29. Brothers at War the Loss
Brothers at War – The Loss
Saluting their Service - Grahame Old
If there is a single word to sum up World War One, it might well be "loss"
During WW1 little thought was given to casualty rates when generals planned battles. The Great War saw many brothers lost when used as cannon fodder by their commanders who simply regarded mass casualties as a product of warfare. More than 2800 sets of Australian brothers perished between 1915 and 1918 at Gallipoli, Palestine and on the Western Front. More than 150 families lost three sons and at least five more lost four sons whilst one family, the Smith family from Yongala, South Australia lost six sons, the seventh son, who was too old to enlist, died in 1923, perhaps a broken man?
English families also suffered the loss of multiple sons. One family from the County Durham town of Barnard Castle lost five sons during the Great War. John and Margaret Smith raised six sons in Barnard Castle all of them fit to fight, all enlisted in 1916. By July 1918, Margaret Smith had lost five of her beloved sons, only one remained in action, Wilfred. In August 1918, the local vicar's wife, Mrs Bircham, wrote to Queen Mary, wife of King George V, appealing for Wilfred to be taken out of harm's way.
Collie Siblings at War – The Stuart-Sinclair Brothers
Records show that there were fourteen families from Collie with three brothers who served overseas during WW1. Tragically one family lost all three sons, Killed in Action. This is their story.
The Stuart-Sinclair Family of Collie and Subiaco paid heavily for their dedication to the Great War effort, three sons failed to return home at the conclusion of the conflict. It is incomprehensible to try to understand the outpouring of grief, as the original, and then subsequent letters were received by their mother from the Army, advising of a son’s death. The father, Edward had died during July 1917, family accounts said the stress of having all of his boys at the front may have contributed to his death. A short service history of each brother, together with circumstances of their deaths, is as follows;
John Francis Stuart-Sinclair (Lieutenant 28th Infantry Bn)
John was employed as an Accountant/Company Secretary, with the mining industry in Collie, when he enlisted on 5th February 1915, at the age of 27 years. John was the only son married, he and his wife, Winnie, resided at Venn St, Collie. John was the first of the three brothers to meet his death, in the Great War.
Promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant, John embarked on the troopship “Seang Bee” for Plymouth, England on 17 July 1916. Following on from 3 months training in England, he was shipped to France, where he joined the 28th Battalion in the field, in late January 1917. John was highly thought of by his Commanding Officers, being promoted to Lieutenant in the field, within the space of 4 months.
The Stuart-Sinclair family suffered the first of their three heartfelt losses on 29 October 1917, when John died in the 17th casualty clearing station in Belgium. He died from shell wounds that fractured his left thigh and left hand whilst in action. He is buried in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in BELGIUM, along with his brother, Edward.
Edward Stuart-Sinclair (5207 Pte 11th Infantry Bn)
Edward, the youngest of the Stuart-Sinclair brothers, applied to enlist into the AIF in Collie in December 1915 having reached the age of 18 years. His parents had signed a consent form, allowing his enlistment as he was under 21 years of age, a decision that they must have later pondered over, to regret. Edward listed his Father, Edward, residing in Subiaco, as next of kin. He completed initial training at Blackboy Hill Camp WA, before embarking on troopship “Shropshire” for Alexandria, Egypt. Following a brief stop-over in Egypt, he was sent for further training in England, before joining the 11th Battalion in the field France, in August 1916.
He remained unscathed, at the front until May 1917, when he received a gunshot wound to the head. Edward was evacuated to England for treatment, and following 2 months of hospitalization, he was discharged to enjoy 2 weeks leave. As was common practice in the Great War, Edward returned to training, after leave, and re-joined the 11th Battalion on the Western Front, in late August 1917.
Tragically, Edward was struck down by shrapnel wounds to the stomach, in action Belgium, on 1 November 1917, three days after the death of his brother John. He also was admitted to the 17th Casualty Clearing Station. Sadly Edward died of his wounds 26 days later, on the 27 November 1917 he was only 20 years of age. Edward is buried at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in BELGIUM along with his brother John.
Stanley Stuart-Sinclair (3778 Bombardier 3rd Aust Arty Bde)
Stanley, the second Stuart-Sinclair son and the first brother to enlist, was working as a stockman/station hand in Collie, residing with his brother John, Venn St, Collie. He enlisted for service in Collie, November 1914, at the age of 22 years. He listed his mother Jessie Stuart-Sinclair as his next of kin. At enlistment, a clerical error, by exclusion of the hyphen in his surname, meant Stanley’s surname in army records was incorrectly recorded as, Stanley Stuart Sinclair. Stanley completed initial training at Blackboy Hill Camp WA before embarking on troop ship “Itonus” for Alexandria, Egypt on 22nd February 1915. He was attached to the Field Artillery Brigade in Egypt as a gunner until shipped to France in late March, 1916
In February 1917 he was impacted by the effects of shell shock, and suffered a severe gunshot wound to the right leg and scrotum in early June 1917. These injuries necessitated an evacuation to England where Stanley was admitted to the Brook War Hospital at Woolwich. After 2 months of treatment and recuperation, he was granted 2 weeks recreation leave, he then spent 4 weeks training, prior to re-joining the Field Artillery Brigade at the front, in France.
Stanley was promoted to Acting Bombardier in December 1917 and was wounded a third time with the effects of mustard gas. Sadly, he was killed in action on 8 August 1918, at the age of 26 years, and is buried in the Adelaide Military Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, FRANCE.
The loss of 3 fine young men in the prime of their lives and the monumental impact it would have had on the Stuart-Sinclair family, are a sobering reminder of “the futility of war”.
The Stuart-Sinclair brothers are remembered on Canberra War Memorial Roll of Honour, Commemorative Area – John on panel 114, Edward on panel 64, and Stanley on panel 13 (note - Stanley Surname listed as Sinclair).
Town Memorial-Roll of Honour: Collie Soldiers Park WA (note all three brothers surname listed as Stuart-Sinclair.
The Stuart-Sinclair Brothers Remembered forever at the Collie-Cardiff RSL Sub Branch
‘Lest we Forget’
Footnote/s:
1. Many more families lost multiple sons during WW2 in a war that left tens of thousands of Australian families in mourning. Perhaps the most tragic being the Hutchins family from Woorinen, near Swan Hill, Victoria who saw seven of their nine sons off to war, only three came home.
2. In Australia, there was no official government policy on removing surviving siblings from the fighting during both World War 1 and World War 2. Today, whilst there is no policy to automatically remove brothers from serving together in a conflict zone, consideration is given to minimise risk to the family unit.