LANCE CORPORAL DOUGLAS WELLWOOD
1298 – 2nd Tunnelling Company / Australian Electrical & Mechanical Mining & Boring Company
Douglas Wellwood was born in 1876 at Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of Douglas and Elizabeth Kerr (nee Aitken) Wellwood. His siblings were Elizabeth A. born 1873; Barbara M. born 1875 and James Aitken born 1877. Elizabeth died in 1879 and Douglas snr. married Margaret Gibson Liddell. Douglas and Margaret had two children; Mary Paton born 1881 and Margaret born 1882.
The family emigrated to Australia on board Orotavia. Leaving London on 6 June 1890, Orotavia sailed via Colombo, King George’s Sound, Adelaide and Melbourne before the family disembarked in Sydney. The newly arrived family were Douglas at 52 years pf age, and his wife Margaret, 46; Elizabeth, 18; Barbara, 15; Douglas junior, 14; James, 13; Maggie, 8 and Mary, 5.
The 1903 Electoral Roll for Coolgardie records Douglas Wellwood of Bellevue G.M. (gold mine) as an engine-driver.
The Electoral Rolls for 1903 & 1906 also record that Elizabeth and Margaret Wellwood were in domestic service living at Pirie Street, Kalgoorlie with their brother James Aitken Wellwood who was a Miner.
Douglas Wellwood, born Ardrossan, Scotland, the son of Douglas and Mary (nee Paton) Wellwood, died in 1905 at age 57.
In 1909 Margaret, a tailoress, and Elizabeth, a dressmaker, are living at 187 Scotchmer Street, Fitzroy, Victoria.
The 1910 Electoral Roll records Douglas Wellwood, engineer; Mary Wellwood, home duties; Barbara Wellwood, governess; James Atkin Wellwood, miner all at living 18 Leviathan Street, Kalgoorlie
In 1914 Elizabeth and Margaret are at the same Victorian address with Margaret now listed as ‘home duties’.
James Aitken Wellwood married Theresa O’Brien in 1914 at Boulder. A son, James A. Wellwood was born at Boulder in 1916, the family living at 68 Dwyer Street, Boulder.
In 1916, Margaret Wellwood is a teacher living at 32 Mount Street, West Perth. Barbara is a governess living at 18 Leviathan Street, Kalgoorlie with her brother Douglas, and engineer. Margaret Gibson Liddell Wellwood is a housewife living at Harvey, West Australia.
At a medical examination at Kalgoorlie on 3 January 1916, Douglas Wellwood was deemed to be ‘fit for active service’. The examination recorded that he was 37 years and 9 months of age, stood 5ft 4ins tall and weighed 136 lbs. He had a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. he was of the Church of England faith.
On 4 January 1916 at Area 84A, Kalgoorlie, he completed and signed the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’. He stated he was a mechanical engineer by trade. He named as his Next-of-Kin his step-mother Mrs. Margaret Wellwood of Keysbrook, Western Australia.
Douglas signed the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ at Blackboy Hill near Perth on 7 January. His training began with 41 Depot Battalion until 18 February when he was transferred to the 15th Reinforcements, 16th Infantry Battalion. The next day he was transferred to Australian Mining Corps with the rank of Sapper.
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.
Following the farewell parade in the Domain, Sydney, the Australian Mining Corps embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on 20 February 1916 on board HMAT A38 Ulysses.
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.
Ulysses arrived in Melbourne, Victoria on 22 February and the Miners were camped at Broadmeadows while additional stores and equipment were loaded onto Ulysses. 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.
Departing Melbourne on 1 March, Ulysses sailed to Fremantle, Western Australia where a further 53 members of the Corps were embarked, Sapper Douglas Wellwood among them as a member of the 1st Reinforcements, No.2 Company.
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. After a delay of about a month for repairs, The Mining Corps sailed for the European Theatre on 1 April 1916.
The ship arrived at Suez, Egypt on 22 April, departing for Port Said the next day; then on to Alexandria. 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 Mining Corps was transhipped to B1 Ansonia for the final legs to Marseilles, France via Valetta, Malta. Arriving at Marseilles on 5 May, most of the men entrained for Hazebrouck where they arrived to set up their first camp on 8 May 1916.
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’.
Under the new organisation, Douglas became a member of the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company. 2ATC relieved the 172nd Tunnelling Company, R.E. in May 1916 in the Neuville St Vaast/Vimy area. They supported the Australian 5th Division at Fromelles in July 1916.
On 9 June he was admitted to the 62nd Field Ambulance and transferred to the 20th Divisional Rest Station. He was discharged to duty on 17 June but was soon after admitted to the 12th Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) on 21 June. On 14 July he was transferred to the 4th Stationary Hospital at Arques with dental caries. He was discharged to his unit on 17 August.
Douglas was transferred to the AEMMBC on 29 September 1916 and taken on strength on 30 September.
1 November 1917 admitted to the 6th London Field Ambulance, rejoining his unit on 11 December. On 15 December he was admitted to 12th CCS with the same complaint and was transferred to the 8th Stationary Hospital on 19 December. On 20 January 1917 he was transferred to the 1st Convalescent depot.
On 26 January he marched in to the Australian General Base Depot (AGBD) at Etaples from hospital. He rejoined his unit on 18 February 1917.
His Blue Chevrons were due in March 1917 to denote his time on the Western Front and Douglas enjoyed some leave from 16 to 30 March 1918.
His Next-of-Kin, Margaret Gibson Wellwood, the daughter of Mark Liddell and Ann Gibson, died at East Malvern, Victoria in 1917 aged 74.
On 13 April 1918, after the death of his step-mother, Douglas named his sister Miss Barbara Wellwood of 18 Leviathan Street, Boulder as his Next-of-Kin.
On 4 November 1918 he was admitted to the 12th Stationary Hospital with P.U.O. (pyrexia of unknown origin). He rejoined his unit on 22 November.
The AEMMBC, with a strength of little more than 300 men, was employed along the entire Western Front providing lighting and ventilation to dugouts and boring for water supplies where needed. They worked with all 5 Armies of the British Expeditionary Force.
Douglas was appointed Lance Corporal on 18 March 1919 and marched out of his unit on education leave, marching in to the A.A.S.C. Training Depot at Parkhouse, England on 26 March.
On 3 April he was granted leave until 3 July for Non-military Employment to gain experience with oil engines attending Williams & Robinson at Rugby. His leave was extended until 17 July when he marched in to No.2 Group, Sutton Veny.
Douglas left London on 3 September 1919 on board Barambah for return to Australia, disembarking at Fremantle on 17 October. He was discharged from the A.I.F. on 10 December 1919, entitled to wear the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Douglas Wellwood married May Isabella Matthews in Perth in 1920. A son, Douglas Wellwood was born and died in 1922 at Perth.
The 1925 Electoral Roll for Kalgoorlie records Douglas Wellwood, Engineer, and May Isabella Wellwood, married, living at Kellerberrin, Northam.
In 1925 his sisters Barbara and Margaret Wellwood are both teachers living together 62 Richardson Street, Boulder.
Douglas Wellwood died on 11 February 1926 at Northam aged 48. He was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery, Anglican Section KA, grave 0370 with his young son.
In March 1926 the military and medical documents of Douglas Wellwood were provided to the Repatriation Commission, Perth.
May Isabell Wellwood married William E. Amos at East Coolgardie in 1945. She died on 2 September 1960 at age 75. She is buried with Douglas and her son.
© Donna Baldey 2013
www.tunnellers.net
ADDENDUM: - Siblings of Douglas Wellwood:
Elizabeth Aitken Wellwood, b. 1873 – married Gavin Patrick Shaw 6 June 1906 in South Boulder.
See below for description of wedding
Barbara McCulloch Wellwood, b. 1875 died on 25 July 1958 at Perth age 83; ashes scattered over garden at Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth.
In 1931 through 1958 Barbara and Margaret Wellwood are still teaching and living together at 2 Emerald Hill Terrace, West Perth. Barbara died in 1958 and in 1963 though 1977 Margaret is living alone at the Emerald Street address and still teaching
James Aitken Wellwood, b. 1877
1930 Electoral Roll James Aitken Wellwood, engine-driver, & Theresa, home duties at 8 Boundary Street, East Sydney, NSW
1936 Electoral Roll James Aitken, engine-driver, & Theresa, home duties at 364 Crown Street, East Sydney, NSW
1943 & 1949 Electoral Roll James Aitken snr, engine-driver, & Theresa, home duties & James Aitken jnr, packer at 70 Surrey Street, East Sydney, NSW
1963 James Aitken jnr, Ambulance Officer, & Joyce Edna at 13 Lindsay Street, Enfield
1980 Joyce Edna at 7/23 College Street, Drummoyne, NSW
Mary Paton Wellwood, b. 1881 – married Lionel Maurice Clifton 23 March 1909 in Perth.
Margaret Wellwood b. 1882 (see Barbara above), died on 27 June 1978 at West Perth age 95; ashes scattered to the winds at Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth. Death recorded as Margaret Gibson Liddell Wellwood.