Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Eric Winfield CONNELLY 

The Bendigoian weekly newspaper published the following  news in Mid September 1918: - KILLED IN ACTION. MAJOR ERIC W. CONNELLY.

A private message received by his relatives in Melbourne on Monday, stated that Major Eric Winfield Connelly, general staff officer, No. 2, on the third divisional staff at Australian head-quarters in France, had been killed by a bomb dropped by a German aero-plane. Major Connelly was born at Bendigo 29 years ago. He was a son of the late Mr. T. Jefferson Connelly, founder of the firm of Connelly and Tatchell, solicitors, and Mayor of Bendigo in 1888. Before enlisting in 1914, Major Eric Connelly was practising as a barrister at Selborne Chambers, Melbourne. He left Australia as a lieutenant of infantry, with the first expeditionary force, and received his first wound on Gallipoli. He was invalided to Australia, but left again for the front as a captain with Brigadier-General W. R. McNicoll, C.M.G., D.S.O. Towards the end of last year he gained the D.S.O. His only brother, Captain Clive Connelly, was killed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Major Connelly married Miss Dorothy McLellan, a daughter of Mr. J. McLellan, of Windsor. She left Australia recently to join her husband, and was expected to arrive at Vancouver, on Monday.[1]

Three years earlier in May 1915, the same paper provided some insight into Eric’s bright future and the family.                             ‘Lieut. Connelly removed from Bendigo with the remainder of the family some years ago. Like his father, the late Mr. Jefferson Connelly, who did much to bring about federation, Lieut. Connelly took a keen interest in public and political questions. He was one of the active members of the Speakers' Association attached to the Liberal Party in Melbourne, and could acquit himself very creditably on the public platform. He gave promise of a very useful career, and his many friends in Bendigo hope that his wounds are not serious’.[2]

Eric would write home to his mother of the landing and of his wound which he describes at not serious: - Deaconesses' Hospital, Alexandria, 7th May.

'As I have lost for the present my duplicating pad, I am writing you a full account of our recent doings. Let me say straight away, as I have already said in my cable I am only slightly wounded, and will be out of here in a day or so. I got a bullet in the left elbow, just below the joint. It hit the bone and turned out, doing no further damage than making my arm useless for two or three weeks. I've got the bullet, and will send it out, so you can keep it as a curio for me.  Eric continuous describing the landing: -

We were up and had breakfast before daylight; then just before the break of day we slipped close in and dropped anchor close to the shore. There were warships and transports all around us, but we hadn't much time to look about us, as we had started on the beach, and we could hear pretty lively rifle fire. The 3rd Brigade landed first, and got ashore before the guns started, but got it hot rifle and machine gun fire; but they charged the devils, and chased the enemy off the beach and up into the hills, which rose very steeply off the sand. Meanwhile the 2nd Brigade was landing, the 7th going first. I got my platoon into the boats, and a naval launch got us in tow and ran us in. By this time the Germans and Turks had their guns going, and shelled us all the way in; in fact they shelled our transport before we left her. The launch slipped our towrope when we got close to the beach and we had to row the rest of the way. Up to this time, although rifle bullets had been plopping in the water around us, and shells had been flying, none of us was hit, and I thought we were going to get ashore without a casualty. Anyhow, as soon as we had started rowing, two shells in quick succession exploded right over the boat and showered us. I called out, "Is any one hit," and got no answer, so kept on coaching them as they rowed. One man wouldn't keep time, and was throwing the others out, so I was cursing him. After we got ashore alright, and when I was getting the men out of the boat (into the water) I discovered that the man who had not been keeping time had a shrapnel bullet right through his shoulder, and had sat there rowing away without saying a word, even though he was being sworn at. One of the others had one right through his wrist, and he also hadn't said a word. I sent them both back to the troopship, and we went on. We stacked our packs on the beach and went along to the place where we were to assemble, and although we were being shelled they never got any more of us there. We formed up, and then started on the rather difficult job of finding Turks. It a difficult job, because the country is covered with scrub up to your knees, and they had well concealed trenches all over the place. You could not stand up and look around too long, as too many bullets were buzzing, and they had snipers all over the place. So as to conceal their snipers, they had dug pits, and in those pits stood men with bits of scrub tied round their shoulders and heads, making it almost impossible to see them. Our fellows at first thought they were seeing things when a bush would hop up and run like mad, but the said bushes never ran very far without getting a message to stop.' [3]

SERVICE DETAILS: 

Place of birth: Bendigo

School: Carlton College, Royal Park, Melbourne

Religion: Church of England

Occupation: Barrister at law

Address: Waverley, Wellington Street, Brighton, Victoria

Marital status: Single when enlisted. Returned wounded from Gallipoli and married before re-embarking for western front. 

Age at embarkation: 26

Next of kin:Mother, Mrs F Connelly,Wellington Street, Brighton

Enlistment date: 18 August 1914

Unit name: 7th Battalion, G Company, 10th Battalion

Embarked: Transport A20 Hororata on 19 October 1914

Final Rank: Major

Distinguished Service Order Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 57 Date: 18 April 1918

Mention in despatches Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 23 May 1919 on page 878 at position 49

Fate: Died of wounds 9 September 1918, France

Age at death 29.11. Buried: Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres.  

[1] Bendigonian (Bendigo, Vic. : 1914 - 1918)  Thu 19 Sep 1918  Page 15  KILLED IN ACTION.

[2] Bendigonian (Bendigo, Vic. : 1914 - 1918)  Thu 20 May 1915  Page 24  LIEUT. ERIC CONNELLY.
[3] Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918)  Thu 10 Jun 1915  Page 5  LETTERS FROM THE FRONT. LETTER FROM LIEUT. E. CONNELLY.

BENDIGO ADVERTISER November 15, 2017

(Commerative Seat is located at the Bendigo fountain)

 'A restored seat and new plaque that honour four young Bendigo lawyers who were killed in World War I will be officially unveiled and re-dedicated today.

The seat and plaque honour the lives of Captain Clive Connelly, Major Eric Connelly, Lieutenant Alan Hyett and Major Murdoch Mackay.

Each of the four men honoured were from Bendigo families, had studied at Melbourne University Law School before commencing in legal practice, were members of the Bendigo Law Association and had promising careers ahead of them. Yet they chose to put their careers on hold to enlist for their country.

The City of Greater Bendigo, the Bendigo Law Association and the soldiers’ families have funded the restoration of the barrister seat and a new plaque that honours the soldiers’ sacrifice.

Today’s event is the 96th anniversary of the unveiling of the ornamental seat and memorial tablet by his Excellency, Lord Stradbroke, Governor of Victoria, in his first official visit to Bendigo in 1921.

The original memorial tablet was lost over time, so a new plaque was commissioned.

About the soldiers

Captain Clive Emerson Connelly (Eric's brother) 

Clive Emerson Connelly and Eric Winfield Connelly were both sons of Mr Thomas Jefferson Connelly, founder of the Bendigo firm Connelly and Tatchell, solicitors.  Mr Thomas Jefferson Connelly also served as mayor of Bendigo in 1885.

Clive Emerson Connelly was born in 1885, schooled at Carlton College and completed his further studies as an articled clerk at Melbourne University in 1903. Clive was admitted to the Bar in 1907, and practised in a partnership with Mr Luke Murphy in Bendigo before setting up his own practice in Melbourne just prior to the war.

Clive had prior experience as an officer with both the Victorian Senior Cadets and the Militia with 67th (Bendigo) Infantry prior to the War, and was appointed to 14th Australian Infantry Battalion as Captain and Officer Commanding D Company in October 1914 under the Command of Lieutenant Colonel Richard Courtney.   Lieutenant Colonel Richard Courtney was also a practising solicitor, and Courtney’s Post on the Gallipoli battlefield was named after him. The 14th Australian Infantry Battalion was one of four battalions belonging to 4th Australian Infantry Brigade, under the Command of Brigadier John Monash.

Captain Connelly returned from injury on 24 August 1915, and was detached from 14th Australian Infantry Battalion together with three other officers and 100 men as part of a combined force under the command of 4th Australian Infantry Brigade to undertake a further attack on Hill 60 at Gallipoli on 28 August 1915.  These men were subjected to terrible carnage with three quarters of them falling as casualties within a few minutes.  Captain Connelly was shot three times as he led the first wave of the attack, and was killed.  He was 30 years old.

Major Eric Winfield Connelly, DSO

Eric Winfield Connelly was born in 1888, schooled at Carlton College and completed his further studies as an articled clerk at Melbourne University in 1906.  Eric signed the Bar Roll in 1911 and was practising as a barrister at Selbourne Chambers when war broke out.

Australia’s involvement in the war began on 4 August 1914, and Eric enlisted on 18 September 1914.  Eric had prior experience as an officer with both the Victorian Senior Cadets and the Militia with 2/8th and 6th Australian Infantry Regiments prior to the War, and was initially appointed 2nd Lieutenant to the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel “Pompey” Elliott. Lieutenant Connelly suffered his first injury on 25 April 1915 on the Gallipoli Peninsula.   After his recovery, he would serve with distinction on the staff of HQ 10th Australian Infantry Brigade and HQ 3rd Australian Division, eventually being promoted Major.  Major Connelly was twice mentioned in despatches and was awarded a DSO. 

On 8 September 1918, an enemy aeroplane dropped a bomb on HQ 3rd Australian Division, east of Peronne. Major Connelly was struck by two fragments from the bomb whilst sleeping, and died of wounds on 9 September 1918.  He was 29 years old.

Lieutenant Alan Newcombe Hyett

Alan Newcombe Hyett was born in 1889, and undertook his schooling in Bendigo and then at Caulfield Grammar.  Alan completed a Bachelor of Laws at Melbourne University in 1913 and was admitted to the Bar later that same year. Alan entered into partnership as Hyett and Hyett to practice law with his father Barkly Hyett, in 1914.

Alan enlisted in the AIF as a private on Australia Day 1916 and progressed through the ranks with 38th Australian Infantry Battalion before being commissioned in January 1917.  Lieutenant Hyett was subsequently detached from 38th Australian Infantry Battalion for duty as the burials officer for HQ 3rd Australian Division on 21 May 1917.

On 2 June 1917, Lieutenant Hyett was travelling by bicycle between 38th Australian Infantry Battalion and HQ 3rd Australian Division when he was struck by an artillery shell and killed at Hyde Park Corner in Ploegsteert Wood, Belgium.  He was 27 years old.

The current law firm of Robertson Hyetts in Bendigo originates from the same firm that was originally founded by Alan and his father. Prior to forming Hyett and Hyett in 1914, Barkly Hyett had practised law together with Sir John Quick since 1892.  Sir John Quick was a significant contributor to Federation and was instrumental in drafting the Australian Constitution.

Major Murdoch Nish Mackay

Murdoch Nish Mackay was born in 1891 and following schooling in Bendigo, commenced studies at the age of 16 for a Bachelor of Laws at Melbourne University in 1907. Murdoch completed his Bachelor of Laws at the age of 20, and signed the Bar Roll in 1912.  He received first class honours and the Supreme Court Prize in 1911.

Murdoch had prior experience as an officer with the Militia with 60th Infantry prior to the War, and was invited by Lieutenant Colonel “Pompey” Elliott to join the first expeditionary force.  Although he did not do this, he answered the call to duty just after the Australians landed at Gallipoli.  Murdoch was appointed to 22nd Australian Infantry Battalion as Captain in May 1915. He was in the trenches at Gallipoli in September, promoted Major in November and participated in the evacuation in December 1915.  Some of this time he was second in command of his Battalion, and for the journey to France he held command.  Major Mackay was in the trenches in France by April 1916.

On 4 August 1916 at Pozieres, Major Mackay was rallying Australian soldiers for an attack on the German trenches when he was shot through the heart by machine gun fire.  Major Mackay was mentioned in despatches for his conduct during his final actions. He was 25 years old.

From François Berthout

Major Eric Winfield Connelly,
7th Infantry Battalion
3rd and 10th Australian Division Headquarters
 
In the fields of the Somme, lands of remembrance, stand in eternal silence thousands of white graves between which grow the poppies of peace which are the witnesses of the courage and sacrifices of a whole generation of young men who here on these sacred grounds, served and fought with bravery, standing proudly alongside their comrades and brothers in arms, who, like them, did their duty with honor and courage and who in a last assault, a last charge, gave their lives and their today for our tomorrow and who forever, with respect, love and an infinite gratitude will be remembered and honored so that they are never forgotten and so that their lives inspire us to protect and cherish the peace for which they fought and fell in the fields of the Somme.

Today, it is with gratitude and with the highest and deepest respect that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who, for Australia and France, paid the supreme sacrifice.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Major Eric Winfield Connelly who fought in the 3rd Australian Division Headquarters and who died of his wounds 103 years ago, on September 9, 1918 at the age of 29 on the Somme front.

Eric Winfield Connelly was born September 18, 1888 in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, and was the son of Frances Connelly (née Cresswell), and Thomas Jefferson Connelly, founder of the firm of Connelly and Tatchell, solicitors, and Mayor of Bendigo in 1888, and lived at 6 Westbury Street, East Street, Kilda.Sadly, Eric's father died in 1892 when he was only 4 years old and after this tragedy he lived with his mother, sister,Alma, and brother, Clive Emerson Connelly. Eric was educated at Carlton College, Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria, and completed his further studies as an articled clerk at Melbourne University in 1906. Eric signed the Bar Roll in 1911 and was practicing as a barrister at Selbourne Chambers, Melbourne, when war broke out and lived in Waverley, Wellington Street, Brighton, Victoria, and was married to Dorothy Connelly (nee McLellan).Eric was keenly interested in public and political matters, and was one of the active members of the Speakers’ Association attached to the Liberal Party in Melbourne. He was instrumental in instituting the Young Liberals League in Bendigo.

Australia's engagement in the war began on August 4, 1914, and Eric enlisted on September 18, 1914 with his brother Clive. Eric had prior experience as an officer with both the Victorian Senior Cadets and the Militia with 2/8th and 6th Australian Infantry Regiments prior to the War, and was initially appointed Second Lieutenant to the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel "Pompey" Elliott. After a one month training period, Eric and Clive embarked with their unit from Melbourne, on board Transport A20 Hororata on October 19, 1914 and sailed for the Gallipoli peninsula.

Eric and The 7th Australian Infantry Battalion landed on Gallipoli as part of the second wave on April 25 1915. At some point during the day, Second Lieutenant Connelly was struck in the elbow by a bullet. He was evacuated to hospital in Egypt, then in England, but took a long time to recover, and by November he had been sent home to Australia for an extended period of convalescence. During his period of convalescence in Egypt, he wrote a letter for his mother in which he described the landing at Gallipoli and his wound which he described as not serious:

"Deaconesses' Hospital, Alexandria, 7th May
As I have lost for the present my duplicating pad, I am writing you a full account of our recent doings. Let me say straight away, as I have already said in my cable I am only slightly wounded, and will be out of here in a day or so. I got a bullet in the left elbow, just below the joint. It hit the bone and turned out, doing no further damage than making my arm useless for two or three weeks. I've got the bullet, and will send it out, so you can keep it as a curio for me."
Eric continuous describing the landing:

"We were up and had breakfast before daylight; then just before the break of day we slipped close in and dropped anchor close to the shore. There were warships and transports all around us, but we hadn't much time to look about us, as we had started on the beach, and we could hear pretty lively rifle fire. The 3rd Brigade landed first, and got ashore before the guns started, but got it hot rifle and machine gun fire; but they charged the devils, and chased the enemy off the beach and up into the hills, which rose very steeply off the sand. Meanwhile the 2nd Brigade was landing, the 7th going first. I got my platoon into the boats, and a naval launch got us in tow and ran us in. By this time the Germans and Turks had their guns going, and shelled us all the way in; in fact they shelled our transport before we left her. The launch slipped our towrope when we got close to the beach and we had to row the rest of the way. Up to this time, although rifle bullets had been plopping in the water around us, and shells had been flying, none of us was hit, and I thought we were going to get ashore without a casualty. Anyhow, as soon as we had started rowing, two shells in quick succession exploded right over the boat and showered us. I called out, "Is any one hit," and got no answer, so kept on coaching them as they rowed. One man wouldn't keep time, and was throwing the others out, so I was cursing him. After we got ashore alright, and when I was getting the men out of the boat (into the water) I discovered that the man who had not been keeping time had a shrapnel bullet right through his shoulder, and had sat there rowing away without saying a word, even though he was being sworn at. One of the others had one right through his wrist, and he also hadn't said a word. I sent them both back to the troopship, and we went on. We stacked our packs on the beach and went along to the place where we were to assemble, and although we were being shelled they never got any more of us there. We formed up, and then started on the rather difficult job of finding Turks. It a difficult job, because the country is covered with scrub up to your knees, and they had well concealed trenches all over the place. You could not stand up and look around too long, as too many bullets were buzzing, and they had snipers all over the place. So as to conceal their snipers, they had dug pits, and in those pits stood men with bits of scrub tied round their shoulders and heads, making it almost impossible to see them. Our fellows at first thought they were seeing things when a bush would hop up and run like mad, but the said bushes never ran very far without getting a message to stop."

Unfortunately, Eric's brother, Captain Clive Emerson Connelly, 14th Australian Infantry Battalion never returned from Gallipoli. He returned from injury on 24 August 1915, and was detached from 14th Australian Infantry Battalion together with three other officers and 100 men as part of a combined force under the command of 4th Australian Infantry Brigade to undertake a further attack on Hill 60 at Gallipoli on August 28, 1915. These men were subjected to terrible carnage with three quarters of them falling as casualties within a few minutes. Captain Connelly was shot three times as he led the first wave of the attack, and was killed.He was 30 years old.Sadly, his body was never found and Clive is today remembered with respect and honor at the Lone Pine Memorial To The Missing, Gallipoli.

After his injury, Eric Connelly remained on light duties in Australia for the first half of 1916. During this time he married Dorothy McLellan, but only had a short time with her before leaving for the war again in May. By this time he had been promoted to captain, and was posted to the 10th Infantry Brigade Headquarters staff.

Eric remained in England until the end of 1916, going to France in November to join the 10th Brigade in the field. At the same time he was promoted to Brigade Major. He was an able and courageous staff officer. At Messines in June 1917, he was gassed and rendered unconscious for eight hours. When he woke up, instead of seeking aid, he went forward to battalion headquarters and organised them into a further attack before returning through the "most intense shellfire in a state of complete exhaustion". For his "conspicuous ability in staff work, and untiring energy and skill under tiring circumstances" he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order with the following citation:"For conspicuous ability in staff work, and untiring energy and skill under trying circumstances. After having been gassed on the morning of 7th June 1917 during the attack on the Messines Ridge, and rendered unconscious for 8 hours, he went forward to battalion Headquarters at the Black Line on the night 7th/8th June, and organised a successful attack on the Green Line, returning through most intense shell fire in a state of complete exhaustion". Not long after he was mentioned in despatches for "distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty in the Field" that year.

In February 1918, Major Connelly was transferred to the staff of the 3rd Australian Division. Not long after this, a decision was made for his wife Dorothy to join him in Europe. She travelled via Canada with another officer’s wife, the two intending to stay in England in order to be nearer to their husbands.

Unfortunately, it was in the Somme that Eric met his fate.At 4.30 on the morning of the 8th of September 1918, while Major Connelly was asleep in a tent a few metres from 3rd Division headquarters near Péronne, Somme, a German aircraft dropped a bomb nearby. Eric was struck by shell fragments in the right thigh and left knee. He was quickly taken to a casualty clearing station at Proyart, where an operation was performed to amputate his leg. Although he recovered well from the operation, gas gangrene set in almost at once, and he died of wounds at around 7 pm on September 9, 1918. He was 29 years old. Dorothy Connelly arrived in Vancouver on her way to England a few days later.

Today Major Eric Winfield Connelly rests in peace with his men, comrades and brothers in arms at Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "To conquer is to live enough."

Eric, Sir, you who fought courageously on the sands of Gallipoli alongside your brother Clive, in the mud of the Belgian battlefields and through the poppies of the Somme, it is from the bottom of my heart, with gratitude and respect that I would like to say thank you for everything you have done for Australia and France, two countries whose friendship was born through the courage of men like you and who today stand hand in hand in silence but proudly around you, in the respect and remembrance that brings us together and unites us to honor the memory of our sons, our valiant Diggers whom we will never forget.They were young, they were brave and side by side, they volunteered to come and fight in France with in their hearts the desire to serve their country and to do what was right in the name of peace and freedom.Far from home, they were quickly loved, admired and adopted by the French people with whom a strong and respectful friendship was quickly forged and fought valiantly alongside their French brothers in arms, Poilus and Diggers moved forward together on the battlefields of the Somme, under machine gun fire and faced death with admirable bravery.Under artillery fire, under gas, in mud and among rats, they held their position with dedication and conviction without ever retreating and endured the horrors of the war in which they gave their youth but in Pozieres, Flers, Mouquet Farm, Flers, Bazentin, Villers-Bretonneux and Amiens, they wrote the most glorious pages of the young Australian nation who lost so many sons, men who did not have time to live long enough to know love or to have a family, children and who had as only youth, a world at war, the fury of charges across no man's land and who saw their friends, their brothers, their fathers who fell one after the other in the blood and mud and under fire from enemy machine guns who spit death at an incensed rate.In this hell on earth, they showed the courage of a whole nation but also of a whole generation of men who remained united and strong in the face of death and were guided by their officers, men as courageous as you Eric who shared with them four years of an endless war and which, under fire, knew how to keep them determined with benevolence like a father watching over his boys and who showed them the way to follow, not only on the battlefield and who inspired in them the confidence and courage and followed you with pride through the barbed wire and rain of shells that forever bruised formerly peaceful landscapes that became open-air cemeteries, fields of death that were nothing more than shell holes, oceans of blood in which friends and and enemies drowned after deadly battles, many of which are still waiting to be found.Not all of them have known graves but all will be remembered, loved and honored on the fields of the Somme today silent and peaceful under the poppies that grow between the rows of their graves.We will remember their courage, their lives and their sacrifices and it is with the highest respect that I would always watch over each of them to bring them back to life so that their names and their faces live forever in our hearts and in the flame of remembrance that I would always carry with pride for them and for their families but also to honor the friendship that unites Australia and France that nothing will ever break.Thank you so much Eric,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.

I would like to warmly thank the Virtual War Memorial Australia and Mrs Meleah Hampton, historian without whom I would never have been able to write this tribute.