Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Hilders birth is registered as Hyder Stanley Filmer BROOME in 1893

His parents were Charles BROOME and Maud FILMER

His nephew , Alwyn Lindsay BROOME (SN VX23081) served in WW2 and died on 24th June, 1944 (son of his brother Sarsfield Swift BROOME)

#413 BROOME Hider Stanley Filmer             15th Battalion
 
Hider Broome, who signed his name as Stanley, was born to parents Charles and Maud Broome at the Cann River in East Gippsland Victoria on 25th February 1893. His first name, Hider, would appear to recognition of his Anglo Saxon heritage and Filmer was his mother’s maiden name. The family were farming in the Cann River Valley near Noorinbee where Stanley went to school before working on the family farm. When Stanley was around the age of 17, he moved north to Queensland where he worked as a farm labourer on a farm at Barker’s Creek outside Nanango. When he enlisted in Kingaroy on 26th September 1914, he stated his occupation as farmer and named his father, Charles Broome of Cann River, Victoria, as his next of kin. Stanley, then aged 21, bore several scars on his shins and toes and he was also missing a joint on his left thumb; all no doubt due to farming mishaps.
 
Stanley was given a rail warrant and he took a train from Kingaroy to Gympie and then on to the Enoggera Camp where he was drafted into “C” Company of the 15th Infantry Battalion on 3rd October 1914. The 15thBattalion, which was being raised as one of two Queensland battalions, was composed of eight companies; six coming from Queensland and two from Tasmania. The Queenslanders were under the command of Lieutenant James Cannan, a well known Brisbane businessman and officer of the volunteer defence force. Training was provided by civilian rifle club members at Enoggera and once sufficient recruits had been processed, the battalion embarked on a number of route marches to Sandgate with an overnight bivouac.  
 
In early December, the battalion travelled by train over several days to Broadmeadows near Melbourne where the Tasmanian companies joined the battalion. The complete 15th then joined the other three battalions to form the 4th Brigade of the AIF commanded by Colonel John Monash. The 15th boarded the “Ceramic” in Port Melbourne on 22nd December 1914 and sailed for Egypt, arriving in Alexandria on 3rdFebruary 1915.
 
The first contingent of the AIF, comprising three brigades, had been in Egypt since December 1914, and had been training as a division. It was decided that the 4th Brigade would join with the New Zealand contingent to create the New Zealand and Australian Division. The 15th marched into the Aerodrome Camp at Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo and began intensive training for the next two months. On 14th April 1915, the 15th boarded two troop ships, the “Australind” and the “Seang Bee” for the voyage to the Greek island of Lemnos where the invasion force of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was being assembled in preparation for the assault on the Gallipoli peninsula. There was insufficient room for all of the Australian and New Zealand force to be billeted on shore and so the late arrivals, such as the 15th Battalion, remained on board the transports while practicing boat and landing drills.
 
At dawn on the 25th April, the 15th Battalion set sail for the beaches of Gallipoli. Those on board the “Australind” stood off the beach at Cape Helles and observed the British landings there before sailing north to Gaba Tepe where the “Seang Bee” was waiting. The entire battalion was disembarked during the night of the 25th/26th April and bivouacked in a gully until dawn when the troops moved up the gully to relieve the exhausted men at Pope’s Hill who had been holding the precarious position since the previous morning. For the next few days, companies of the 15th Battalion were moved up to reinforce various positions that were coming under attack by the Turkish defenders. On 30th April, “C” Company, under the leadership of Captain Quinn (who would soon have another post named after him) were positioned on the left of another battalion when there was a flurry of offensive activity forcing the withdrawal of “C” Company. It was probably during this action that Stanley Broome was seriously wounded. He was carried down to the beach at Anzac Cove and then taken by lighter to the Transport “Mashobra” which had been hastily converted to a hospital ship. Stanley unfortunately died of his wounds and as was the usual practice, was buried at sea.
 
Somehow, Stanley’s father at Noorinbee received word of a rumour that his son had died and sent a telegram to the authorities on the 12th May asking why he had not been officially notified. Charles received no reply and he sent a second telegram intimating that he had reliable information of his son’s demise. Base records informed him that a telegram had indeed been sent the Post Office at Cann River, the address given by Stanley at enlistment. Noorinbee is six miles from Cann River but somehow the message was not relayed.
 
In due course, Charles and Maud Broome received two parcels of Stanley’s personal effects which included a fountain pen, photographs, a pocket knife, letters and cards. In the 1920s, the family also received three medals; the 1914 Star, the Empire Medal and the Victory Medal. As he has no known grave, Hider (Stanley) Broome is commemorated on the memorial plaques of the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing at Gallipoli.