Gladesville Boys in WW1

Next week, on 16 January 2020, a public talk will be given in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra. It will feature the stories of a representative group of Australians who died in WW2 while serving with other Allied forces. The names of these people are included on the AWM's Commemorative Roll, holding equal significance to the AWM's Honour Roll (for those serving with Australian military forces). The talk on 16 January will include the story of Philip Hugh (Pip) Boulton, the son of Dr Nigel Boulton, a long-time resident of Gladesville and Ryde.

Pip was chosen for inclusion in the talk as an example of the inter-generational service of fathers who served in WW1 and their sons in WW2.  Pip, as a baby, features strongly in the letters written by his father and uncle during WW1 and published in the book Brothers in Arms: the Great War Letters of Captain Nigel Boulton, R.A.M.C. & Lieut Stephen Boulton, A.I.F.  Like his father, Pip attended The Kings School at Parramatta and, like his father, he also happened to be in England when WW2 broke out. Unlike his father, Pip did not return home from WW2.

Dr Nigel Boulotn, Pip and his mother Mona, England, mid 1918
from Julia Woodhouse Collection

In the generation before Pip, a number of other young men from Gladesville also did not survive their service. Altogether five sets of brothers from Gladesville who fought in WW1 make an appearance in the Boulton book. A century later, their names provide an interesting record of a friendship group, almost a social class, within the larger number of men from Gladesville whose service in WW1 is recorded by the Australian War Memorial.

The two Boulton brothers lived prior to WW1 at 'Bi-frons', Coulter St, Gladesville, a three-generation household containing their sister, their widowed mother, her sister (Aunt Mog) and their Flockton grandmother. Frank Bryant, a banker and close family friend who kept an eye on the welfare of the Boultons, was the nephew of Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton. The Barton family will reappear twice more in this story but no direct connection has been identified between them.

'Bi-frons', Coulter St, Gladesville c 1910
from Julia Woodhouse Collection

During the war their womenfolk lived at 'Coolah', on the corner of Ross Street and Western Crescent, Gladesville.

'Coolah', Western Crescent, Gladesville
from Julia Woodhouse Collection

Dr Nigel Boulton, c Dec 1913
from Julia Woodhouse Collection

Bank officer Stephen Boulton, c Dec 1914
from Julia Woodhouse Collection

Nigel Philip Boulton served as a doctor with the British Army and survived the war,  and Stephen Philip Boulton, Service Number 3872, was killed in France on 3 October 1918.

Stephen & Nigel Boulton, England, Sep 1917
by courtesy Sarah Dennis

After the war Nigel was a doctor at 760 Victoria Rd, Ryde for several years and at 237 Blaxland Rd, Ryde for many years. His Aunt Mog (the scientific botanical artist Margaret Lilian Flockton) lived at Tulagi, 30 Kemp St, Tennyson from 1918 to her death in 1953.

Two Shelley brothers of "Glen Doone", Henley, William St, Gladesville (towards Huntleys Point and Hunters Hill) both survived the war. Eric Ralph Shelley, Service Number 3130, was a farmer and grazier before the war and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. His brother Mac Robert Shelley, Service Number 3131, was a bank clerk.

Two Herring brothers had lived at Bracondale, Ashburn Place, Gladesville, close to the Boultons. Edward Edgar (Jack) Herring, Service Number 939, was a bank clerk like Stephen Boulton when he signed up on 27 August 1914. He died on 9 August 1915 and is buried at Gallipoli.

Edward Edgar (Jack) Herring
(Sydney Mail, 13 Sep 1915)

His older brother Sydney Charles Edgar Herring (Syd), a married man and estate agent of Gladesville, has no recorded Service Number because he was already an army captain  when he signed up on 9 October 1914. He had a distinguished military career.

Brigadier General Sydney Herring, London 1918
Australian War Memorial, in Public Domain

Two Barton brothers of "Nyrangie", Linsley St, Gladesville (not far from the Boulton residence) both died in the war. They were first cousins of Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson, in whose honour a harbourside park has been named because Banjo lived with his grandmother at 'Rockend', Gladesville for a lengthy period when he was a student.

Francis Maxwell Barton (Max or Mac) was a student but already an officer (2nd Lieut) when he signed up with Syd Herring on 9 October 1914, so he has no recorded Service Number. Max died in France on 11 August 1916, shortly after this photo was taken of him in March 1916 at Tel-el-kebir in Egypt.

13th Australian Infantry Battalion plays donkey polo, Max Barton in left foreground
Australian War Memorial, in public domain

Max is not picked up as a Gladesville 'boy' on the Australian War Memorial website when it sorts by place. However his younger brother is: Robert Anthony Barton (Tony), Service Number 4660, was a student when he enlisted on 16 August 1915 and he was killed on 9 June 1917 in Belgium. Max and Tony's letters were discovered in a suitcase by their niece Gay Shannon, who is now publishing them online in a blog and a Facebook page

Francis Maxwell (Max) Barton
by courtesy Gay Shannon

Robert Anthony (Tony) Barton
by courtesy Gay Shannon

Four Kirkwood brothers served and Stephen Boulton mentions 'one of the Kirkwood lads' at Pozières in August 1916. This was William Russell Barton Kirkwood, Service Number 907, a farm student when he enlisted, who was later killed in France on 3 May 1917. The Kirkwood brothers' home address was 'Speen', Wharf Road, Gladesville, around the corner from the Herring brothers. Phillip Barton Kirkwood, Service Number 604, a bank clerk when he enlisted, was killed at Gallipoli on 19 May 1915. Soon after Phillip's death two more Kirkwood brothers enlisted. Noel Edmund Barton Kirkwood, a doctor, enlisted as an officer on 27 May 1915 and survived the war. John Barton Kirkwood, Service Number 2619, an auctioneer, enlisted on 14 June 1915 and survived the war. Photos of all four brothers are on the Virtual War Memorial Australia website. The Barton appearing in all their names honoured their grandfather Russell Barton of 'Russell Lea', Five Dock, a separate Barton family to that of Max and Tony Barton.

From the adjoining suburb of Hunters Hill, the Boulton brothers refer in their letters to two others:

Walter Stirling Macansh, a stockman whose family lived at Brown Street, Hunters Hill. He was a first cousin of the eldest (half) sister of the Barton brothers. He signed up early, on 2 September 1914, his Service Number being 147 and he survived the war.

In a letter written from 'Somewhere in France' on 30 April 1916, Stephen Boulton mentions a Mr Budden: "An occasional lot of gift stuffs come along for the 1^st Brigade of Artly., which we being in the 1^st Brigade get a share of. We haven't had any since coming over to France but I suppose later some will come along. Mr. Budden of Hunter's Hill is Secretary I believe." His reference was to Henry Ebenezer Budden, an architect of 'Morillah', Hunters Hill, who volunteered in 1915 to act in a voluntary capacity as the Commissioner of Australia's 'Citizens War Chest Fund'. This was a charitable body aiding the troops in Egypt and Europe.

The Boulton brothers attended The Kings School at Parramatta in the early 1900s, and their letters also mention some names from their school days:

• Harry Lloyd
• Arthur Champion
• Harry Jacob
• R G Waddy
• Billy Metcalfe

One military researcher describes the Boulton book as among the best first-hand accounts in print. If you'd like to read more, it's available from BookPOD in Melbourne or internationally through major online booksellers.