The men and boys of Woodside will be remembered (2)

 

 

The Woodside men and boys will be remembered: Brothers in Arms, William CLASOHM (254) and Stanley CLASOHM (6798)

When the First World War broke out on August 4, 1914, over 52,000 Australians rushed to enlist in first 5 months of the war. Of the 331,781 who eventually served overseas in the Great War, many groups enlisted together such as brothers, or mates from the same towns and suburbs across Australia. The bothers’ stories are particularly moving as many families experienced losing more than one of their sons: the Woodside community is one example of this.

The Woodside Honour Roll features three families who lost more than one son: the Clasohm, East and Eglinton families all lost 2 or 3 of their boys. The brothers’ stories will be retold together as ‘Brothers in Arms’.

William CLASOHM (254)

The Clasohm boys lived in Balhannah but are named on the Woodside Honour Roll both working locally and serving in the Cadets and Citizens Forces prior to the outbreak of the war. Their next of kin was their father, John Clasohm.

William James Clasohm was the older of the two boys and enlisted on January 1^st, 1916, at the age of 21. William was listed as a gardener. He was 5’7” in height and had blue eyes and brown hair. William’s nominated religion was the Church of England. Though enlisting in January of 1916, it wasn’t until June 9 that he departed from Australia aboard the A 19’Africa’ from Outer Harbour in South Australia.  Just over a month later he disembarked at Marseilles in France on the 20^th of July 1916 just as the AIF was preparing for its first battles on the western front at Fromelles in northern France. William however spent 2 months in the UK before he joined his battalion at Etaples early September and proceeded to join the 43^rd Battalion transferring from the 16^th on 4^th October 1916. In the final months of 1916 William’s records indicate he contracted mumps and was hospitalised in December and most of January 1917.

He re-joined his unit late January 1917 and on May 23^rd was charged with the crime of ‘Disobedience of orders in that he did not carry his greatcoat in his pack when ordered to do so. He was awarded the loss of 7 days pay.’

A few weeks later June 7^th William was wounded in action with gun shot wounds to his hand and transferred to a field hospital away from the front lines at Wimereux where he was treated for several weeks before returning to the front on July 6. Just 3 months later Private William James Clasohm was killed in action in the field on October 4, 1917, in the horrific Third Battle of Ypres specifically at Broodseinde Ridge. This theatre of war more commonly referred to as the Battle of Passchendaele, is said to be one of the worst of the war. Like so many of his peers in this muddy war-torn landscape of Flanders, the young man from the Adelaide hills was never found and so Private William James Clasohm from Balhannah is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres along with 55,000 other Commonwealth troops ‘Known Unto God’.

His name is recorded on this iconic war memorial on panel 7-17-23-25-27-29-31 and has not been forgotten. Every night in Ypres at 8.00 pm a Last Post Ceremony is conducted at the Menin Gate and all traffic is stopped where the public gather to remember all the war dead from the Great War. The Last Post is played, ‘The Ode’ read and wreaths laid by members of the public who choose to honour specific individuals or regiments. This ceremony was initiated in 1927 and except for the period of the second world war, has never missed a night’s dedication. During WW2 it was continued in London due to German occupation of Belgium and recently during the Covid lockdowns in 2020-21 it was continued without the public present. Next year if the 2022 Connecting Spirits Community tour resumes as planned in September/October, then if any of the Clasohm family request it, we will include William in our Menin gate ceremony.  

The Menin Gate War Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium. Over 55,000 names of missing Commonwealth soldiers killed in WW1 are listed on this memorial opened in 1927. The town’s traffic pass through the Menin gate until 8.00 pm when each evening the roads are closed for the Last Post Ceremony where the public attend from across the globe.

PHOTO CREDIT: Julie Reece

The walls of the Menin Gate are covered with names…they are remembered, William James Clasohm is just one…

PHOTO CREDIT: Julie Reece

Stanley CLASOHM (6798)

Stanley Edward Clasohm was the younger brother of William and at when he enlisted on August 15^th, 1917, was underage. At 18 years Stanley had to provide written permission from his father to join his older brother on the front lines. At 5’6” this young boy with blue eyes and ‘fair’ hair enlisted joining the 48^th Battalion leaving on the H.M.A.T “Aeneas” from the port of Melbourne on 30^th October 1917. The true tragedy of these Brothers in Arms was played out at this point: Stanley’s older brother was killed in action 26 days prior to Stanley’s departure. One can only imagine the fear and grief of these boys’ parents when they farewelled this 18-year-old having already learnt of the loss of their son William.

As Stanley proceeded to Europe, he was admitted to hospital on board ship and eventually disembarked at Devonport in the UK on 17^th December. His army service records state that he spent several months in the UK on the Salisbury Plains near Fovant, joining the battalion in training. In April of the final year of the war Stanley was moved to the front lines in France only to be seriously wounded on the 11^th of July 1918 with major gunshot wounds to his face.

After a mere 3 months of active service this young man died at the age of 19 in a Casualty Clearing Station on the Somme on July 12^th1918 in the final months of the war. He was buried at Crouy British Cemetery at Crouy-Sur-Somme 16 kilometres northwest of Amiens. The war that had raged for 4 years was ending but once more the Clasohm family lost a much-loved son. The song ‘He was only 19’ written for a soldier in the Vietnam war, resonates here with Stanley’s narrative. Let us hope we can visit this young man’s grave in 2022 on behalf of the Clasohm family and our community.

 

                                                                            PHOTO CREDIT: Julie Reece

LEST WE FORGET

 

 

The Woodside men and boys will be remembered: power of social media (1)

 

The Woodside men and boys will be remembered: response to Pte. Harold Mitchell’s story

 

In response to the first Woodside soldier’s story Pte. Harold Mitchell, a wonderful link has been made. One of the members of the Remembrance 2001 tour responded to the post on Facebook and not only were precious connections re-made, but the story of this Woodside man was added to.

Ebony McConville (nee Boulton) was the baby of the inaugural tour group in 2001, and at the age of 16, she was the one who uncovered Mitchell’s story 20 years ago. Ebony recounted how she interviewed several family members who shared some Harold’s wartime experiences including the account of his fatal wounding and the Bible he was carrying at the time. The former Mount Barker High student also shared with me her reflections on the R2001 commemorative tour and how it has impacted on her perspective now as a working parent of two young girls. I know that the commentary on events like this tour often referred to as ‘life changing’ can be seen as cliched, however after discussing this with Ebony I have no doubt that this was very true in her case.

A second Woodside local who is a friend of my daughter-in-law, also contacted me, Kylie Grivell. Kylie confirmed the account and related to me, ‘…my mum is Helen Fechner and the story about Harold being shot through his Bible in his pocket, is a very well retold point in his life. We have a replica penny that his mother was given as a ‘mother’s sacrifice’ award.’

From these two valuable responses, I also learnt that Harold’s family members are buried in the Woodside cemetery and these headstones tell another sad side to the family’s history. Harold was one of three boys and his younger bother Alick died at the age of 13 on 18th July 1915 just 3 months into the Gallipoli campaign. Harold’s parents lost their young son and a year later Harold enlisted for war only to die in May of 1917. Lucia Mitchell’s life was again struck by tragedy as she was widowed in 1937 when her husband Robert died at the age of 69. She lived a long life until 1971 when at the age of 95, Lucia Agnes Mitchell died leaving her sole remaining son Robert and daughter in-law Emma Emily Mitchell.

Like so many families who lived during the early part of the 20^th century, war and grief shadowed their lives. As Ebony stated to me, the education she had from the Remembrance 2001 tour and project framed her perspective and values as she entered adult life and gained a life- long appreciation of how lucky and privileged the generations are who never had to live through those dark years of war and conflict. The wartime generations really knew what sacrifice and resilience meant: it was the embodiment of all they lived through. Let us who did not have to grow up during those bleak years, honour their memory by educating ourselves about our wartime past and never forgetting those who endured it.

The Mitchell family graves: Woodside cemetery, September 2021

              Harold Mitchell’s parents Robert and Lucia’s grave : Woodside cemetery September 2021

Harold Mitchell remembered at his younger brother’s grave: Woodside cemetery September 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

The Woodside men and boys will be remembered (1)

 

The Woodside men and boys will be remembered: Pte. Harold Mitchell (1068)

My small business recently joined the Woodside Commerce Association (WCA) and at the AGM, the committee accepted my proposal to initiate a special commemorative focus on local men and boys who died in the Great War. Of the 178 names on the Woodside Honour Board, 25 died in the war and are buried overseas. In the lead up to Anzac Day 2022, I aim to feature each of the 25. If you are related to or know of any living members of the soldier’s family, please contact me and I will personally commemorate your WW1 relative on the next Connecting Spirits Community Tour planned for September 2022. In addition, if YOU are interested in taking part in the next CS tour, then email me for the details at julie@juliereecetours.com.au 

The first Woodside soldier to be remembered on this blog is Private Harold Mitchell (service number 1068). Harold’s story was first researched in 2000 and was commemorated in the first WW1 tour I ran while teaching at Mount Barker High School in 2001. His short biography was retold in the book we published in 2002, ‘Journey of Remembrance: An account of Mount Barker High School’s Remembrance 2001 project’, Reece, J (Openbook Print, 2002): this account was compiled by Jayne Wilson (Huxtable) on behalf of his relatives who contacted the school prior to the tour in 2001. Other details have been included from the National Archives of Australia service records.

Born at Woodside 4 February 1895, Harold was the son of Robert and Lucia (aka Lucy – nee Seidel) Mitchell and was the eldest of three sons, Harold, Robert and Alick. Harold was the great-grandson of Margaret and John Murdock who sold their cotton milling factory to Coats Limited in Paisley, Scotland and migrated to South Australia in 1838. They were some of the first settlers to buy several properties around Woodside, Inverbrackie and Murdock Hill areas. Harold attended Mount Barker High School and later helped his father to farm some of their land at Murdock Hill until the time of his enlistment.  (NAA service records also record his ‘trade’ as a cleaner though it’s unknown where and who that was for)

Pte. Mitchell enlisted on 15 February 1916 at Adelaide age 21 and served as a Gunner with ‘Y3A Trench Mortar Battery’ in the A.I.F. Harold was 5’7” tall with a ‘medium complexion’, blue eyes and brown hair. He identified as a Methodist.

On the 9^th of June 1916, Harold sailed from Outer Harbour, en-route to France on board the  ‘’A” 19 Afric landing at the port of Marseilles one month later on the 20^th of June. He proceeded to England and on the 17^thOctober 1916 he joined the 43^rd Battalion and was based on the Salisbury Plains for a month. During his time at Larkhill he committed an offence when ‘…on active service...he was AWL (absent without leave) from midnight 21^st October to 6.00 a.m. two days later, the 23^rd. He lost 10 day’s pay.’ 

(It is worth noting that in all other armies, being AWOL could result in a court martial and potential execution by firing squad: the AIF was the only force in WW1 that did NOT have capital punishment for offences committed by their troops) 

And so, after a short period in the UK, Harold was ‘taken on strength’ to face the front lines and proceeded to France on 23^rd November 1916 to endure the coldest winter on record in the region known as the ‘Western Front’. After only 6 short months in the field, Pte. Harold Mitchell from Woodside was Killed in Action on Monday 21^st May 1917 and according to the family’s account, he was shot with the bullet going through his Bible and lodging in his heart. He was just 22 years of age. Private Harold Mitchell is buried in the Strand Military Cemetery in Belgium and on Monday 10^th December 2001, his story was shared with the R2001 tour group.

The year following the Remembrance 2001 tour, Mount Barker High School named parts of the campus after four of their old scholars who died in the Great War: Mitchell sub-school was named after this young man from Woodside, and it is to be hoped that 20 years on in 2022, we will once more return to his grave in Belgium to remember his ultimate sacrifice.

(Harold was second cousin to Margaret Schwab (nee Mitchell), mother of Helen Fechner and Lois Zerk – see ‘Journey of Remembrance’ page 111)

Pte. Harold Mitchell was first commemorated on Monday 10 December 2001 at the Strand Military Cemetery, Hainaut, BELGIUM.

 

'Don't forget me Cobber': the story of the lost of Fromelles

Fromelles 2008-2010

July 19-20 , 1916 marked the day the AIF experienced the reality of war on the Western Front during the Great War for the first time. In a tiny village in the northern France, Australian and British troops took part in a frontal attack on the German Army that created a story that was unresolved until 2008, 92 years after the actual failed attack. These two days in 1916 were little known after the war despite the casualties inflicted on the Australian forces being the worst of any single military campaign in the history of the AIF. Many men were never found though it was a commonly held belief by locals in the village and amongst a number of historians, that a large pit of 250 soldiers lay close to the Pheasant Wood. 

In 2008 after a  years of speculation and investigations, the 250 men's remains were finally located in the mud of Fromelles. For the following two years every soldiers' remains and pieces of physical evidence were removed from their original burial place. With meticulous attention to detail, the identification and plans for proper reburials, were initiated. The construction of the new Pheasant Wood cemetery and 249 reburials were undertaken over January in 2010 with the Australian Federation Guard present for all reinterments. For the initial group of soldiers positively identified, new headstones with their identities were placed at each individual grave. One unknown soldier, the 250th, was buried on July 19, 2010 in the presence of Prince Charles and other officials. Australian relatives of the Fromelles boys were also in attendance. In the lead up to July 19-20, I will be posting a number of blogs related to the involvement of Connecting Spirits over the years in this extraordinary  story. 

December 2008 : the Fromelles burial pit prior to excavation. The 2008 Connecting Spirits group were privileged to visit this poignant location.

Local media coverage of the Fromelles story.

January 2010 : the  Fromelles reinterments take place.

 

Is that a light I can see at the end of the tunnel?

 

March 2020 it was official: the world was facing a global pandemic and lives, businesses, dreams, and expectations were turned on their heads in a heartbeat. Covid 19/lockdowns/border closures/ quarantine hotels and many other new terms bits of language became part of everyday conversation. The plans people had in place for all the parts of their lives were in disarray and no industry was more affected than that of tourism and hospitality. My small business Julie Reece Tours was in the midst of planning and payments for the 2020 Connecting Spirits Community Tour originally due to depart September…then April 2021…then November 2021 until we finally stopped placing futile dates on our plans.  Businesses folded in the travel industry and ‘Jobkeeper’ kept the rest on survival mode. Many fine operators with years and years of experience in the industry found work in new areas of the floundering economy with the faint hope of one day returning to the field they loved and were good at.

However now in March 2021 with the Covid vaccine rolling out across the globe and economic markers showing gradual signs of improvement, I think I can see that light beaming at the end of the tunnel that has plagued us for a year. Most of the clients who paid deposits for the CS tour, are still keen and have not cashed in their Emirates flights. All the hotels I booked have kept my deposits in the system and new dates and yet another draft itinerary has been prepared. This time I feel positive and keen to get back to my laptop, plotting and planning another Connecting Spirits Community tour with a reasonably sound chance of it happening!

So, we start again…April 2022…the CS group will depart for the (vaccinated) U.K, France, and Belgium to continue the commemorative journey that is at the heart of the CS project. Five possibly six days in the UK (3 nights in the Salisbury Plains, 2 in Canterbury and 1 in London) five days on the Somme based in Amiens and finally a full week in our beloved Ypres, Belgium including an Anzac Day service at Buttes New British Cemetery in Polygon Woods. If the local public Dawn Service is not running next year, then our group will have our own intimate event with some of our treasured Belgian friends in attendance.

Unlike previous tours, requests for payments will NOT be made until all the requirements for safe overseas travel are in place and the Federal Government has lifted the ban on international departures for tourism. However, watch this space and the Facebook page for updates as I will bring these as and when they occur. It is to be hoped that this time next year the backpacks will be waiting and new travel accessories ready to use.  I cannot wait and this time we have an excellent chance of DEPARTURE!!! Stay safe and stay positive my friends…we will return!!

Some of our 2019 memories from the Connecting Spirits Community Tour

(Photo credit Julie Reece)