Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

1839  GOODWIN Alexander                           2nd Division Ammunition Column
 
Alex Goodwin was born in the Scottish City of Glasgow around 1892. His parents were William and Janet and he also had a sister and a brother. When Alex was 17, he emigrated to Queensland and it is possible that his sister emigrated to Canada around the same time. With both parents deceased, Alex perhaps saw an opportunity to make a new life in a new country. Alex made his way to Harlin on the Brisbane Valley Rail Line, north of Toogoolawah, where he became a stockman.
 
Alex took a train to Brisbane to the recruiting depot in Adelaide Street on 3rd September 1915. He had attempted to enlist on previous occasion but was not accepted due to an outbreak of boils; a common complaint for people who spend a lot of time in a saddle. Alex informed the officer that he was 23 years and 2 months old, a stockman from Harlin (misspelt as Harlem on official documents). When asked to nominate a next of kin he named his sister in Vancouver, B.C. but this was changed later to name Miss Nellie McKee of Marloo Farm, Harlin.
 
On the strength of his horse handling ability, Alex was drafted into 13th reinforcements of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment. The reinforcements travelled to Sydney to embark on the “Boonah” on 22nd January 1916. The embarkation roll shows Alex with the rank of acting corporal (this rank was for the duration of the voyage only) and an allocation of 4/- of his daily pay to a bank account held in Toogoolawah. The reinforcements landed in Egypt on 1st March and proceeded to the Light Horse Remounts at Moascar.
 
In early 1916, the AIF was being expanded into a larger force which was to be sent to the Western Front. This expansion called for a commensurate increase in ancillary services such as transport, artillery and stores. On 11th March, Alex was transferred to the 2nd Division Ammunition Column and two days later was promoted to permanent corporal. The Ammunition Column was a logistical support unit with responsibility for transporting the range of ammunition required by infantry, machine guns, trench mortar units, field and heavy artillery from magazines located close to the railheads to dumps closer to the front.
 
The main transport was performed by general service wagons pulled by teams of six horses or mules. The column was responsible for maintenance and repair of wagons, harness and animals and included in its ranks were specialists such as drivers, farriers, blacksmiths and saddlers. Some of the ordinary ranks and NCOs had been trained initially as artillerymen and these soldiers provided a pool of trained gunners who could reinforce the various artillery brigades. There was by necessity, a requirement for men to be able to perform heavy labour.
 
As the name suggests, the 2nd Division Ammunition Column operated primarily in support of operations conducted by the 2nd Division of the AIF. Alex embarked at Alexandria, Egypt, along with the other brigades of the 2nd Division in March 1916 and sailed for the French port of Marseilles. Once disembarked, the infantry made its way to Northern France for acclimatization and introduction to trench warfare as practiced on the Western Front. The artillery and ammunition column proceeded to the huge British depot at Havre (Le Havre) where they would take possession of new field guns, spares, limbers, wagons and harness. Unsurprisingly, there was a certain Army method of hitching and driving horse teams which the men had to master through extensive training.
 
During July and August 1916, the 2nd Division was in action at Pozieres, part of the Somme campaign and the DAC was kept busy ferrying artillery shells and small arms ammunition (.303 calibre for rifles and machine guns) to dumps near the front. In September, Alex was granted two week’s leave in England during which he may have travelled to Glasgow to see friends or relatives still living there. Upon his return to the DAC, Alex was promoted to sergeant in charge of a section. The winter of 1916/17 was particularly harsh and the commanders of both sides realized that it would be impossible to undertake any aggressive action in the snow and freezing mud. This provided the DAC with an opportunity for a rest from constant labouring.
 
With the arrival of Spring in 1917, the British forces were confronted with a strategic German withdrawal to a heavily fortified position called the Hindenburg Line. The 2nd Division carefully followed the withdrawal until they reached Bullecourt. Two unsuccessful attempts to break through at Bullecourt put an end to the Somme campaign and the entire AIF relocated north to the Belgian French Border for a new campaign, the 3rd Battle of Ypres. The opening of this campaign was an attack against entrenched positions on Messines Ridge on 7th June 1917, for which the combined British and Dominion artillery would fire an astonishing three and a half million shells. The DAC was kept busy shifting the required ammunition from the rail head at Poperinghe, where rail trucks loaded with shells from English factories had been ferried across the English Channel and resumed their journey on the French rail system which was of the same gauge. The war diary of the DAC from this time also records a large number of movements of men and officers into the DAC and out to various artillery brigades. Non Commissioned Officers such as Alex were not part of this movement since their experience and expertise was too important to the running of the column.
 
In August, Alex reverted to the rank of corporal, at his own request. He continued to provide valued work throughout the Ypres campaign, particularly in meeting supply needs in October and November during the battle of Passchendaele when heavy rain turned roads to a quagmire and men, animals and wagons sank in the mud. When Passchendaele was finally called off, the men of the supply column could settle into a well earned break while repairing and cleaning harness and wagons.
 
The first months of 1918 brought about a dramatic change in the strategic situation on the Western Front. Boosted by up to 40 divisions released from the Eastern front, the Germans launched a series of lightning strikes against both British and French. Of particular concern was an advance pushed back along the Somme across the old battlefields which threatened the vital rail centre of Amiens. To meet the threat, brigades of the AIF were rushed to the Somme from Belgium. The situation was desperate and the British Commander, Field Marshall Haig issued his famous “backs to the wall” message to all British and Dominion troops. The advance was halted at Villers Bretonneux on 25th April but the enemy were not beaten.
 
A minor attack by a purely Australian force at Hamel in July proved to be a blueprint for tactics devised by Lt Gen John Monash which would lead to an offensive by four AIF divisions, three Canadian divisions and two British divisions, supported by tanks, artillery and aircraft on the 8th August 1918. The outcome of the Battle of Amiens was astounding with forces advancing almost fifteen kilometres through the German lines into clear farmland. From that time on, the Australian and British forces were in the ascendancy and contrary to all predictions, the war would be over in 100 days.
 
Unlike the battles of 1916 and 1917, the battles fought by the Australians in 1918 on the Somme moved quickly towards the east. The ammunition columns had to work hard to keep up with the advance which was being driven ever onward by Monash. By October 1918, the entire AIF was exhausted from the effort of the last months. Alex, having served every day of the campaign was granted his second period of leave in England. He returned to his unit on 28th October; the war would be over in two weeks.
 
Alex Goodwin had proved to be a reliable and hard working soldier. He had supported the Australian Artillery at Pozieres, Mouquet Farm, Bapaume, Bullecourt, Messines, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele, Dernacourt, Villers Bretonneux, Hamel, Amiens, Peronne and Mont St Quentin. In all that time he had never been absent from duty. With the announcement of the Armistice in November, the AIF began to prepare for demobilization. Men who had joined in 194 and early 1915 were among the first to be sent home to Australia. Alex would have been in the second draft of returnees and he was posted to the rest camp at Havre on 27th January 1919 where he would await a ship home.
 
While still in camp, Alex, who had never reported sick in three and a half years of military service, presented to the # 40 Stationary Hospital at Havre with the symptoms of influenza on 12th February. Two days later he was listed as dangerously ill with bronchitis. Alex Goodwin died of pneumonia on 22nd February 1919. He was 26 years old.
 
Alex was buried in the Saint Marie Cemetery beside the hospital along with 12 other men who had died of the effects of influenza in the preceding three days. Alex had bequeathed his entire estate, which was mainly his accumulated deferred pay of 4/- a day over three years to his siter in Vancouver. According to the rules of the time, medals of single men would be issued to oldest male relatives before female relatives. Attempts were made to locate Alex’s brother but the medals were never claimed. Alex’s friend, Nellie McKee, eventually married a Mr Heatherington and moved a little further up the rail line from Harlin to Colinton.