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Australia

From the Book Fallen Saints 

Brunel John Nash of Norwood South Australia was born at Parkside and was educated at Pulteney Street School and the Collegiate School of St Peter.

After leaving school, he completed a five-year apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner, and became widely known for his outstanding football and cricket skills. On several occasions he played A and B grade in the inter-state team and along with  fellow Norwood football team members E. Beames, G. Beames,  L. Lewis , P. Robin. T.  Starr and T. Storie was one of the first state footballers to enlist.[i]

Upon enlistment at Morphettville on 25 August 1914, he was posted to F Company, which was then under command of Captain George Redburg who was ably assisted by platoon commanders, Lieutenants Louis Holmes and Eric Talbot Smith.

While at Mena Camp, Egypt he transferred to A Company and on the morning of the landing, was with the Scouts and therefore was among the first men in the covering force to reach the beach.

In a letter written on 29 October 1915, Brunel’s mother informed the Red Cross Secretary that up to that time the only news she had regarding her son was that she had gleaned from Colonel Weir’s letter of sympathy. In addition to expressing his deepest sympathy, he told her Brunel was among of a number of men who moved inland well ahead of the main body that first morning but when the battalion was forced back the next morning, her son was not among them.

Red Cross eyewitness statements

When interviewed in July 1916, Corporal Douglas Woods said that by noon on the first day of the landing they had advanced about 3½ miles but turned back after losing touch with the main body. He said Quarter Master Sergeant Colby and Sergeant Beames both of A Company were with them when they turned back but after that, Nash was missing and never seen again. [ii]

Sergeant George Beames later wrote to Brunel’s mother to express his sympathy and apologise for being unable to offer any further information.

...I only wish I could, as he was my best pal, but we were only together a few hours after landing, when we were parted, and from that time until this day I could get no information whatever of him.... [iii]

Driver Edward Boag said he knew Nash’s initial was B and his number was about 701 (it was 702) and that  ‘Bruno’ was missing at the first roll call held five or six days after the landing.  

...Some of our mates in the same section told me they had seen Nash killed in the first charge. He was never seen after that charge on the 25th of April. [iv]

In response to a letter from Base Records dated 24 June 1921, Mrs Nash wrote she had heard nothing of her son’s death or burial since June 1915, but in May 1916 had received his identity disc from an anonymous source in Egypt.

In January 1917, Mrs Nash received her son’s personal diary in the mail from Gibraltar Hospital but when she wrote seeking further information, the hospital staff claimed they knew nothing about it.

The last entry in the diary was dated April 28 1915, my son was known to have got well inland on the Peninsula but no one saw him killed. [v]

The finding of a Court of Inquiry convened in August 1916 was that twenty seven year old Brunel Nash was killed near Pope’s Hill on 2 May 1915.

There were few Australian families untouched by the events of the Great War and often some, like Mrs Nash, lost both immediate and extended family members. When completing the Roll of Honour circular after the war she recorded the additional loss of her two of nephews, one killed in Palestine the other in France. Another of her nephews received the Military Medal for bravery and her niece who had served in Constantinople (probably with the Red Cross) was awarded the Royal Red Cross. [vi]

When the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade commanded by Colonel John Monash arrived in Egypt, it became part of the New Zealand and Australian Division and after a period of intense training in Egypt landed at Anzac in the afternoon of 25 April. After getting ashore, the 16th Battalion moved inland to occupy the edge of Pope’s Hill and from the moment they first occupied the position came under intense enemy rifle fire and were forced to dig in.

Corporal Gordon Hollis (OS) of Laura South Australia when later describing Pope’s Hill and the surrounding terrain likened it to that surrounding a reservoir near his parent’s farm in South Australia.

 To give you an idea of the place it resembles those hills leading down to the Beetaloo Reservoir on the east side. We simply had to crawl up them. [vii]

During the afternoon of 27 April, the Turkish 57th Regiment attacked in six waves advancing on Walker’s Ridge, Russell’s Top, and Pope’s Hill until checked by heavy naval gunfire. They resumed their attacks later that night but when shredded by Australian rifle and machine-gun fire withdrew. The weary troops of 16th Battalion made their way back down the gullies to a camp where they were led to believe they could rest after relief by the 15th Battalion on 30 April.

The following excerpt from a letter written by Corporal Hollis only a few weeks after the landing, gives the impression there was not much rest to be had in that gully campsite or for that matter anywhere else on the Peninsula.  

It was a ‘rest camp’ provided with shrapnel and snipers by the dozen, and we lost four men that day.[viii]

On Sunday morning 2 May, the battalion received orders to conduct an attack in order to capture Baby 700 by way of Bloody Angle, a gully between Dead Man's Ridge and Quinn's Post. Following a heavy naval and artillery bombardment, that night, the 4th Brigade commenced to climb the right branch of Monash Valley while at the same time the New Zealand Infantry Brigade climbed the left. Throughout their night move, machine gun and rifle fire struck the ground all around Corporal Hollis and although a bullet went through his puttee and he was temporarily blinded by flying grit on a number of occasions, he was not actually hit until just before daylight.

They got me about 4 a.m. with a dum-dum, which made a beautiful mess of my left forearm. I suppose you have heard tell that when a bullet hits you, you feel a stinging sensation. It’s all bunkum. I thought that someone had hit me with a 28-lb. sledge hammer. [ix]

[i] Barrier Miner (Broken Hill NSW), February 22 1915, P. 2
[ii] Australian War Memorial, Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files - 702 Private Brunel John Nash / 1980406, viewed 18 March 2005
[iii] ibid
[iv] ibid
[v] ibid
[vi] Australian War Memorial,, Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army - Nash, Brunel John, viewed 8 September 2005
[vii] St  Peter’s School Magazine - W K Thomas & Co, Adelaide, August 1915, p. 39
[viii] ibid
[ix] ibid

"PRIVATE BRUNEL J. NASH.

Private Brunel J. Nash, who is reported missing, is the younger son of Mrs. Nash, of Charles-street, Norwood, and the late Mr. J. G. Nash. He was educated at Pulteney-street School and St. Peter's College, and subsequently followed his father' calling as an engineer in the Governmnent   service. He made a great many friends in the service, as he also did on the football and cricket field. He was among the first to enlist. He joined the 10th Infantry. Mrs. Nash is naturally anxious for further information." - from the Adelaide Advertiser 22 Jun 1915 (nla.gov.au)

"LATE PTE. B. J. NASH.

Mrs. J. G. Nash, of Charles street, Norwood, has been notified of the death of her son, Pte. B. J. Nash, who had been reported missing since June 13, 1915. The military authorities have now established the fact that he was killed in action on May 2, 1915. He enlisted early in the war, and left South Australia with the first expeditionary force in October, 1914, and subsequently took part in the historic landing at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. He was widely known in football circles, as he played both in A and B grades, and also captained the B grade interstate team on several occasions. He was one of the first of the Norwood senior team to enlist. Pte. Nash was a son of the late Mr. J. G. Nash, of Hindmarsh square, and was educated at Pulteney Street School and St. Peter's College. He was 27 years of age." - from the Adelaide Observer 11 Nov 1916 (nla.gov.au)

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal