F Company 5th Battalion AIF

Clive Wellington Were
Public Schools Company
Harold Roy Lester
First World War Centenary 2014 – 2018
F Company 5th Battalion AIF
The 5th Battalion was among the first infantry units raised in Victoria for the AIF during the First World War and was raised within a fortnight of the
declaration of war.
The 18 Old Melburnians who enlisted in August 1914 were:
Athol Gladwin Adams KIA 1917
Clive Wellington WereKIA 1915*
F Company, the Public School’s Company formed part of the 5th Battalion and
was made up almost entirely of volunteers who had attended Public Schools
in Victoria including Scotch College, Wesley College, Geelong Grammar
School and Melbourne Grammar School.
The battalion was raised in August 1914 and embarked just two months later.
After a brief stop in Albany, Western Australia, the battalion proceeded to
Egypt, arriving on 2 December. It later took part in the Anzac landing on 25
April 1915, as part of the second wave. The 5th Battalion as part of the 2nd
Brigade fought at the battle of Lone Pine in August 1915. The battalion served
at Anzac until the evacuation in December.
James Kirk Borrowman
Hugh Arundell Were
Harold Burke KIA 1918
Herbert James Wigg
Eldon Trevor Cole KIA 1915
Alfred Wriigglesworth KIA 1916
After the withdrawal from Gallipoli, the battalion returned to Egypt and, in
March 1916, sailed for France and the Western Front. From then until 1918
the battalion was heavily involved in operations against the German Army. The
battalion’s first major action in France was at Pozières in the Somme valley
in July 1916. After Pozières the battalion fought at Ypres in Flanders then
returning to the Somme for winter.
Reginald William Dale Dean
18 Old Melburnians enlisted in F Company including Hugh Peck (OM
1903) who was later the architect who designed The Old Melburnians War
Memorial Hall and was the father of benefactor Nigel Peck (OM 1945). Hugh
Peck was in the Landing at Anzac and was part of the second wave. He was
wounded and spent some four months in hospital.
Battalion History
The 5th Battalion was among the first infantry units raised for the AIF during
the First World War. Like the 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions it was recruited from
Victoria and, together with these battalions, formed the 2nd Brigade.
In 1917, the battalion participated in the operations that followed-up the
German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, and then returned to Belgium to
join the great offensive launched to the east of Ypres. The battalion continued
operations until late September 1918. At 11 am on 11 November 1918, the
guns fell silent.
Charles Henry Copp
Eric Corney
George Howard Earp
George Frederick Fitzgerald
Eric Woodruff Hill
Reginald Dalton Hooker
Harold Roy Lester KIA 1915*
Eric Wallace Moorhead
Hugh Leonard Peck
*Killed in the Landing 25 April 1915
The 14th Battalion AIF
First World War Centenary 2014 – 2018
Ora et Labora
The 14th Battalion was adopted by Melbourne Grammar School and the School provided the Regimental Pocket Book which was issued
to all Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the Battalion.
The Commanding Officer of the Battalion was Lieutenant Colonel Richard
Courtney VD (OM 1888) and a number of officers and men in the 14th
Battalion were Old Melburnians, including staff member William Hoggart, the
first Head of Ross House.
The motto of the Battalion was that of the School “Ora et Labora”
Battalion History
The Headquarters of the 14th Battalion opened at an office at 178 Collins
Street, Melbourne in the last week of September 1914. On 1 October it
relocated to Broadmeadows Camp where the battalion’s recruits, principally
from Melbourne and its suburbs, were taken on strength and trained.
With the 13th, 15th and 16th Battalions, the 14th formed the 4th Brigade
commanded by Colonel John Monash. It embarked for overseas on 22
December.
The 4th Brigade landed at Anzac Cove on the afternoon of 25 April 1915. On
19 May the Turks launched a massive counter-attack. During this fighting
Lance Corporal Albert Jacka of the 14th was awarded the AIF’s first Victoria
Cross. Jacka’s leadership and courage became legendary within the AIF and
he was eventually commissioned in the 14th Battalion, which came to be
widely known as “Jacka’s Mob”. His Victoria Cross Citation read:
“Lance-Corporal Jacka, while holding a portion of our trench with four other
men, was heavily attacked. When all except himself were killed or wounded,
the trench was rushed and occupied by seven Turks. Lance-Corporal Jacka at
once most gallantly attacked them single-handed, and killed the whole party,
five by rifle fire and two with the bayonet.”
Courtney’s Post was the centre post of three – Quinn’s, Courtney’s and
Steele’s – that occupied precarious, but critical, positions along the lip of
Monash Valley, in the heights above Anzac Cove. Monash Valley ran right into
the heart of the Anzac position and, as Shrapnel Valley, continued on down
to the beach at Anzac Cove. The post was named after Lieutenant Colonel
Richard Courtney, commander of the 14th Battalion, which had occupied the
position on 27 April 1915.
Nominal Roll of Officers
Of those listed:
•32%
Killed in Action
•30%
wounded/invalided home
•28%
returned home prior to 1918
•10%
survived Gallipoli to Armistice
None their Ranks could Sunder
First World War Centenary 2014 – 2018
The Old Melburnians Badge
On 10 September 1914 the President of the Old Melburnians Mr Casimir Woinarski (OM 1880) travelled to the Broadmeadows Military Camp
to farewell those Old Melburnians going to the war.
War verse of the School Games Song
Mr Woinarski addressing the Old Melburnians said ”We have ourselves the
honour to come here and wish you personally God-speed and safe return
from your great mission. We ask each of you to accept a letter of farewell,
and an Old Melburnians badge. We hope you will wear it under your tunic
as a mascot in time of peril.”…the flag you have enlisted under stands for
honour, faith and duty and we know you will serve it as you have served the
flag of the old School, whose sons you are”
Faced the Empire’s stubborn foemen
The following is a copy of the letter which is addressed to “Old Melburnians
about to go to the Front in 1914”:
The Council of The Old Melburnians views with pride the fact that so many
of those who have passed through The School have offered their services
to their King and Country. The School in the past has given of her best to
the service of the Empire. Her sons in peace have adorned the learned
professions, and have taken high place in the wider world of business. They
have in war already proved their worth, and we know they will do so now in
this the hour of the Nation’s need.
To each Old Melburnian in the forces the Council of the Society extends most
cordial congratulation. To the School motto, “Ora et Labora,” we would add
the later one, used for the first time on the occasion of the South African
war, “Macte Virtute Pueri.” and the more homely, but not less cordial, “God
speed! Safe Return!”
The war verse of the School Games Song will be sung in your honor
wherever Old Melburnians are gathered together. We, who remain, will send
these words out to you, and we know that they are true: (see next column)
To each of you the Old Melburnians give an Old Melburnian’s badge. Let it
be placed inside your uniform as a token That each man is wearing the colors
of his School. Let it be a talisman, a treasured possession, and may it ever
remind you that The Old Melburnians are with you.
C. J. Z. WOINARSKI, President.
R. W. K.WILMOT. Hon. Secretary.
GEO. E. BLANCH, Headmaster.
September 3th, 1914.
Some, in strife of sterner omen,
Fought, as erst their sires — her yeomen ;
Won the deathless name.
Praise ye these who stood for Britain—
These, by foreign marksmen smitten ;
Praise them, for their names are written
High in storied fame.
None their ranks could sunder;
who could shirk or blunder?
So stood they true to the Old Dark Blue,
And all their foes went under.
Honour ye the Old School’s story—
Heroes, who—her sons before ye—
Died or lived, but fought for glory.
Honoured evermore.
The Empire Calls
First World War Centenary 2014 – 2018
The Prefects 1914
The enormous impact that the war had on the School can be no better illustrated than by the following photographs of the Prefects of 1914. There were two photographs taken because new prefects were appointed to replace those who
enlisted at the outbreak of the First World War. All Prefects in both photographs enlisted or applied for war service.
Thomas Millear enlisted in June 1916 as a Gunner in the Australian
Field Artillery and saw action on the Western Front.
Reginald Francis Baillieu enlisted in August 1916, joined the
Australian Flying Corps and was awarded a Military Cross for
conspicuous gallantry.
Thomas Sidney Austin enlisted in February 1915 and as a member
of the 8th Light Horse and saw action at Anzac.
John Victor Wischer left for England, where enlisted in June 1915
in the Royal Garrison Artillery and saw service in France.
Norman Leslie Steele enlisted in May 1915 and gained his wings
and commission in the Australian Flying Corps. His aircraft was hit
by Turkish fire whilst engaged with the enemy. He was captured and
succumbed to his injuries on 20 April 1917.
Ernest William Austin left for England and gained a commission
in the Royal Field Artillery in August 1915 and awarded the Military
Cross at Passchendaele.
Eric Brodie McKay enlisted in May 1915 and gained a commission
in the 22nd Battalion and saw action at Gallipoli. He was wounded at
Pozières and subsequently died of his wounds.
Edward Keith Tolhurst enlisted in May 1915 as a Private in the
Medical Corps. He served with the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance
and took part in the Battles in the Sinai Peninsula.
Wilfred Kent Hughes enlisted on 14 August 1914, embarked on 18
October 1914 and landed at Anzac in May 1915. He was awarded
the Military Cross in 1917.
Geoffrey Eginton Davis enlisted in September 1916 and embarked
as a Gunner in the Australian Field Artillery. He arrived in France in
October 1917.
Arthur Roy Cox enlisted in October 1914 in the 14th Battalion and
was in the landing at Anzac. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre
(Belgium in 1919).
Clive Brewster Joske volunteered on the first day of the war but
was invalided with pneumonia before being medically examined. He
joined the Royal Flying Corps and saw action over the Ypres Salient
1915 –1917. He was awarded an MC in 1917.
Alan Frederick Patterson applied for a commission in April 1916. No
information on his war service is available.
Keith Douglas Fairley applied to enlist in the AIF in August 1914
but was rejected because of poor eyesight. He was later accepted
for active service as a Private in August 1918.
Percival George Hartley enlisted in May 1915, joined the Medical
Corps and served in the Sinai, where he gained his commission and
was subsequently awarded a Military Cross.
Geoffrey Rutter Clarke travelled to England and enlisted in July
1915 in the Royal Field Artillery. Gaining his commission, he saw
service around Basra and Baghdad.

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