SAPPER AUSTIN DOHERTY
985 – 3rd Tunnelling Company
Footscray, Victoria was given as the birthplace of Austin Doherty which was registered at Caulfield, Vic in 1869 as the son of William and Fanny (nee Scales) Doherty. He married at 20 years of age in 1889 at Footscray to Louise Fanny Upton. They went to the Western Australian goldfields and resided in the Boulder district. During the years from 1898 to 1900 Austin was a popular boxer and took on opponents from neighbouring districts in boxing tournaments.
From 1903 to 1914 they were living 143 Hopkins Street, Boulder with his occupation as a miner.
At the recruiting depot in Perth, W.A. on October 14, 1915 the forty-four year old miner applied to enlist for active service abroad and passed the medical examination. Attestation Forms described him that day as 176cm (5ft 9¼ins) tall, weighed 69.5kgs (153lbs) with a chest expansion of 93-100cms (36½-39½ins). Fresh was his complexion with grey eyes and grey hair and one vaccination scar on his left arm was a distinctive mark. Religion was Church of England. Next-of-kin initially given was his mother Mrs Fanny Doherty of Grey Street, Yarraville, Vic. He signed and took the ‘Enlistment Oath’ the same day.
Allotment for basic training was with the 33rd Depot Battalion and 4th Depot Battalion until November 30, 1915 when transferred to the Mining Corps.
Recruiting for the Miners’ Corps began on December 1st, 1915 therefore Sapper Doherty was placed for basic training at the Helena Vale camp at Blackboy Hill, W.A. with the newly forming Corps. The Unit’s title was the No.3 Company with a major portion of No.3 Company recruited by 2nd Lt. L.J. Coulter, A.I.F. who was sent from N.S.W. to W.A. for that purpose. They were made up to strength with 1 Officer and 274 Other Ranks and embarked from Fremantle, W.A.
On December 18, 1915 the company sailed for Sydney, NSW on board the troopship SS Indarra. His name appears on the passenger list which was published in:
On Boxing Day (Dec 26th), 1915 the Unit arrived in Sydney and marched into Casula Camp, near Liverpool, NSW. They were joined by the 4th Section of the Tasmanian Miners, bringing the establishment strength up to 15 officers and 349 Other Ranks under the command of 2nd Lieutenant L.J. Coulter.
Mining Corps Units from all Military districts came together at Casula camp, near Liverpool, NSW to complete training as a Corps. Doherty was assigned the regimental number 985 in the rank of Sapper and remained in No.3 Company.
At a civic parade in the Domain, Sydney on Saturday February 19, 1916, a large crowd of relations and friends of the departing Miners lined the four sides of the parade ground. Sixty police and 100 Garrison Military Police were on hand to keep the crowds within bounds. The scene was an inspiriting one. On the extreme right flank, facing the saluting base, were companies of the Rifle Club School; next came a detachment of the 4th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, then the bands of the Light Horse, Liverpool Depot, and the Miners’ on the left, rank upon rank, the Miners’ Battalion.
The Corps boarded HMAT A38 Ulysses in Sydney, NSW on February 20 and sailed for the European theatre. Arriving in Melbourne, Victoria on February 22 the Miners camped at Broadmeadows for a stay of 7 days while further cargo was loaded.
Another parade was held at the Broadmeadows camp on March 1, the Miners’ Corps being inspected by the Governor-General, as Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth military forces.
Leaving Melbourne on March 1, Ulysses arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia on March 7 where a further 53 members were taken on board.
On Wednesday March 8, 1916 the whole force, with their band and equipment, paraded at Fremantle prior to leaving Victoria Quay at 9.30 o’clock.
The ship hit a reef when leaving Fremantle harbour, stripping the plates for 40 feet and, although there was a gap in the outside plate, the inner bilge plates were not punctured. The men on board nicknamed her ‘Useless’. The Miners were off-loaded and sent to the Blackboy Hill Camp where further training was conducted.
The Mining Corps comprised 1303 members at the time they embarked with a Headquarters of 40; No.1 Company – 390; No.2 Company – 380; No.3 Company – 392, and 101 members of the 1st Reinforcements.
Finally departing Fremantle on April 1, Ulysses voyaged via Suez, Port Said and Alexandria in Egypt. The Captain of the shipwas reluctantto take Ulysses out of the Suez Canal because he felt the weight of the ship made it impossible to manoeuvre in the situation of a submarine attack. The troops were transhipped to HM Transport B.1 Ansonia, then on to Valetta, Malta before disembarking at Marseilles, France on May 5, 1916. As a unit they entrained at Marseilles on May 7 and detrained on May 11 at Hazebrouck.
A ‘Mining Corps’ did not fit in the British Expeditionary Force, and the Corps was disbanded and three Australian Tunnelling Companies were formed. The Technical Staff of the Corps Headquarters, plus some technically qualified men from the individual companies, was formed into the entirely new Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company (AEMMBC), better known as the ‘Alphabetical Company’.
Four sections of the No.3 Company were dispersed to various sectors for instructional training.
His wife petitioned the Army for an allotment of his military pay and the following letter resulted from her claim:
His next-of-kin became Mrs Fanny Doherty, Hopkins Street, Boulder, W.A. and two-fifths of his pay went to support his wife.
On November 20, 1916 he went sick to the 72nd Field Ambulance with diarrhoea then sent to the Company Rest Station on November 29. Later that day he went to the 64th Field Ambulance with diarrhoea and remained a patient until December 2, 1916.
The No. 3 Company was officially transferred to the 3rd Tunnelling Company on December 18, 1916.
Leave from France was granted for ten days from June 3, 1917 and returned to duty on June 13.
His service continued without further illness or injury and was issued with three Blue Chevrons to wear on his uniform for serving two years abroad. In an audit of the company he was noted to be with his unit on April 26, 1918.
On June 25, 1918 he was taken to the 34th Field Ambulance with a rectal haemorrhage and transferred to the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. On July 5 was conveyed on A.T.28 to Boulogne entering the 14th General Hospital diagnosed with bronchitis a day later.
He was transferred to England on July 11, 1918 on the hospital ship St Andrew being admitted to the 1st Southern General Hospital, Edgbaston Section for treatment of Chronic Bronchitis.
Base Records advised his next-of-kin that he has been admitted to hospital and gave the address for correspondence.
He left the Birmingham Hospital for the 3rd Aust. Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford on August 2, 1918.
Base Records forwarded advice on August 6 to next-of-kin that his condition was improving.
He was discharged to the No. 2 Command Depot at Weymouth on August 12, 1918.
His name was among soldiers who were reported ill in a Casualty List published in:
He was invalided to Australia on October 19, 1918 due to arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and chronic bronchitis departing on the H.T. Sardinia. News that Peace was declared would have been received by the ship during their voyage. Next-of-kin was notified by Base Records on November 15, 1918 that he was on his way home. The ship docked in Fremantle, W.A. (5th Military District) on December 16, 1918.
News of their arrival was reported in the:
Soon after the liner docked in Sydney the following was reported about the voyage:
Military Discharge was issued in Perth (5th M.D.) on February 16, 1919 as medically unfit.
For service for his country Sapper Austin Doherty, 3rd Tunnelling Company was issued with the British War Medal (8102) and the Victory Medal (8068).
In 1922 he was residing at 120 Cantonment Street, Fremantle working as a labourer. In 1925 he was a miner at Nabawa, W.A. and mining at Roebourne, W.A. in 1930. He returned to Kalgoorlie, W.A. where he was a miner living at 122 McDonald Street in 1931.
A Statement of his Service was requested by the Repatriation Commission in Perth and sent from Base Records on June 11, 1931.
By 1936 he was resident at 418 Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie and a year later had moved to 203 Pier Street, Perth working as a labourer.
His wife passed away at Caulfield, Victoria with funeral arrangements appearing in:
Austin Doherty died on August 22, 1942 aged 73 years. Notice of arrangements was announced in:
The grave is located in the Anglican portion of Karrakatta Cemetery within section LB in gravesite 611.
A plaque commemorating his war service is located in the Perth War Cemetery’s Garden of Remembrance on Wall 7 in Row H and reads:
A.I.F.
985 SAPPER
A. DOHERTY
3rd Tunnelling Company
22-8-1942
His brother Mr Joseph Doherty of 148 Bennett Street, Perth, W.A. was listed as contact in the War Graves register in December, 1942.
© Donna Baldey 2016
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