Benjamin COMBO

COMBO, Benjamin

Service Number: 6977
Enlisted: 13 December 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 3rd Infantry Battalion
Born: Dalby, Queensland Australia, July 1889
Home Town: Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Driver/horse breaker
Died: Pneumonia, Died at sea on HMAT Benalla (A24), United Kingdom, 29 December 1916
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Buried at Sea, Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton, England, Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Cherbourg Roll of Honour, Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton
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World War 1 Service

13 Dec 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6977, 3rd Infantry Battalion
9 Nov 1916: Involvement Private, 6977, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: ''
9 Nov 1916: Embarked Private, 6977, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Sydney

Benjamin Combo

Benjamin combo was born in Dalby, Qld in 1899. At the time of his first enlistment in Bendigo on the 16th of December 1915, it is noted that his occupation Was that of a horse breaker and that his parents were both deceased . His uncle Frederick Morgan was identified as being next of kin . The Bendigo authorities asked Victoria Barracks: “He is very black for a half-caste. Is it correct to enlist him?”, and so Benjamin Combo was discharged after only 19 days for not being of direct European decent. he enlisted again 10 months later, this time in Albury, now stating his occupation as a drover and next of kin as Aunt Mary combo.

At the time of his second enlistment, he honestly stated the reason for his previous discharge, but was accepted and assigned to the NSW based 3rd Infantry Battalion as Driver (probably of horses). He took his oath to serve his King and country and sailed from Sydney on the troopship HMAT Benalla A24 . However, en route from Dakar, West Africa to England, Pte. Combo died of pneumonia and was buried at sea in the last days of 1916 .

Between 1921 until 1923, many letters were written in attempt to establish Benjamin combos next of kin. Finally, in 1923, Benjamin’s brother, Bertie combo from Barambah original settlement, acknowledged receipt for his British war medal, memorial plaque and scroll .

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Benjamin combo


BENJAMIN Combo was “very black”, army recruiting officers noted when they threw him out of the army after barely three weeks in 1916.


A few months later the Aboriginal horse-breaker turned up in Albury.

He took the oath again to serve his king and country, notwithstanding colour, prejudice and racism.

Off he went to war, sailing with the 3rd Infantry Battalion from Sydney on the troopship Benalla.

Alas, the 27-year-old lad from Queensland fell ill on the long voyage that skirted South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

Pte Combo died of pneumonia on board the ship after it had left Dakar, West Africa, and was buried at sea.

Albury didn’t forget him, however, and he is officially counted as among the city’s war dead of 1914-18.

He has a bronze plaque among 200 surrounding the Albury War Memorial.

Army records show Pte Combo first signed up for the Australian Imperial Force at the Bendigo recruiting office on December 13, 1915, days before Gallipoli was evacuated.

“Signed up” is not quite right, as he struggled to print his name in rough capital letters.

An army doctor added on the form the words “half-caste Aboriginal”.

However, when Pte Combo got to the Bendigo AIF Camp, a major not-iced his skin colour and swiftly sent a message to headquarters stating: “He is very black for a half-caste — is it correct to enlist him?”

A more senior officer quoted Pte Combo’s description as a half-caste and ordered him dischar- ged on January 4, citing he broke the rules by “not being of direct European descent”.

He was also docked a day’s pay for being “absent without leave” on January 3.

Someone then took a red crayon and scrawled across the original enlistment form “cancelled”.

Pte Combo must have had a sense of humour because he chose to enlist again on the 13th of the month — this time in Oct-ober in Albury.

He honestly stated the reason why he was discharged previously but was duly accepted and assigned to NSW-based 3rd Infantry Battalion as a driver (probably of horses), leaving Sydney in Nov- ember.

The ship carried alm-ost 1600 soldiers bound for the Somme Valley in France and around Ypres in Belgium.

Pte Combo was born at Dalby, on the Darling Downs, and his parents had died.

Post-war the army took trouble to find his next of kin, and eventually found his brother Bertie living at the Barambah Aboriginal settlement at Murgon, Queensland.

No personal effects were returned to the family.

All Bertie received were Benjamin Combo’s British War Medal, a memorial scroll, the usual message from King George V and a memorial plaque.

He is listed on the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour.

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Biography contributed by Evan Evans

 The summary below was completed by Cathy Sedgwick – Facebook “WW1 Australian War Graves in England/UK/Scotland/Ireland 

Died on this date – 29th December…… Benjamin Combo was born at Burndowns Station, near Dalby, Queensland in 1889. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) on 13th December, 1915 at Bendigo, Victoria as a 26 year old, single, Horse Breaker.

The Attestation Papers had a section for “Distinctive Marks” - the following were listed for Benjamin Combo “Scars over shins & knees. Half caste Aboriginal.”
On 4th January, 1916 Benjamin Combo was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force at Bendigo, Victoria - “Not being of direct European descent.”

Benjamin Combo re-enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 13th October, 1916 at Albury, New South Wales. This time the section for “Distinctive Marks” on the 1916 Attestation Papers was left blank.

He embarked from Sydney, NSW on HMAT Benalla (A24) on 9th November, 1916 with the 3rd Infantry Battalion, 23rd Reinforcements.

Private Benjamin Combo died on 29th December, 1916 at Sea on board HMAT Benalla (A24) from Pneumonia.

He was buried at Sea from HMAT Benalla (A24) on 29th December, 1916. He is commemorated on the Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton, Hampshire, England as he has no grave. His death is acknowledged by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Private Benjamin Combo is listed by the Australian War Memorial as part of the Indigenous Service list.
(The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below)
https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/c---f.html

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