Of Tragedy and Valor
Thomas James Robinson

Thomas James Robinson was born 16th April, 1897 at Encounter Bay the son of John Robinson and Isabella Thompson.

"Tommy" or "Robbie" as he was known was a cycle builder, blacksmith and horse-breaker.  He recalled spending a lot of time around the Rumbelow's boat shed during his childhood and regularly returned to the area throughout his long life.

After leaving school he went to work with his father for some years during which they carried out land clearing the hard way - by axe! They also harvested Wattle Bark for use in the Tanning Industry.

In his latter teen years, Tom and the family moved to the Gawler area where his father resumed farming and Tom became involved with learning blacksmithing and horse breaking. He was very fond of horses and was critical of one of his employers whom he considered showed cruelty to his animals, so he left. 

About this time he became interest in bike racing and won a couple of races as a junior at the Thebarton Oval - now the Hindmarsh Soccer Stadium.

Service Number: 2061

Enlisted: 1 September 1915, Adelaide, South Australia

Last Rank: Private

Last Unit: 1st ANZAC Cyclist Battalion

Born: Victor Harbor, South Australia, 16 April 1897

Home Town: Victor Harbor, Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Occupation: Blacksmith's Striker

Following his cousin, in September 1915 Tom enlisted in the first World War as Private No. 2061 in 12th Reinforcements of the 9th Light Horse.  In December 1915 he transferred to the 14th Reinforcements of the 3rd Light Horse. 

After service in Egypt he arrived in France in June 1816 and served on the Western Front with the 1st Anzac Corps Cyclist Battalion and spent three years in France where his role was primarily as a Lewis gunner.  Tom returned to Australia on 5th April 1919 and was discharged on 10th July 1919. 

He returned to Australia on board the troopship 'Warwickshire' and was discharged in July 1919. 

Following his discharge, Tom had a variety of jobs including working in Melbourne as a model for an artist named McCubbin who was engaged in preparing exhibits in relation to Australia's service in France. 

Upon his return Robinson continued where he left and in December 1919 at Hindmarsh Oval (S.A), Robinson won the 1-mile Maidens event and also the 1-mile Harrison Stakes. With Robinson’s persistence he was awarded the 1921 Champion of the Dunlop Road race.

Tom’s style of riding was one of perfect form; he is noted for his 10 championships in one year and riding a 5-mile road race on a deflated tyre while still acquiring a race record for the distance.

In 1925 Tom married Ella Foster at the Mitcham Baptist Church. Ella was one of twelve children of Albert & Eliza Foster whose family had migrated from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in 1847. Tom and Ella had two children - Merv in 1926 and Beryl in 1930. 

Robinson studied the sport of cycling and became employed by Super Elliott as their frame builder, building frames at the Gawler place premises he soon began to specialise frames for the Super Elliott team members.

His offerings were a variety of designs and upon request his designs featured special hand cut lugs which he incorporated into the frames, his designs varied and the Super Elliott Special " E" was seen as their top model embossed on the front of the frame. Robinson became known as one of Super Elliott's top frame builders.

Robinson was still working with Super Elliott past his retirement and had produced hundreds of frames for the store and by the late 1970's Robinson was still riding his bike aged in his 80's for Sunday lunch, it was his key to longevity and recalled "The war was the saddest part of my life" "The best part was the cycling".

He continued his bike building career until he retired at age 66. Many famous cyclist in South Australia claimed that he was the best builder they had known. His 100th birthday celebration was attended by most of the famous S.A. cyclists of the 1930s and 1940s.

In recognition of his war service Tom was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

On August 8th 1998 he was awarded the Legion of Honour medal as part of a French Government programme aimed at presenting all surviving World War 1 veterans who saw active service in France with their highest award. On April 22nd 1999 Tom was awarded the 80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal which was presented to the Australian World War 1 veterans surviving on Remembrance Day 1998. He was also awarded the Centenary medal.

Tom lived at 46 Pitman Avenue, Woodville West until he was approx. 90 yrs old. 

He then came to live at West Beach, with Merv & Dorothy until his death in April 2001. He is buried in Centennial Park.

- 1915 -

9th September - Enlisted in the A.I.F. Service number 2061, appointed to E company, 22nd base battalion, exhibition grounds, Adelaide.

Had done 6 months compulsory training prior to enlisting.

16th September - Appointed to the base light horse.

1st October - Appointed to the 9th Light Horse, “A” company, rank private.

1st November - Admitted to No.7 A.G.H. Keswick.

16th December - Transferred to the 14th reinforcements for the 3rd Light Horse.

- 1916 -

10th February - Embarked from Australia on A69 S.S. “Warilda” from Outer Harbour.

7th March - Taken on strength 1st Light Horse Reserve Regiment, Heliopolis.

16th April - Taken on strength of 4th Division Cyclist Company, Serapeum.

2nd June - Embarked on “Kingsfaun Castle” ex Alexandria to join B.E.F.

8th June - Disembarked at Marseilles.

9th July - Transferred to 1st Anzac cyclist battalion, France and served as a Lewis gunner.

- 1917 -

19th December - Hospitalised, France. 2 A.C.C.S.

20th December - Transferred to 50th C.C.S., admitted to 1 A.C.C.S., scabies, France.

21st December - Transferred to 1st Field Ambulance, France., to 1 A.D.R.S., scabies.

- 1918 -

1st January - Rejoined 1st Australian Corps cyclists battalion from sick, France.

30th January - Hospitalised, France. 2 A.C.C.S., psorisis.

6th April - Discharged to Base Details from No.10 Convalescent Depot ex sick, France.

25th April - To hospital sick (N.Y.D.”M”) ex Australian General Base Depot, France. (Admitted

L of C Hospital from F.M. unit, sick). Admitted to 39th General Hospital

19th June - Discharged from 39th General Hospital to A.G. Base Depot, Havre, France.

3rd July - Marched out to unit.

6th July - Rejoined Australian Corps Cyclist Battalion, France.

6th September - To 41st Casualty Clearing Station accidentally injured. 

There was an inquiry into this injury. Pte Robinson’s statement said “I was standing by a fire on which some rubbish was being burnt, when a bomb that was also in the fire exploded, a piece striking me on the forefinger of the right hand.” Statement by a witness Pte R. Smith said “Pte Robinson and myself were standing near a fire when suddenly a bomb exploded in the fire and hit Pte Robinson in the finger, causing a slight wound and the fire had been burning for some time before we came on the scene, but whether the bomb was put in the fire by accident or not I could not say, but probably was the case.” 

The report states

“Pte. Robinson was standing near a fire in which some rubbish was being burnt. A large quantity of German hand grenades are being salvaged from this area, and by some unknown reason one of these grenades became mixed with the rubbish and was put on the fire.” Commanding officers opinion “The man was in the performance of a military duty. He was not to blame. No other person was to blame.”, signed H.Dawson. Lieut.

8th September - Admitted 12th W.S.A. Gen. Hospital, Rouen, France.

5th October - To 1st Australian Con. Depot, Buchy? or Havre.

20th November - Marched into Australian General Base Depot, Havre.

28th November - Rejoined cyclist battalion ex sick.

21st December - Admitted to 1st A.D.Hospital, Bulford sick, whilst on leave from France.

24th December - Discharged to Brimstone Bottom Hospital.

- 1919 -

8th January - Transferred to 1st A.D.H. No.20.

9th March - Discharged to Convalescent Training Depot, Parkhouse.

11th March - Marched in from 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital, Bulford

5th April - Embarked on the H.T.”Warwickshire”, ex England for return to Australia.

24th May - Disembarked 4th military district, Australia.

10th July - Discharged 4th military district, Australia.

Received the British War Medal (4/11 no. 10959) and finally the Victory Medal (4/11 no. 10870) in October 1944.

Thomas James ROBINSON

Regimental number 2061

Date of birth 16 April 1897

Place of birth Victor Harbor, South Australia

Religion Methodist

Occupation Labourer

Address John Street, Mitcham, South Australia

Marital status Single

Age at embarkation 18

Height 5' 6"

Weight 124 lbs

Next of kin Mother, Mrs Isabella Robinson, John Street, Mitcham, South Australia

Previous military service

Served for 6 months in the Compulsory Military Training scheme.

Enlistment date 19 September 1915

Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll 2 September 1915

Place of enlistment Adelaide, South Australia

Rank on enlistment Private

Unit name 3rd Light Horse Regiment, 14th Reinforcement

AWM Embarkation Roll number 10/8/3

Embarkation details Unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A69 Warilda on 10 February 1916

Rank from Nominal Roll Private

Unit from Nominal Roll 1st Cyclists Battalion

Fate Returned to Australia 5 April 1919

Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Taken on strength, 1st Light Horse Reserve Regiment, Heliopolis, 8 March 1916. Transferred to 4th Division Cyclists' Bn, 16 April 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British expeditionary Force, 2 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 8 June 1916. Transferred to 1st Anzac Cyclists' Bn, 9 July 1916.

On leave to United Kingdom, 5 October 1917; rejoined unit from leave, 17 October 1917.

Admitted to 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station, 20 December 1917 (scabies); transferred same to 1st Field Ambulance; to 1st Australian Division Rest Station, 21 December 1917; discharged to duty, 1 January 1918, and rejoined Bn same day.

Admitted to 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station, 30 January 1918 (psoriasis); transferred by Ambulance Train No 20 to 25th General Hospital, and admitted 31 January 1918; transferred to 10th Convalescent Depot, 4 April 1918; to Australian General Base Depot, 9 April 1918. Admitted to 39th General Hospital, 25 April 1918; discharged, 19 June 1918; total period of treatment for venereal disease: 56 days.

Injured accidentally, 6 September 1918 (laceration of finger); admitted to 2nd Convalescent Depot, Rouen, 9 September 1918; transferred to No 11 Convalescent Depot, Buchy, 13 September 1918; rejoined Bn, 28 November 1918.

Statement by Robinson: 'I was standing by a fire on which some rubbish was being burnt, when a bomb that was also in the fire exploded, a piece striking me on the forefinger of the right hand.' Statement by Pte R. SMITH, 6 September 1918: 'Pte Robinson and myself were standing near a fire when suddenly a bomb exploded in the fire and hit Pte. Robinson in the finger, causing a slight wound and the fire had been burning for some time before we came on the scene, but whether the bomb was put in the fire by accident or not I could not say, but probably was the case.' Adjutant concluded, 6 September 1918: 'Pte. Robinson was standing near a fire in which some rubbish was being burnt. A large quantity of German hand grenades are being salvaged from this area, and by some unknown reason one of these grenades became mixed with the rubbish and was put on the fire. The man was in the performance of a military duty. He was not to blame. No other person was to blame.'

On leave to United Kingdom, 8-22 December 1918. Admitted while on leave to 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital, 21 December 1918; discharged to Brimstone Bolton Hospital, 24 December 1918; total period of treatment for venereal disease: 4 days.

Commenced return to Australia on board HT 'Warwickshire', 5 April 1919; disembarked Adelaide, 24 May 1919; discharged, Adelaide, 10 July 1919.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

Date of death 22 April 2001

Age at death 104

Sources Obituary, 'The Australian', 25 April 2001

Thomas Robinson (Tom) - Transcript of interview

Date of interview: 1st May 2000

http://australiansatwarfilmarchive.unsw.edu.au/archive/2542 

INT Tom, can you tell me where and when you were born?

TJ 1897 in Counter Bay, Maude Street, Encounter Bay, I was born.

INT And what did your father do for a living?

TJ He used to cut scrub, he used to cut timber and he’d bark wattle. He was a labourer, really.

INT Did he have a farm, as well?

TJ No, only a small block. He use to grow a lot of vegetables in his garden.

INT And what was life like for you as a young boy?

TJ That was all quite good, really. I used to, even when I was seven or eight, I used to go fishing. I’d go and catch a few fish.

INT Tom, could you tell me some more about your childhood? The other things you used to do?

TJ My father used to do? No he used to crack stones along the road, crack a heap of stones. They’d crack the stones with a hammer. And, yes, he’d, you know, work at any labouring jobs going.

INT Was life tough for you as a young boy?

TJ No, I left school when I was twelve and a half and I went to work for a chap, he used to breed polo ponies. I’d help him train these ponies. Yeah, well, then I was fifteen, I went to cut scrub with the old Dad, you know, work with him and then I, when I was about seventeen, I think, I went to work for a blacksmith at Sandy Creek and he learnt me to, how to shoe, how to shoe horses and do a bit of blacksmithing.

INT Had you always grown up around horses? Were horses always part of your life?

TJ They were, yeah. Yeah when I was … I always did like horses even when I was young I liked horses. Yes, I, then I learnt to be a blacksmith.

INT Can you tell me where you were when war broke out? Where were you when war broke out, when you did hear about the war?

TJ I was working for the blacksmith when the war broke out and I, after, when I was, yeah I turned eighteen, I decided to enlist. Yes, I worked in, I went three and a half years overseas.

INT Can you tell me why you enlisted in the war?

TJ I don’t know. My cousin, Roy Thompson, he come to see me and he’d enlisted, was already enlisted and he said, “When are you going to enlist?” I said, “Straight away.” Yes, and then I enlisted. And in the Mitcham Camp, I was in Mitcham Camp for, I got the measles and I was enlisted with the 9th Light Horse and I got the measles and I ended up with the 3rd, I went away with the 3rd Light Horse. We went to Egypt, from Egypt we went across to France. We went to Marseilles and then we went across, we crossed, went across, we passed through the outskirts of Paris on our way up to Ypres we went.

INT Could you tell me what the training was like with the Light Horse? I mean how did you work with the horses in the camp?

TJ In Egypt, we had the horses in Egypt. We used to go for a ride every morning. Have a different horse every time. Every day we went, we’d have a different, get hold of a different horse.

INT What did it take to be part of the Light Horse? What sort of a man did you have to be?

TJ Oh no they, they only asked us if we ever had anything to do with horses. I said, “Yes,” I said, “I used to ride polo ponies.” I said, I got, I really got, I’d done alright when I was riding the ponies.

INT Was there much difference between you and other horsemen, you know, some of the, some of the blokes from the bush?

TJ Some of them had never seen a horse, I don’t think. Otherwise they were …

INT Tom, I just want to know if there was much difference between the bushmen and yourself as far as being, you know, in the Light Horse?

TJ No I worked, I was in the city and they was in the bush. But, no, I don’t think, there wasn’t much difference between us. 

INT You were saying before that some of the men didn’t seem like they’d seen a horse before?

No.

INT Can you tell me about that?

TJ Yes. Yes some of them, you know, they worked, they were in the city most of their life and they’d never seen a horse but they took a liking to the,they thought they might like a horse.

INT Who were the best Light Horsemen? The boys from the bush or were there any, you know, what sort of people were they?

TJ Well, were most of them were good, pretty good riders. The ones that come from the bush, they had a lot to do with horses. But some of the city boys used to go for a ride, you know, they’d go for a ride, get a horse, get hold of a a horse and go for a ride. But, no, I think the bushmen were the best riders really.

INT And what were they like as people? Were they rough and tough because they’d come from the bush?

TJ Yeah, yeah, they were a bit tougher than the city boys.

INT Can you tell me about what you thought about military life? The discipline of military life?

TJ No I was glad when I got out of the military. I didn’t like to be tied up or anything. I liked to be free.

INT Did you think there was too much discipline?

TJ Yes, I don’t, didn’t like the discipline.

INT How did you react? How did you react to being told what to do?

TJ I don’t know. I didn’t like it when they were…I know I used to say to me mates, I said, “I don’t like the, I don’t like the discipline. I don’t like it.”

INT Did you rebel against that? Did you rebel against the discipline?

TJ Yeah, I did really. I used to tell the officers, tell them, I said, “I don’t like it.” They said, “There’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to carry on.”

INT So when the officers said that to you, were they laughing about it or were they being very strict with you?

TJ No, they didn’t. They didn’t say much. They said, “You got to, just do what you’re told to do.”

INT Can you tell me a little bit about life in the camp at Egypt?

TJ We were camped at Heliopolis, in Egypt. And every morning we’d go for a ride on the horses…yes, they…some of the horses I don’t think had ever been ridden before. They’d get on and they’d soon get off. No, life in Egypt, we were camped; we went to Serapeum on the [Suez] Canal. We were camped there for about a month, I think, before we went to France. Yeah, we went there, went across to Marseilles, from Egypt to Marseilles. We got a fright one day. We saw, we thought it was a submarine. It wasn’t, it was only bit of junk wood, only a bit of wood floating on the ocean. Yes, we thought it was a submarine. We all got a fright.

INT Tom, can you tell me in Egypt, what were you thinking about? Were you all just sort of wanting to go to battle?

TJ Well we all felt eager to get to France to find out what was going on. Yeah wee all…we went to Egypt, we went into camp for about a month and then they took us up near the front line and we had to be on duty near the… just back behind the lines we were. They put us on duty there.

INT Can you tell me, when you got to France you were no longer with the Light Horse. What did you have to do?

TJ We, when we, we left the horses behind in Egypt and we had to go … we joined the bike, Bicycle Corps. We joined up with them. There were about six hundred of us. We joined up in the cyclist battalion and we ended up as Lewis gunners in the finish.

INT Can you tell me why was there a cyclist battalion? Why were they formed? Do you have any idea? 

TJ Yeah I think, to carry messengers, carry through messages from one village to another. That’s what the bikes were for, really,

INT And why do you think you were chosen?

TJ I don’t know. I … they asked us, they called for volunteers to join the cyclist battalion. They thought … they gave us a bike. They put us on a bike and make sure we could ride. Yes. We used to go from one village to another and they’d give us a message to take.

INT Was that a very dangerous occupation going from village to village? Can you tell me about some of those times?

TJ Yes. Some of the dangerous part was when we went up near the front lines. We used to take the ammunition up to the artillery. And they were really, and the Germans spotters, they’d have balloons up spotting. They’d spot anyone that went across the land there; they could see them in these, with these balloons.

INT So were there very high casualty rates? Were there a lot of casualties with the Cycling Corps because you could see them easily?

TJ Yeah, we … some of them, we had a few chaps killed. They bombed; the German bombers used to come over now and then and skittled a few of us.

INT You were then trained as a Lewis gunner. Can you tell me about that?

About being a Lewis gunner, yes, well, I was telling you about one incident that happened early, we were all, there was half a dozen of us that camped outside of a, a big military camp there. They had the military and artillery. And we were camped to guard this machine gun, guard the… Lewis gunners we had to be there to guard the hidden gun. And early one morning there were two of us, two of us in with the machine gun and we heard a German bomber coming.

We heard him coming. He must have been a mile or so up when we heard him and he dropped a bomb a couple of hundred yards from behind before he got to us and he killed a few mules and then he come right over the top of us, I turned the machine gun up and I opened up, I gave him all the bullets I had until he got out of range but he dropped a bomb, he dropped a bomb and it went straight down outside our sandbags. You could see it three or four feet down in the ground. It was, it never went off. It was a dud. We’d have gone, too, if it had gone off.

INT You were lucky.

TJ Yeah, we were lucky. They got him. He only went about three quarters of a mile and the anti-aircraft got him.

INT Can you tell me just what you did in a day like what were you, you rode your bike with your gun. Can you tell me about that?

TJ No we used to, every day we’d go for a ride, you’d do twenty or thirty miles.

The officer in charge of us, he’d take about, as I say about twenty riders, take them for a ride, yes, twenty or thirty miles I think. Every day we’d have to do that and then we’d have to … we got onto the machine guns. We had to practise with the Lewis guns. Every day we had a bit of a burst with the Lewis gun. Then we went … a time or two we went in with the infantry, on the left of the infantry with our machine guns.

INT So you’d just travel around with your gun. Is that right? You’d travel from battle to battle with your gun on the bike?

TJ We used to carry; we had carriers on our bike. We had carriers on our bikes to take the machine gun, half a dozen of us, everyone had a part. Some one would take the barrel; others would take the ammunition and different things.

INT So you would have ridden along the Menin Road. Can you describe the scene along the Menin Road. Do you remember?

No, we used to pass through farms and gardens on our way. We used to see all the cattle, you know, horses and cattle on the way. We used to take the artillery was … they were about two or three hundred yards behind the line, behind the front line, the artillery. We used to take the gun, we used to take the ammunition to them.

INT Do you remember anything about meeting any of the French people? Did you meet any French people when you were in France? The locals?

TJ Oh, the locals. Yes. I had a girlfriend. Udoxi Rotarelli [?] was her name. I went …We were camped at [UNCLEAR] in France and I went for a walk one afternoon and I passed an old chap there with a wooden leg. I started talking to him and he invited me into supper and introduced me to his daughter. His wife was dead and he had, only had his daughter there with him. Yes he used to own, they invited me into supper and I camped … about a week I think we were in that camp and every day I used to go and see them.

Oh they used to, the old chap used to grow vegetables. He’d grow a few vegetables in his garden. And the girl, I think, she used to take in washing. She used to do a bit of washing for the locals.

INT And where did you stay? Were you billeted in farmhouses and places like that?

TJ No. We were camped … We were camped on the bare ground. We only had our groundsheets. We had a groundsheet, that’s all we had, and one blanket. They only allowed us the one blanket.

INT Tom, how do you think the war was affecting the French people?

I don’t know. I think... I know they were very much, very glad when it finished, when the war finished. The bombers used to come over, you know, and they’d have to go into a shelter for a while. The German bombers would come over. You could hear them coming and they’d have to go underground.

INT Can you tell me about winter in France? Winter time, you spent three winters in France. Can you tell me what it was like living in the trenches in winter?

TJ Oh, it was terrible. We had a great coat on all the time. But we had no…it was really, really cruel the way we, sometimes of a night we’d be on duty in, the snow was coming down, yes it was very, very good, it wasn’t very good at all. We nearly, you know, nearly get frozen.

INT What about food, getting food in the trenches?

TJ Yeah bully beef mostly. There were no … we used to, when we were camped out, when we were behind the lines we used to raid the gardens and get potatoes and onions of a night. Yeah… Yeah that’s bully beef, bully beef, fried onions and potatoes. That wasn’t, it was really good, really. We were young then, young and hungry, we’d eat anything.

INT Tom, can you tell me about your first encounter with the enemy? The first time you met the Germans under fire, can you tell me about that time?

Well, when we got to Ypres, we camped there for about a week and then they decided to send us up to the lines and we had to go up near the front line.

They had duckboards all the way up. If you got off the duckboards you’d sink into a shell holes. There were shell holes everywhere. We used to have to take our machine gun up through the duckboards. No we used to… any German troops around we’d open up on with our machine guns.

INT So you were a good bike rider from the very beginning?

TJ When I was a young… I was about fourteen or fifteen I used to start in bike races when I was a boy. Yeah I run second in the first bike race I rode in I run second. Then every week or so we’d have a ride, have a race.

I was a bike rider, when I came home from the war I won a couple of bike races on the Hindmarsh Oval and the Elliot brothers offered me a job and I stopped with the Delia brothers for forty years building bikes. Yeah, I’ve built a lot of bikes in my time.

INT What were the bikes like in the army?

Oh, they were heavy army, red, I think they were [UNCLEAR] bikes. They only had a small gear, sixty seven gear on the bikes. Yeah, they were heavy, really heavy roadster bikes, yeah, sixty seven gear.

INT Tom can you tell me about the time you took the whiskey off the train. Can you tell me that story?

TJ Oh I’ll tell ya. We camped, four of us got together and we decided to get, I think I said to them, to my mate, I said “I think we’ll get some whiskey off the train.” I said, “We’ve got to find the key.” We went to the office, the RTO Office and we found the key, we found the key to the train and we ended up with, I think we had three, I think it was three bottles of whiskey we got. And we all got drunk and they said, “You’ve got to go on duty.” I said, “I don’t feel like going on duty but I will.” I said, “I’ll go.” And I went on duty up Edge Hill I think the place was and I went on duty at the crossroads and I had to direct the traffic, artillery and infantry, different units, I had to direct them where to go, and they reckon I done a good job. I was drunk as a lord and I done a good job. Yeah they reckon you done alright. But I never tasted whiskey since, that put me off it for life.

INT Did you have to ride your bike while you were drunk? Were you riding your bike when you were drunk?

TJ No, no we never, we was on foot. We were on foot as it happen to be. We happen to be camped a little way away. You had a tent; we had a tent a little way from down the road. Yeah we had our bikes there, our bikes were there but we happen to be on foot.

INT Can you tell me the story about the cherries? Getting the cherries?

TJ Oh about the tree. Yeah, two of us we decided we liked a feed of cherries and we got up the cherry tree. He got up one tree and I got up another and we had a good feed of cherries. And this old bloke come along with a double barrel shotgun, he was walking, walked underneath where we were, he didn’t see us. Yep we were lucky he didn’t see us. Yeah we’d have gone; he’d have fired that gun.

INT Tell me there’s a story I heard about shooting rats. There’s a story I heard about the men just shooting rats for a bit of practice?

TJ Oh target practice on a machine gun. Yeah we used to go everyday, we used to practice with our guns.

What was some of the health problems that, the problems that the other soldiers in the trenches had to face? You know like tench foot and things like that. Can you tell me some of the conditions in the trenches?

Oh in the trenches, oh yeah we used to, we had a cook, a cook used to come around with a big bucketful of, might be stew, very likely it was bully beef and sometimes it was stew. I used to; they used to get local, meat from the local butchers and make up a stew for us.

INT Did you get many letters from home? Did you get much news from home?

TJ Yeah I did, my old mother used to write to me. Yeah she give me all the news.

INT What did she think about you going to war?

TJ No she didn’t like it at all. She was against me going but the old Dad, Dad said I could go so that was the end of it.

INT And your brother also went to war?

TJ Yes he got wounded. He got wounded, I think it was… yes he got a… he got a bit of shell went through the calf of his leg. Yes he, they sent him home then. He was, he wasn’t there very long, you see when he got wounded they sent him home.

INT Did you ever see him when you were in France?

TJ Yes I saw him in London when I went on leave, I saw him in London. Only time I did see him I think it was, only once.

INT And what did you do? And what did you and your brother do in London?

TJ We went to the pictures I think. I think that’s all we could, yeah that’s right we went to the, see a movie.

INT What else did you do on leave?

TJ Oh I used to visit the zoo and the museum, that’s about all I done.

INT What did you think of England, did you think it was like the home country or was the seat of Empire?

TJ I think Australia is the best. Australia is the best country I said. Yes I didn’t go much on any place in England. Edinburgh wasn’t a bad place, down near Scotland wasn’t bad.

INT What did you miss most about Australia while you were away?

TJ I’d think about home, about my bike riding days and different things.

INT Can you tell me where you were when the war ended? When the war ended, when the Armistice was, when you were?

TJ When the war had ended. No I was out in, as I said before I bought a bike and, he ended up as a professional cyclist. 

INT Do you remember where you were when you knew the war was ended?

TJ Yes we, I think we were in Belgium when the war ended. Yes I think, I know we all got drunk when the war ended. And I took us, they took us from there to Scotland where we left there, we left for home, left on the boat, we all got on the boat there, the [UNCLEAR] we got on the boat to go home. And we come home to, we visit… we had one day in Fremantle when we come home. We visited, went up to Perth and we had a look at Perth, then they took us home to South Australia.

INT You know who told you the war was over and then what happened?

TJ I know we got drunk on Armistice Day. Yeah… no I don’t think we done anything particularly.

INT I’ve been told that you haven’t had a drink since then; can you tell me about that?

TJ No I haven’t… no I don’t, when I come home I decided to be a teetotaller. I decided that I wouldn’t, there’s nothing, nothing, I’d be a bike rider or I’d be nothing. I won’t have anything more to do with the drink.

INT Can you tell me how the war affected you in anyway?

TJ No I don’t think it did. I don’t know, I know… in the bike races, some of the bike races some of the jokers they… my nerves were in good order. I never used to worry about a bike, about a bike race. The blokes, the chap said to me, he said, “You’re the most unconcerned rider I ever saw.” he said, “You don’t worry about anything.”

I said, “No I don’t,” I said, “I got all that knocked out of me when I was in France. In the war.” I said, “I learnt to be nothing, nothing upset me.”

INT What’s your strongest memory of the war? Or impression of the war?

TJ Yes I… yes I think… I… no I remember different places we went to in France. We’d get on our bikes and sometimes we’d ride about fifty or sixty miles, some different towns. When we were camped sometimes we were camped there and they’d send us out on messages to different towns.

INT What did you think of the British Command, did you ever come in touch with any of the British Command?

TJ Yes we didn’t like the Pommies [Englishmen]. No we didn’t get on too good with the Pommies. They had a different way; they had of living from what we had.

INT What was it that you didn’t like? Was there, can you remember what it was that you didn’t like?

TJ No the, no I didn’t… no they had a different style, a different style of living to to what we had. We didn’t approve, we didn’t approve of the British way of living.

INT Was it a class thing; was it to do with the way the officers spoke to the soldiers? Was it anything like that?

No the British they wouldn’t have anything to do with us, the British officers, they never had anything to do with them.

INT Can you tell me what it was like when you came back to Australia, can you remember the day you got off the boat?

TJ Yes I remember the day, my old mother and two sisters, they came to meet me, at Port Adelaide. And yes we went up, we went up to Mitcham, we used to live, they lived in Mitcham at the time. And yes I loafed around for a week or two. When I got home I didn’t do anything much.

INT Do you think Australia had changed much in the time that you’d been away?

TJ Yes things had gone ahead a bit. A few more motorcars and more traffic around.

INT Do you think your parents had any idea about what was happening in France?

Yeah I’d tell them, they asked me a lot of questions about what happened over there, overseas. I used to tell them everything I knew about the France, how it did happen.

INT Did it take you a while to settle back into life?

TJ It did, a while yeah. It took me a couple of weeks or so before I seemed to settle down.

INT And did the war have any lasting affect on you?

TJ No. No me nerves were in good order. No I was quite good.

INT Having your experience of three years at the front, what do you think about the value of war? Did it achieve anything?

TJ No I don’t think so. No war, it’s only a waste of time war. A waste of time and a waste of life.

INTERVIEW ENDS.