Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Michael Enright was born in December 1896 and attended Oxley State School as a boy. His attestation papers indicate that he enlisted on 12 August 1915. At the time he was only 18 years and nine months and so needed his parent’s permission. His file contains a handwritten letter in a childlike script (probably written by Michael himself) which reads:

Dear Sir

I give my consent that my son Michael Enright may enlist in the expiditionary (sic) forces.

The letter is signed by his mother, Mrs S. Enright, in an even shakier hand. His enlistment papers indicate that his father was deceased and that he was the sole support for his widowed mother, allotting 3 shillings from his pay of 5 shillings per day to his mother whilst he was in the army. Like his mother who from her handwriting  seems to have had difficulty with writing, Michael would appear to have had only a limited education. He took two attempts to sign his enlistment papers, originally spelling his name incorrectly.

Michael was drafted into the 3rd reinforcements of the 25th Battalion with a regimental number of 2263. The 25th Battalion had been raised at Enoggera in early 1915 as part of the 2nd Division of the AIF. The Battalion was comprised almost exclusively of Queensland volunteers. When Michael enlisted, the 25th were about to reinforce the 1st Division at Gallipoli. He would join the battalion proper after the evacuation of Gallipoli as reinforcement at Ismailia in Egypt in February 1916.

The Battalion disembarked in Marseilles from Egypt on 14 March 1916 and proceeded by train north to Armentieres near the Belgian border. They were the first Australian battalion in France. This was a fairly quiet sector on the western front and the British commanders used this sector to initiate new battalions into the business of trench warfare.

General Haig, Supreme British commander on the Western Front was planning a big push in the south of the British sector through the Somme River valley. It was to be the largest battle of the war so far, and was timed to commence on the 1st of July 1916. The attack was a disaster, with the British suffering 60,000 casualties on the first day. In spite of this, Haig was determined to push on and the1st, 2nd  and 4th Australian Divisions were moved south from the Armentieres sector to Albert to take part in the Somme offensive.  Whilst waiting to go into the line, Michael Enright went Absent Without Leave (AWL) for two days. He was disciplined and given 14 days Field Punishment No. 2, but this sentence was reduced (no doubt because the battalion was about to go into battle) to 14 days pay withheld.

The second division’s objective was to take a blockhouse which had been built on the site of a windmill in the village of Pozieres, half way between Albert and Bapaume. The windmill occupied a position on the highest part of the ridge, was behind two lines of trenches, and provided a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. The attack, the first major offensive by the 25th Battalion since arriving in France, was to begin just after midnight on the 29th July. The attack was a failure, with the 25th Battalion suffering 343 casualties (from a strength of a little less than 1000 men). On the site of the windmill today is a commemorative stone which reads:

“The ruin of the Pozieres windmill which lies here was the centre of the struggle on this part of the Somme Battlefield in July and August 1916. It was captured by Australian troops who fell more thickly on this ridge than on any other battlefields of the war.”

Sadly, one of those who “fell more thickly” was Private Michael Enright.  He was originally listed as “Missing” on 29 July 1916. His mother, as his next of kin, was informed that Michael was missing in August 1916 and she began to receive a war pension in September of that year.

In March 1917, a Mr William Ridings of Oxley, Queensland wrote to Army Base Records in Melbourne with an unusual account. Perhaps the fact that the letter was not written by Michael’s mother is another indication of her limited ability with writing. Mr Ridings states that in respect of Michael Enright “his mother has heard that he is in England and that he is insane.” According to the writer, Mrs Enright heard this story from another 25th Battalion mother whose son reported that one of his mates said that “one of his mates, Mick Enright, was in hospital and was completely mad.”

The army records office dismissed the initial claim as having no substance but Mr Ridings somehow obtained the letter from the 25th Battalion man (Pte John (Jack) Brown) and sent it to base records. Base records pointed out in their own communications that the claim is unlikely to have substance as if Private Enright was still alive, he would have by now had some communication with his family. Also there were no records of him having been admitted to hospital in England or elsewhere.

Finally 12 months after the Battle of Pozieres, while the Battalion was enjoying a well earned rest, a Board of Inquiry was convened and it was determined (probably by questioning men from Michael’s Lewis Gun Section who took part in the attack) that Pte Michael Enright was Killed in Action on 29 July 1916 at Pozieres. By this time, there were no personal effects found to send to his mother. She was informed that her son was now Killed in Action.

At the end of the war, next of kin were requested to supply some information for the National Roll of Honour. If Sarah Enright did so, the document has not survived.

The 14-15 Star, British Empire Medal and Victory Medal were sent to Sarah in 1921 along with a pamphlet entitled “Where the Australians rest.” Sadly for Sarah, the pamphlet would have been of little comfort as her son, like the other 11,000 Australian soldiers killed in France has no known resting place. He is, instead, commemorated on the Australian National memorial at Villers Bretonneux

Michael is also commemorated in the name of Enright Street, opposite the lower oval of Oxley State School on Oxley Road.

Courtesy of Ian Lang

Mango Hill