LANCE CORPORAL DANIEL FREDERICK CORKERY
4748 – 3rd Tunnelling Company
Daniel Frederick (Dan) Corkery was born near the location of Ringarooma on 11 June 1896, one of the children born to Daniel Edward and Margaret Corkery (nee Kay). Daniel, the father, was born in Launceston in 1864 and mother Margaret was born in 1876. They were married at Ringarooma on 23 December 1891.
Dan’s brother, William (Bill) John Corkery who was born in 1892 at Ringarooma and was working as a miner, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at Claremont as a Driver on 2 December 1914 age 22 years and nominated his Father D Corkery of Lyndda Valley as his Next of Kin. He also allotted part of his pay to his Father. He was posted as a reinforcement for the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade – 3FAB and left Australia aboard A54 HMAT Runic on 19 February 1915. On 4 April 1915 he became a member of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the Australian contingent of which landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
As Bill was enlisted as a Driver and as horse drawn weapons and wagons were not employed there it is possible that he remained in Egypt tending the horses. On 8 August Bill’s leg was crushed and he was hospitalised for some time before joining the 9th Battery of 3FAB that on 29 March 1916 disembarked at Marseille on its way to the Western Front.
While also working at one of the many mines in the Linda Valley of Tasmania, Dan also decided to serve his country and on 13 February 1916 applied at the Recruiting Centre at Claremont, a northern suburb of Hobart, to enlist in the all volunteer AIF. He completed his Attestation advising he was born near Ringarooma, (some 90 kilometres north east of Launceston) was 19 years and 7 months old, a miner by occupation and had never been dishonourably discharged from any naval or military service but had been rejected for service with the S (school) cadets 5 years ago at Gormanston - lungs.
Dan nominated his father Daniel E. Corkery, Linda Valley, West Coast, as his Next of Kin – although his father’s name was crossed out at some point in time and Margaret, his mother’s name has been entered.
(Dan’s statement that he had never been dishonourably discharged must have been checked as there is an endorsement against his entry on a certified copy of his Attestation “ No vide file of 3810 W J Corkery 3 FAB” The certification is dated 24 April 1916).
Dan was medically examined the next day, said his age was 19 years 7 months and was found to be 5’10” tall, weigh 133 lbs, of medium complexion and fit for service.
He then took the Oath to serve from 14 February 1916, was allotted Regimental number 4748 with the rank of Sapper and posted to 5 Company Miners where he also allotted part of his pay to his Father. He remained in the AIF Camp at Claremont until 28 April 1916 when he was transferred to the 5th Tunnelling Company at the AIF Camp at Broadmeadows, near Melbourne, and there joined other members awaiting embarkation.
The Company embarked on A69 HMAT Warilda that sailed for England on 25 May 1916 and reached Plymouth on 18 July where it disembarked and proceeded to Perham Downs where it marched into No.3 Camp, Australian Details to receive further training before proceeding to France. Dan’s records show that he did not march in until 8 September 1916 which was nearly 2 months after disembarking at Plymouth and there is no account of where he was during that time.
(At some earlier stage it had been decided to disband the 4th, 5th and 6th Tunnelling Companies and deploy the members as reinforcements to the existing Companies. Thus members of the 4th were to go to 1ATC, the 5th to 2ATC and the 6th to 3ATC. There were a number of Tasmanians serving in 3ATC).
Then Dan found the time to become a typical Australian civilian/soldier when he went absent without leave from 2400 on 8 October until 2400 on 10 October. On 11 October 1916 the charge was heard and Dan was ordered to be confined to barracks for 7 days and to forfeit 2 days pay. But the war intervened on 15 October 1916 and along with others including 5790 Sapper Sydney Sullivan, also a Tasmanian with 5ATC, it was off to Etaples in France to report to the Australian General Base Depot there.
There may have been a lack of vacancies in the Tunnelling Companies at that time as Dan was transferred to the Segregation Camp in Etaples on 16 November to await a posting.
It was there that he again fell foul of authority when he was charged on 20 December with Crime When on A/ S (active service) committing a nuisance in the lines. He had to forfeit 7 days pay for that crime
Although the members of the former 5ATC were to be used to reinforce 2ATC Dan – and Sydney Sullivan - was posted to 3ATC and taken on strength by the Company on 1 January 1917.
At that time the Company was responsible for the mines in the Hill 70 region, a mile and a half NW of Lens and living in billets at Bracquemont near Noeux-Les-Mines. This was in the midst of one of France’s largest coal mining districts with its hard white chalk ground.
From November 1916 until March 1917, it was involved in defensive mining that concluded on 26 March when Shaft 21 was blown closing a gap in the defensive system. Defensive mining involved digging an underground tunnel in front of and parallel to the British front line and having Tunnellers listening for German tunnelling activities so that counter measures could be taken to prevent German mines exploding under the British trenches. All extremely dangerous and demanding work.
These entries in a diary kept by 1428 Sapper Frank Miles indicate the conditions under which Dan and his cobbers were serving when Sydney Sullivan gave his life for Australia:
February 1917
18 Sunday Came out to trenches Road to village lines Nice morning On duty 2 to 10 listening Trenches awful
19 Monday On duty listening 6 to 2 At 2o/c Fritz bombarded billets Killed Sullivan 3rd Reinfor On
duty listening and bags
And the Sullivan referred to in the diary was Sydney Sullivan who had enlisted about the same time as Dan Corkery and the two had moved to Broadmeadows, to England on the Warilda and were taken on strength by 3ATC the same day. One can only wonder about Dan’s reaction to his loss of a cobber and his exposure to war on the Western Front with all the mud, dead men and animals, the constant danger from shelling and snipers, the unbelievable living conditions and the noise!
He and his cobbers had to carry on in the presence of countless bodies and parts of bodies of dead men with the ever present stench of decomposition and feral rats and, in summer, the swarms of flies and the ever present lice driving one to distraction!
And spend their waking hours quietly chipping out and lining the underground tunnels breathing in air foul from explosives and machinery that was absorbed and then gradually released from the chalk, dragging bags of spoil to the shafts, operating winches to hoist the spoil to the surface and then dragging the bags for emptying and dispersal. Then there was the search for timber and other materials, nerve wracking listening duties in tiny underground chambers for sounds of an enemy seeking to kill them, standing guard over the entrances to the shafts, moving supplies from dumps to the front line and labouring from billets to the mine and back to the billets in knee deep mud and all the while listening for the shrapnel or gas shell that might or might not have their names on it!!!
During a retaliatory German raid on 18 March that was preceded by a 3 hour long bombardment infantry protection was non-existent and LG 3 was filled with gas. In this diary entry 1428 Sapper Frank Miles states “was on listening duty, the Germans bombarded for 3 hours, came over and took a few Buffs, blew a sap and put gas down, no one hurt. On stand to at garrison for 3 hours”.
After the Battle of Arras the British front line ran across Hill 70 and it became essential that the Germans be prevented from re-entering their extensive mine system under Hill 70 and using it for a counter attack. This task fell to 3ATC. It seems that on 20 April the Germans did have a mine in position under the British trenches and sought to explode it. But it misfired!
During April 1917 apart from the very stressful listening duties the Company was also occupied on salvaging operations, repair of the Calonne-Lievin Road and carrying forward trench mortar ammunition. In 3 days 496 shells each weighing 60 lbs had to be carried through 2 feet of mud. As well, an investigation detachment was formed to search German positions for and to render harmless delayed action bombs, mines and other explosives and booby traps –such as bombs 12 inches long by 6 inches wide by 3 inches high with detonators at both ends - attached to Prussian helmets or to trip wires across paths.
3ATC then returned to tunnelling at Hill 70 and continued the construction of dressing stations, dugouts, command posts, roads, water points as well as investigating captured enemy galleries, mines and booby traps.
On 8 July 1917 the Germans blew a mine but the charging had been heard by 3ATC listeners and there were no casualties. The Company tragically lost its CO Major L J Coulter DSO, who was killed during a raid by tunnellers to destroy shafts in No-Mans-Land and in German lines 3ATC then tunnelled forward and on 24 July broke into the German workings and captured them. On 27 July a camouflet of 10,000 lbs of ammonal was exploded effectively destroying all enemy connecting works and bringing the struggle at Hill 70 to an end.
And Dan Corkery went on sick parade on 30 August 1917 and was taken to the 18th Casualty Clearing Station by the 16th Field Ambulance and then to 4th Stationary Hospital at Arguis on 1 September for treatment for Dental Caries.
He rejoined the Company on 11 September 1917 that was then concentrating its efforts on building underground quarters for the Canadians to house their headquarters, medical, signal and other units as well as accommodating for literally hundreds of infantrymen. And on 20 September William Corkery, his Brother was Wounded in action GSW (Gunshot wounds) to head and face, bruised ribs. He rejoined his Battery on 29 November 1917.
The Battle for Vimy Ridge took place during this period with a heavy involvement with the Canadians Which produced this compliment:
The Company area was raided on 1 January 1918 when 3ATC was engaged on various works around Lens, Loos, HulIuch, St Elie, Vermelles and Hythe Tunnel. Based on lessons learned from the German defences at Mouquet Farm the Company proposed the development of Hill 70 as a major defensive position, possibly the largest on the Western Front.
The proposal, which was adopted, meant the replacement of communication trenches by subways and tunnels with machine gun emplacements, aid posts, troop accommodation and so on placed underground and serviced by a light rail system. (A forerunner to the Maginot Line?) Work continued under continuous artillery bombardment and repeated gas attacks.
The British Command correctly predicted a German offensive would take place early in 1918 as German Divisions released from the Eastern Front by the end of Russian participation in the war were moved to the Western Front The Company experimented with measures to impede the offensive concentrating on anti tank measures On 12 March it blew 300 craters to form an experimental anti-tank defence.
The offensive launched in March 1918 was finally repelled in April and the Germans began retreating to the Hindenburg Line hotly pursued from Villers Bretonneux by the Australian Divisions; among others.
In that month of April 1918 43 men were gassed in 2 days while 2 Officers and 8 NCOs were detached to supervise the work of between 2000 and 3000 French miners engaged in building defensive positions. From May through to September 1918 3ATC worked on the Givenchy and Avenue Tunnel systems involving the removal of over 10,000 tons of chalk, the laying of mines on roads and bridges to allow their demolition if necessary and the construction of various facilities.
June was a busy month with dugouts being built at Givenchy – under heavy fire -; the Vermelles Tunnel being extended; more dugouts at Hill 70 and the construction of trench mortar emplacements.
And on 17 April 1918 Sapper Daniel Corkery was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal and on 1 July 1918 was granted some well earned leave that he used to visit Paris and may have come back on 12 July a little refreshed.
On 4 August 1918 the Company joined numerous British Units in a ‘Special Service of Remembrance and Intercession to commemorate the 5th Anniversary of the declaration of war and those who have been killed or wounded and to dedicate ourselves to bringing the war to a successful conclusion.’ The troops were addressed by General Sir Henry Horne.
On 11 August an air raid on the billets saw 64 bombs dropped causing the death of 5 men while 7 were wounded. A detachment of 2 Officers and 40 other ranks was employed on checking out the La Bassee Canal for explosive devices and rendering them harmless. The CO of the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers wrote to Major Sanderson to inform him the “… your officers NCOs and men were splendid and I cannot speak too well of them …”
In September each Section of the Company was reorganised and received some training as infantrymen and the Company was transferred from the 1st Army to the 5th Army. The Germans began retiring along the front and 3ATC was charged with reconnoitring all roads, bridges and enemy airdromes and repairing them to a useable condition, at the same time checking dugouts, billets, roads and other locations for explosive devices.