Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Brigadier General Duncan John Glasfurd,
Commanding Officer of the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Australian Division
 
Today, under the sun of the Somme which spreads its rays through the old battlefields, are brought back to life and put in the light the names and faces of thousands of men who here, with bravery and determination, gave their today and their youth, their courage in the mud of the trenches and which side by side, through the poppies, fell and paid the supreme sacrifice under the fire of the machine guns which they faced by charging courageously by going through the barbed wire in which they fell but now rest in the silence and peace of their white graves which tell us who these men were and what they did for us and over whom I would watch with the greatest care and infinite love so that they may never be forgotten and may their names, their courage live on forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Brigadier General Duncan John Glasfurd, Commanding Officer of the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Australian Division, who died of his wounds 105 years ago, on November 12, 1916 at the age of 43 on the Somme front.

Duncan John Glasfurd was born on November 23, 1873 at Matheran, India,and was the second son of Major General Charles Lamont Robertson Glasfurd of the Bombay Staff Corps, and his wife Jane Cunningham, née Cornwall. His brother Alexander (1870-1942), C.M.G., D.S.O., became a colonel in the Indian Army.

Duncan was raised at Altnaskiach, Inverness, Scotland, and was educated in Edinburgh,probably at Blairlodge School and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, England. In October 1893 he was commissioned in the 2nd Battalion of of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and served as adjutant of the 1st Battalion in South Africa in 1899. He had married Agnes Guinevere Gilmour at Eaglesham, Renfrewshire, on 20 December 1898.

In South Africa Glasfurd was promoted captain in January 1900 and took part in operations in the Orange Free State, receiving slight wounds at Paardeberg,he then saw action in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony until severely wounded in October. In April 1901 he went to British East Africa on operations against the Ogaden Somalis in Jubaland until November. Service in India followed, with an interval in 1903-1904 when he served in Somaliland, commanding the 4th Somali Camel Corps, he was mentioned in dispatches.

In June 1908 Duncan became staff captain for coast defences, Scottish Command, and that year was selected to attend the Staff College, Camberley, England. He graduated in 1909 and joined his regiment in Malta in May 1910 then in November he was appointed brigade major to the Lothian Infantry Brigade. On June 24, 1912 he was seconded to the Australian Military Forces and appointed director of military training at Army Headquarters with the temporary rank of captain. His main duties involved inspection of compulsory training under the cadet scheme, and although enthusiastic over the military potential of Australian youths, he was reportedly dissatisfied with the perfunctory training which many cadets received.He was promoted major, British Army and AIF, on September 20, 1913.

On the outbreak of war,Duncan sought to rejoin his regiment which had been sent to France. Instead, on August 15, 1914, he was appointed by Major General (Sir) William Bridges to the Australian Imperial Force as a general staff officer with the 1st Division. In Egypt he was largely responsible for training the division at Mena Camp. At Gallipoli he went ashore at 5:35am on the day of the landing, distinguishing himself by his work in establishing the firing line at Anzac, and served throughout the whole of the campaign. He proved himself, according to the official historian Charles Bean,as "one of the bravest and most conscientious officers upon the Staff" and rose to chief of staff of the division. He was mentioned in dispatches and promoted lieutenant-colonel,AIF, on October 1, 1915 and for outstanding service in the field was made brevet lieutenant-colonel in the British Army in January 1916.

Next month,Duncan was given temporary command of the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, the appointment was confirmed in March with promotion to colonel and temporary brigadier general, A.I.F. His brigade was sent to France in June and on July 4,1916 moved into the Fleurbaix sector, where he was slightly wounded on July 7. He was mentioned in dispatches four days later. Early in August the 12th Battalion went into action at Pozières Heights and later at Vierstraat and Diependal. On November 12, 1916 it relieved the 2nd Brigade at Bernafay Wood, Somme.

Unfortunately that morning Duncan was wounded by shell-fire in Cheese Road while reconnoitring the trenches. After a ten-hour stretcher journey from the front line he died at the 38th Casualty Clearing Station at Heilly,Somme, though not before his brother serving with the British 48th Division found him in a dressing station at Becordel and spoke with him. He was posthumously mentioned in dispatches. His qualities of courage, unselfishness and devotion to duty were highly regarded within his brigade and division.Charles Bean described him as "boyish, loyal and devoted, if somewhat old-fashioned", and as "an able officer with a profound knowledge of his profession, capable of brain, slow of thought but sound of judgement and possessed of hard pluck."

Duncan and his wife had been divorced in October 1914 and when he went on active service their three sons were at Geelong Church of England Grammar School. Charles Eric (1902-1940) joined the Royal Navy in 1916 and was captain of the destroyer Acasta during the battle of Narvik,he went down with his ship. Duncan Angus (1905-1980) and Divie Colin Peter (1906-1941) took up sheep-farming in Western Australia. The latter was killed at Tobruk while serving as a captain with 9th Division Headquarters.

Today, Brigadier General Duncan John Glasfurd rests in peace alongside his men, friends and brothers in arms at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-l'Abbé, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "A brave man and a gallant soldier."

Duncan, Sir, you who served and fought courageously at the head of your men through the battlefields of Gallipoli and the Somme where you rest today in peace among the poppies, among a whole generation of heroes, I would like today, from the bottom of my heart say thank you for all that you did for us, not only for australia and france but for each of us who have the chance to live in peace thanks to you, thanks to your courage and to your sacrifice and to the sacrifices of thousands of young boys who by your side, guided by your ardor and your valor, fought with exceptional determination until the last moments of their young lives which they gave by following you fearlessly through fields of mud and barbed wire and charged behind you, bayonets forward under hail of bullets that enemy machine guns spit out at an unimaginable rate across no man's land and against which thousands of men were mowed down but who did their duty to the end by your side with confidence and resolution because they knew that no matter what happened they would be guided with courage and conviction, they followed your example with conviction and saw you as more than a leader, they saw a dedicated man who did all he could to save the lives of his young people boys under his command, they saw in you a determined man who never took a step back in the face of dangers, they saw in you a father who was always present to listen to them and to comfort them in difficult times and who knew how to keep them strong despite the death that rained around under tons of shells under which they lived and died and under which they had to run in courageous and resolute attacks but which took lives of so many of their friends, of their brothers who lay lifeless and motionless beyond the front line and parapets that millions of young men climbed in faith and bravery beneath the grenades and shrapnel that maimed and crushed so many young men and souls but who, despite this deluge of brutality, fire and steel, blood and mud, moved forward side by side with pride through the shell holes and those fields of death on which the fire of the rifles swept every inch of land on which were lost so many hopes and dreams in the brutality of this bloodthirsty monster that was the war but in this explosion of horrors, suffering and tears shed that they went through, these heroes stood with honor by watching over each other in the mateship which united them and which was their light in the darkness.In each other they found the humanity that the war tried to take from their hearts, they found the strength and courage to hold their heads high and to move forward despite their fears, they fought like real lions with brave hearts, they saw their comrades who fell but they held the line without ever giving up, they never gave in to the despair that roamed the battlefields and until the end they moved forward and fell with in their hearts the pride of having served their country and with the conviction that what they did was right and thanks to them, we stand in the peace for which they gave their all in the poppies where they rest in peace today behind the shadows of their white graves. Forever young, they still stand together on these sacred grounds of the Somme and with all my heart, with devotion, respect and gratitude, I would always stand in front of them to honor their memory, to bring their memory to life so that these men , my boys of the Somme are never forgotten and so that by our side, through the years, in our hearts and our thoughts they never cease to live.Thank you so much Duncan, for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.

I would also like to thank with all my heart and with respect Mr Chris Clark and his research without which I would never have been able to write this tribute.