52nd Battalion AIF | Community organisation

52nd Battalion AIF

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25.01.2022 Hi everyone - once again it looks like it will be a bureaucratic battle to see a 52nd Battalion soldier rightly honoured. Will it be the Office of Australian War Graves, DVA or Brisbane City Council who will help us honour Stanley Percival BANGS and see him finally marked in a grave some 91 years after he died? Again this has reminded me of how the workers in these cemeteries never introduce such complications. Over 5 years ago I published a link to Kipling's 'The Gardener'.... A story about an unmarried women looking for her 'nephew' who had been lost in the Great War. She travels to France to find his grave and when she arrives at the cemetery after some adventures she is overwhelmed by the hundreds of black crosses. A man comes up to her and asks can he assist her. She passes him the name on a piece of paper and says I am looking for my 'nephew'. He looks into her eyes änd with infinite compassion says to her "Come with me and I will show you where your son lies." I wish our bureaucrats could be like that gardener. Here is a link to the full story which I think is one of the greatest short stories ever written: https://greatwar.nl/books/gardener/gardener.html

25.01.2022 Hi everyone - is anyone out there a relative of Stanly Percival BANGS - Serial number 19. Bangs enlisted in the 14th Light Horse - fought for 18 months with the 52nd - was transferred to the 49th but never fought with them - and was eventually invalided home. He and his girlfriend Amy suicided on Brisbane's Mt Coot-tha in late June 1929. He is buried in Toowong under his mother's maiden name HARVEY. It has been on fellow Admin Stephen's and my list to do something to proper...ly commemorate Bangs. There is currently a 2 year program funded by the Federal Government which will partly fund Unmarked WW1 Graves. A requirement is that permission be sought from relatives or the cemetery. There is no contact record for family in Toowong's records but we would not want to step on any toes and if family survive we would like them to assist us commemorate Bangs. If you are a relative please contact us. Picture of his unmarked grave and grave record.

20.01.2022 What reasons cause a soldier to enlist under an alias / different name. Sometimes it because you have a surname / nationality from the country you are fighting; perhaps you were re-enlisting; sometimes you were underage or took another siblings name; sometimes you needed to hide who you are; there may be countless other reasons. As a consequence of compiling a (hopefully) complete nominal roll for the 52nd we have identified at least six soldiers in the 52nd Battalion who ser...ved under an alias for some reason or another. King's Regulations required that "The Name under which you served cannot be amended" though we note that some men of the 52nd are listed under their Real Names on the AWM Honour Roll. Five of our six lost their lives - a very high casualty rate. Three of the men below lost their lives in the last few weeks of the 52nd's war service. More reason why they Deserve that we Remember Them. Do you know them? If so, please honour them by telling us all something about them. 2146 CONLON, John - Bowen, Queensland KIA 24 April 1918 aka as Henry Campbell Rauch 3253 McGREGOR, Malcolm Thomas - Richmond, Queensland KIA 24 April 1918 aka Colin George McMaster 1867 ROLLINS, John - Sheffield, Tasmania aka Jack Roy Johnson and enlisted under age. 2279 SMITH, Charles Ernest - St Peters, Sydney, New South Wales KIA 3 September 1916 aka as Charles Ernest Sladen 3115 JOHNSON, Robert Brown - Charleville Queensland KIA 14 April 1918 aka Robert Brown Thompson 2791 THOMSON, Joseph - Brisbane, Queensland KIA 7 June 1917 aka Joseph Quinn

20.01.2022 Last year I think it was (it seems like light years away now with what everyone has been going through), I posted a little story on Victor Barr from Esk Qld. At that time I was attempting to recover some original material related to that story without success. However in the last few months with not a lot to do and with more in depth digging I have come up with a bit of family history relating to the Barr family and Esk Qld. Upon speaking with Dale today regarding Percival St...anley Bangs and the unmarked grave project, we thought it appropriate to get some more info related to the 52nd up on the page, as it has been a little quiet of late. So here goes. Victor James (James Victor) Barr and his dad John Thomas both enlisted for service in W.W.1 and both served overseas Victor was killed in action on 12th May 1918 whilst serving in the 52nd. His dad John Thomas returned to Australia and is buried in Esk cemetery. The following photos give a story of a family of which both father and son served in the Army and one of the two returned. There is a post card from Victor to his dad hoping to catch up with him in England whilst on leave, a hand written letter from one of Victor's mates advising John Thomas of Victor's death, a Barr family photo plus various records. I hope I can get them in some form of order, but if not I am sure they will give the story one way or another. Stephen Bird See more

20.01.2022 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3108145972578176&id=416979811694819

19.01.2022 Another 52nd soldier - many thanks Narelle Howe.

18.01.2022 Two poppies for the soldiers of the 52nd Battalion AIF. The Light Blue and White. They deserve that we remember them.

17.01.2022 Messines - a terrible battle with too many 52nd casualties. They Deserve that we Remember Them.

16.01.2022 Members of the 52nd Battalion queue beside the Sweet Water Canal waiting to load their kits onto barges, which will take them to Serapeum on the Suez Canal. This photo was taken 31 March 1916 - less than a month after the formation of the battalion on 1 March 1916. From the Australian War Memorial Collection - image no. C00295

15.01.2022 A 52nd soldier killed at Villers-Bretonneux.

12.01.2022 Shortly after 5.00 am on Sunday, 3rd September 1916, the men of the 52nd Battalion rose from their lines to attack Mouquet Farm. They had been lying in hastily dug scrapes or were lying in shell holes most of the night waiting for the order. They were part of the 13th Brigade's assault on the farm complex and the German trenches along the Pozieres-Thiepval ridge line. Over the next two days, the 52nd was decimated. Over half its number were killed, wounded or taken prisoner - some 450 men. This was their first major battle on the Somme. It would be six months or more before the 52nd was able to participate in further major actions. They deserve that we remember them.

11.01.2022 The Australian War Memorial website Unit Entry for the 52nd has finally been updated to properly record the start time and date for the attack by the 52nd and 51st Battalions to re-take Villers-Bretonneux. I note that the 'legendary' is still there as it should be! Now reads:- " At Dernancourt, on 5 April, the 52nd Battalion assisted in the repulse of the largest German attack mounted against Australian troops during the war. The German threat persisted through April, and just after 10pm on the 24th of April 1918, ANZAC Day eve, the 52nd began its advance in the now legendary attack to dislodge the enemy from Villers-Bretonneux." https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51492

04.01.2022 Captain Stubbings lucky coin - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1140427

01.01.2022 "Second to none in the AIF" - 102 years ago on this day (16 May 1918) an Order was received from HQ 13th Australian Infantry Brigade disbanding the 52nd Battalion AIF. 488 men to be transferred as follows. NSW 21 men to the 51st Bn... VIC 6 men to the 51st Bn SA 31 men to the 50th Bn WA 34 men to the 51st Bn TAS 120 men to the 51st Bn QLD 174 men to the 49th Bn QLD 100 men to the 50th Bn The 52nd Band to transfer to the 49th Bn. They Deserve that We Remember Them