Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Contributed by Nathan Rohrlach of Nuriootpa

Louis David George Warnecke McNamara

“A very game man, absolutely fearless.”

Louis David George Warneke McNamara was born on December the 13^th 1887 in Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. He was the only son of David Joseph McNamara and all of his primary school education was given to him by his father. After much hard work Louis won the Elder Entrance Scholarship to Prince Alfred College, the prestigious all-boys school in Adelaide, in January 1901. It was also there where he gained the Colton medal for chemistry, while in 1905 he won the Old Scholar’s Prize and the Angas Engineering Exhibition Prize.

In January 1906 he entered the University of Adelaide as a science student studying a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He was always in the top class, and he usually came first in all the exams bracketed with Professor Bragg’s son (Professor Bragg was professor at the University of Adelaide at the time, and his son went there too.) Louis McNamara took his degree of a Bachelor of Science in 1909, having gained 16 first classes. He was also awarded the Diploma of Applied Science, and the associateship of the School of Mines. During his university years he was an active member of the Student’s Christian Union and he also won several athletic events. He was a first-class rifle shot, and very capable cricketer.

After leaving University he found a job and began working for the Adelaide Electrical Supply Company as an improver. This job was subsequently followed by practice as an electrical engineer and contractor, before Louis McNamara entered the service of the Adelaide Underwriters as an electrical inspector. By 1914 he was employed in the electrical department of Elder, Smith & Co.

Outside of his job he was working in the choir and Sunday School at St. Luke’s Adelaide and was much loved there by Reverend William Gilbert Marsh. He was also the Secretary of the Forest League, and in this capacity he showed strong characteristics of determination and a hard working attitude.

Louis McNamara was one of the first to respond to the Empire’s call and enlisted on August the 19^th, 1914 and was placed in the 3^rd Field Company Engineers. He left Adelaide on August the 29^th, 1914 and later embarked at Melbourne on HMAT Geelong (A2) on September the 22^nd, 1914 bound for Egypt. He served at Al Kantara (Al Qantarah?), on the Suez Canal, and helped by building a pontoon across the 330 metre canal.

Later, Louis McNamara was to be at the landing on Gallipoli and was used as signaller for naval bombardment. He would then spend the next four months on the peninsula with the very dangerous job of surveying sites for new trenches and constructing dummy trenches to draw away the enemy’s fire. In August McNamara contracted Enteric Fever and he was evacuated to  Malta, and transferred to Portsmouth during the months of September and November 1915.

During his recovery he spent several weeks at London University where he met his old master, Professor Bragg. At this time Professor William Lawrence Bragg was engaged in researching and developing a new form of poisonous gas for military purposes. Several times throughout this period Louis McNamara helped Professor Bragg test new substances for his research. In a later letter Professor Bragg writes, “I want to thank you very much for all the good works you did for us. I do not know how I should have got through with the selections of all those materials, if you had not been there to help.”

In June 1916 Louis McNamara was officially discharged from hospital and he rejoined his unit, however, on October the 9^th 1916 he transferred to the 1^st ANZAC Wireless Section. While serving on the Western Front in March 1917 he was recommended and awarded the Military Medal. The recommendation stated:

“For most efficient work and devotion to duty.

“On the 14^th March 1917 at Grevillers he personally installed a power buzzer in that village when it was under constant shell fire.

“On the 25^th March, in connection with the attack on Lagnicourt by the 7^th Aus. Inf. Brigade, he was the operator who attempted to establish wireless communication with the front line.

“This Sapper has done excellent work in the field since last November, from the first he was a volunteer for carrying a power buzzer forward in an advance, but as no opportunity occurred he has usually managed to be in the most dangerous corners with either a power buzzer amplifier or listening post.” 

On June the 25^th 1917 Louis McNamara was again transferred to 1^st Division Signal Company, Australian Engineers and continued serving on the Western Front. Then on October the 29^th, 1917, while servring at Passchendaele, he was severely affected by mustard gas and went blind. He was admitted to the 3^rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff, Wales by November by which time had been blind for nearly a month. In late November, however, he regained his sight.

By late February Louis McNamara had fully recovered and had been discharged was on a boat back to France. On March the 15^th, 1918, Louis McNamara officially rejoined the 1^st Division Signal Company, Australian Engineers back in France. On the 16^th he was promoted to Corporal and then again on the 29^th he was promoted to Sergeant and put in charge in of the Wireless Section.

While fighting on the Western Front on September the 18^th, 1918, at Jeancourt, McNamara was critically injured with shell wounds to his head and right leg which was also broken. At the time McNamara out been out of the trenches trying to erect an aerial so wireless communication could be made with the front line. He was taken to a nearby field hospital nearby where the doctor who treated him said there would be no hope in him surviving. On the same day (or 19^th?) he passed away. He was buried at Cerisy-Gailly French National Cemetery. He was aged 31.

Louis McNamara was mentioned in despatches from Field Marshal Douglas Haig office dated November the 8^th, 1918. His M.I.D was also mentioned in the Fifth Supplement, No. 31089, of the London Gazette, dated December the 27^th, 1918.   

 Many remembered Louis McNamara (Mac as he was always called by his friends) as, “A very game man, absolutely fearless.” He was also remembered as very dedicated and a “1914 man.”   

Military Medal

Mentioned in Despatches

1914/15 Star: 13122

British War Medal: 278

Victory Medal: 280?

Memorial Plaque: 352569