Recently I attended Bob “Dogs” Kearney’s 10th Battalion’s book launch at Keswick Barracks. Knowing that my Grandfather had served with the Battalion during the First World War I decided to revisit his service days. Having purchased and read Dogs’ book, Silent Voices, I want to take to thank him for inspiring me to research my Grandfather’s war service.
Unbeknown to me and as fate has it, I myself served in the 10th Battalion Royal South Australia Regiment many years later, serving with Charlie Company which mainly consisted of Broken Hill lads. My way into the unit came in 1978 when the battalion made the decision to raise a Company in Broken Hill.
Some years ago I wrote to the Australian Archives National Office and acquired my grandfather’s Personnel dossier. It is a remarkable experience to read through the photocopied pages, beautifully handwritten in pen and ink. Along with my father’s stories which he related to me during my younger days, I have formed a picture of Pop’s life growing up and working around Broken Hill early in the 20th Century. As a young man leaving his home, enlisting into the AIF, his adventures must have been many. Here is a quick overview of my grandfather’s (Pop) service.
William Tyson was born in Allendale, Victoria in 1900, one of eight children. His father was a miner and soon after his birth the family moved to Broken Hill. It is interesting to see that he enlisted there on the 7th of September, 1916 and stated he was then 17 years old. Like many young men of the day he had served four years in the Army Cadets. A very interesting point, after reading through his enlistment papers many times, that nowhere on any of the forms is there any mention of dates of births. Were the forms printed this way so as to stop applicants from committing perjury?
My father told me of several more facts. At the time of Bill’s enlistment he was working on the mines in Broken Hill. My grandfather put his age up as did many men during the war. His father refused to sign his enlistment papers, so he got his mother, Margaret to sign the papers. Her first name on the papers is misspelled, which leads us to believe he may have forged her name and signature. He did not own a decent pair of long trousers, so borrowed a pair off his older brother George, to enlist. He stated that his occupation was that of a Baker knowing that if he stated his real occupation was a miner he may not have been enlisted due to the Essential Services Act. We believe he may have thought of this as their adjoining property was a bakery. Apparently in Broken Hill this was also another common occurrence.
After enlistment Bill, (as he was known to his mates) traveled to Adelaide where his Statement of Service shows his unit of service as 2ND Depot Battalion A.I.F. 22/10 Reinforcement, Mitcham. On the 3rd October 1916 in the column, Promotions, Reductions, Casualties etc is marked the rank of Private. Still, there is no stated date of birth on any forms, including the certificates of Medical Examination forms.
On the 7th November 1916 he embarked on the troopship “Afric” which according to Bob Kearney’s book took the original 10 Bn to Egypt. The Afric disembarked at Plymouth on January 19th 1917. From here his records show that he marched into the 3rd Training Battalion at Durrington, England. There he remained until he completed his training. An interesting form within his records is a form D21, marked “Attended Submarine Guard Duty”. His Regimental Records show that he was taken on strength of 10th Bn and posted to B Company. Records also show he spent time in Fargo Military Hospital with Influenza.
On the 7th October 1917 he departed Durrington via Southampton on the 9th arriving at Le Havre, France on the 10th October. It was during this time at Westhaven where he received his first entry on his Regimental Conduct Sheet, charged with Conduct to the prejudice of good order and Military Discipline. Improper behavior on Guard Parade, he was charged by a Sergeant De Wilde and received two extra guards as his punishment. He joined his unit on the 20th of October. The next entry shows he was wounded in action in Belgium on the 2nd November, suffering shrapnel wounds to the back. He was evacuated to the 11th Canadian Field Ambulance and on the 8th November transferred to the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance then eventually to the 54th General Hospital. On the 14th January 1918 he was moved to the 3rd Rest Camp at Aubongue then rejoined the Battalion via the 1st Australian Infantry Base Depot.
The 16th of March of 1918 saw him detached for duty with the 184th Tunnelling Company. He remained with the unit until the 6th of April, 1918. I would think his mining background would have assisted him with these duties. On the 18th of June, Pop was admitted back to the 3rd Field Hospital with Influenza and on the 25th June moved back to the 58th Casualty Clearing Station where he resumed duty with the Battalion.
The 29th of June 1918 was a significant day when Private William Tyson was seriously wounded in action in France, suffering gunshot wounds to the right chest. The circumstances of his wounding were explained by our father that our Grandfather was detailed to take either bombs or grenades to the forward positions and was doing this, when he was wounded. His evacuation consisted of movement to the 3rd Field Ambulance then on to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station eventually being admitted to the 54th Australian General Hospital. His medical documents show that he underwent several serious operations to the Pleural Cavity to have a foreign body removed from the chest wall. Unfortunately the bullet fragmented and the Pleural Cavity was not able to be explored. Part of the foreign body remained in his lung until the time of his death in 1959. On receipt of his records it is interesting to see that the two NOTICAS’s (Notification of a Casualty) to his parents are there.
On the 11th July, Pop was repatriated to England to the “St Denis” Emergency Hospital; he was eventually transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford where several more operations were performed to remove the ‘Foreign Body’. These were unsuccessful and on the 28th October 1918 he was invalided back to Adelaide, on what we believe was on the Hospital Ship ‘Sardina’ disembarking on the 27th December 1918. He was admitted to Number 7 Army General Hospital, Keswick.
During his time at Keswick Barracks, Private Tyson managed to get two more entries on his Company Conduct Sheet. The first entry was a charge of Absent Without Leave, his award or punishment was a Two Pound Fine. The second was also an AWOL charge, this time he was fined One Pound. A report on the A.M. Form D2 states, “He was a willing worker in the Carpenters Shop. Eventually he was discharged at the 4th Military District on the 16th March 1919. The discharge certificate states “He is discharged as a consequence of gunshot wounds received on active service; his age is given as 19 years. He served for a total of Two years and 191 days, of this he served abroad for Two years and 53 days. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, The British War Medal and The Victory medal.”
After the War, Bill Tyson returned to his home town of Broken Hill. After a few months at home he and a few Army mates left Broken Hill and rode their bikes following the Darling River, then the Murray River eventually stopping at Renmark where they worked for a period of time, fruit picking and various labouring jobs. He returned to Broken Hill and resumed work on the Zinc Mine where he qualified as an underground electrician. Bill was a foundation member of the Returned Servicemen’s League in the Barrier Area. By this stage, at age 24 years, he had a mop of white hair. Popular belief with many of the young men was that as result of being gassed in France it caused their hair to turn white. Another belief was that horrors of War and witnessing scenes of death, wounding and maiming of men and animals, caused the young men to turn prematurely grey. As a result of his white hair he earned the nickname of “Smokey”.
Bill wed his wife Jean and raised a family in Broken Hill. He died in Repatriation General Hospital in May 1959 age 59. His death certificate says “Died of Wounds attributable to War Service.”
Paul “Titch” Tyson
