and baby Gwen and looks forward to the day of his return. Reg and his brother Keith sailed from Port Melbourne on 18^th October, but it wasn’t until Sunday November 1^st that his contingent finally left Australian waters. Conditions on board were not great and many horses and some men died on the long voyage across to the middle east. He wrote:

‘I slept on the deck last night but tonight am in my hammock, these are hung in troop deck, above the mess tables, and in my opinion far too close, especially as first above ones are the horse stalls, the smell from which are far from pleasant. I would not be surprised if we are subjected to an epidemic of some sort before the voyage is over.

Sunday 1^st November 1914

As expected, we sailed early this morning from Albany, got under way about half past 6 o’clock and we have been steaming three quarters speed since: the sight of all the transports is really wonderful. We do not know where we are sailing but are now 7 o’clock p.m. nearing the ‘Luewin’ and so, I suppose have seen the last of dear old Australia for some little time to come. The sea is very calm, and the prospects are for fine weather. Our squadron had to do stables today, and early this morning we put overboard the fourth horse, destroyed by the vet on account of becoming mad! The second from the same cause since leaving Melbourne. It is a mark against our administration I think that arrangements were not made to land the horses whilst we were laying in Albany, as we’re there over a week.

Reginald Harrington's Journey of Remembrance: (Blog Post 2)

‘DEPARTURES’ (Blog post 2)

23 September 2022 has been a long time coming! After planning this tour in mid to late 2019 and making bookings, arrangements and then facing Covid where all the plans were put on hold, our tiny group is finally departing for Europe in two week’s time. Despite undertaking nearly 20 commemorative tours since 2001, this one feels like the first. The adrenaline kicks in with the anticipation and excitement of finally leaving but within the context of some unknowns that international travel post Covid presents. So, when we look back to the journeys of over 330,000 Australian military personnel in the Great War, reading letters and diaries from departing soldiers, in many cases the sense of adventure and excitement seeps through their writing. As we follow the letters of Lieutenant Reginald Harrington DCM, they  give an extraordinary insight to one man’s wartime journey as he wrote to his wife Edith over the 4 plus years he was overseas. This is his story:

16 November 1914 (Colombo, CEYLON) 

From what I can gather it is intended to remove the embargo on letters, sealed after leaving this post, so now I am going to make an attempt to write a long letter and tell you my own darling wife all the little incidents that have happened on our voyage so far. It is now a month since we steamed away from Melbourne, and it will be nearly another month before we reach England. From the day we knew we were to leave I have kept a little diary and I will write this letter as a copy of it as you may see, darling girlie, that every night when writing it up I have had you in my mind and have longed to post you a decent letter, but as the instructions given us were definite, I could not let you know a single thing as regards our movements. I have not had a letter from you, darling since the day before we sailed, so it is now over a month since I last heard from you and I am actually awfully anxious to know that my darlings are well. 

(Further on in the letter, Reg describes his feelings at the point of departure in the previous month from the docks at Melbourne bound for the war.) 

18 October 1914 (Melbourne)

Reveille sounded at 11.30 pm on the 17th …coffee at 12.30 am. Cleaned up the horse lines, and tidied the tents, withdrew lead ropes and heel pegs, and put our kits on a motor lorry, saddled up our horses and in full marching order…left Broadmeadows camp at 3 o’clock on Monday morning. We rode through Melbourne down to Port Melbourne and reached the pier at 6 o’clock. On reaching the pier we took off the saddle and bridle and put on the ship halter with which we were provided and led our horses on board our transport. The horses went on splendidly. And gave no trouble at all : fancy my darling wifey, the whole of our squadron had its horses, over 150 in all, on board in 40 minutes. Nobody was allowed up the front but on the deck we could hear them cheering as we got away from the pier. It is strange the emotions one feels at times like this and  felt glad indeed my darling girl  that you were far away.  and so spared the pain of a parting  before going on board and then again I felt I would give dearly to be able to say one last fond goodbye before leaving our coast, we came to anchor in bay that that might dear, and as I managed to get some postcards of the ship, I sent you one and also one to dear little Gwen.  

'The 2nd LH Regiment leaves Brisbane's Pinkenba Wharf. The scene was the same at other ports of embarkation in Australia and New Zealand.'

Photo and text from 'The Anzacs', Pedersen. P ( 2007) page 21.

Walking in the footsteps of Lieut. Reginald Harrington DCM (Blog post 1)

 

 

REGINALD HARRINGTON’S Journey of Remembrance 2022: Blog post 1

With our 2022 Connecting Spirits Community Tour departing in two month's time, our itinerary planning is nearly complete. As part of this year’s much awaited tour, the group will follow in the footsteps of one South Australian soldier Lieutenant Reginald Harrington D.C.M from his and brother Keith’s departure from Australia through to his final days in the UK. The first post sets the scene with a letter Reginald sent to his daughter Gwen who was only two years of age at the time. In this evocative document, the South Australian officer explains to little Gwen, his reasons for leaving her and enlisting to fight in the Great War. His daughter kept the letter for all her life and when she was 90 years of age, Gwen explained to me the significance of this powerful text. The letter was sent from the training camps at Mena in Egypt on 24^th February 1915 two months prior to his participation in the infamous Gallipoli campaign.

(Take note: Reg’s punctuation, sentence structure, capitalisation and grammar has been transcribed as HE wrote it)

 

My Darling little daughter Gwen

It seems strange to me writing a letter to you, when I know that it will be many years before your dear eyes will be able to translate my message. Two years ago today your Dad was the happiest & proudest fellow in all the world. Your dear Mother will have told you why, and today because I am so far away from you both I made my mind to write you a letter, for your Mother to give you when you are a big wise girl to read, and so that you might know, as you will find out for yourself, only too well later on in life, how your welfare and your image fills my mind & heart.

In a few days’ time, with the rest of the Australian Forces, we leave to go to the front and with the knowledge of what we have to face, in front of me. I know that whereas I may be lucky enough to go thorough it all, and return home to you, to see & watch over your life, at the same time, less than five minutes in the firing line, may be the end of my career. In this case my baby, when you read this letter, you will be about 18 years old (the age your Mother was when I first met & fell in love with her).

Your  Mother will, in the event of my not returning, have the care of your little life, your education, character, and learning and will have told you all about your Dad, and about this Great War and that, apart from Patriotic feelings and a citizen’s first duty, my further reason and purpose, for leaving a comfortable home, loving wife, small baby daughter & a good position, as well as all the other nice things of a peaceful life, for the rough and ready living of a soldier, was so that my wife, Your Mother, and you our little self may be able to live out your lives in peace, and to help stop forever, any chance of our enemy, fearful and cruel ever invading & violating the shore of our country.

Well my daughter the following are the things I want you to think about and do, only some of them, for there will be hundreds of little things your Mother will teach you, as only Mothers can. Always love your Mother & do as she teaches & tells you, never do the slightest thing away from her that you would not do in her sight. Tell your Mother all your little secrets, keep nothing from her, no matter what it is, and remember, Your Mother Gwen, is & always will be your best & wisest friend, so no matter what is wrong always go to her, for if your Mother won’t help you, then my daughter no one in this world will, so remember my wishes. Make your dear Mother your best friend & tell her everything. Do this dear girl and as I found out the truth of it all, in my later life you will find out for yourself. For the rest, everything lies in yours, and in your sweet Mother’s hands. God bless you both. Anyhow, I am going to get back alright, and so will be able to watch you grow up & oh! I hope till I am an old man, together with your Mother, but this is in case my luck is out. May God always protect & guide your dearest lives, is the burden of the prayers of your loving Dad.

 

As we tour the former Western Front this year, we will keep Reginald’s story front and centre of our journey. It is to be hoped that we will be able to continue the narrative in 2024 if we are able to tour to Turkey and re-join the narrative at Keith Harrington’s grave the resting place of Reg’s brother.  By following Julie Reece Tours Facebook page and ticking LIKE, you will keep in the loop of our planning.

 

Wife and daughter of Reginald Harrington : Edith with baby Gwen at the age when her father left for war

(Photo credit: taken from 'Journey of Remembrance, REECE, J 2002, pg 197) 

Lieutenant Reginald Harrington DCM 

(Photo credit: taken from 'Journey of Remembrance, REECE, J 2002, pg 197) 

 

 

Looking out over the Aegean from the Gallipoli peninsula

(Photo credit : Julie Reece 2002 visit to Turkey)

Canakkale, Turkey

(Photo credit : Julie Reece 2002 visit to Turkey)

 

 

Walking in the footsteps of Lieut. Reginald Harrington DCM (Introduction)

 

REGINALD HARRINGTON D.C.M.: His journey of Remembrance 2022

In 2000 in the lead up to the first commemorative tour I organised, ‘Remembrance 2001’, one of the students who joined the project uncovered a superb collection of letters written by Lieutenant Reginald Harrington DCM. Reg along with his brother Keith, were students at the Hahndorf College prior to the war. Ben Huxtable was Year 11 in 2001 when the Remembrance 2001 group departed for Europe, and he researched and eventually commemorated 33 Hahndorf veterans who were buried overseas. In his attempts to locate and contact the families of these WW1 soldiers, Ben had several names he could not trace. He placed an advertisement in the ‘Sunday Mail’ listing the remaining names he was researching seeking help from the public to make contact. And this is where Reginald Harrington’s story came to light.

 A lady in her late 80’s contacted Ben and identified herself as Reg’s only daughter, Gwen. A lively conversation ensued when eventually Gwen told Ben that she had all her father’s letters right from the time of his enlistment (18 August 1914) through to the final letter written by his nurse in England writing to Reg’s wife Edith following the death of her beloved husband. (6 October 1918) Much to the consternation of Gwen’s own family, she handed over all the precious letters into the hands of this 16-year-old boy she had only just met! Ben and his mother Jayne then carefully and lovingly transcribed these letters and after the tour we published a book ‘Journey of Remembrance: an account of Mount Barker High School’s Remembrance 2001 project’ where most of the letters were included in full. (We made the decision to not include two of the letters due to the very personal nature of the correspondence out of respect for Edith his widow.)

So why now 20 years later is Reg’s story coming to light once more? The 2022 Connecting Spirits Community Tour group decided to focus on Harrington’s story and follow his journey each day we are touring. In the lead up to our departure on September 23, I will write a blog post featuring Reg’s letters as they pertain to that date. It may be that we are in the same location or on the same date he was writing. The relevant letter or extract will be shared at the start of each day and included in regular blog posts. In that sense we really will be following in the footsteps of this man from rural south Australia.

To conclude our commemorative journey, we will read the final letters at his grave in Netley Cemetery in Hampshire in the UK in memory of this remarkable man. The Royal Victoria Military hospital where he was cared for in his final days, closed in 1978 when a park was established by local authorities that surrounds the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery. The original chapel remains today and houses a museum sharing the stories of the hospital, medical treatments and those who worked and were treated there. It is our intent to visit the old chapel when we complete our commemoration to Reg.

I would like to acknowledge Allison Russell for allowing me to use her original idea in sharing Reg’s story in this manner. Allison produced a daily blog for the 2012 RSL/Connecting Spirits tour using this format for a different soldier William Murray FOWLER and has generously supported its use for Reginald Harrington. Thank you, Allison.

 

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS

(Quoted from Chapter 8, ‘Journey of Remembrance’, page 196)

‘Over 25 of Reg’s letters are in existence and his daughter, Gwen Woodforde, has kindly given permission for these to be published. Because of their length and lack of punctuation some editing has been done, but the essence of his letters has been kept intact. His story is an extraordinary one. He enlisted early in the war with his brother Keith. They were both in Cairo during the riots in the red district of the Wazzir, and Reg gives a detailed account of this little-known event. He witnesses the mortal wounding of his beloved brother Keith and despite much sickness and lengthy periods of hospitalisation, he endures the horrors of the Western Front in the Somme region and later in 1917 -1918 in the hell of the Ypres Salient. Reginald Harrington was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and was invested at Buckingham Palace. Throughout his four years away from home and family, his letters convey his enduring love for his young wife and little baby Gwen. These documents are moving, engaging and a powerful record of one man’s experiences during World War One. His words encapsulate the tragedy that is the Great War.’  (Julie Reece, 2002)

Since the book and the letters were published 20 years ago, Gwen has passed away, but the legacy her father’s story has created, continues. Each week in June- September 23, extracts from Lieutenant Reginald Harrington letters to his wife Edith will be published on this blog.

 

The Eglinton brothers : the family looks back...

 

To conclude the dedication to the Woodside Brothers in Arms, one of the relatives of the three Eglinton brothers who died in WW1, has written a final tribute. Thank you, Michael Lucas, for this heartfelt piece from his family’s perspective and for filling in some of the gaps of the public official records.

THE EGLINTON BROTHERS

Five enlisted only two returned

How quickly we forget. Although the Ode does implore us, those who remain to remember, our family has forgotten. My wife is a direct descendant of an Eglinton. A search through our family archives, which is unfortunately very sparse, has not revealed any evidence of the story of the Eglinton Brothers.

The five Eglinton Brothers were the nephews of our Eglinton ancestor, James, and the Grandson’s of William. James and William were the first publicans of Terowie in the Mid North of SA. At the time it was a bustling railway town, where the trains were changed to suit the NSW gauge, en- route to Broken Hill. William died in 1891, and James took on the licence. He then served as publican for several of the prominent hotels in Adelaide including the Maid and Magpie, Magill Road, the Arab Steed Hutt Street and the Semaphore Hotel. Unfortunately, there is little mention of the farm in Terowrie or the family in Forest Range.

An interesting side note is that William married Elizabeth Forrest, whose brother, Alexander, was my direct ancestor. Thus my wife and I have a common ancestor six generations in the past.

Yes, there were five brothers who enlisted to serve in World War One. The other two, John Charles and Wilfred Rowe returned to Australia. Wilfred Rowe was severely injured during grenade practice and was medically discharge in Dec. 1917. After the death of the second brother, Clarence Roy, the eldest brother, John Charles applied to Ministry for a compassionate discharge. He wrote to his younger brother, Thomas William, to support the appeal. Thomas wrote in support, but the appeal was declined. Tragically, Thomas was killed shortly after writing the letter. Upon learning of the death of his brother, John Charles re-applied. This time the Ministry agreed and he was discharged on 8 November 1918. Ten days before the end of the war.

Back to the reflection. Reading the accounts of the three brothers, I am moved to tears. Having read and reflected on the letters written by mothers, granting permission for their sons to serve, only to receive the tragic news of the death of the same son six months later. Then to read these letters appealing to the Ministry to allow one of the five Eglinton brothers to return to work on their farm, was heart wrenching.

This does make you wonder what might have been, but that would be futile. This same story is probably repeated during all of the conflicts that Australians have served. And now we have a memorial for all of the brothers that served as a point of focus for our reflections

The hotels and farms have been disposed of, and the family has dispersed throughout Australia. And then to return to the initial thesis. They will not grow old and we shall remember. Even if the story has been lost to the family, the names appear on memorials in South Australia and on the Western Front. As long as one person reads the name and stops to reflect on what has been, they will be remembered, their memory will not die.

MICHAEL LUCAS, Relative of the Eglinton brothers.

Photo credit: Julie Reece:  Anzac Day 2022

 

 

The Woodside boys will be remembered: Brothers in Arms (3)

 

The Eglinton Brothers in Arms: Laurence (2106)

The third and final of the Eglinton brothers to be featured in the lead up to Anzac Day 2022, is Laurence, service number 2106. Laurence was the youngest of the three, aged just 21 years when he enlisted on 6 April 1916 following in the footsteps of his older siblings. He was a labourer, single, had served as a cadet in the citizen forces prior to joining the A.I.F. He had grey eyes and brown hair and identified himself as an Anglican.

His mother Elizabeth already had sons on active duty and to see her youngest go to war must have been heartbreaking as it was for all those parents who saw their beloved children depart. Like Thomas, Laurence was part of the 50^th Battalion and departed from Adelaide on- board the ‘Seeang Bee’ on 13 July 1916. He landed at the UK port of Devonport on 9 September 1916 to transfer to France 2 months later at the start of November.

From the French base at Etaples, Laurence marched to the 5^th Australian Division Base Depot on 18 November. He did not see any action until the following year when his unit was on the front lines on February 14^th, 1917. His time in the field was tragically brief as Laurence was recorded as being killed in action just under 2 months later on 2 April. The last to enlist, the youngest brother was the first to die and Elizabeth would have to endure this loss and grief twice more over the next two years. 

The service records of the two brothers Thomas and Laurence, show that they were involved at Noreuil at the same time and in the same battalion: Thomas being wounded on the same day his younger brother Laurence was killed …April 2^nd, 1917. One wonders if  Thomas knew of the death of his younger brother Laurence at that time or to learn later when he was recovering from his wounds.

Laurence Eglinton is buried in the Australian cemetery at Noreuil in France. The Connecting Spirits tour group will visit his grave in September later this year.

Rest in Peace young man.

Photo credit: taken from 'Hurcombe's Hungry Half Hundred', FREEMAN, Roger. page 105.

The Woodside boys will be remembered: Brothers in Arms (2)

The Eglinton brothers in Arms: Thomas William (1672) 

The second of the Eglinton brothers to be featured in the lead up to 2022 Anzac Day is Thomas William, service number 1672. Thomas was born in Forest Range and his mother Elizabeth was originally listed as his next of kin, but this was changed on his service record to his wife Florence. Thomas was a gardener and enlisted on 29 February 1916.  He was 30 years of age, 5 and a half feet tall, had blue eyes and dark hair. His nominated religion was Church of England.

 After only 6 weeks of training, he departed from Adelaide on the A60 ‘Aeneas’ on the 11^th of April 1916 and headed for Egypt with the newly formed 50^th Battalion. On arrival to the port of Suez on 14 May, he was admitted to hospital with measles. Unfortunately, Thomas was plagued with illness and hospitalisations for the whole period of his time in Europe with a range of medical conditions including influenza, boils, jaundice and gunshot wounds.

He finally departed from Egypt headed for the western front via England on 18 November 1916. His time on the front lines in France was brief as not long after joining his unit he was again hospitalised with influenza and in December returned to England via Boulogne where he was treated in a number of hospitals on the Salisbury Plains. Over the period of late 1916/17, the troops endured the worst winter on record and the suffering endured in the trenches was compounded by the horrific cold.  During this period, Thomas spent 3 months in the UK until he returned to France once more to re-join his unit on 20 March 1917.

At the start of 1917, the 50^th battalion was engaged in ongoing activity on the Somme with major battles in Noreuil during March and April. Thomas was on the front lines for less than a month during these battles and on 2 April was wounded with a gunshot would to the leg.  Once more he returned to England on 7 April from Boulogne and spent 5 months recuperating.

At the end of September, he was to return to the field in time for the 3^rd battle of Ypres including the notorious Battle of Passchendaele. On 6 October Thomas William Eglinton re-joined his unit to survive for 7 months. He was killed in action on 9^th May 1918 in the Villers Bretonneux region. The 50^th battalion were part of the allied forces that recaptured this French village on Anzac Day 1918 and to this day the community of Villers Bretonneux have never forgotten the Australians. The village school remembers the Australian troops with a sign in their schoolyard stating… ‘Never Forget Australia’.  Thomas is buried in the Adelaide Cemetery on the edge of the village, the town where the Dawn Service is held on Anzac Day at the National Australian Memorial to the 11,000 missing Australians on the Somme.

This year’s Connecting Spirits Community tour group will visit his grave and share his story and that of his brothers at the ‘Brothers in Arms’ memorial next to Polygon Wood in Flanders. Rest in Peace dear Thomas .

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY MAL JURGS:

'After the battles of 1916 in the Somme, the German Army withdrew to the Hindenburg Line in March and April of 1917, followed closely by the British Army. The Germans used fortified villages as defensive positions to hold off the Allies, including Noreuil. It was here on the 2nd April that the 50th Battalion engaged in battle during which Pte. Thomas William Eglinton was wounded.' 

 (Mal Jurgs, Principal of Coomandook Area School, has co-managed 'Connecting Spirits' since its inception in 2006. When our groups tour, Mal is our chief guide on the battlefields working in collaboration with Rod Bedford. His ongoing leadership and contributions to CS, are the foundation of all we do. Thanks Mal. )

1. Thomas William  EGLINTON (1672)

Photo sourced from : 'Hurcombe's Hungry Half Hundred', FREEMAN, R.( 1991) pge. 157.

2. Adelaide Cemetery, Villers Bretonneux: burial place of Thomas

(Photo credit: Julie Reece)

3. Ecole Victoria, the local Villers Bretonneux school 

(Photo credit: Julie Reece) 

4. The fields of the Somme looking over the Villers Bretonneux cemetery from the Australian National Memorial to the 11,000 missing Australians  lost with no known grave

Photo credit: Julie Reece.