SAPPER MARTIN SHEEHAN
1164 – 3rd Tunnelling Company
Martin Sheehan was born in East Ballarat, Victoria about 1873 the son of Luke and Mary Elizabeth Sheehan. He was a twenty-four year old passenger leaving Victoria in July, 1897 on the steamer Gabo 1 under Captain Alfred Easton which arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia and he went to the goldfields. His father died at Kalgoorlie on November 4, 1898.
In 1905 the following Mining application was advertised in the:
A year later the following accident was reported in the:
By 1914 he was a station hand working at Yallalong Station, via Mullewa, W.A. and the following was published in the:
At the recruiting depot in Perth on November 18, 1915 the forty-three year old station hand applied to enlist for active service abroad and passed the preliminary medical examination. Personal particulars taken show his address was G.P.O., Perth and was single, 169cms (5ft 6¼ins) tall with a chest measurement of 90cms (35½ins). Declared fit is application was accepted by the recruiting officer.
Attestation Forms were completed which describe him further weighing 53.6kgs (118lbs) with a fresh complexion blue eyes and grey hair. Distinctive marks were four vaccination scars on his left arm. Religion was Roman Catholic. With both parents deceased next-of-kin initially nominated was his brother Michael Sheehan but as his address was unknown therefore his sister Margaret Sheehan of Sydenham, Brighton Road, St Kilda, Vic was takenin lieu. He was sworn in the same day.
Basic training commenced with the 37th Depot Battalion on November 29, 1915.
Recruiting for the Miners’ Corps officially began on December 1st, 1915 therefore Private Sheehan was placed for basic training at the Helena Vale camp at Blackboy Hill, W.A. with the newly forming Corps on December 14, 1915.
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.
Below:
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. Sheehan was assigned the regimental number 1164 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. The No. 3 Company was officially transferred to the 3rd Tunnelling Company in the field on December 18, 1916.
Members of the company received Comfort gifts from the Goldfields Women’s Club and sent a letter of Thanks signed by the recipients and published in the:
Sapper was issued on February 20, 1918 with three Blue Chevrons to wear on his uniform for serving two years abroad.
Two months later further gifts were acknowledged by members of the Company and their reply reproduced in the:
On April 8, 1918 he was admitted to the 1 / 2 North Midland Field Ambulance suffering from Myalgia (muscular pain) and transferred to the 23rd Casualty Clearing Station. From there he was conveyed by Ambulance train no. 17 to the 2nd General Hospital at Wimereux the next day.
Sapper was invalided to England on April 11 on the hospital ship Pieter de Connick and admitted to the Manor Hospital, Folkstone affiliated with the Shorncliffe Military Hospital suffering myalgia and debility. His condition improved.
His sister was advised by Base Records on May 2, 1918 that he had been admitted to the Shorncliffe Military hospital with myalgia and debility.
He was transferred on May 8, 1918 to the 3rd Aust Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford where he remained until moved on May 17 to the No. 3 Command Depot at Hurdcott although he still experienced some pains in his joints and back.
In the list of casualties his name was among those published in the:
On May 22, 1918 he appeared before the Medical Board at Hurdcott and his Statement of Case reads:
Disability:Rheumatism
Date of disability:May, 1917
Place of disability:France
Essential facts:He got rheumatism for the first time 12 months ago. Was in
hospital in France for 3 weeks
Caused by:(1) exposure (2) attainable to active service
Present condition:He complains of pain in the right knee and hip joints. His
Arteries are thickened.
Other conditions:Age 46
Attribute by Board:Strain in Active Service
Classified:(iii) Permanent disability
Recommendation:Change to Australia. Fit for Home Service
Approved:27/5/18 No. 3 Command Depot
Approved:21/11/18 Director, Medical Services, A.I.F. H.Q.
Sapper was transferred to the No. 1 Command Depot at Sutton Veny on September 12, 1918 where he remained until moved to the No. 2 C.D. at Weymouth on November 2, 1918. He was there when Peace was declared.
Sapper Sheehan embarked from Liverpool, England on December 9, 1918 aboard H.T. Argyllshireas an invalid for discharge in Australia due to Rheumatism. Base Records advised his sister on January 10 that he was returning home. News of the ship’s impending arrival was published in the:
His name was in the returning soldiers list appearing in the:
There were seven reported cases of diphtheria amongst the ship’s compliment requiring the patients to be isolated and their disembarkation at Albany, W.A. was reported in the:
Sapper appeared before the Disembarkation Medical Board on January 28, 1919 at the No. 8 Aust General Hospital where his medical history was taken and listed as follows:
Facts:(1) Overage 47
(2) Developed rheumatic pains in right thigh, hip and knee, was unable to walk. In
Hospital 3 weeks. He, hear on out was severe in England. Is also a bit deaf.
No wounds or injury in service.
Present condition:
(1) Overage 47
(2) Rheumatism in right hip & knee. Now well. Slight deafness in both ears.
No disability at present
Recommendation: Discharge
Approved:29/1/19
Military Discharge was issued in Perth, (5th Military District) on March 14, 1919 was medically unfit.
He returned to Yallalong Station via Mullewa with his occupation as windmill expert and was still listed there in 1928.
For serving his country Sapper 1164 Martin Sheehan, 3rd Tunnelling Company was issued with the British War Medal (8222) and the Victory Medal (8187).
Martin Sheehan died in 1930 aged 57 years with his death registered at Geraldton, W.A.
The 5th Military District returned to Base Records on March 11, 1940 his Returned Service Badge (123236) and it was placed into storage.
© Donna Baldey 2016