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Australia

Magnus MOWAT was born on 9th May, 1897 in Beenleigh, Queensland to Margaret Lyon MOWAT - no Father listed on birth registration

Margaret married Owen CALLAGHAN on 12th December, 1898 in Queensland

# 643 MOWAT Magnus (Boy)             5th Division Machine Gun Battalion
 
Magnus Mowat was born on 9th May 1897 at Beenleigh. His birth records list his mother, Margaret Mowat but no father is recorded. In a letter sent to the authorities after her son’s death in 1918, Margaret stated that the last time she had seen Magnus’ father was the day before she gave birth. It is evident that Margaret, who was only 17 at the time, was an unmarried mother which at that time carried a social stain. Margaret named her son Magnus after her own father, Magnus Mowat.
 
Margaret married Owen Callaghan in December 1898; she was 18 and her son Magnus was an infant of almost 20 months. It is possible that Margaret and Owen Callaghan moved to the Montville area and young Magnus it seems remained in the custody of his maternal grandparents, Eliza and Magnus Mowat (senior), at Yarraman. Magnus (Junior) was often referred to as “Boy.”
 
Boy attended school at Yarraman and when he reached school leaving age, became a pupil teacher under the guidance of the headmaster. The pupil teacher scheme was introduced to provide a pathway for promising scholars within the Department of Public Instruction to study under the tutorship of a senior teacher for several years and upon passing a series of examinations, be employed as a qualified teacher. The scheme was common in rural areas where academic opportunities for promising students were almost impossible to access. When Boy attended the recruiting depot in Brisbane on 24th October 1916, he stated his occupation as school teacher of Yarraman. This date is significant because 4 days later, the first of the conscription plebiscites was held. Many eligible men who had not already enlisted chose to enlist before the plebiscite so as not be subject to call up. They preferred to join willingly.
 
Boy Mowat was most certainly a likely candidate for call up if the plebiscite was passed. He was single, claimed to be 21 years of age, but if his birthdate is correct was only 19, and had most likely been part of the school cadet scheme. Boy named his mother, Margaret Callaghan of Montville via Palmwoods, North Coast Line as his next of kin. He reported to the Enoggera training camp and was placed in a depot battalion before being assigned to a signals company. In January 1917, Boy was transferred to the Machine Gun reinforcements. He had a period of home leave during which he no doubt visited his grandparents and his mother.
 
All reinforcements for the various machine gun units were trained at Seymour outside Melbourne and upon return from leave, Boy and his compatriots took a series of trains to Melbourne where they began to train in the transport, operation and maintenance of the standard Vickers heavy machine gun. The Vickers was a robust and reliable weapon but it required a crew of six or more to transport and assemble as it weighed close to 50 kilograms. The gun could fire at a steady rate for hours on end as long as barrels were swapped out every hour and the water in the cooling jacket remained topped up. The gun was ordinarily transported broken down into its component parts on a limbered wagon which was pulled by a pair of heavy horses. The crew marched behind the wagon and the officer in charge of a number of guns rode a horse.
 
Boy embarked on the “Clan McGillivray” in Melbourne on 10th May 1917 as part of the 11th reinforcements for the 7th Machine Gun Company. Upon arrival in Plymouth in July, the reinforcements were sent to the 7thTraining Battalion at Rollestone for further training. While Boy and his compatriots continued with their training in England, the British and Dominion forces were engaged in a series of battles in Belgian Flanders which was brought to a halt in the mud at Passchendaele in November 1917. The AIF, which had been involved in the Flanders campaign, was relieved from frontline duties so that the five divisions could rest, re-equip, and take on reinforcements for the resumption of fighting in the spring of 1918. Boy sailed on a ferry from Folkstone on 7th January 1918 and reported to the machine gun depot at Camiers near Boulogne before being posted to the 25th Machine Gun Company, one of four companies that made up the 5thAustralian Machine Gun Battalion; attached to the 5th Division of the AIF.
 
The five AIF Divisions rotated in and out of the line around the French Belgian border from January to March 1918 with ample time for sports, recreation at seaside towns and visits to the divisional baths for clean uniforms and new underwear. The latter part of 1917 had produced a change in the strategic situation on the Western Front as far as the German command was concerned. The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia brought about the end to fighting on the Eastern Front. A peace treaty between Germany and Russia released up to sixty German divisions which, once re-equipped and re-trained, could be used to press home a distinct advantage on the Western Front. The window for exploiting this advantage was however rather small as the entry of the United States into the war and an expected surge in troop numbers from July 1918 onwards would swing the advantage back to the Entente. The German commander, Ludendorff had only a short time to press home his advantage.
 
The British Commander, General Haig, was fully expecting a German assault in the spring of 1918 but he guessed incorrectly that the main thrust would be aimed at the Ypres salient in Belgium. When Operation Michael began on 21st March, the main assault was aimed along the line of the Somme River in France, the scene of so much fighting and hard won victories in 1916.
The British 5th Army, which was holding the line astride the Somme was unable to hold the German onslaught which in some places amounted to a five times numerical advantage. As the British retreated, often in disarray, the German Stormtroopers retook all of the gains made by the British in the Somme campaign and were within a few days of capturing the vital communication city of Amiens. If Amiens fell, Haig might well have lost the war; the situation was deadly serious.
 
Haig ordered his most successful and battle hardened troops, four of the five divisions of the AIF in Belgium to race south to establish a defensive line in front of Amiens. The 5th Machine Gun Battalion packed up its equipment into the wagons on 26th March and proceeded to the rail junction at Bailleul. Trains transported the four companies of the battalion south into Picardie where the defensive line to protect Amiens was being established. The 5th MGB set up defensive outposts with its guns in the vicinity of Corbie at the confluence of the Somme and Ancre Rivers.
 
On 20th April, the 5th Division was ordered to the south bank of the Somme to meet a serious threat to the village of Villers Bretonneux, which if captured by the enemy would bring the big German guns within range of Amiens. Villers Bretonneux did fall but concerted efforts by two brigades of the 5th Division, supported by machine guns managed to retake the village on the night of 24th / 25th April. During this battle, Boy Mowat was affected by gas when mustard gas shells fell on the gun pits. He was evacuated to a casualty clearing station and from there sent to the 12th General Hospital at Rouen for three days before being released to the 2nd Convalescent Depot. After two days there, Boy was moved to the Convalescent Depot at the Machine Gun Depot at Camiers. On 13th May, Boy was back with his unit.
 
The retaking of Villers Bretonneux on Anzac Day 1918 signalled the end of the German advance on the Somme, however the enemy was not beaten and remained a threat. John Monash, soon to be appointed commander of the Australian Corps instructed his brigade commanders to engage in what he described as “peaceful penetration”, a euphemism for harassing the enemy. Small patrols would venture out at night to knockout forward posts, cut telephone wires and take prisoners. The purpose of this activity was to not allow the Germans to become comfortable in their trenches.
 
The machine gunners were heavily involved in peaceful penetration, firing harassing fire out into no man’s land at night to deter German activity as well as firing blind towards targets in the rear areas, depending on the sheer weight of firepower to keep men in their dugouts. Boy’s 25th MG Company, one of the four companies in the 5th MG Battalion spent most nights during June and July engaged in harassing fire.
 
A huge operation was planned for the British and Dominion Armies on the Somme for August, most of which was planned by Lt General John Monash. The battle would ultimately involve all five AIF divisions, three Canadian divisions and two British divisions. The battle which became known as the Battle of Amiens was timed to begin on 8th August.
 
In preparation for the Amiens offensive, the troops of the 5th Division AIF which included the 5th Machine Gun Battalion went into camp at Querrieu to practice coordination with the 24 Mark VI tanks that would accompany the division in its advance. Some of those tanks would carry machine gun crews into the battle and to lighten the load for the gunners, low flying aircraft would drop boxes of ammunition (thankfully, the .303 ammunition used in the Vickers gun was the same calibre as used in the infantry’s rifles and Lewis Light Machine Guns). Air drops were also planned to supply water (used in the Vickers for cooling) and spare barrels. Ground troops were issued with sheets of canvas with a letter V painted on it to indicate where a drop was required.
 
Monash began to assemble his formidable force in the rear areas near Villers Bretonneux out of the enemy’s sight. On 4th August, the 5th Division began to move up to be in position by the 6th August. The troops spent the next day and a half resting with no fatigue duties.
 
On the day of the battle the plan called for the 5th Division to assemble behind the 3rd Division which would advance during the first phase a distance of 3.5 kilometres under the protection of a creeping barrage supplied by 1000 guns. Once the 3rd dug in on this new line, the 5th would advance and leapfrog over the 3rd for another advance of 4.5 kilometres digging in just short of the village of Harbonnieres.
 
Success at Amiens signalled the end of static trench warfare on the Somme and heralded in mobile warfare with the Australians and the Canadians pressing eastwards to drive the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line. On 18th September 1918, Monash planned a set piece attack on the Hindenburg Line outposts. There were insufficient tanks available so dummy tanks were constructed and to make up for the loss of fire power, the machine gun battalions of four divisions (about 200 guns) were to strafe the ground ahead. Boy Mowat was killed when an artillery shell hit the gun pit in which he and his team were supporting the infantry advance at Vendelles by brigades of the 4th Division. Ironically, the 18th September would prove to be the last battle fought by the gunners of the 5th MG Battalion.
 
Boy Mowat was buried by his companions at a nearby British Cemetery established at Hancourt. When his will was presented for probate, it was revealed that Boy Mowat had named his grandmother, Eliza Mowat of Yarraman Creek as his sole beneficiary. The estate comprised the contents of a bank account, an annuity from a life assurance policy and deferred pay. Margaret Callaghan, as Magnus’ next of kin wrote to the authorities expressing her displeasure at no being included in her son’s bequest but was informed it was not a military matter.
 
Margaret did, as next of kin, receive her son’s medals. She chose as inscription on his headstone: PEACE PERFECT PEACE.