Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Donald Gunn McKay #3858. 25th / 49th Battalion

Donald McKay was born at Dugandan and probably attended school at Boonah. He must have received a good education as by the time of his enlistment in September 1915, Donald was working as a bank officer with the Royal Bank in Kingaroy.

Despite living in Kingaroy, Donald came home to Dugandan before enlisting in Brisbane on 8th September 1915. He was 25 years old. His attestation papers show his father, Alexander, as next of kin. Time was spent training in camp at Enoggera before Donald was allocated as part of the 9th reinforcements of the 25th Battalion. On 31st January 1916, Donald and the other reinforcements boarded the “Wandilla” in Brisbane bound for overseas. Donald had allocated 3/- of his daily pay to be paid into an account in Queensland. The reinforcements for the 25th Battalion landed in Egypt on 2nd April 1916. Unfortunately the unit that Donald was to join had already left Egypt for the western front in France, and with a full compliment of men. Donald was transferred to another Queensland battalion, the 49th, which was being brought up to strength with a combination of men transferred from other units and new recruits. The newly formed 49th sailed for France in May 1916, landing in Marseilles on 12th May.

It was standard practice to place the newly arrived Australian battalions in the so called “nursery trenches” in the north of the British sector around the city of Armentieres. The 49th, which was part of the 13th brigade of the 4th Division AIF, spent the first few months of their deployment rotating in and out of the line. Fighting was fairly subdued due to the boggy nature of the ground, but the men gained valuable combat experience through trench raids.

Haig; Supreme British Commander in France and Belgium; launched the Battle of the Somme on the 1st July 1916. As the situation on the Somme called for increasing manpower, Haig brought three Australian Divisions (1st, 2nd and 4th) to the staging areas around Albert to use in the assault on Pozieres.

The 1st and 2nd Divisions were thrust into the struggle for Pozieres first during late July and early August, and had secured the village and the important blockhouse on the site of a windmill above the village. It was now the turn of the 4th Division; which included the 49th Battalion, to continue the offensive towards a ruined farm which the Germans had heavily fortified by extending the cellars and creating a line of three defensive trenches. The farm was depicted on the maps as “La Ferme du Mouquet” but the Australians referred to it as “Moo Cow Farm” or “Mucky Farm.”

The assault on the farm began at midnight on the 3rd/4th September 1916. It was conducted on an ever narrowing front that was enfiladed by German artillery and machine guns on three sides. The ground was so churned up that advancing troops could not recognise a trench line when they reached it. Attempts to dig new trenches were unsuccessful due to the loose ground caving in. The 49th was finally withdrawn from the battle for Mouquet Farm without the objective being reached at considerable cost. The 49th Battalion has sustained 430 casualties out of a strength of 1000, including 85 missing.

Among the missing was Donald McKay. The extent of the casualties at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm (23,000 for the entire AIF) paralysed the military bureaucracy which was tasked with tracing wounded and missing men. Families in Australia when advised that a loved one was missing held out hope that perhaps their son had been taken prisoner, or was in a hospital somewhere unable to communicate. During the course of the latter half of 1916 and into the first months of 1917, a Boonah solicitor, Mr Darvall wrote to the authorities in Melbourne 5 times, and once by telegram, seeking resolution for the McKay family.

The family had also contacted the Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Service which traced men from the 49th who may have had some information regarding Donald’s fate. A number of witnesses from the 49th stated that the battalion was under constant heavy bombardment and that stretcher bearers could not reach the wounded. Donald McKay was seen lying wounded but was not seen again. It was assumed he been “Blown to bits!”. Eventually, a Court of Inquiry was convened to determine the fate of those men still listed as missing. On 31st July 1917, fully ten months since the attack on Mouquet Farm, it was determined that Donald McKay had been Killed in Action on 5th September 1916 and death certificates were issued which allowed his family to wind up his affairs.

On the same day that the Court of Inquiry convened, a parcel arrived at the McKay residence at Dugandan containing Donald’s personal effects; hair brushes and a shaving brush, a bible and a cricket score book.

Like so many of the missing, no remains of Donald McKay were ever recovered. In 1940, a family member had made enquiries of the government about where Donald was commemorated. Hopefully the enquirer was informed that Donald’s name was included in the memorial tablets of the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. The memorial was only dedicated in 1938 and two years later became again a battlefield during the German occupation of France. The bullet scars from that time remain visible to this day.