WORLD WAR ONE

world war 1

Like men and women all over Australia, the people of Katanning and surrounding districts were keen to sign up to defend the Mother Country in its time of need.

In these pages I am attempting to research the total commitment of our young men and women during that time.
If you know of anyone who should be included, and is not already here, please contact me at admin@lostkatanning.au
I will then attempt to follow up and give them their rightful place here.

Here are a random few of the many Katanning men who went to war on our behalf:

APPLIN, Robert Harry

Standing right: Private APPLIN, Robert Harry, 48th Battalion

APPLIN, Robert Harry
Service Number – 3114
Death Date – 12 October, 1917
Death Place –  Belgium
Final Rank – Private
Service – Australian Imperial Force
Units –  Australian Imperial Force – 8th Australian Infantry Battalion
Place – Belgium
Conflict/Operation – First World War, 1914-1918
Read his story – CLICK HERE

Private Robert Harry Applin served in the Australian Infantry 48th Battalion, part of the 12th Australian Brigade, of the 4th Australian Division. His Division participated in the First Battle of Passchendaele on the 12th of October 1917, the second last stage of the Third Battle of Ypres.Private Robert Harry Applin was killed in action, near the German strong-point of Assyria, on the 12th of October 1917. According to an eyewitness report he was killed by a shell before or during the Australian retreat. As the men had to withdraw he kept on lying in no man’s land. His remains were never recovered or identified and Private Robert Harry Applin is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
Read more

BUCHAN, Robert

BUCHAN, Robert
Service Number – 26
Enlisted – 29 December 1915, Perth, Western Australia
Last Rank – Sergeant
Last Unit – 44th Infantry Battalion
Born – Comaum, South Australia, 18 May 1887
Home Town – Katanning, Western Australia
Schooling – Penola State School
Occupation – Shearer
Died – Killed in Action, France, 29 September 1918, aged 31 years
Cemetery – Bellicourt British Cemetery
Memorials – Australian War Memorial, Roll of Honour

FILMER, Gilbert Stevens

FILMER, Gilbert Stevens
Service Number: 6271
Enlisted: 10 April 1916, Blackboy Hill
Last Rank: Lance Corporal
Last Unit: 28th Infantry Battalion
Born: Hamley Beach, South Australia, February 1882
Home Town: Katanning
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Killed in Action, Belgium, 20 September 1917
Cemetery: No known grave – “Known Unto God”
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Glenelg Congregational Church Roll of Honor, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient)

Gilbert Stevens Filmer was the son of Edward and Annie Martha (Bell) Filmer and was born in Hamley Bridge, South Australia on 25 December 1883. He was killed in action in Belgium on 20 September 1917 during World War One, aged 33 years.
He had seven brothers and one sister:  Alfred Thomas, Frank Gordon, Preston Charles, Walter James, Harold Octavius, Gertrude Everilda Annie Pollard (nee Filmer), Harry Joseph Filmer, Hubert Edward Filmer. Gilbert married Cora Constance Cornelius on 26th November 1913 in Katanning, Western Australia. Constance was born 11 October 1880 in Yapoona, South Australia, and died on 9 January 1965 in Claremont, Western Australia aged 84 years. The couple had two children; Ralph Edward Filmer (1914-1987) and Gilbert Richard Filmer (1916-2005)

FORD, Thomas Henry

FORD, Thomas Henry
Service number   – 4655
Rank  –  Private
Unit  –  31st Australian Infantry Battalion Service
Australian Imperial Force
Conflict/Operation  –  First World War, 1914-1918
Conflict Eligibility Date – First World War, 1914-1921
Date of Death – 26 September 1917
Place of Death – Belgium
Age at Death  – 23
Born – Katanning, Western Australia
Place of Association – Turallin, Queensland, Australia
Cemetery or Memorial Details – Menin Gate Memorial,
Ypres, Flanders, Belgium
War Record – CLICK HERE
Read his Story – CLICK HERE

Indigenous Australian
Thomas FORD
31st Infantry Battalion
 Thomas Henry FORD was born in Katanning, Western Australia to Thomas Henry Ford and Mary (Alma Eigel) Yeelcan in 1894. Ford volunteered to serve with the first AIF at Toowomba and trained at Rifle Range Camp, Enoggera with the 12th Reinforcements for the 31st Infantry Battalion, before embarking for overseas in December 1916. On the eve of 26-27 September, Ford was hit by a high explosive shell, and was buried where he fell. His comrades placed a simple cross on his grave. Thomas Ford’s service in the First World War is commemorated at the Ypres (Mennin Gate) Memorial, which stands as a reminder of those who died, who have no known grave.

LADYMAN, Henry Claude

LADYMAN, Henry Claude
Service Number – 2882
Enlisted – 29 March 1916, Perth, Western Australia
Last Rank – Trooper
Last Unit – 10th Light Horse Regiment
Born – Huddlestone, South Australia, 16 March 1890
Home Town – Katanning, Western Australia
Schooling – Perth Modern School
Occupation – Wool classer/Farmer
Died – Died of wounds, Palestine, 10 January, 1917, aged 26 years
Cemetery – Jerusalem Memorial
War Record – CLICK HERE

RING, William Manuel

RING, William Manuel
Service Number – 1271
Enlisted – 28 June 1915, Blackboy Hill, Western Australia
Last Rank – Private
Last Unit – 10th Light Horse Regiment
Born – Katanning, Western Australia, 20 May 1890
Home Town: Katanning, Western Australia
Occupation – Farm Hand
Died – Wembley, Western Australia, Australia, 21 May 1963, aged 73 years.
War Record – CLICK HERE

STANLEY, Thomas Brooke

STANLEY, Thomas Brooke
Service Number: 981
Enlisted – Blackboy Hill
Rank – Trooper
Unit – 10th Australian Light Horse Regiment
Service – Australian Imperial Force
Conflict / Operation – First World War, 1914-1918
Award – Distinguished Conduct Medal
Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette – 24 February 1916
Location in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette – Page 457, position 13
Date of London Gazette – 29 November 1915
Location in London Gazette – Page 11901, position 2
Read his story – CLICK HERE
War Records – CLICK HERE

Thomas Brooke Stanley first worked as a farm hand for Mr Ben Wright at Jitarning near Wickepin and then for the Piesse family at Kobeelya in Katanning and at Kwobrup, 40 miles further east. When War was declared in 1914 Tom told Cecil Piesse that he was going to Katanning to enlist but Cecil told Tom that he was doing more good growing wheat. The Recruiting Officer in Katanning was Cecil’s brother Harold Piesse who ensured that Tom was turned down. Tom however was not prepared to give in that easily and caught the train to Perth where he was enlisted at Blackboy Hill.
Read more

Click on a name below for more stories:

BROWN-EKIN, George Herbert
HOUSE, Dr. Frederick Maurice [2]
MACRAE, Norman Farquar
McLEOD, Albert [2]
PRITCHARD, Charles Henry
THORNETT, John James
WARREN, John Campbell Dale
WOOD, Nathaniel Edward

This Anzac Special tells the story of the famous battle that took place at Gallipoli on the coast of Turkey in 1915. We find out why the ‘Last Post’ is played at commemoration services and what life was like for soldiers in the trenches during the Great War. We also learn more about the important role animals played during the fighting at Gallipoli.

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OUR INDIGENOUS SOLDIERS

FARMER, Augustus Pegg
FARMER, Kenneth
FARMER, Larry
FARMER, Lewis
FORD, Thomas Henry
RING, William Manuel
READ MORE

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KATANNING HONOUR ROLL
WORLD WAR ONE

The Katanning Honour Rolls for all major conflicts are located in the foyer of the Katanning Town Hall. Following World War One (The Great War) the community conducted an exhaustive search to ensure local men who enlisted were recognised.
Unfortunately, there were many men and women who lived in Katanning but were born elsewhere, or enlisted elsewhere, who where missed by the research.

If you have information on anyone NOT listed on any of the pages or links on this website please email me their details (and photos if possible) and I will make sure their service is recognised below.
I can be emailed at: admin@lostkatanning.au

For MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS
CLICK HERE

TO VIEW THE KATANNING
WW1 HONOUR ROLL
CLICK HERE

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HONOURING OUR ANZACS

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DISCOVERING ANZACS

Records (391)
Stories (18)

ANZACs who were living in Katanning at time of enlistment

FOLLAND, Tycho (“Mick”) – Reference:  Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project
SOLLY, Benjamin John – Enlisted at Blackboy Hill
SOLLY, Reginald George – Enlisted at Blackboy Hill

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ON-LINE RESOURCES

ANZAC
Certificates of Service
You can download a Certificate of War Service for your ancestors
Visit the RSL
Virtual War Memorial:
CLICK HERE
Katanning
CLICK HERE

Visit the
AUSTRALIAN
WAR MEMORIAL
Website:

Images of World War I
Australian Servicemen

The National Archives is able to share digital images of Australian World War I servicemen received from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) in 2011. The digital images include photographs taken in London studios while servicemen were on leave and occasional newspaper clippings.

These images were identified by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) staff member Courtney Page-Allen, a recipient of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship. To find them, she spent 18 months searching through the 16,000 World War I images held in the Bonds of Sacrifice collection of the Imperial War Museum, London.

What is their story?
These images complement the stories of Australian servicemen. To find out more about these individuals and others, you can link directly to records of service posted on the National Archives Mapping our ANZACs.

Get involved
Add your own images, stories and photographs. Build a tribute and share the life of individuals in the scrapbook on Mapping Our ANZACs. CLICK HERE

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THE AIF PROJECT

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        From the University of
New South Wales
The AIF database is drawn from a range of official sources, including personal files on the National Archives website, and embarkation and Nominal Rolls on the Australian War Memorial website.
CLICK HERE

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11th BATTALION, 16th REINFORCEMENT

Katanning men who sailed from Fremantle, Western Australia
on board HMAT A9 Shropshire on 31 March 1916

Click on a name below for their details:\

ABBOTT, Oliver Oswald
BADGER, Bernard Kingston
BATEMAN, William
BYRNE, Henry Charles William
COLLINS, William
LAWES, Henry James
PYBURN, George Lee
SHANKS, William James
THOMAS, William Jefferies
WELLS, Nicholas James
WINN, Albert John

WW1 Battles:

Members of the AIF listed on the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey
Members of the AIF listed on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ieper [Ypres], Belgium
Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, France
Members of the AIF listed on the Australian National Memorial,Villers-Bretonneux, France.

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THE END OF WORLD WAR ONE

On 30 October 1918 Turkey surrenders and signs the Armistice with the Allies which was followed by the former Austro-Hungarian Empire surrendering and signing an Armistice on November 3. On 11 November 1918 Germany signs the Armistice and fighting ceases on the Western Front – the war was over.

For Australia, the First World War remains the costliest conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, of whom more than 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner. Continue reading

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MEMBERS CONTRIBUTIONS

The following stories were submitted by Stephen Bowes (Popanyinning, W.A.):

BROWN-EKIN, George Herbert
PRITCHARD, Charles Henry

From Noel Whittle – information on his Great Uncle

BLAIR, William (Bill) Robert

Bill served in the vicinity of Passchendaele, Ypres and Polygon Wood in WW1. Bill was originally from Victoria but moved to Katanning with his family, who lived in Hassell street.  He signed up at the age of 26 in October 1916 at Perth, joining the 5th Pioneer Battalion (Engineering – rail network, duckboards, barbed wire barricades). He mobilised to the Western Front in June 1917, but on the 28/29th September 1917 was ‘wounded by bomb while wiring with barbed wire with a party forward of the front line trenches‘ in the vicinity of Polygon Wood. Bill was repatriated to England and returned to Australia, lived the rest of his life in Katanning, never married and died 7/11/1959 and is buried at Katanning cemetery.

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Do you have any information?

If you know of anyone who should be included on this page
Please email me at: admin@lostkatanning.au

Researching our local Katanning and surrounding districts history has developed into a big task. The Central Great Southern region has such a rich and diverse history dating back to the mid 1880s. This website has been set up to preserve that history for future generations and for people to find that information and photographs in one place for their own research – particularly for family trees.
I have many research sources available to me, however that is not always enough. Often, information comes from local folk – just like you.

If you have any information, photographs or files about our history that you would be prepared to share I would love to hear from you.

My email address is: admin@lostkatanning.au or you can complete and submit the form HERE:

This page is a ‘work in progress’ and will continue to be updated.
Please come back regularly to check it out.

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