Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

At the age 21, Stephen Osborn, the fourth son of Edward Robert Henry and Isabella Osborn (nee Barber, deceased) joined the Australian Imperial Force on 17th September 1914 at Boort, Victoria. He was assigned to the 1st Reinforcements 6th Infantry Battalion, 2nd Brigade, service number 1165.  He was 5 foot 10 inches, with dark complexion, brown eyes and brown hair.

On 22nd December 1914 he embarked on the H.M.A.T. A 32 Thermistocles ship heading to Egypt for training - a total of 1023 soldiers on that ship.  On 5th April 1915 from Alexandria he joined the Mediterranean Expedition Force for the Gallipoli campaign.  He arrived in Lemnos, Greece via the ship "Galeka" in readiness for the campaign on 24^th April, 1915.

On 25th April, 1915 the 6th Battalion landed on Anzac Cove as the second wave around 6am.  103 soldiers from that Battalion lost their lives that day.

"Second Battle of Krithia - WIKIPEDIA (en.wikipedia.org)

Following the failure of the First Battle of Krithia, the exhausted soldiers of the  British 29th Division halted to consolidate their positions. They had to endure a number of Ottoman counter-attacks on 1 and 4 May. Similar counter-attacks were repulsed at the Anzac landing on 2 May so that General William Birdwood, commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps deemed his front sufficiently secure to enable two brigades to be moved to Helles for the next assault on Krithia. These were the Australian 2nd Infantry Brigade including 6th Battalion and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, around 5,000 men.

Other British reinforcements included brigades from the Royal Navy Division and the 125th Brigade from the British 42nd (EASt Lancashire) Division. The 87th and 88th Brigades of the 29th Division would once again be at the forefront of the attack. The Anzac brigades and General Vaughn Cox's 29th Indian Brigade would be in reserve. The commander at Helles, Major General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, was woefully lacking in shells for his artillery and those he did have were shrapnel shells which were ineffective against entrenched positions. The navy were somewhat ambitiously still hoarding shells for the anticipated assault on Constantinpole.

The Allied advance began later than scheduled, around 11:00 on 6 May, and was swiftly halted by strong Ottoman resistance. The 88th Brigade of the 29th Division advancing on Fir Tree Spur managed to capture Fir Tree Wood, and the 6th (Hood) Battalion of the Britsih 63^rd (Royal Navy) Division advanced strongly along Kanli Dere, but at all points on the line the gains were never more than 370 m. At no point were the Ottoman defences reached. The attack was resumed on 7 May; it used the same plan and produced largely the same results.

On the morning of 8 May, the 88th Brigade in front of Krithia on Fir Tree Spur was relieved by the New Zealanders who made yet another attempt which failed with huge losses. The Wellington, Canterbury and Auckland Battalions gained another 400 yd (370 m) through Fir Tree Wood to a place called the 'Daisy Patch' before they became pinned down. Line of gunfire on the left from Ottoman machine guns in Gully Ravine, they could neither advance nor withdraw and still had no sight of the Ottoman positions.

Despite their predicament, Hunter-Weston ordered the New Zealanders, including the Otago Battalion in reserve, to resume that attack at 17:30. The brigade commander, Colonel Francis Johnston, protested but Hunter-Weston insisted the attack proceed. However, General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, who had landed at Helles to oversee the battle, ordered a general advance to be made at 17:30 along the entire front with the aim of capturing Krithia and Achi Baba.

The Australian 2nd Infantry Brigade, including 6^th Battalion, under the command of Brigadier-General M'Cay, was given 35 minutes warning that it was about to join the attack. The Australians were to advance along Krithia Spur between the right flank of the New Zealand brigade and the edge of Kanli Dere,^[3] and had to travel up to 730m from their reserve position just to reach the start line at "Tommy's Trench". The brigade managed to advance a further 460m beyond the start line, suffering 50% casualties in the process, including Stephen Osborn.

The New Zealand brigade made another attempt to cross the Daisy Patch, and some troops managed to actually sight the Ottoman trenches. On the right, the French resumed their advance at 18:00 and made good progress, reaching the Ottoman trenches on Kereves Dere. They managed to capture and hold Bouchet Redoubt but were forced back everywhere else. "- WIKIPEDIA (en.wikipedia.org)

It is unknown where Stephen Osborn is buried so his name is part of the Helles Memorial along with his comrades who fell that day at Panel 202A placate 47.  Although his father was notified of his death shortly afterwards it wasn’t until 7^th April 1916, the following year, that he received a letter from the Base Records formally announcing Stephen’s death and that he was killed in action at Gallipoli on the 8^th May 1915.  His father was given his identity disc 27^th May, 1916.

Posthumous Stephen Osborn was awarded the 1914-1915 Star Medal (given to his father on 6^th July 1921), Bar Medal (given to his father 6^th December 1921), Victory Medal (given to his father on 14^th September 1922). His father also received a memorial scroll on 16^th July 1921 and a memorial plaque on 9^th December 1921.

His youngest brother, Bertie Alwyn Osborn, joined the Australian Imperial Forces on 17^th October 1915.  He was killed by an aerial german bomb landing on his tent at the Belgian Chateau Segard near Ypres, France on 27th October 1917. Two months earlier he had returned from a year’s recovery in England from gunshot wounds to his back and leg.  He was buried by his comrades at the Belgian Battery Cemetery near Ypres in a mass grave.