GALLAGHER, Herbert
| Service Number: | 2747 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 August 1915, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, 6 October 1891 |
| Home Town: | Pittsworth, Toowoomba, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Well borer |
| Died: | Natural causes, The Entrance, New South Wales, Australia, 2 April 1963, aged 71 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium NT Side: Niche number: 19 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2747, 15th Infantry Battalion, Brisbane, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2747, 15th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ayrshire embarkation_ship_number: A33 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Sep 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2747, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ayrshire, Sydney | |
| 1 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2747, 15th Infantry Battalion |
Herbert Gallagher - a lovable rogue.
Herbert Gallagher and his wife Bessie had no children of their own, but they were an integral part of my family through three generations. He had boarded with my great grandparents, Charles and Caroline Shepherdson, in Granville prior to his enlistment for WW1, and my Gr, Grandmother was the next of kin nomination in his attestation record. This is odd, as his parents were both living at the time.
Herbert was initially notified as missing in action, but was located, a prisoner of war in Germany, and his service record holds correspondence from my gr. grandmother about this. He lived for periods with the Shepherdson family after his return from service. He was "Uncle Digger" to my father's generation and my own and never called anything else.
I recall seeing a newspaper article where he was charged with tax evasion and appeared in court at Parramatta, but the case was dismissed as he was a prisoner of war in Germany at the time.
Uncle Digger was much loved by our family. We went to The Entrance for our hoilidays every year, where we would look forward to spending time with him. He was a lovable rogue; he drank too much, he loved beach fishing and he went to Queensland every year or two, to visit his sister Alice until her death in 1975.
I never knew Uncle Digger to march on Anzac Day and he never talked of the war or his wartime experiences. He gave me a book of French poetry when I was learning French in high school, "Poesies Nouvelle" by Alfred de Musset. The book had a dedication "September 6, 1916, Somewhere in France, To Gussey from Sid, with love." He told me that Sid had been killed in France and that Gussey was his girlfriend, Augusta Maria Bell. Gussey was a lifelong friend of he and his wife Bessie, and stayed with them for extended periods, while still maintaining her home at Chrystal St, Petersham. I still have that book, but sadly, I have no knowledge of Sid's surname.
Uncle Digger died aged 89 , in 1980 at The Entrance. Bessie missed him terribly and died some months later. My Uncle Eric has Uncle Digger's war medals and a letter that was received from Buckingham Palce, acknowledging his contribution to the war effort and the period of his internment as a war prisoner.
Submitted 14 December 2015 by Gloria Wallace
Biography
Herbert John Gallagher was born 6th October, 1891 at Neil St, Toowoomba Qld. His parents were Roger Gallagher and his wife Edith Annie nee Little.
Herbert's father Rodger, was born in Donegal, Ireland and arrived in Australia in 1857 as a small child, with his parents Dominick Gallagher and Bridget, his wife (nee Sweeney).
Edith Annie was the child of John Little and his wife, Maria Adams Cheeseman, who met and married in Warialdabefore moving in the 1860s, to Biddeston, near Pittsworth.
Roger and Edith Annie lived on and worked their farm, Plumpton View, a grazing and dairy property in the Brosburn District, near Pittsworth. They had a family of five children, only three of whom survived to adulthood. Herbert's siblings were Gilbert Dominick (b.1893 d. 1983, Alice (b. 1894 d. 1975) and two who died as children Francis Joseph (d. 1899 aged 1 year) and Leonard William (d. 1911 aged 10 years).
When Herbert was in his late teens, he went to Sydney where he boarded in the home of Caroline and Charles Shepherdson, in Princes St Granville. He returned to Queensland for a time, working as a cane cutter, before enlisting in the 1st AIF on 11 August, 1915, in Brisbane. He was placed in the 4th Infantry Brigade, 15th Infantry Battalion, 9th Reinforcements.
At the time of enlistment, Herbert was listed as aged 21 years and 9 months, he was single, a labourer, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 128 lbs with a fair complexion. Contrary to his birth certificate, he gave his place of birth as Warwick, Queensland.
Herbert's religion was listed as Methodist, despite being raised in the Catholic Church. He gave his next of kin as Mrs Caroline Shepherdson, friend, Victoria St, Granville NSW.
Herbert (2747) embarked on 1 September 1915 from Sydney, aboard HMAT Ayreshire A33, for Gallipoli.
On 13/11/15, from Gallipoli, he was sent aboard the hospital ship, Karapara and on 4th Decmber he was admitted to the Military Hospital, Foorrest at Malta. His record shows that he was treated for tonsillitis. Following discharge from hospital, he shipped aboard HT Bornu, to the Operations Base at Ghezireh, Egypt.
The next entry to his service record has him wounded in action in France on 28.8.16, but he returned to his unit on 4.9.16. On 4.11.16 he was promoted in the Field to Lance Corporal.
On 11.4.17, Herbert was reported missing in action, in France. This was later amended to captured at Reincourt. The Red Cross located him, improsoned in the camp at Limburg, Germany, where he waited out the remainder of the war.
At the conclusion of the war in Europe, Herbert was returned to England. He went absent without leave on 23-24 January 1919, for which he was admonished, before returning to Australia on board the ship Medic. He was discharged from service in Sydney on 24 July, 1919.
Herbert suffered from chest problems for the remainder of his life, which he blamed on the mustard gas he encountered on the battle field. He worked intemittently and lived with the Shepherdson family in Granville for periods.
In 1938, aged 47, Herbert married Bessie Jean Scott, aged 43 at Annandale, Sydney and shortly after they moved to Denison St, The Entrance, where they lived out the remainder of their lives, with Herbert pre-deceasing Bessie in 1989 by only a matter of months.
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