Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arrived in Australia as a baby

Son of Albert Edward Fox and Harriett Louisa Fox of the Methodist Parsonage, Pine Street, North Ipswich, QLD

MY NOBLE BOY DUTY WELL DONE FATHER

Rev. A. E. Fox. of the North Ipswich Methodist Church (late of Paddington, Brisbane), has received word from the military authorities that his son, Bombardier Owen Albert William Fox, died in Francs on August 13 as the result of gunshot wounds in the breast. The deceased enlisted the first week of the war, and served in Gallipoli. Just before the evacuation  he was removed to England, seriously ill. On his recovery he was sent to France, in February, 1916. In January of the present year he was "gassed," and returned to France in  May. Mr. Fox has now lost his only two sons, the younger one, Stanley, having been killed in the disastrous cyclone in the North in March last.

 
Owen Albert William Fox #202 1st Light Horse / 2nd Division Ammunition Column
According to the circular completed by Owen’s father, Owen had been born in Plumstead London in 1885 and arrived in Australia with his family as an infant. Owen’s father, Rev Albert Edward Fox was a Methodist Minister serving in parishes around South East Queensland it is likely that Owen attended a number of schools as a boy, including Coorparoo State School where he was enrolled at the age of 13 in 1898.It is possible that the Rev Fox had two terms at Coorparoo Methodist Church, once around 1898 and again in the 1920s.
Owen enlisted in Sydney on 22nd August 1914, just a few days after recruiting began. There is some evidence that he was working in the Inverell district prior to enlisting, however he gave his father’s address; Enoggera Terrace, Brisbane as his home address. Owen reported that he was 29 years old, single and a labourer although his father indicated that he was a well digger. It is probably fair to describe Owen as a bush worker, which perhaps explains his being drafted into the 1st Light Horse as a driver. Just two months after enlistment, the 1st Light Horse embarked in Sydney on 20thOctober, arriving in Egypt in late November 1914.
The Light Horse Brigade was deployed to Gallipoli just two weeks after the landings, but without their horses as there was no demand for light cavalry on the crowded slopes of the ANZAC beach head. On 1st September Owen was admitted to a Casualty Clearing Station at ANZAC before being evacuated to Imbros with dysentery. Dysentery was endemic during the summer on Gallipoli, exacerbated by the shortage of water for drinking and washing, and the prevalence of swarms of flies. Owen’s case must have been severe enough to warrant being evacuated to the 1stSouthern General Hospital in Birmingham by hospital ship.
Owen did not return to the ANZAC Corps until 1st March 1916 where he was transferred to the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column. This transfer coincided with the restructure of the AIF and the expansion from two divisions to five. Each Australian Division had attached to it four brigades of Field Artillery as well as an ammunition column. The ammunition column was primarily responsible for transporting artillery shells from a railhead to brigade ammunition dumps as well as providing reinforcements for the artillery. In his new role as driver, Owen arrived in Marseilles on 27thMarch 1916.
The second division, to which Owen’s unit was attached first spent some time in the Armentieres sector before being moved south to the Somme to support Haig’s July 1916 offensive. Artillery supported the attacks by the infantry of the division at Pozieres and then Bullecourt and Bapaume during the rest of 1916. In December of that year as the front was being closed down for the winter, Owen was promoted to Acting Corporal.
As the spring thaw began in 1917, the Australian divisions cautiously pursued the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line before shifting north to Flanders for the summer offensive at Messines and Ypres. During this period in the line, Owen presented to a Field Hospital with a dose of VD. Venereal Disease was a serious problem for the AIF with some estimates that up to 60,000 soldiers spent time out of the line as a result of infection. In Owen’s case, he spent 64 days out of the line and as was usual practice forfeited his pay for the period that he was unfit for duty. He returned to his unit in time for the actions at Broodseinde Ridge, Polygon Wood and Passchendaele. Conditions in the sector were horrific with the late summer rains turning the flooded Flanders ground into mud. Ammunition column work would have been particularly difficult, with the roads being turned to mud, horses and mules sinking up to their bellies and field guns sinking into the mud after firing one round.
As a result of these conditions and the wet autumn that followed, Owen was evacuated to England with bronchitis where he remained until February 1918. Upon discharge from hospital he was granted two weeks furlough, which he probably spent visiting relatives in London. Once the furlough was up, Owen spent some time in a depot battalion in England before being posted back to France in May 1918.
Ludendorff, Supreme German Commander in France launched his spring offensive in March 1918. The advance was finally halted by Australian divisions at Villers Bretonneux in April. All five Australian divisions were formed into a single corps under the control of Monash who planned two major counterattacks against the Germans in July at Hamel and in August at Amiens. Owen’s unit, in support of the second division was involved in both actions.
After the August attack, the Germans began a retreat back to the Hindenburg line where they had started in March with the entire Australian Corps on their heels. During this pursuit, Owen Fox received a severe gunshot wound to the chest on 11th August 1918. He was evacuated to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Rouen on 13th August but died of his wounds later that day. He was buried in the Saint Sever Cemetery Extension adjacent to the hospital.
By the time of Owen’s death, his father was living in the Parsonage at Pine Street, North Ipswich. Owen’s personal belongings and war medals were sent to his father along with photographs of his temporary grave marker.
When the Imperial War Graves Commission began to erect permanent headstones in Military Cemeteries, next of kin were given the option of including a short inscription. Owen’s father chose the following: “My Noble Boy; Duty Well Done, Father”. Curiously the Rev. Fox also requested that the headstone be inscribed with the Star of David, which the Commission pointed out was only for members of the Jewish Faith and so a cross would be inscribed instead. When the bill (eight shillings and twopence) for the inscription was sent to the Rev. Fox in 1923 his address was then Methodist Parsonage, Cavendish Road, Coorparoo. It is possible that the Memorial Plaque for the Coorparoo Methodist Church was compiled during Rev. Fox’s tenure as minister at Coorparoo.