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Son of William Edward BAGSHAW and Ellen nee NICHOLL

Keith was the son of William Edward BAGSHAW & Ellen NICHOLL and was born on the 19th of January 1894 at “Dalebrook” in Morphett Vale, SA.

His parents were married on the 4th of November 1874 by special licence, by Rev. James Pollitt in Adelaide, SA.

His father was the son of John Stokes BAGSHAW & Jane Dale CURNOCK and was born in 1850 and was baptized on the 4th of July 1850 in Adelaide, SA.

His mother was the daughter of Thomas Whittaker NICHOLL & Catherine MCCARTHY and was born in 1854 in Forest Creek, VIC.

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Keith’s grandfather; John Stokes BAGSHAW founded the well known machinery and implement establishment J.S BAGSHAW & Sons by 1839. It was later known as Horwood Bagshaw Ltd.

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Keith was the youngest child born into the family of 10 children; 9 boys, 1 girl.

His father was a farmer and the Bagshaw family lived between Morphett Vale & Christies Creek (Christies Beach).

The property contained of 638 acres of cropping land and was called “Dalebrook”.

The farm straddled the creek, extending north into the land now operated as a sewage treatment plant, south towards what is now Beach Road and east past the junction of Dyson and Flaxmill Road.

Keith was only 18 months old when his father died on Sunday the 7th of July 1895 at the Emu Hotel, Morphett Vale. He had been attending a public dinner on the 1st of July at Morphett Vale in connection with the District Council election and was returning home in a light cart when, in going round a sharp corner, the cart swerved and he was thrown out and sustained very serious injuries to his back and shoulder. He was taken to the Emu Hotel and attended to by a doctor. He gained consciousness on Friday, but unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

They buried him in the Morphett Vale Scotch Cemetery.

In September 1895 his mother sold the property and on the 23rd of June 1897 she leased Section 2690, 2691 & 2694 Hundred of Macclesfield from John & James Rhind.

This land is located on the North West corner of Tarrawatta & Gemmell Road (now 365 Gemmell Road).

Keith was too young to attended the Bugle Ranges School, but his brother Clarence did and when the lease ran out on their property the family moved to Hermitage in late 1900.

His brother William had married in 1900 and moved to Millbrook, so it is possible that this is why Keith’s mother moved the family to the area of Hermitage. They then moved to Millbrook and named their home “Dale View”.

Keith attended the Millbrook School and on leaving school he gained employment as an Electrician.

His brother Clarence enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 27th of January 1915 in Keswick and was allotted the service number 2107 and posted to H Company, Base Infantry in Mitcham Camp.

He was then transferred to the 10th Battalion, 6th Reinforcement on the 1st of April and embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A30 Borda on the 23rd of June 1915, disembarking in Egypt.

Not long after he embarked the Bagshaw family moved to 6 Eton Street, Malvern.

Clarence served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front and was wounded at Bullecourt.

At the age of 23, Keith enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 20th of September 1915 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 21175 and posted to F Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Exhibition Camp (Jubilee Oval). He was then transferred to the 1st Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp on the 16th of October and on the 1st of November he was posted to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade, 3rd Reinforcements.

Keith embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A32 Themistocles on the 28th of January 1916, disembarking in Egypt on the 29th of February and moved to Ferry Post, on east side of the Canal.

On the 8th of March he was transferred from 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column (2 DAC) to the 6th Australian Field Artillery, 106 Howitzer Battery at Moascar.

He served in France for nearly 3 years before finally embarking for Australia on the 1st of July 1919 on board HMAT Karmala, disembarking in Adelaide on the 14th of August 1919.

He was discharged from the AIF on the 7th of October 1919.

Keith married Edith Emily Florence POWER in 1921 in Victoria.

Edith was born in 1890 in Carlton, VIC.

In 1921 they were living at 41 Mason Avenue, St Kilda and Keith had returned to being an electrician.

By 1925 they had moved to 19 Murphy Street, Elsternwick and by 1927 they had moved to 10 Gerrard Street, Caulfield.

By 1949 they had moved to 61 Comer Street, Brighton where they remained for the rest of their lives.

Keith died on the 1st of September 1985 in Brighton, VIC and was cremated 2 days later and his remains scattered in a public grave in the Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne.

Emily died on the 27th of May 1986 and was cremated 2 days later and his remains scattered in a public grave in the Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne.

Military

At the age of 23, Keith enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 20th of September 1915 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 21175 and posted to F Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Exhibition Camp (Jubilee Oval).

He listed his mother, of 6 Eton Street, Malvern, as his next of kin.

He was then transferred to the 1st Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp on the 16th of October and on the 1st of November he was posted to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade, 3rd Reinforcements.

Keith embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A32 Themistocles on the 28th of January 1916, disembarking in Egypt on the 29th of February and moved to Ferry Post, on east side of the Canal.

On the 8th of March he was transferred from 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column (2 DAC) to the 6th Australian Field Artillery, 106 Howitzer Battery at Moascar.

He embarked from Alexandria on the 17th of March on board HMTS Arcadian.

Out in the Mediterranean, there was plenty of shipping of all kinds to interest them, as well as an occasional glimpse of the coast. On the 23rd of March they entered the harbour at Marseilles, France, and their curiosity was aroused by a huge German liner anchored and occupied by German prisoners of war.

Marseilles was a pretty sight, the city and glorious view of the mountains in the distance.

Horses, baggage and troops were soon aboard a train for the 58 hour trip to Le Havre and their camp at Sanvic.

The horses for this trip were put in covered vans, eight horses in each, four each side facing one another, with a space the width of the door in between them in which the harness, fodder and two drivers “lived” for the trip. The Battery was to become “experts” at this mode of travel in the years to come and with the guns and wagons could entrain or unload on reaching any destination in very quick time.

On arrival at camp they were welcomed by the first fall of snow for man. Clothed only in summer underclothes, exercising of men and horses was the only way to keep warm until the British Army Ordnance came to the rescue.

On the 31st of March the Battery entrained for Lynde near Hazelbrouck.

On the 13th of May Keith was transferred back to the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column (2 DAC) and posted to No.3 Section and the following month he was appointed as a driver.

He spent four months here before being posted back to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade, 106 Howitzer Battery in the YPRES sector, Menin Gate.

Within a week he suffered from influenza and was admitted into the 6th Australian Field Ambulance and then transferred to the 12th Casualty Clearing Station on the 1st of October at Hazelbrouck, where he remained for 3 days before rejoining his Battery at Steenvoorde.

On the 13th of October they were again moved back to the Ypres sector to Hill 60, working as before on the improvement to the sector. They moved from this area 7 days later and they all knew it was back to the Somme, and for the winter.

Taking ammunition to the guns was a task, mostly it was by pack horses, eight rounds per horse, a driver leading two horses and walking himself. The first obstacle was across a shallow watercourse or stream just full of mud, the consistency varying with the amount of rain. If a horse stumbled due to hidden debris in the mud, it usually ended with a bullet. The track to the gun pits led past Delville-Wood, a scene of heavy fighting. All that was left were some broken tree stumps, and a maze of trenches with the bodies of all the units of both sides being tossed about by shell fire, along with all the gear of an army.

It was here that General Birdwood inspected some of the Infantry’s great coats and weighed them, over 100 lbs with the wet and mud! They had chopped off the bottom of the coats to keep them from dragging in the mud, and because of this, a debit was entered against them in their pay book. Birdwood asked a staff officer to try one of the coats on, the result being that no one was to be “charged” for cutting a coat down under such circumstances.

On the 27th of October they marched via Bussy onto Dernacourt and relieved the Royal Field Artillery Battery.

The wagon lines were at Longueval (behind the water tanks) and the gun positions in “Gun Valley” near Ginchy. All these places were in the old battle areas, torn asunder by artillery of both sides, full of trenches, dead buried just where they were killed. Heavy rains had already turned it into a quagmire that defied description.

On the 21st of November they changed their gun position to Ginchy and stayed in these positions for seventy-five days without relief, in the dreadful weather of the 1916-17 winter.

The 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Divisions of the A.I.F. took their turn in the line under the most appalling conditions. At the same time they engaged in attacks on Hilt Trench, Bayonet Trench, all near Guedecourt and Flers. The ammunition fired in support of these attacks was considerable; often the Battery fired 350 rounds for the day.

On the 1st of December the Battery, between 10 a.m. to 6 a.m., fired 869 rounds; not a bad effort for four guns under such conditions.

On Christmas Day at 11.39 a.m. (noon German Army time) every gun on the Anzac Corp front fired three rounds per minute for nine minutes as a “Xmas Gift”. On New Year’s Eve (two minutes after midnight German time) they welcomed the New Year somewhat the same as Christmas; the 18 pounders firing twenty rounds per minute for two minutes.

On the 13th and 14th of January 1917 the Battery was relieved and went to the staging camp at Buire. Mainly due to loss of horses, the Battery had to have assistance out of the wagon lines on account of the mud; this was the reason for the relief taking two days.

Five days later they reached the little village of Cardonette. This was possibly the worst march the Battery ever had; most teams were down to four horses and they were so weak it was all they could do to drag the wagons along on the muddy, worn roads.

They then moved forward and took position south of Baupaume. No one who took part in that night march on the crowded main road to Baupaume will ever forget it. The mud, the craters, the hold-ups, rain, sleet, snow, but next day they were in much better country, grassy patches between the shell holes and generally a vast improvement.

They then held positions at Thilloy and Reincourt until the 28th of March.

Up to the 17th of April the Battery led a very active life, taking part in the attack on Bullecourt-Ecoust. On several days the Battery fired over a thousand rounds. During this period they had the final winter snowstorm. The guns fired on the enemy over open sights here, and some drivers had the opportunity to serve on the guns whilst unloading of ammunition went on.

For the disastrous attack by the 4th Division A.I.F. on the Hindenburgh Line at the battle of First Bullecourt, they had their guns behind Longatte.

The month of April 1917 saw almost open war compared with anything previously. The artillery was now using shells with the 106 fuse, with great effect, a fragment could kill at 800 yards. Tanks were used with the 4th Division for Bullecourt but through bad timing, the Australian Infantry lost for the time being, any faith in the tanks for an attack.

They were then relieved and returned to rear wagon lines. The Battery had also been in action for the exciting times of Lagnicourt and Noreuil Valley in which Australian guns were abandoned, captured, and re-taken.

On the 18th of April they moved back through Baupaume and on through Fremicourt to take up positions at Beaumetz and Velu Wood. The Battery was engaged in the heavy fighting which took place during the 2nd Battle of Bullecourt and the German counter attacks, seven in all. Thus the Battery took part in the greatest achievements of the Anzac Corp. These battles cost the four Australian Divisions 10,000 casualties. They had seen the British Army send its Cavalry of magnificent men and horses against the German artillery with shocking results. Keith and his Battery often had the not so pleasant task of catching many riderless horses and taking care of them till they were claimed.

In mid May we were relieved, moved back through Pozieres and Albert and beyond and had a spell on sports and competitions till the 21st when they entrained at Edge Hill and moved north to Bailleul. Two days later they were in action again in M. Group near Neuveeglise. They had positions in Ploegsteert, the wood of the same name that was drenched with gas shells by the Germans. In this area they first made contact with the 3rd Division A.I.F. and in spite of all the barracking we were all Australians and friends immediately. This was soon put to the test in the Battle of Messines on the 7th of June when the 3rd and 4th A.I.F. Divisions fought together in this very successful action. The 106th Battery had positions at Tilleul Farm and at Grabion Farm, Messines, until the 16th of June, firing was heavy, often using 1000 rounds a day.

It was here the great mines of Messines Ridge were fired. The 1st Australian Tunnelling Company received great praise for their work on these mines for the last seven months.

In mid June they were relieved by 3rd N.Z. F.A.B and they moved to Hill 63, just south of Messines and almost due west of Warneton. They were then pulled out and went back into a rest area.

On the 8th of July 1917 Keith was re mustered back to Gunner at his own request.

Three days later they, with the three Australian Army Brigades of A.F.A did the longest and best organized march by road from near Bailleul to Nieuport almost on the English channel.

The only other Australians in this area were the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company and the 54th Battery of the Australian Siege Artillery Brigade. The area had always been in the care of the French Army till recently, but had been handed over to the British to make a combined land and sea attack. The Germans attacked first, so the project was stopped in favour of the 3rd Battle of YPRES.

The Battery held positions in the sand dunes, and suffered considerable shelling of the gun positions and they remained here until the end of August.

Keith gained leave to England on the 15th of August and whilst in England he was admitted into the

Bevan Military Hospital, Shorncliffe on the 28th of August. After 2 weeks he was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford and then discharged to No.2 Command Depot in Weymouth. At the end of October he was transferred to No.3 Command Depot and then onto No.1 Command Depot in Sutton Veny.

On the 27th of November he was posted to the Oversees Training Battalion at Longbridge Deverill and then on the 10th of December he was posted to the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery in Heytesbury.

Keith proceeded to France on the 27th of December and rejoined his unit on the 31st who was in camp, situated mid-way between the towns of Bailleul and Armentieres in France with the Belgian border just a few yards away from the camp.

They stayed in this camp as wagon lines until the 6th of April 1918 until they were relieved and marched by way of Bailleul Armentieres road to Strazelle railway station and entrained on the 9th arriving at Amiens, now an almost deserted city (except for troops) they immediately moved out to Franvillers.

On Sunday the 21st of April they saw the chase and fight which ended in the bringing down of Baron Richtofen’s plane. Thousands of Australian Infantry fired with rifles, also machine guns of all types, both official and unofficial firing.

The Battery stayed in this position till the 9th of May when the gun positions, with guns, were handed over to the batteries of the 8th Brigade, A.F.A., and they became Divisional mobile reserve. They at once went into action firing gas shells into Dernancourt.

On the 4th of July the Battery took part in the Battle of Hamel. Great preparations had been made for this, and at 3.10 a.m. the barrage opened with an 18-pounder gun to every 25 yards of front being attacked. Tanks, smoke shells, and the barrage turned the dawn into a fog. Four companies of the 33rd American Division were with the Australian infantry.

On the 7th of August Keith was admitted to the 11th Australian Field Ambulance, suffering from Lumbago, and then transferred to the 47th Casualty Clearing Station in Chaulines. By the following day he had been admitted into the 3rd British General Hospital in Le Treport.

He remained here for 2 weeks before being transferred to No.1 Convalescent Depot in Le Havre.

He rejoined his Battery on the 4th of September and 2 days later they crossed the Somme River at St. Christ by a temporary bridge and looked like being bombed by German planes, until they were driven off by A.A. fire.

The Germans were now retiring to the Hindenburgh Line, and the Australians following fast as conditions would permit. The 106th Battery moved forward to Raignes and took part in the attack by the 1st and 4th Australian Divisions at Vendelles and Le-Verguier on the 18th of September.

The Battery then moved to Tincourt and Villeret. The south entrance to the tunnel at Bellicourt was captured on the 29th of September, but the northern end was not captured until 1st of October, by which time the main sections of the great Hindenburgh Line were completely taken.

On the 26th of October they started the four days march back to Lammotte on the River Somme, 7 kms from Amiens, and now about 100 kms from the forward area.

On the 10th of November Keith was hospitalised suffering from Influenza and admitted into the 5th Australian Field Ambulance. He was here when the Armistice was signed on the 11th of November.

He rejoined his Battery on the 13th of November in the little broken down village of Proyart and 3 days later they moved back to Lammotte, where they had German POW’s to clean the harness, groom the horses and other chores, encouraged with a few cigarettes and Army biscuits.

They then moved back to Proyart and from there they marched on to Vraignes, Bellinglise and to Bohain, where the Battery stayed for five days, men billeted in houses, horses in stables.

On the 15th of December they started the march into Belgium, which took four days. They were billeted in the small village of Erpion which, of course, had been occupied throughout the war by the Germans. The Battery arrived there on the 19th of December to find the villagers very shy and a little afraid.

The following day Keith was granted 3 weeks leave to Paris and he experienced Christmas day here before rejoining his Battery on the 13th of January 1919. The Battery was brought up to full strength; also re-fitted with new clothing and equipment.

The Brigade was paraded before the Prince of Wales and on the 8th of February the guns and wagons marched to Chatelineau and were handed over to ordnance.

Keith was then transferred to the 4th Field Artillery Brigade, 11th Battery, on the 9th of March at Thuin. Whilst here he went AWOL for 2 weeks and was sentenced to 21 days Field Punishment No.2.

On the 30th of April Keith marched out to Base and on the 6th of May he embarked for England.

Keith embarked for Australia on the 1st of July 1919 on board HMAT Karmala, disembarking in Adelaide on the 14th of August 1919.

He was discharged from the AIF on the 7th of October 1919.