Virtual
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Australia

#10 MUIR Albert Stanley                               5th Light Horse / Machine Gun Squadron
 
Albert Muir was born at Ipswich around 1893 to parents David and Jane Muir of “Merinda”, Moombra. Moombra was a railway station a few miles south of Esk on the Brisbane Valley Rail Line. Albert’s father, when completing the Roll of Honour Circular, stated that Albert had attended Chelmsford State School, near Wondai in the South Burnett, but this is probably not correct as Chelmsford did not open until 1910, by which time Albert was 17 years old. Albert probably attended a small school near his home or in Esk where after completing the eight years of primary education; went on to become a pupil teacher under the tutelage of the headmaster. Once an examination was passed, the pupil teacher was then a qualified teacher. It is more likely that Chelmsford was Albert’s first appointment as a school teacher.
Albert attended the nearest recruitment office to Chelmsford at Gympie on 15th September 1914. He stated his age as 21 years and occupation as school teacher. Albert named his father, David Muir of Moonbra, as his next of kin.
 
Albert was accepted into the AIF at Enoggera and after passing the riding tests, was added to the roll of the Machine Gun Section of the 5th Light Horse Regiment. Training continued until December when the regiment with accompanying horses boarded trains at nearby Newmarket Station bound for Liverpool in Sydney. The regimental war diary for this period describes the trains being unloaded at Wallangarra (due the difference in rail gauges, all goods and passengers had to change trains at the Qld/NSW border) and all the horses had to be dipped. The diary records a number of horses dying due to the dipping as well as a number being transferred to the vet hospital. The regiment proceeded to Liverpool for a short period of reorganisation before entraining for Woolloomooloo docks where the regiment boarded the Transport Ship “Persic” on the 20th and 21st December. The embarkation roll shows Trooper Albert Muir had made an allotment of 3 shillings a day pay to his mother.
 
Christmas 1914 was spent at sea in the Great Australian Bight and the “Persic” arrived in the harbour of Albany, WA on 28th December where other ships of the 2nd Expeditionary Force were assembled. The convoy sailed across the Indian Ocean without incident, although the regimental diary records a number of soldier’s deaths due to common diseases such as measles and mumps. Also, on the voyage more horses died due to the effects of the dip at Wallangarra.
 
The regiment disembarked in Alexandria in Egypt on 1st February 1915 and moved by train to the Light Horse Camps on the outskirts of Cairo. Finally, some serious training could be undertaken as there had been precious little time for this back in Australia. One manoeuvre that was practised was “Cossack Defence” where a party of three men would take up defensive positions while a fourth man held the horses in the rear. After firing a few rounds, all would mount up and gallop away. Patrolling and intelligence gathering became routine, although there was no sign of the enemy. Meanwhile the AIF infantry was practicing for the anticipated landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula in April.
 
When the landings at ANZAC did not go according to plan, the role of the Light Horse, which would originally have been given the task of wide-ranging patrols and attack across the peninsula changed. By early May, the new plan would see the Light Horse Brigades land at Gallipoli as infantry (something they had not trained for) and without their horses. The 5th Light Horse as part of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade landed at ANZAC on 20th May and began fatigue duties on the beach carrying water and supplies up to the forward positions on the heights. Albert would have witnessed an unusual occurrence on the 24th May when an armistice was declared across the Anzac front so that both Australians and Turks could cross into no man’s land to collect and bury their dead for both humanitarian and sanitary reasons. Fighting resumed at 5:00pm that afternoon.
 
In early June the 5th LHR moved into the frontline at Chatham’s Post. On 17th June, Trooper Muir was evacuated to Mudros with influenza. He returned to the Anzac beachhead in August in time to witness the infantry attack at Lone Pine, the disastrous charge by the 3rd Light Horse at the Nek and the failed attempt to capture the heights of Chunuk Bair by the 4th Brigade of the AIF and New Zealanders. These events failed to achieve the breakthrough that was desired and both the Turks and the Anzacs were resigned to a stalemate. On 5th September, Albert received a nasty shrapnel wound to his left ankle and thigh. He was evacuated by the Hospital Ship “Maheno” to the 1st Australian Hospital on Mudros. Once it was established that Albert’s wound to his ankle required further treatment, he was transferred to the St Elmo’s Hospital at Malta by Hospital Ship “Nile.” Albert remined at the hospital for two months before being transferred to a convalescent camp at Trans Ghaen. On 26th January 1916, Albert was discharged fit for active duty and returned to Egypt.
 
While Albert had been in hospital, the Gallipoli Campaign was closed down and all of the Australian forces were evacuated back to Egypt. He rejoined his unit at the Light Horse depot at Maadi on 4th February 1916. The 5th Light Horse were engaged in the defence of the Suez Canal from an Ottoman and German force that was proceeding along the Mediterranean coastal strip of the Sinai Peninsula. The work consisted mainly of long range desert patrols and intelligence gathering with little opportunity for the machine gunners to be involved.
 
At its creation in 1914, the Light Horse was equipped with the standard machine gun used in all British and Dominion forces; the Vickers heavy machine gun. The machine gun section of the Light Horse operated effectively on Gallipoli in what was a static and defensive role. In April 1916, Albert was sent to the Machine Gun School to become acquainted with the Hotchkiss Machine Gun. One of the instructors at the school was Captain William Handley from a well known farming and grazing family from Esk.
 
Once the Light Horse reverted to its intended mobile role during the Sinai campaign, it was clear that the Vickers machine gun was unsuitable for the Light Horse. The gun was extremely heavy and not easily transportable. The gun and tripod weighed 50 kgs and every 250 round canvas ammunition belt weighed 10 kgs; the water reservoir 10kgs. In the desert conditions, the mechanism was prone to clogging from sand or dust. The Hotchkiss, used extensively by the French (and later US) forces, was lighter (22kgs), air cooled and with very few parts. It could be broken down quickly and carried by pack animals. The only drawback was that it was chambered for 8mm ammunition, while all other small arms in the British arsenal were standard .303 in.
 
Albert graduated from the course with a 1st class pass and was promoted to the rank of temporary corporal. On 23rdJuly, Albert was posted to the newly created 2nd Light Horse Brigade Machinegun Squadron. The squadron saw its first major action at the Battle of Romani between the 3rd and 5th August. The victory over the Ottoman forces at Romani was the turning point in the Sinai campaign. From that point on the Anzac Mounted Division as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force gradually pursued the retreating Turkish forces back towards the Palestinian Border at Rafa. On 24th August, Albert was confirmed in the position of corporal and immediately promoted to temporary sergeant. Albert’s appointment to sergeant was confirmed on 10th November. In the span of five months, Albert had progressed from Trooper to Sergeant.
 
The Anzac Mounted Division rode into El Arish on 21st December after the Turks had abandoned the town without a fight. Once El Arish fell, the freshwater pipeline and rail line which had been constructed from the Canal were extended to El Arish. The town and its harbour became a major staging point, being supplied via rail and also by ship. By the end of December 1916, the forces of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force had reached the border with Palestine. The Ottoman forces had established a strong defensive line that stretched from Rafa on the Mediterranean coast east to Beersheba. Rafa occupied a strategic position on the route from Egypt to the Levant and Jerusalem and no progress could be made by the EEF without taking Rafa. Albert was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 2nd March 1917.
The EEF made the first of three attempts to capture Rafa on 26th March 1917when the Anzac Mounted Division took advantage of thick fog to break through the Ottoman lines to cut off the lines of retreat from Rafa while British and Indian infantry attacked the defences head on. Fearing that the mounted units would be overrun by Turkish reinforcements, the British commander called off the attack which infuriated the Light Horse who claimed that they were in excellent position to take the town. Thus ended the first Battle of Gaza.
 
In April, a second attempt was made to take Rafa with infantry supported by artillery, tanks and even warships firing from out at sea. The Turks had learnt their lesson from the previous battle and the defences had been strengthened. The frontal assault was repulsed and the attack called off. At this point the British Commander was replaced by the highly competent General Allenby. In July, Lieutenant Albert Muir was sent off to the machine gun school where under Captain Handley’s supervision, Albert qualified as an instructor on the Hotchkiss Machine Gun.
 
At the end of October, Allenby had another attempt at breaking the Rafa Beersheba line. This battle has become famous for the bayonet charge by the 4th and 12th Light Horse regiments at Beersheba at dusk on the 31st October; ultimately capturing the town and the vital wells. Once the township was secured, the 2nd Light Horse Brigade was sent to the north of the town to intercept any reinforcements which might make an attempt to drive the Australians back. The Machine Gun Squadron established a number of redoubts (small temporary fortifications) manned by Hotchkiss guns and crew. On 5th November, Turkish artillery engaged one of the redoubts, killing Lieutenant Muir and four men. Once the Turks were driven off, the casualties were buried in the redoubt within a ring of stones and the names of the dead were scratched into an ammunition box lid. Albert’s personal effects including his uniform and equipment were sent to David Muir at “Merinda.” Albert’s estate, which consisted of deferred pay and war gratuity, was also sent to David Muir.
 
At the end of the War, the Imperial War Graves Commission set about recovering burials from isolated sites. The remains of the five killed at Beersheba were exhumed and reinterred permanently in the Beersheba Military Cemetery. David Muir chose the following inscription for his son’s headstone: GREATLY LOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM.