Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Ernie was born in Dalby, the eldest son and child of Patrick Joseph Connelly and his wife Mary Elizabeth nee Bool. There he grew up and went to school but lost his mother in 1909 and soon after, the family was broken up because his father could not look after his seven surviving children on his own. Before the war, Ernie was a clerk, working for Mackie and Co who were auctioneers in Chinchilla and who were related to Ernie by marriage.

His motivation is not recorded but given that he was not one of the first to volunteer, he probably did not join up from a pursuit of adventure or a new experience. He delayed his decision until shortly after the evacuation from Anzac and perhaps this indication that the war was not going very well told him that all the troops Australia could muster were needed to help achieve victory. Perhaps also, there may have been social pressures on a young and fit man to join the other men of the district who had already gone. Whatever his reasons, he joined the 1st AIF on 6 Jan 1916 in Toowoomba. On enlistment, Ernie stood five feet eight and a half inches tall and weighed 146 pounds. He is described as having a dark complexion, black hair and grey eyes and was 21 years and five months old. His initial movements are uncertain but on 4 Feb 1916 he was posted to No 11 Depot Battalion at Enoggera where his basic training began.

At this stage of the war, Australian troops had withdrawn from Gallipoli and were reorganizing in Egypt with the purpose of reinforcing the British forces on the Western Front. In consequence, there was a great need to bring those units in Egypt up to full strength and so major efforts were instituted to gather and train the largest force Australia could sustain. Just after Ernie enlisted, the first Australian troops from Egypt sailed for France to take their place beside British and other Empire forces facing the Germans on the western front. So further men enlisting from then on could expect to go directly to Europe rather than Egypt, initially to the United Kingdom.

One of the units to be reinforced was the 26th Battalion, a unit made up mostly of Queenslanders and Tasmanians. On 19 Apr 1916, Ernie was attached to the 14th Reinforcements draft of the battalion camped at Enoggera in Thompson's paddock, then on the outskirts of Brisbane. In command was Lieutenant Harold Herewood Beiske, who was a few months younger than Ernie and who had joined up in Nov 1915. Harold fought bravely in France being wounded twice, both times in the leg. On the second occasion though, his left leg had to be amputated in May 1917. He was repatriated to Australia in June 1918 and died in 1955.

On 8 Aug 1916, a fine, sunny Queensland winter’s day, the 14th Reinforcements marched out of Thompson's Paddock Camp at Enoggera with their personal effects in white kitbags slung or carried. Led by a drummer and the Australian flag, they were a confident but untried group of very recent recruits going off to the greatest war that history recorded to that point. His unit embarked in Brisbane on the troopship Itonus, A50, which arrived at Plymouth on 18 Oct 1916 after an uneventful voyage. The Itonus, which had been requisitioned by the Commonwealth, was a ship of 5,340 tons which was eventually sunk by a German submarine in the Mediterranean on 20 Dec 1916. On the voyage, they spent their time training as much as circumstances allowed and generally enjoying the cruise. Mostly, the food was good and, as the future was a closed book, they were in high spirits. On 18 Oct 1916, he marched into the 7th Training Battalion which had recently been reformed at Rollestone in England, about 18 km northwest of Salisbury, on 8 Aug 1916. His training included musketry, platoon tactics, gas precautions, bayonet drill, wiring, grenade throwing, field hygiene and cooking, first aid, entrenching and fortifications. Of course, it being the army, route marches and saluting were considered indispensable training. The program was no hit or miss affair. It had a complete syllabus and timetable with the aim of producing a well-trained and efficient soldier.

In a letter to his sister, Molly, written on 23 Nov 1916 he said he had received a letter from her, the second one she had written apparently, although he had not received the first one at that stage. By then, he had only received three letters from the family at home. The slowness of the mail highlighted the separation of the men from their families and the things that were happening at home. He must have been suffering from homesickness, a very believeable malady in the circumstances. His letters home told of dreadfully cold and wet weather which did not suit him at all and he was glad to receive a balaclava which his Aunt Kitty sent him. He said, "It is nearly five weeks since we landed here, and I have been shivering ever since. Last Sunday morning we woke up to find three inches of snow on the ground. I can tell you it was a sight. It was the first time I seen (sic) snow and I can tell you I don't wish to experience another."

He also noted that they were leaving the next Saturday for France and said he thought they were going to the Somme. What the censor made of this is uncertain but the letter was received as dispatched, without the censor’s pencil marking it. He also said that the fighting there was 'very fierce' and they were 'in for a bad time'. He had no illusions about what awaited him and his mates.

On 16 Jan 1917, he sailed to France on the SS Princess Clementina which departed from Folkestone and the next day, he marched in to the 2nd Division Base Depot at Etaples, on the Canche River about 65 km south of Calais near the French coast. Here he underwent his final training and fitting out before proceeding to the front to join his battalion. On 10 Feb 1917, he was posted from that unit to the 26th Battalion where he marched in on 12 Feb 1917. He was one of 79 reinforcements that were taken on strength by the battalion during February.

At that time, the 26th Battalion was stationed about 3.5 km east of Pozieres in a rest camp at Bazentin le Grande, known as Sussex Camp, training prior to returning to the front. At 0515 on 13 Feb, the battalion marched in freezing conditions to a support position at Seven Elms with two companies moving into dugouts at Martinpuich and for the next four days, they were engaged as fatigue parties. This would have been a fairly gentle introduction to the conditions of the fighting on the Western Front, although some of the work was arduous and exhausting and the European winter was vastly different from what most of the Australians had previously known. Undoubtedly the old hands gave the new boys a bit of stick along the lines of “what kept you?” but everyone who had been through any time at the front knew only too well that no amount of experience or training could guarantee success or even life.

On 17 Feb, the battalion trudged up to the line and wound their tortured way along stinking trenches to relieve the 28th Battalion, completing the takeover by 2250 that night and without casualties. They were stationed just south of Butte de Warlencourt. They could see little to their front because the terrain was so flat but patrols were sent out each night to scout the enemy front. It was quiet and on 21 Feb, they were relieved by the 18th Battalion at 2330 and trekked back through the cold, dark night to Scott’s Redoubt South Camp at Bazentin. Here they rested and trained doing ‘Smartening up Drill’ as the unit diarist puts it. Apparently, in their perambulations through the winter mud and slush they had become a little untidy and perhaps a tiny bit ragged around the edges. And doubtless, their saluting had become a little slovenly too. Smartening up would definitely have been required to out shine the German enemy. On 26 Feb 1600, they moved again and sloshed their way to Acid Drop Camp at Contalmaison. The next afternoon at 1700, they struggled up to the front line to a position a little north of Warlencourt village from where they were going to launch an attack on the German held Malt Trench. However, their patrols found that the wire entanglements in front of the German positions were uncut so the attack was cancelled. We do not know the exact role Ernie had in these activities but he was probably on at least one of the patrols into no-mans-land, an unnerving experience for a newly minted soldier. But he survived whatever experience he had and joined his mates as they walked, slipped and tripped their way to Martinpuich and Acid Drop Camp. During February, the battalion had lost four killed and 12 wounded, low casualties for an infantry battalion at this time. At the end of the month, they numbered 26 officers and 692 ORs, all cold, wet, tired and probably fed up.

Their reprieve did not last long for they were ordered forward for an attack on the night 1/2 Mar 1917. They assembled in a sunken road in Warlencourt prior to attacking. Malt Trench ran east-west, about 500 yards north of Warlencourt. Numerous German prisoners were taken in the assault and the enemy’s counter-attack was repulsed with considerable losses. The award of four Military Crosses and nine Military Medals underlined the success of the attack. The next day, they were relieved by the 28th Battalion and dragged their tired bodies back to a bivouac area near Martinpuich from where they returned next day to relieve the 28th. They only stayed there until 6 Mar when the 25th Battalion took over the position and they staggered back through frosty trenches into a bivouac in Le Sars. From here they moved back to the huts at Contalmaison. But their stay was very short and they marched again the next day to Becourt. Here they trained further and rested. The fighting to this point had taught them that the man on the spot was in the best position to decide what ought to be done next.

On 19 Mar 1917, they were on the road again, this time to Avesnes, about a mile southwest of Bapaume. On 20 Mar, the battalion made its uncomfortable way to Vaulx and took over the outpost line from the 23rd Battalion. The infantry’s war was one of marches as well as trenches and they were never able to settle in one place for long.

During 23 Mar, a German aircraft was shot down by one flown by the RFC and landed in no-mans-land. The pilot tried to reach the German trenches but was shot and wounded. He was recovered and brought into the Australian trenches on a stretcher. He claimed to be Prince Fredrick Charles of Prussia, quite a trophy. Later on, a dispute arose between the 28th and the 13th Light Horse Regiment as to which one actually captured the prince. Charles Bean believed it was the 28th but members of the 13th contradicted his account. The war diary of the 28th records the occurrence contemporaneously and sounds quite believable.

On 26 Mar 1917, the 26th Battalion was ordered to attack and capture Lagnicourt (about 25 km southeast of Arras and five km south-southeast of Bullecourt) as part of preparations for the Battle of Arras. Lagnicourt was the scene of fierce fighting in March and April 1917 as the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. Australian forces advanced rapidly in their wake but as they neared the Hindenburg Line they were confronted by well-prepared rearguard forces, which were only removed after difficult fights. One such action took place at Lagnicourt between 26 and 27 March.

The battalion had trouble moving up to their starting line because the night was very dark but at 0515, they moved forward behind an artillery barrage and advanced to the edge of the village of Lagnicourt taking some casualties from machine gun fire in this stage. Their right-hand company was illuminated by a German searchlight but an officer with a Lewis gun firing from the hip knocked the light out. In the centre, there was some fierce hand-to-hand fighting but on both flanks the advance proceeded more easily. It seems a number of men used Lewis Guns from the hip but they soon got red hot and handling them was difficult. By 1200, the village was mopped up by men using grenades to clear houses throughout the village. At some stage during this action, Ernie was killed. I have not been able to find the casualty figures but from the after-action report, they may have been severe. In any case, we do not know what happened to Ernie nor exactly what he was doing and his body was never recovered. His father was not advised of his death until 16 Apr 1917, probably because his body was not found and he may have been considered just missing initially. He has no known grave of course but is remembered in the Villers Bretonneux War Memorial. The battalion went on with the fight right through to Oct 1918 when they withdrew from the front for the last time. It was finally demobilized in May 1918.

The Army shipped his effects home aboard the SS Euripides A14 to the family and they consisted of a wallet, letter, cards, photos, diary, five stamps, religious symbols, a coat hanger, comb and a knife.

Ernie was one of the 877 men of the battalion killed while serving with it. After the war, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. These were eventually forwarded to his sister, Kitty, along with a memorial plaque. There was a lot of trouble in getting the medals to the family. His father, Patrick Joseph, who was nominated as Ernie’s next of kin, died in April 1922, before the medals were distributed and his mother had died much earlier. There being no brothers alive either, the medals ought to have gone to the oldest sister, Kitty. But the Army had no idea where she was or even if she existed. They did however, know that his sister, Grace was getting a pension as a result of Ernie’s death and so contacted her through her guardian, Catherine Mackie their aunt. That letter was quite a creditable effort from the Army to get the medals to the right person and they went to some effort to explain the situation. Grace or her guardian told Kitty who wrote to the Army on 14 Oct 1923 to say she was the oldest sister. The Army, in its inimitable fashion did not take this at face value and asked if Ernie’s parents or any brothers were still alive. But by then, both his parents and his two brother were dead. Eventually, Kitty got the medals after writing to the Army on 12 Nov 1923 and convincing them that there were neither parents nor brothers alive but just where the medals are now is anybody’s guess.

During her childhood from 16 Jun 1917 until she turned 16 in 1922, Grace received a pension of one pound per fortnight from the government as a consequence of Ernie's death.

His name is inscribed on panel 107 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. He was a man whose sense of duty towards the people of his country was stronger than his concern for himself. When he enlisted, the true nature of the war was apparent to everyone and its dangers very evident. But even with this knowledge, he volunteered and subsequently lost his life. His courage and sacrifice should always be acknowledged and remembered by us whom he sought to protect.