Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Donald GREIG

Military Medal

Recommendation:

23th Infantry Battalion- SN 2153 Pte Donald Grieg together with SN 1942 Pte Edward Hargreaves.

'On the morning of 20th March (1917) at NOREUIL these men carried stretcher cases from the front line to the R.A.P under heavy machine gun and rifle fire. On several occasions they went out in front of the line to the ground vacated and brought in wounded.'       Recommendation: 24 March 1917 by Brig General – Commanding 6th Australian Brigade.

Families across Australia endued a roller coaster of emotions as they waited for news of loved ones thousands of miles away at the front. With two sons and a son in law at the front, Mrs Elizabeth Greig a widow from Golden Square would be one of those Bendigo mothers who endured this agony awaiting news.

This small piece appeared in the Bendigo Independent in December 1917: -

‘Mrs. E Greig of 180 Allingham Street, Golden Square, has received word that her son, Pte. D. Greig, has been reported wounded on three occasions. His brother Pte. E. A Greig has also been wounded and gassed. His brother-in-law, Pte Wellington, is reported missing since September’.[1]

The accumulation of bad news, in Mrs Greig’s case of six or more telegrams with few details from the Base Records Office advising that a son or son-in-law had been wounded or worse missing would have no doubt taken a terrible toll on the individual, the family’s health. For many Bendigo homes, curtains to the street would be drawn as wives, mothers, fathers and extended family dreaded the arrival of the vicar, the priest or the local policemen, which could only mean one thing, that a loved had been killed or died in service.    

However, in among the doom, some brighter news occasionally came from Base Records Office via telegram. The Bendigo Advertiser on June 27, 1917 printed the following: -

‘Mrs. E. Greig, of Allingham street, has received word that her son, Pte. D. Greig, who has been wounded in France for the second time, has been awarded the Military Medal for services rendered in the field. He is the third son of Mrs and the late Earnest Greig, of the "Rochester  Express," and grandson of Mr. B. Greig, of Heathcote. Pte. Greig has also a brother serving in France, Pte. A. E. Greig, who was on the ill-fated Southland when it was torpedoed. Pte. D. Greig was at one time on the staff of the "Bendigo Independent," but enlisted from Sunshine in September, 1914’.[2]

Donald and Ernest’s sister Gladys was married to Edwin Wellington, a miner originally from Heathcote. Gladys, was living with her mother in Golden Square whilst her husband and brother’s were away at the war. Records indicate Edwin Wellington was killed in action on October 9, 1917 most likely at the battle of Poelcappelle with his body never recovered like many other thousands of AIF soldiers.
Mrs Greig and Gladys welcomed home their two boys, with Donald returning with a shell wound that resulted in a ‘depressed fractured skull’ in January 1918 and Ernest returning in April, 1919.

Donald’s heroic partner on March 20, 1917 was Ernest Walter Hargraeves from St. Kilda (not Edward as written on the recommendation). Ernest died of wounds on June 2, 1918 and is buried at Vignacourt British Cemetery, France. He was also awarded the ‘Bar to the Military Medal’ when he showed heroics again in the field in early 1918.

SERVICE DETAILS:  

Service No: 2153

Born: Rochester Victoria

Religion: Church of England

Occupation:Machinist

Address: Allingham Street, Golden Square, Bendigo

Marital status: Single

Age at enlistment: 23

Next of kin: Mother, Mrs Elizabeth Greig, Allingham Street, Golden Square

Enlistment date: 12 July 1915

Unit name:23rd Battalion, 4th Reinforcement

Embarked: HMAT A20 Hororata on 27 September 1915

Final Rank: Private

Fate: Returned to Australia 31 January 1918,                 

Date of death: 29 May 1954, Springvale Cemetery. Age 62

Military Medal Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 140

Date: 27 August 1917

NOREUIL is close to Bullecourt, the southern end of the battlefront for the Battle of Arras. The Germans initiated the fighting that took place around this town in early 1917 and a number of other French towns as a feint to disguise their tactical withdraw of the majority of their force to the Hindenburg Line.

[1] Bendigo Independent, December 1, 1917 P.6 THRICE WOUNDED. PTE. D. GREIG.

[2] The Bendigo Advertiser on June 27, 1917 27/06/17 P.2 AWARDED THE MILITARY MEDAL

 
[3] AWM - DA10529, Photograph, Maker Darge Photographic Company, Broadmeadows camp, c September 1915