MAINSTONE, Arthur
| Service Numbers: | 736, 941 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 February 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool. |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 19th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 24 March 1892 |
| Home Town: | Redfern, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Conductor |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Belgium, 15 March 1918, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Remembered on Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. |
| Memorials: | Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Aug 1914: | Involvement Private, 736, 1st Infantry Battalion, Naval and Military Forces - Special Tropical Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Aug 1914: | Embarked Private, 736, 1st Infantry Battalion, Naval and Military Forces - Special Tropical Corps, HMAT Berrima, Sydney | |
| 18 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 941, 19th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool. | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Sergeant, 941, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Sergeant, 941, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 15 Mar 1918: | Involvement Lieutenant, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 19 Battalion awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1918-03-15 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Arthur MAINSTONE was born on 24th March 1892 at Sydney. He first worked for the NSW Government Railways in the Permanent Way Branch at Buxton from 6th August 1912. He resigned about a year later. He soon took up a new position with the NSW Tramways as a temporary labourer in Sydney.. According to his railway record card he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 7th February 1915, but this would be to ignore his earlier service with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force with which he left Australia on 19th August 1914 embarked on HMAT ‘Berrima’. The AN&MEF was sent to secure German assets and colonies in the Pacific, north of Australia. By early 1915 the AN&MEF’s work was completed and its members were discharged on return to Sydney.
Mainstone enlisted in the AIF at Liverpool on 18th February 1915, giving his brother Clive as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 19th Australian Infantry Battalion and promoted to Sergeant in view of his previous service. He embarked for a second time, now for Europe, on HMAT ‘Ceramic’ at Sydney on 25th June 1915. He proceeded to Gallipoli where he arrived on 16th August. He had two periods of hospitalisation. He returned to Egypt in January 1916 with the general evacuation.
In March 1916 he proceeded through Alexandria and Marseilles to the Western Front in France. In June he attended the Stokes Trench Mortar School. In July he was wounded with a gunshot to his chest. This required passage to England via the 44th Casualty Clearing Station, the St Johns Ambulance Hospital, and the Hospital Ship ‘Newhaven’. It was February 1917 before he was fit enough to return to France and at this time he was promoted to Company Sergeant Major.
On 5th March 1917 Mainstone was recommended for the award of a Military Medal. The citation is:
‘For conspicuous gallantry in action on 28th February North of MARLANCOURT. Three bombing attacks were made by the Battalion on MALT TRENCH. He was responsible for the organisation and maintenance of the supply of bombs and ammunition. Under an incessant hail of shells and machine gun fire he led his parties up to the front line.
The barrage was so intense that it seemed impossible to get through it alive, but with undaunted courage he persevered, passing up and down among his men, keeping them in touch, and eventually bringing up supplies at a time when success or failure depended on them. His was a most inspiring example. This good work was continued in the attack on March 1st.’
In May 1917 Mainstone was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and attended the Bomb School. In August he attended the Corps Infantry School, as well as having another period in hospital, now with scabies and then cellulitis. It was October before he had recovered and at about the same time was promoted to Lieutenant.
His next period in hospital was not a result of military action, as he had 73 days for treatment of Gonorrhoea. He did not resume duty until January 1918.
On 15th March 1918, he became missing in action
There are numerous accounts of his death, but the most insightful may be by Private Keys (5947):
‘At Polygon Wood front, killed in patrol with machine gun. Found his body two days after we were searching for it. I saw his body brought in, but did not see him buried. Very decent chap, a bit too game.’
Despite this account, and others, it was October 1918 before a formal ruling of death in action was confirmed by a Court of Enquiry.
As his burial place was lost and he has no known grave, Mainstone is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
Mainstone’s only living relative was his brother, Clive, though the relationship was in fact a foster one as Arthur Mainstone had been brought up by Clive’s now deceased mother.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.