Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Norman Wilmot Jewell SN 2435

Norman (Norm) Jewell was born in Benalla in 1895. His family had moved to White Hills from a farm at St James near Numurkah just after the turn of the century.

Norm enlisted in Bendigo on June 20, 1916 at the age of 21 and listed bootmaker as his trade. In newspaper reports at the time, before enlisting he had joined his brother in the trade at a store in Gillies street, Rochester, with his brother later moving his business to Dandenong during the war.

Following enlistment, Norm would spend a week at the army camp in Castlemaine followed by a month in the Bendigo Camp at the racecourse not far from the family home in White Hills.

Early records show he is earmarked to join the newly formed Bendigo Battalion, (the 38th) however, Norm along with many of Northern Victorian boys are transferred to another new battalion, the 60th Battalion, part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division.

On September 25, 1916 they will embark from Port Melbourne on HMAT Shropshire A9 for war.  After nearly 6 weeks at sea they land at Plymouth on the South coast of England.

Arriving in wintry England would have come as quite a shock to Norman and the other Bendigo district lads and they found themselves transported to various training camps across Southern England. They were certainly not alone during this time, as records indicate in late1916 over 90,000 Australian troops were in training in Great Britain. Ten days after landing, Norm and the other reinforcements are marched into the 15th Training unit at the Hurdcott camp on the Salisbury Plains.  

In late November, Norm and the reinforcements are marched out of the camp to join the thousands of British and Commonwealth troops on the east coast of England awaiting transfer to the western front. On New Years eve, 1916 Norm would embark for France from Folkestone on the Princess Clementine most likely landing at Le Havre on the northern coast.

Norm would not be ‘Marched In’ to the 60th Battalion till February 8, 1917.  The 60th had suffered many casualties in July 1916 especially at the Battle of Fromelles. During the course of this battle, the battalion suffered 757 casualties and was almost destroyed.

After that, the 60th Battalion spent the next two and a half years in the trenches in France and Belgium, where it took part in a number of significant actions. Throughout 1917, as the Germans began to withdraw towards the Hindenburg Line, the battalion took part in the Allied advance. Later, at Bullecourt in May, the 60th were engaged in a defensive capacity. Following this, the AIF was moved to the Ypres sector of Belguim where, on 26 September 1917, the 60th Battalion were committed to the fighting around Polygon Wood.

Norm would take part in all these major battles of 1917, absent only when hospitalised twice, firstly in April for four days, then in June for one month suffering from ‘Trench fever’ or as is it described on his as PUO.  (Fever of an unknown origin)

Norm was granted two weeks in leave in February, 1918 rejoining his unit on February 20 just as the action was about to heat up.

In early 1918, the 60th Battalion, along with the rest of the 5th Division, were allocated to the Corbie sector on the Somme River near Amiens in Northern France. Following the collapse of the Russian resistance on the Eastern Front in the wake of the October Revolution, the Germans had been able to transfer a large number of troops to the Western Front.  As a result, in March, they launched their Spring Offensive. With the Germans making rapid gains, the Australian units were thrown into the line to blunt the attack.

Norm was involved in fighting in March, however, he is again hospitalised on March 17 not returning to his Battalion till early May, 1919. He may have been fortunate to be either wounded or ill at this time as the 60th battalion sustained heavy casualties in late April in the major contribution possibly turning in the course of the whole war.  

In early April,the Germans had managed to advance towards Villers-Bretonneux, a town on the high ground to the south of the Somme River. The terrain allowed artillery observers to see bombardments on Amiens, which was only 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) away, which was of great tactical value. The town was taken on April 24 by the Germans.

In the early hours of the 25th of April 1918, Anzac Day, the battalion took part in a counterattack at Villers-Bretonneux. On the evening of April 24, at 10pm the Australian 13th Brigade under General Thomas William Glasgow and the 15th Brigade under General H. E. "Pompey" Elliott lead their battalions north and south of town and cut off the German troops in the town and further access. Their heroic initiative over the course of that evening and the next day is regarded as one of the most valuable in the whole war. The fighting around Villers-Bretonneux in April resulted in the following Allied casualties: the Australian brigades had taken 2,473 casualties, British casualties were 9,529 and French losses were 3,500. German losses were 8,000–10,400 men.

  (Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Villers-Bretonneux )

 Norm rejoined the 60th Battalion in early May and in July, the 60th took part in a diversionary attack around the Ancre River, during the Battle of Hamel. Later, on 8 August 1918, they went into battle at Amiens, at the start of Allied Hundred Days Offensive, which ultimately resulted in the end of the war.

 On September 27,1918 Norman would be reassigned to the 59th Battalion.  With the 1st AIF division suffering considerable manpower shortages due to heavy losses and insufficient replacements, one battalion in each brigade was ordered to disband in order to provide reinforcements to the other battalions within the brigades. Within the 15th Brigade, the 60th Battalion was the unit which was ordered to disband. The men, however, did not wish to be sent to other units and refused to obey the order to disband. Nevertheless, after being spoken to by the highly regarded Brigadier General Harold (Pompey) Elliott, the men agreed to follow the order and the battalion was subsequently disbanded on 27 September 1918.  

Following the Armistice, Norm would stay in France until the following May, 1919 when they were ‘Marched Out’ at the French port of Havre to sail back to England. Landing at Southampton, Norm would again be back in the AIF camps on the Salisbury Plain.

Due to the chronic shortage of troop ships to return the AIF soldiers home, Norm would have to wait a further 4 months till September 7 to board the HMAT Euripides for a journey home. He disembarked at Port Melbourne on October 20 and was discharged from the AIF on December 4, 1919.

Private Norm Jewell is remembered by the people of White Hills. The names of the local lads who sacrificed their lives and those that were fortunate to return from the Great War are shown on the embossed copper plaques on the White Hills Arch of Triumph, at the entrance to the White Hills Botanic Gardens.