Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of John Swain and Emily (nee Pearce) Swain of Victor Harbor, SA; brother of Rose Florence Swain, Arthur John Swain, Frank Swain, Herbert Stanley Swain, Ivy Emily Swain, William Henry Swain, Leslie Michael Swain and Vernon James Swain

5 January 1917 - transferred from the 27th Battalion to the 10th Battalion

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

Contributed by Investigator College 

Life before the war

Lawrence Arnold Swain was born on the 29th of June 1897 in Encounter Bay, South Australia. His hometown growing up however, was Victor Harbor, South Australia, not very far from one another. He was the son of John and Emily Swain and the brother of Rose, Arthur, Frank, Herbert, Ivy, William, Leslie, Ernest, and Vernon Swain. Before enlisting he worked as a gardener assisting his father (THE LATE PRIVATE L. A. SWAIN. - Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954) - 17 Mar 1917 2014). On the 20th of May 1916, he enlisted for war, ready to represent his country like many men before him. He embarked from Adelaide South Australia on board the HMAT A70 Ballarat (see Figure 2) on the 12th of August 1916. On his enlistment documents his age was 21, however, he was in fact 19 years of age.

 

Involvement in WWI

After Swain embarked on the 12th of August 1916, he served for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as part of the 27th Battalion. He served in the 27th Battalion until the 6th of December 1916, when he was taken on strength to the 10th Battalion, the first of SA’s Battalions. 

During most of his time at war he served in the trenches of The Western Front, specifically Dernancourt in the region of Somme (Terrace 2023). The conflict here began when Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914, due to the incorrect assumptions made by the Germans in a plan called ‘The Schlieffen Plan’ in which Germany assumed Belgium would let them cut through their country to enter France. This assumption and most of the plan were proven completely wrong, leading to the start of conflict here. 295,000 Australians entered conflict in the Western Front during 1916, with 46,000 losing their lives, including Swain himself (World War I: The Western Front | naa.gov.au 2023).

Conditions on the Western Front were considered comfortable by the Australian soldiers during early 1916 as the soldiers returning from Gallipoli much preferred these trenches to the area in Italy (Life in the trenches | Australian War Memorial 2019). The comfort didn’t last long before the Winter struck, causing all the soldiers to quickly take back their previous remarks. The Winter of 1916 was the worst Northern France had seen for 36 years. The ground became severely waterlogged causing it to be unpassable. Heavy rain fell all through October and November bringing in intense snow and cold weather making the conditions even worse. The conditions became so bad that one small explosion had the ability to make the walls of the trenches fall in, putting people at risk of being buried alive (Life in the trenches | Australian War Memorial 2019).

 In mid-October 1916 Private David Harford of the 51st Battalion described his trench as a…

“Dark mildewed hole in the earth … I look around me at my damp rat hole the sides and roof of which are lined with sandbags … the lower bags are green with mildew and the upper ones up near the sun and air are sprouting grass … one simply notes these things, fear of death having left one” (Life in the trenches | Australian War Memorial 2019).

During Swains time in the conflict, he would have rotated in and out of the front lines many times. Typically, it was 6 days on and 12 days behind the front. During his time on the front, he would have been faced by the most intense parts of the battle, trying to gain more space and constant shots hitting his unit (Easton et al., 2022). The front lines were where most injuries and deaths occurred, striking fear when it was each man’s turn. During his time in the secondary trenches, he would have been a backup fighter if the front trench was taken over (Root 2014). Lastly during his time in the reserve trenches, he was able to relax unless the enemy managed to take over both the first and second trench which was highly unlikely (Reserve Trench 2023).

He followed this general rotation until one fateful Monday on the 25th of February 1916 when he was critically shot by the enemy. Straight away he was taken to the 2/1st South Midland Casualty Clearing Station with a gunshot wound to his abdomen (Album of photographs of the 2/1st South Midland Casualty Clearing Station, later called No. 61 Casualty Clearing Station, in training, March 1915-March 1916, and on the Western Front, July 1916-Nov 1918 2013). The nursing staff would have worked on him desperately, trying to save him. Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries the next day. He was still only 19 years old.

Lawrence Swain was buried in the Dernancourt General Cemetery in Somme France that July. His exact grave is in plot VI, row A, grave 43 in the cemetery extension (CWGC 2021).

After Lawrence’s passing, his local community of Victor Harbor recognised his sacrifice by planting a Norfolk Pine in his memory. A bronze plate displaying his name and service number was placed beneath his tree. The plate was later removed by the Victor Harbor RSL for protection services and is stored in their local branch.

Swain was awarded 3 medals after his death: The 1914-15 star; The British War Medal; and The Victory Medal. He received these awards for his service on the western Front during his time in conflict.

Lawrence left behind his 9 living siblings (William passed before his death) and both of his parents. The death notice was sent to his mother, however, an investigation into his death began in May of 1917 when his brother-in-law Thomas Roy Shodgell, who served in the 10th Battalion, believed that Swain hadn’t died, he had just been injured and sent back to England. This was later proven false. His official date of death was the 26th of February 1917 as stated by the original death notice. In his inventory of effects his family gained his: Steel mirror, which was damaged; a wristlet watch with a strap (Damaged); another mirror; poems titled the ANZAC; a notebook; a writing pad; cards; letters; 2 postcards; and a pencil. The love of his family was shown in his funeral notices in the newspaper (Terrace 2023)

 

Reference list
 

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