CORPORAL LINDSAY GEORGE BROWN
4993 –3rd Tunnelling Company
The 1916 Electoral Roll records Lindsay George Brown at Ora Banda, Western Australia (WA) working as a Miner.
Lindsay George Brown signed the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’ on 15 January 1916. He had previously been rejected for service due to swelling in the knee. A medical examination the same day recorded that he was 27 Years and 7 months of age and stood 5ft 4ins tall. He weighed 140 lbs, had a medium complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. He was of the Presbyterian faith.
He stated he was born in Scotland and was a Miner by trade. He named as his Next-of-Kin his friend Jack Griffiths of 180 McDonald Street, Kalgoorlie, WA. He signed the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ at Blackboy Hill, WA on 17 January 1916 and his training began at 43 Depot Battalion.
On 10 March 1916 at Belmont, WA, Lindsay was appointed to No.6 Tunnelling Company by Captain Frederick Washington Lawson, O.C. of No.6 Tunnelling Company. On 2 May he was promoted to Corporal.
Two Sections of the Northern recruits to form the No.4 Company had embarked from Brisbane, Queensland early in May, 1916 aboard HMAT A69 Warilda for Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). Six officers and 152 other ranks together with the 1st Reinforcements of fifteen other ranks made up the two sections.
At Rosebery Park, Sydney, NSW they joined their Headquarters and two sections (8 officers & 153 O.Rs.) plus 1st Reinforcements consisting of one officer and seventeen other ranks for final training.
The 7713-ton transport departed Sydney, NSW on May 22, 1916 and collected in Melbourne, Victoria the No.5 Company recruited from Victoria, South Australia & Tasmania consisting of a Headquarters and 2 Sections (8 officers & 173 men) (3 M.D.). 1 Section from Tasmania (3 officers & 76 O.Rs); also 1st Reinforcements for No.5 Company (17 men from Vic. & 8 men Tas.)
The ship departed on May 25, 1916 for Adelaide, S.A. to collect one Section of 3 officers & 76 O.Rs with 1st Reinforcements of 8 O.Rs.
Docking at Fremantle, W.A. on June 1, 1916 No.6 Company recruited from W.A. of 14 officers and 325 O.Rs along with 1st Reinforcements of 1 Officer & 32 O.Rs embarked and Warilda departed the same day for the European theatre.
Lindsay embarked at Fremantle with No.6 Company on board Warilda.
Durban, South Africa was reached on June 16, 1916 and Cape Town on June 21, 1916 while St Vincent completed the African ports of call on July 7, 1916. Discipline was fairly good except at intermediate ports where soldiers going Absent Without Leave caused concern.
The fifty-eight day voyage experienced remarkable pleasant weather and terminated at Plymouth, England on July 18, 1916. Four, Five and Six Companies comprising of 1064 officers and other ranks were detrained to Amesbury and Tidworth to begin training for the front.
Lindsay proceeded overseas to France on 28 August 1916 and marched in to the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot (2nd ADBD). He marched out to the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company (3ATC) on 25 September and was taken on strength on 30 September.
He was wounded in action (mine gas) on 27 November 1916.
The men were all buried in the Hersin Communal Cemetery Extension in 14 adjacent graves with nine men, presumably those not recovered, commemorated in one grave. Photos of the wooden crosses erected over the graves exist in some the mens’ files available on the National Archives website. Red Cross files on the Australian War Memorial website contain several witness reports to the incident.
Lindsay was admitted to the 72nd Field ambulance. On 4 December he was transferred to the 64th Field Ambulance.
On 5 December 1916, Lindsay was reduced to the rank of Sapper on the approval of Lieutenant General Anderson, Commanding 1st Corps.
Lindsay was transferred from the 64th Field Ambulance to the West Riding Casualty Clearing Station on 13 December where he was admitted ‘Gassed, mine & PUO’ (PUO = pyrexia of unknown origin). His Next-of-Kin, J. Griffiths, was advised of his wounding by telegram of 13 December.
He was transferred to Ambulance Train 12 on 19 December and then to the 3rd Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne on 20 December.
He was transferred to the 7th Convalescent Depot at Boulogne on 29 December 1916. On 17 January 1917 he was discharged from hospital and marched in to the Australian General Base Depot (AGBD) at Etaples, rejoining his unit in the field on 6 February.
Lindsay was due 2 Blue Chevrons on 1 June 1917. Each blue Service Chevron denoted one year’s service from 1 January 1915. A red Chevron denoted service before 31 December 1914.
Lindsay was admitted to the 16 Field Ambulance on 3 October and transferred the same day to the 1st Casualty Clearing Station NYD (not yet diagnosed). On 4 October he was transferred to the Ambulance Train and then to the 39th General Hospital, Havre, on 9 October 1917.
Discharged from hospital on 9 November, he marched in to the AGBD at Rouelles, marching out to his unit on 14 November and rejoining them in the field on 16 November.
On 20 February 1918 Mrs. C. Snashall of ‘Chesterfield’, 2 Westmoreland Street, Glebe, wrote to Base Records inquiring about her son, as she had not heard from him for months. He had enlisted from some part of Western Australia and she did not know if he was married or how he had left his money. She had not heard of him for a few years until sometime the previous year when she received a letter from France. She included at the bottom of the letter, presumably from his letter,: ‘4993 Private L.G. Brown, 3rd Section, 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company, A.I.F. Ab’.
Research by Trevor Brown shows that Lindsay had been bornLindsay Murdock Graham Snushall at Cobar, NSW on 17 May 1889, the son of George and Catherine Josephine (nee Cassidy) Snushhall. He had apparently enlisted under an assumed name.
Base Records replied on 25 February stating that as no reports had been received it could be assumed he was with his unit. They further advised that she should replace the word ‘Private’ with Sapper’ when writing to him; that she should direct inquiries regarding his military pay to the District Paymaster (address provided) and that according to their records her son had enlisted as a single man.
On 28 April 1918, Mrs C. Snashall again wrote to Base Records inquiring about her son, stating where he had enlisted and that he had left his money to a young lady whose address she did not know. Mrs Snashall asked how she would find out if anything happened to her son, as she was very anxious.
Base Records replied on 3 May that her name and address had been noted on the records for her to be notified of any cabled reports regarding Lindsay, adding that no recent report of casualty had been received.
Lindsay again reported sick on 19 August 1918 and was admitted to the 34th Field Ambulance before being transferred to the 22nd Casualty Clearing Station the same day. On 25 August he was transferred to Ambulance Train 26 and the to the 20th General Hospital at Camiers on the same day.
On 31 August he was transferred to the 6th Convalescent Depot at Etaples. Discharged on 1 October with a medical classification of B2, he marched out to No.3 Employment Depot at Havre on 3 October. He marched in to the AGBD at Rouelles on 5 October and was then attached for duty to the 1st Field Butchery & Bakery Reinforcement Depot on 14 October.
He was granted leave to England from 30 November until 14 December 1918. Whilst on furlough he fell sick on 3 December and was admitted to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield with bronchitis. He was discharged back to furlough on 18 December, to report to No.2 Command Depot on 30 December, this effectively ending his association with 3ATC.
Lindsay had been a member of 3ATC from 30 September 1916. 3ATC first saw action at Boars Head in the lead up the Fromelles diversion ‘stunt’ of July 1916. The Company was allocated to the First Army and were engaged variously at Laventie-Fauquissart, Givenchy, Loos, Lens, Double Crassiers and Vermelles and other places on the Western Front.
On 27 November 1916 at the ‘Black Watch Sap’, Hill 70, an enemy camouflet (or a premature explosion, depending on different accounts) killed 20 members of the company. Lindsay was gassed on this day, indicating that he was in the Black Watch Sap at the time of the explosion. The next day 2 more members were killed in the same area by an enemy camouflet.
The Companies major effort was at Hill 70 where they constructed the extensive Hythe Tunnel system. The company was also heavily involved in road and bridge construction and the locating and clearing of enemy mines and booby traps. This continued for the company for some months after the Armistice.
Lindsay marched in to No.2 Command Depot, Weymouth, on 30 December 1918 from the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital.
He left London on 5 March 1919 on board Nevasa for return to Australia - ‘Fibrosis of lung’. On 21 March his Next-of-Kin (Jack Griffiths) was advised of Lindsays’ returning to Australia.
Disembarking at Fremantle on 13 April 1919, Lindsay was discharged from the A.I.F. in 5 M.D. (5th Military District = West Australia) on 7 June 1919 as ‘medically unfit’, entitled to wear the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Lindsay continued to live under the previously assumed name and on 13 April 1920 he married 17-year-old Margaret Ellen (Nell) McGlenchy at Geraldton, WA. Nell was born at Ballarat, Victoria in 1903, the daughter of John Thomas and Agatha Evelyn (nee Jenkins) McGlenchy.
The 1925 Electoral Roll records:
Lindsay George Brown, miner, living at Yalgoo, WA.
[also recorded as: Lindsay George Brown, timber worker, living at No.2 Mill Collie LTC, Collie, WA.]
Margaret Ellen Brown, home duties, living at Collie, WA.
In August 1927 the medical and military service records of Lindsay George Brown were provided to the Repatriation Commission, Perth.
The 1931 Electoral Roll records:
Lindsay George Brown, mine carpenter, and Margaret Ellen Brown, home duties, living at Coombe Street, Collie, WA.
Lindsay George Brown of Collie died on 3 May 1932 aged 43. He is buried at Karrakatta Cemetery, Presbyterian Section FA, grave 0259.
Between 1943 and 1949, Nell married Hawley Conway Roy Gardiner and was staying with her daughter, Billie, when she died at Perth on 12 January 1971. She had been living at Cranbrook. Nell is buried in the Anglican section PC, grave 0669 at Karrakatta Cemetery.
© Donna Baldey 2014
www.tunnellers.net
with the assistance of Trevor and Steve Brown, grandson & great grandson of Lindsay George Brown.
An extensive ‘Brown Family Tree’ at ancestry.com contains a well-researched history of Lindsay’s family by Trevor Brown, Lindsay’s eldest grandson, who has been carrying out research since June 2003.