Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Completed by St Francis of Assisi College

The ANZAC spirit consists of a number of key values, including endurance, courage, ingenuity, and mateship, as well as perseverance. These positive values are what Australians saw their forces show in World War 1. My great-great grandfather, Stanley William Coombs, demonstrated all these positive qualities during his service in both World War 1 and World War 2.

The eldest son of William Coombs of Renmark and Emily McIntyre of Adelaide, Stan was born on the 13th of February 1897, in Renmark South Australia. He was educated at Renmark Primary School and he left home around the age of 16. He wasn’t well educated, considering he only attended primary school, but he was still a smart, kind man in his time. On the 4th of August 1914, when war broke out, he was working in Port Pirie at the iron ore smelters. He was 17 ½ years old when he was working there. A year later, he decided to volunteer to join the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He enlisted on the 30th of August 1915, and on his attestation paper, he put down his mother as his next of kin, and that his occupation was a labourer (as seen in figure 2). He then embarked from Adelaide on the transport called the Benalla with the 11th Reinforcements of the 10th Battalion. He was appointed the rank of Private and was an infantryman. His service number was 3271 during World War 1.

Stan Coombs disembarked at Suez, Egypt, and joined the 3rd Training Battalion at Zeitoun. After his training in Egypt, he embarked with the 50th Battalion at Alexandria on the transport called the Arcadian, disembarking at Marseilles, France. Stanley Coombs’ first battle was the Battle of Pozieres, where he was wounded in action for the first time on the 14th of August 1916. He was admitted to the 1st ANZAC Corps Rest Station with shrapnel wounds to his chest, head, and left leg. After being patched up, he courageously re-joined the battalion. In his diaries, he mentions that he witnessed seeing his best mate’s face being blown off, and ever since that incident, stopped writing about the battles in his diaries. It must have affected him a lot and was a sensitive subject for him, which is understandable.

On the 26th of August 1916, he was sent to join the 13th Light Trench Mortar Battery. A mortar battery consists of around 50 men, and they use Stoke’s mortars to lob shells into the German’s trenches. Because of the ANZAC’s using Stoke’s mortars, the Germans absolutely hated them, as after they had fired some shells into the German trenches, they packed up and ran to safety. They were known as the “Shoot and Scoot Brigade”. They would shoot, then they would scoot away before the German’s could shell them.

 On many occasions, Stan was employed as a runner, carrying messages between Battery Headquarters. Being a runner was one of the most dangerous jobs for a soldier with many runners being badly wounded or killed. It was also dangerous because they would often have to run over open ground while under shell-fire.

On the 2nd of April 1917, he was awarded the Military Medal (MM) for his action in the attack on Noreuil as a member of the 13th Light Trench Mortar Battery. Stan’s citation for the MM states he “…captured an enemy machine gun single-handed and unarmed, causing three unwounded and two wounded members of the gun team to be taken prisoner.” This was then published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on the 11th of October 1917.

On the 16th of April 1917, Stanley William Coombs was admitted to 8th Field Ambulance, then to 56th Casualty Clearing Station with general debility. Because of his weariness, he was rested from the war for the majority of 1917. This was when the major battles in Belgium occurred and thousands of ANZACS died, and because he was on rest, he was safe. This quite possibly saved his life. He then returned to his unit on the 30th of November 1917.

On the 26th of May 1918, Stan Coombs was wounded in action at Villers Bretonneux, which was the first battle to have tank to tank combat, where he was gassed by mustard gas. If gassed by mustard gas, there was a high chance of being blinded or respiratory failure, leading to death. However, when Stan was gassed, it was mild, so he was very lucky. He was then admitted to 13th Field Ambulance, then to 47th Casualty Clearing Station, then to 41st General Hospital. On the 14th of July 1918, he was discharged from hospital and two days later re-joined the battery.

Stanley Coombs was admitted to 5th Canadian Field Ambulance on the 6th of August 1918 due to mild pleurisy. Because of this, he was sent to England and admitted to Ilford Emergency Hospital at Essex. He then proceeded on sick leave, which then lasted until the end of the war. He then embarked on the transport called the Somali, then disembarked at Adelaide. On the 10th of April 1919, he was discharged from the AIF. Almost immediately after he returned to Renmark, he joined the Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL).

During World War 1, Stan was given money that was put into his bank account, which he was not allowed to access until after the war. When he returned from the war, he found that his mother (Emily) had spent all of his money. As Stan had no money, the RSL helped him out one way or another. Then, in 1920, Stan took up 10 acres of land as part of the post war Soldier Settlement Scheme at Renmark North. Before he could plant anything, he had to clear the land by hand and horse. He had to get rid of the lignum bush and clear the trees, using explosives to remove the tree stumps. He then planted grape vines and fruit trees, and he ran this fruit property until his retirement.

On the 18th of April 1923, Stan got married to Kathleen Elizabeth Haynes, and they had 3 children, Valda, Gordon and Melva. Unfortunately in 1927, Kathleen contracted an unknown illness and passed away. In 1923, the Mellon family emigrated to Australia. Their widowed daughter Matilda (Tilly) McBurnie emigrated in 1926 with her two children, Nancy and Bob. While on leave in Scotland in 1918, Stan had met Tilly when he was billeted by the Mellon family. Stan adopted both Nancy and Bob, and he and Tilly got married on the 16th of October 1928. They had four children – John, Sheila, Kevin and Jennifer.

On the 28th of April 1941, Stan Coombs enlisted in the Citizen’s Military Force (CMF) in World War 2 and joined the 18th Garrison Battalion at Fort Largs SA. He was 44 years old at the time of this enlistment. He was discharged as being ‘medically unfit’ on the 5th of January 1942 because of an accident. The local newspaper states “… while putting in a machine gun post, Private Stan Coombs badly crushed one of his hands owing to a concrete slab falling on it.” His service number was S34832 during World War 2.

Because of the help the RSL gave to Stan after World War 1, he spent most of his life in service to the RSL and his mates, and he was awarded Life Membership of the RSL on the 9th of August 1950.

On the 18th of February 1974, Tilly Coombs passed away from encephalitis from being bitten by a mosquito. She was the first person in South Australia to die from this disease. Three months later on the 20th of May 1974, Stanley William Coombs died from cancer. The type of cancer is unknown but some think that he died from lung cancer from when he was gassed with mustard gas in World War 1.

Bibliography

adfa.edu.au. (2024). Details. [online] Available at: https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=61596 [Accessed 22 Aug. 2024].

Awm.gov.au. Military Medal Certificate. [online] Available at: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1068678/document/5512903.PDF [Accessed 22 Aug. 2024].

awm.gov.au. (2024). Two men of the 7th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery operate a light trench mortar ... [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1244 [Accessed 25 Aug. 2024].

Findagrave.com. (2019). Stanley William Coombs (1897-1974) - Find a Grave... [online] Available at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201981065/stanley_william-coombs [Accessed 22 Aug. 2024].

Memories.net. (2018). Memories. [online] Available at: https://app.memories.net/memorials/stanleywilliam-coombs-78806 [Accessed 16 Aug. 2024].

Trove. (2014). OBITUARY DEATH OF MRS. STAN COOMBS - Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record (Renmark, SA : 1913 - 1942) - 30 Dec 1927. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/109366798?searchTerm=stan%20coombs [Accessed 19 Aug. 2024].

Trove. (2014). RIVER GARRISON RESERVE MEN RETURN - Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record (Renmark, SA : 1913 - 1942) - 8 Jan 1942. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/109263491?searchTerm=stan%20coombs [Accessed 25 Aug. 2024].

vwma.org.au. (2024). 13th Light Trench Mortar Battery. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/444#:~:text=13th%20Light%20Trench%20Mortary%20Battery%20-%20the%20numeric [Accessed 22 Aug. 2024].

vwma.org.au. (n.d.). Virtual War Memorial. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/education/the-premiers-anzac-spirit-prize/winning-entries. [Accessed 22 Aug. 2024].

www.careerexplorer.com. (n.d.). What does an infantry soldier do? - CareerExplorer. [online] Available at: https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/infantry-soldier/. [Accessed 22 Aug. 2024].

Interviews

Coombs. D (Great-Uncle). (2024). Interviewed by Kaelen Greenhalgh [In-person]. 9th of August, 2024

Greenhalgh. K (Mother). (2024). Interviewed by Kaelen Greenhalgh [In-person. 18th of August, 2024