Sapper William John Bishop

SAPPER WILLIAM JOHN BISHOP

49 – 1st Tunnelling Company

St Allen, Truro, Cornwall, England was the birthplace of William John Bishop on May 3, 1857, the son of Simon and Jane (formerly James) Bishop. As a 22 year old he arrived in Queensland on the ship Scottish Admiral on October 30, 1878 and worked in a various mining pursuits. He married in 1889 to Ellen Greaney. In 1908 he was at East and Morgan Streets, Mount Morgan, Queensland and in 1913 he was residing in the family home at 34 Cairns Street, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane. In the last quarter of 1915 when recruiting began for the Miners’ Corps he was working for the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Ltd.

The following extract from The Mount Morgan Chronicle gives a brief insight to his past mining and leadership skills:

At the Rockhampton Recruiting Office on November 22, 1916 he was examined and passed medically fit. The married miner applied to enlist on November 26, 1915, completed Attestation Forms and was sworn in. The volunteers to the Mining Corps were accepted up to the age of 49 years and William lowered his age about 10 years to meet with their guidelines and be accepted. Other particulars given were his height of 165cms (5ft 5ins) and weighed 80.4kgs (177lbs) with a chest measurement of 112cms (44ins). His complexion was fair with blue eyes and grey hair. Religion was stated to be Methodist and his wife Mrs Ellen Bishop of 34 Cairns Street, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane was named as his next-of-kin.

As acknowledgement The Capricornian on December 4, 1915 published the names of the men enlisting for service abroad:

Training took place at Casula Camp near Liverpool, NSW and he was placed into the No 1 Company, Mining Corps and assigned the rank of Sapper with the regimental number 49.

At a civic parade in the Domain, Sydney on Saturday February 19, 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’, and on the left rank upon rank, the Miners’ Battalion.

Sapper Bishop 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’. Sapper Bishop was attached to the 1st Tunnelling Company.

On July 31, 1916 Sapper Bishop wrote to the Australian High Commissioner in London and stating his true age and where he was serving on the Western front.

The Australian High Commissioner was Andrew Fisher who had been a Member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Wide Bay in Queensland (1901-1915) and three times Prime Minister of Australia. When Mr Fisher retired from Politics he became Australian High Commissioner in London from January 1st, 1916 and served five years in that position. Soldiers from his former electorate gave the High Commissioner a special interest among the Australian troops serving at the front and he replied to the letter received from Bishop.

The following is a copy of the original letter Sapper Bishop received from the High Commissioner:

During his twelve months with the company he suffered no accidents, hospitalisation or wounds but the conditions and hard physical work took its toll on the mature aged men.

On May 17, 1917 Sapper Bishop wrote to the Commanding Officer of the 1st Tunnelling Company to consider his request for a Discharge. The request was made with the knowledge that he was totally unfit through illness and age to continue to serve in His Majesty’s forces.

The following day his Application was attached to a letter of recommendation by the Commanding Officer who added his own comments to the request:

A.I.F. Headquarters on May 23, 1917 replied with approval for Sapper Bishop to return to Australia for discharge. They requested him to report to Administrative Headquarters in London and wire the office beforehand the date of his departure for their office. The letter’s third and final point is as follows:

The Cablegram advising of his departure was sent to Headquarters on May 28, 1917. It reads:

On June 29, 1917 Sapper Bishop left Headquarters and marched into the No 2 Command Depot at Weymouth, England to prepare for his return journey home.

The transport H.T. A71 Nestor embarked from England on July 27, 1917 with Sapper Bishop on board. His wife was advised that her husband was returning home on August 27, 1917.

The ship landed in Melbourne, Vic (3rd Military District), on September 24, 1917 and he completed the journey overland to Brisbane, Qld (1st M.D.) on September 27, 1917.

He returned to Mount Morgan soon after as the following article appeared in The Mount Morgan Chronicle on Friday October 5, 1917:

He was discharged medically unfit on October 14, 1917.

On December 5, 1917 the Roll of Honour Board of employees of the Mount Morgan Gold Mine Ltd who enlisted for overseas service was publicly displayed. As an employee of the Company the name of W.J. Bishop appears on the Roll of Honour.

In 1919 he is listed at their Kangaroo Point home in Brisbane and also at Hall Street, Mount Morgan working as a miner. In 1925 William Bishop is residing with his wife Ellen at 193 Main Street, Brisbane with the occupation of Labourer.

For enlisting and serving his country Sapper 49 William John Bishop, 1st Tunnelling Company was awarded the British War Medal (12117) and the Victory Medal (11958).

A Statement of Service was sent to the Repatriation Department in Brisbane, Qld on August 9, 1926.

In 1936 William Bishop was residing at Eventide Home, Red Hill, Brisbane and on December 18, 1936 another Statement of Service was sent to the Brisbane Department of Repatriation.

William Bishop did have the benefit of a long life as he passed away on May 31, 1940 aged 83 years.

In The Courier-Mail on June 1, 1940 this notice appeared:

The Bishop family grave is in the Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane in Portion 7A, Section 135, Grave No. 10. The headstone reads:

High Commissioner’s Letter courtesy of Mrs A. Nicholson.

PRIVATE JAMES BISHOP

455 – 5th Light Horse Battalion “B” Squad

On November 3, 1914 James Bishop enlisted in Brisbane, Qld for service overseas. The 22½ year old Gympie-born labourer gave his father William John Bishop of Mount Morgan, Qld as next-of-kin.

He embarked from Sydney, NSW on December 21, 1914 aboard the troopship Persic with the 5th Light Horse Battalion.

A transfer to the Remount Depot took place on April 8, 1915.

On October 29, 1915 he suffered Ulceration of Stomach resulting from taking Caustic Soda ‘in mistake of’ Epsom Salts. The accident would see him leave the Suez on December 4, 1915 and arrive in Melbourne, Vic on January 2, 1916. He was discharged medically unfit on June 7, 1916 on a pension of $3 (30/-) per fortnight until the pension was cancelled on March 15, 1917.

Private 455 James Bishop 5th Light Horse Battalion received the 1914/15 Star (4470), the British War Medal (1724) and the Victory Medal (1691) for serving his country.

He died on September 23, 1938 aged 36 years and is in the family plot at Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane.