MCCULLOUGH, Reginald Joseph
| Service Number: | 2203 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 November 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 14th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Charlton, Victoria, April 1887 |
| Home Town: | White Hills, Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | State School |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Died: | Died of Illness, Harefield, England, United Kingdom, 30 December 1919 |
| Cemetery: |
Harefield (St. Mary) Churchyard, Middlesex, United Kingdom Harefield (St Mary) Churchyard, Harefield, Hillingdon, England, United Kingdom |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Bendigo White Hills Arch of Triumph, Mansfield War Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2203, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2203, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2203, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Anchises, Adelaide | |
| 30 Dec 1919: | Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 2203, 14th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2203 awm_unit: 14 Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1919-12-30 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Jack Coyne
Gunner Reginald (Reg) Joseph McCullough SN 292/ 2203
Reginald (Reg) was born in Charlton, Northern Victoria however, he lived in the hamlet of White Hills, north of Bendigo. He enlists initially on September 14, 1914 just a month after war was declared. He lists his occupation as a Driver, which usually meant someone who drove a team of horses or bullocks.
Reg would be assigned to the Light horse initially and would commence training at Broadmeadows two days later. He would spend 5 months in training at Broadmeadows only to be discharged in February the following year.
Not to be deterred from going to war, Reg would travel to Adelaide and enlist again on May 15, 1915 without referencing his prior service. This time he would be assigned to the 3rd Light horse regiment with training over the next 10 months in Adelaide. Reg and his unit would embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A68 Anchises on 16 March 1916.
A month later, Reg would land in Egypt and be 'Taken on Strength' (TOS) at Telelkebir near Cairo on April 15. A month later he would be transferred as a Driver to the Artillery Regiment for service on the western front rather than in the deserts of the middle east with the Light horse.
On July 28, 1916 the Artillery unit would embark from Alexandria on HMT Corsican for England. They would spend only a few days in England before sailing for France landing at the AIF camp in Estaples in early September.
Reg would spend the 1916/17 winter and all of 1917 in the service of the 5th Division Ammunition Column (DAC) in Northern France. A crucial unit in each Division.
'To sustain this effect, the logistics of supply of ammunition are critical. The weight and volume of artillery ammunition meant that keeping ammunition up to the guns at the rates required was an all-encompassing supply chain issue from manufacture through storage, distribution and provision to disposal of unexploded ordnance and recovery of re-useable components.
Each Division had an Ammunition Column to keep ammunition up to the guns by moving it from "Third line" storage up to the Front ("First Line"). It was a mammoth task involving motor and horse drawn transport, heavy and light rail and tramways. Ammunition dumps and transport near the Front Line were high priority targets of the enemy's guns , and later, aircraft.
Horse drawn transport laden with ammunition is a doubly risky business. Horses are vulnerable to all forms of small arms and artillery and the cargo is such that a hit is generally catastrophic.It is not for nothing that many drivers received bravery awards'. (Source - https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/units/126 )
After a year in service for the DAC, Reg would be given three weeks leave in late September, 1917 to return to the UK and would rejoin his unit back in France on October 18.
On returning he would be transferred to the 14th Field Artillery Brigade also part of the 5th Division.
Not long after joining his new unit, he would be wounded and evacuated on November 2, 1917 with a Gun Shot Wound (GSW) to right leg. This would be initially assessed as ‘Slight’ however, three days later he would be transferred back to England and treated at Newhaven Hospital in East Sussex.
Reg would be discharged in November and recuperate further at the AIF Camp at Hurdcott on the Salisbury Plains of Southern England. Reg would spend a further 7 months at Hurdcott being admitted to Hospital for a bout of Scabies and Synovitis in the knee, a painful condition of inflammation of the joints. In July, 1918 he would be ready to proceed back to France and rejoins his unit on July 19.
Just three months back in service with the 14th FAB,Reg's left knee would again be the problem. Ten days after being treated in the field he is again transferred back to England. Reg would celebrate the war ending in November,1918 Reg in hospital in England and would spend another 12 months in various AIF camps in southern England awaiting return to Australia.
Enduring this long wait to return home, Reg is again admitted to hospital on December 22, 1919 suffering Excema (eczema) and more serious complaint of Syncope. Syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness usually related to insufficient blood flow to the brain. It's also called fainting or "passing out." It most often occurs when blood pressure is too low (hypotension) and the heart doesn't pump enough oxygen to the brain. (Source - www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/.../Syncope-Fainting_UCM_430006_ )
Eight days later, Reg would pass away at 3:30pm at the Grove Military Hospital in Wimbledon, London.
Gunner Reginald McCullough is remembered by the people of White Hills. The names of the local lads who sacrificed their lives and those that were fortunate to return from the Great War are shown on the embossed copper plaques on the White Hills Arch of Triumph, at the entrance to the White Hills Botanic Gardens.