Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Early Life

Cyril Richard Cole was born on 27 January 1894 at Mintaro, South Australia, the youngest son of Albert John Cole and Margaret Ellen Cole (nee Mortimer). See Appendix 1 - Family Trees

Education

Cyril attended the Riverton Public School where he passed the Primary Examinations in October 1908. He then attended Gawler High School where he passed his Junior Examinations in five subjects in December 1909. He played cricket for the school in 1908 and 1909. Then, having been awarded a scholarship in February 1910, he attended Prince Alfred College (PAC) in 1910 and 1911.

Cyril played football and cricket for PAC. He played for PAC in a football match against Wesley College (Melbourne) in July 1910 was a member of the PAC football team which toured to Melbourne in August 1911 playing matches against Melbourne Grammar School, Wesley College and Scotch College. He played for PAC Intercollegiate Cricket team in their matches against St Peter’s in 1910 and 1911. Cyril also played for the College in the South Australian Cricket Association B Grade competition in the 1910/11 and 1911/12 seasons.

Cyril maintained a connection to his old school and represented PAC Old Scholars in a football match against the Present Players in 1913 and against St Peter’s Old Scholars in 1914.

Adelaide University

In 1985 Cyril was interviewed by Rob Linn and he stated that he became involved in forestry through his family's instigation and the advice of two great figures of Australian forestry, Walter Gill and Norman W. Jolly.

Cyril attended Adelaide University and was part of the first group to study forestry commencing his studies in 1912 and graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Forestry) in 1914. He also undertook a subject in surveying for forestry students at the School of Mines in 1914.

Adelaide University Sports

Football

Cyril played A Grade football for the University from 1912 to 1914 and played Intervarsity Football against Melbourne University in both 1912 and 1914. He was known as a half-back and in an item in ‘The Express and Telegraph’ in September 1912 he was described as one of the team’s best back men. He was a member of the University team which won the Amateur League Premiership in 1912 and were runners up in both 1913 and 1914. Cyril was awarded a Blue for Football in 1914.

Cricket

Cyril played B Grade cricket for the University of Adelaide from the second half of the 1911/1912 season through to the first half of the 1914/15 season. He was the B Grade teams delegate to the SACA for the 1913/14 season.

Athletics

Cyril competed in the Adelaide University Sports in 1914 coming second in the Shot Put competition.

Early Career

After graduation Cyril worked for the Woods and Forests Department as an Assistant Forester at Wirrabara Forest in the mid north of South Australia. He played cricket for the Wirrabara Cricket Team in the Flinders Association and football for the Wirrabara Football Team in the Northern Areas Football Association. In May 1915 Cyril registered a 2 ¾ Minerva motor cycle.

World War I

Cyril enlisted in the 32nd Battalion, A Company on 20 July 1915 and was described as 5 foot 9 ½ inches, with medium complexion, hazel eyes and dark hair. He embarked for Europe on board HMAT A2 Geelong on 18 November 1915.

He arrived at the Suez Canal on the18th December 1915 and remained in Africa until 17th June 1916. A newspaper article published in 1919 stated that “he saw considerable service in the campaign which saved the Suez Canal from the Turks”. Cyril then travelled from Alexandrina, Egypt to Marseilles, France, arriving in France on the 23rd June 1916 and going on to serve on the Western Front. In February 1917 he was in hospital with Influenza.

In October 1917 a letter from Cyril was published in ‘The Journal’ under the heading “Forest Work at the Front” (see below).

The 32nd Battalion was in a rest area for Christmas 1917 and they won the Inter-Battalion Australian Rules match. As Cyril name is mentioned in the article as “the old Adelaide University half-back” it is reasonable to assume he played in the match (see newspaper article below).

Cyril left Havre, France and disembarked at Plymouth, England in February 1919. He returned to Australia on the 13th April 1919 onboard the “Wyreema” which had embarked from Liverpool.

Cyril was given a welcome home when he returned to Wirrabara Forest in July 1919.

Career & Family Life between the Wars

Cyril married Suzanne Jeanne Emma Pradé (born 25th August 1900, Paris, France) on 25th October 1919. He must have travelled back to France for the wedding and shortly after returned with his new wife to Australia.

After service in Europe during the First World War, Cyril returned to his role as assistant forester at Wirrabara Forest and after a reclassification in February 1920 was receiving a salary of £288 per annum.

Cyril's next appointment was at Mount Crawford and it is likely that he was working there when his first child, a son, Raymond (Ray) Alfred Cole was born in Adelaide on the 28th November 1920. Cyril gave his location as Williamstown (near Mt Crawford) when he signed for his WWI medals in May and August 1921 and August 1922.

Cyril returned to Wirrabara as forester in 1923.

While at Wirrabara he was actively involved in the community. He played cricket and football, was a member of the RSSILA (Returned Sailor’s & Soldier’s Imperial League now the RSL) and the Wirrabara Fire Fighting Committee. He also played bowls and tennis and was a member of the Literary Society. In October 1926 he was a member of the Wirrabara Football Club team which won the Flinders Association Premiership.

In March 1926 Cyril was transferred from Wirrabara to Mount Burr Forest near Glencoe in the South East of South Australia. The little hall at the Wirrabara Forest was not large enough to accommodate the crowd who attended the Cole’s farewell. Cyril was also given farewells by the RSA (now RSL) and the Wirrabara Cricket Club.

While at Glencoe, Cyril played B Grade Cricket Glencoe in the Mount Gambier District Association in the 1928/20 season and he won the clubs batting trophy for that season.

On the 28th February 1929 Cyril and Suzanne’s second child, a daughter (Marcelle Ellen) was born at Mount Gambier.

In April 1929 Cyril left South Australia to work as a Forestry Officer in Canberra. Cyril and Suzanne were farewelled from Glencoe by the RSSILA and the community.

On moving to Canberra the Coles built a house at 11 Arthur Circle, Forrest.

Cyril became involved with both the Manuka Football Club and the Manuka Cricket Club. A later article published in 1972 stated that Cyril had done “just about everything for Manuka (Football Club) but play”. He was President in 1932, treasurer in 1934 and 1935, President again in 1939 and 1940, and played an important role in rehabilitating the club after the war (WWII). In 1972 he was still a member of the club’s played provident fund committee was a Life Member of the club (1952). He had always watched the clubs first and seconds play every season while he was in Canberra. He also took up golf, playing at the Royal Canberra Golf Club.

Cyril’s father passed away in September 1933.

By 1937 Cyril was in charge of Forestry for the Department of the Interior.

World War II

Cyril enlisted in 2/1 Forestry Company on the 9th April 1940 and served until 2 December 1944 obtaining the rank of Lt. Colonel. His service is described in the Wikipedia Article “Australian Forestry Group UK” extracts from the article appear below.

“In 1939, the British Government requested that Australia raise three, 200-man strong companies of foresters to join a force of twenty units drawn from Canada and further three from New Zealand to support the British Expeditionary Force in France and the Australian Government readily agreed. However, in line with a request from the French Government, all of their officers were to be members of either the Commonwealth or State government forest services or employed in the sawmilling industry so that the wasteful cutting and damage experienced in World War 1 was not repeated.

Two forestry companies were quickly raised in 1940 as part of the Royal Australian Engineers (RAE). The first Forestry Company (2/1) was in Sydney with men from NSW, Queensland and South Australia led by Captain Cyril Richard Cole, a professional forester from the Australian Capital Territory, while a second Forestry Company (2/2) was raised in Melbourne under the command of Captain Andrew Leonard (Ben) Benallack from the Forests Commission Victoria with soldiers recruited from Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia. All units included men who had served in the war of 1914–18.

The two Forestry Companies sailed from Fremantle on the Stratheden on 30 May 1940 destined for the Suez Canal but were diverted to England via Cape Town after France fell to Germany and the subsequent Dunkirk evacuation. The troops landed in July and undertook further military training in at Alton, southern England. They were immediately positioned to guard against invasion while the Battle of Britain was in full fury overhead.

Prior to the War, Britain had sourced much of its timber from Scandinavian countries but then had to rely on its own forests to meet its timber needs. So as the threat of invasion receded the men from the two Forestry Companies were deployed to Northumberland during September 1940. The 2/1 Forestry Company went to Seahouses, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed while the 2/2 moved to Hexham west of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Whereas the Canadians came self-contained and brought logging equipment and sawmill machinery with them, the Australian and New Zealand companies had to be equipped in Britain. Equipment was in short supply and was not what they were used to. Until crawler-tractors were available, converted agricultural tractors had to serve for logging operations. There were no chainsaws, just axes and crosscut saws.Also the winter of 1940–41 was particularly cold and hard on the men. Many had not seen snow before. Another shock was the British requirement to cut trees flush at ground level rather than at two or three feet which meant sometimes kneeling in the snow and mud using clumsy knee pads.

As the need for forestry companies persisted the 2/3 Forestry Company of 150 men was formed in Melbourne in March–April 1941 under the Command of Major Mervyn Alexander Rankin, a forester from the South Australian Woods and Forests Department. Some additional reinforcements were recruited as well as staff for a group HQ. The 2/3 Forestry Company sailed from Sydney on 4 June 1941 in the Themistocles and the Largs Bay arrived in the UK in August 1941.

In July of that year, the Australian Forestry Group was established to command all three units. It was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Richard Cole, a veteran of WW1, throughout its existence. A medical officer was attached to the group to supervise the foresters' medical treatment. All three companies were relocated to Dumfriesshire in Scotland during 1941.

The Australian Forestry Group moved to Sussex in mid-1943 but shortly afterwards the group departed the UK for Australia and by the time they left the UK, the Australians had produced 30 million super feet (90 000 m3) of sawn timber.

The foresters had closer and more frequent interactions with British civilians than the AIF infantry units. They were initially billeted with civilians in private homes, and later usually accommodated in camps located near villages. The foresters were granted local leave most days, which allowed them to drink in pubs after completing their work. By the time the Forestry Group returned to Australia, 120 of its men had married British women and 40 children had been born. The Group departed the UK for Australia on 22 September 1943, but the wives of the men who had married in the UK were unable to accompany them until August 1944 due to a lack of shipping.

The Australian soldiers returned via America and were given the unique honour of marching in a ticker-tape parade, with fixed bayonets, down Broadway in New York on 1 October 1943, said to be the only occasion that armed foreign troops had marched through an American city since Independence. Following their return to Australia in November, the forestry companies, undertook jungle warfare training at Canungra and received some new equipment and were later deployed to the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea.

In PNG the Forestry Companies operated different machinery in several locations but continued to harvest logs and produce much needed sawn timber including durable material for wharfs and jetties. They worked alongside New Zealand and American forestry companies. Local people, as well as some Japanese POWs, provided labour.

At the cessation of hostilities in 1945 all three Australian forestry companies were progressively disbanded but some men remained as late as 1946 to help with reconstruction.

Nine men from the Forestry Companies were honoured including Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Richard Cole with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) but six men died in accidents or from illness.”

Cyril was in PNG from 27 May 1944 and returned to Australia on 21 November 1944.

Further details relating to the 2/2nd Forestry Company RAE can be found in the article by Gordon Freegard at https://pickeringbrookheritagegroup.com/soldiers7.html

Honours

In the United Kingdom New Years Honours of 1944, Cyril became an Officer of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of valuable services in connexion with forestry work in the United Kingdom.

Cyril and Suzanne’s son, Raymond Arthur Cole also served in WWII. He enlisted in NSW on the 20th September 1942 and served until 30 June 1946. His final rank was Sapper with the 60 Field Park Coy..

Career and Family Life Post WWII

On his discharge after WWI Cyril resumed his role as officer-in-charge of the forests of the Australian Capital Territory, a post he held until his retirement in 1959. He was the Chief Fire Controller for Canberra in 1948 and later the Chairman of the A.C.T. Bush Fire Council until Sep 1958.

Cyril’s mother passed away in 1946. In May 1946 Marcelle Cole (later Greene) was one of the debutantes presented to His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester at the Church of England Ball held at Albert Hall, Canberra.

In August 1947 Cyril and Suzanne were divorced and Cyril later married Violet in July 1948.

Cyril continued his involvement with the Manuka Football Club and in 1948 he was acting president of the National Football League. In 1949 Cyril was the President of the Canberra Services Club.

In February 1953 Cyril and Violet left for England for a holiday which was to last eight months and include a visit to Violet’s family in the north of England.

Cyril continued to play golf and often competed in the AIF Cup (for returned WWI servicemen) at the Royal Canberra Golf Club. In 1959, he was runner-up for the cup.

1959 was also the year that Cyril retired after 45 years of service to his country as a public servant (forestry) and soldier (WWI and WWII).

In October 1965, Cyril was awarded the ANFC Merit Award in honour of his 37 years of service to football in the ACT.

In July 1977 Cyril and Violet left Canberra and moved to Sydney. The couple were given a farewell luncheon at the Manuka Football Club on the 9th July 1977.

Sadly for Cyril, Violet passed away on the 10th September 1978, aged 86, at that time the couple had been living at Dee Way Parade, Dee Why, Sydney. She is buried at the Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens, Sydney.

In his retirement Cyril worked as a bookkeeper until he reached the age of 84.

Death

Cyril passed away on 1 October 1989, aged 95 years and is buried Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens, Sydney.

Author EE (Beth) Filmer

For the complete profile including photographs, newspaper articles, documents and sources prepared for the AUFC/AUCC WWI Memorial Project please see the document attached.

Cyril Richard Cole
Service Number: 74
Place of Birth: Mintaro
Date of Birth: 27 January 1894
Place of Enlistment: Keswick
Date of Enlistment: 20 July 1915
Age at Enlistment: 21 years 5 months
Next of Kin: Father – Albert John Cole
Occupation: Assistant forester
Religion: Methodist
Rank: Acting Corporal 32nd Battalion
Cyril was the son of Albert John and Margaret Ellen Cole [nee Mortimer] . He left Adelaide on board HMAT A2 Geelong on 18 November 1915 and disembarked at Suez on 18 December. After a period of serving in Egypt he was sent to France with his unit on 23 June 1916, where he was appointed Acting Corporal. Cyril spent two weeks in hospital due to illness in February 1917 but was able to rejoin his battalion on 13 March. He fought in France for the remainder of the war, during which time Cyril was awarded the Military Cross. At the cessation of the war he returned to Australia per the Wyreema on 13 April 1919, disembarking on 27 May and was discharged on 20 July. Cyril received the 1914/15 Star, Victory Medal and the British War Medal between August 1921 and August 1922.
When World War Two commenced, Cyril re-enlisted at Caulfield, Victoria on 9 April 1940, listing next of kin as his wife Suzanne Cole of Canberra, with his occupation as a Forestry Officer. Consequently, he joined the 1st Forestry Company of the 2nd A.I.F., serving mainly in the U.K. and Lae, Papua New Guinea in 1944. Cyril was appointed Captain on 4 April 1940, Major on 6 September 1940 and Lieutenant Colonel on 15 July 1941.He returned to Australia from the U.K. on 4 November 1943. His unit returned via the U.S.A., parading in New York. In addition to his World War One medals, Cyril gained a 1939/45 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and the Australian Service Medal. He was awarded an O.B.E. in 1944. Cyril Cole died on 1 October 1989.

When World War Two commenced, Cyril re-enlisted at Caulfield, Victoria on 9 April 1940, listing next of kin as his wife Suzanne Cole of Canberra, with his occupation as a Forestry Officer. Consequently, he joined the 1st Forestry Company of the 2nd A.I.F., serving mainly in the U.K. and Lae, Papua New Guinea in 1944. Cyril was appointed Captain on 4 April 1940, Major on 6 September 1940 and Lieutenant Colonel on 15 July 1941.He returned to Australia from the U.K. on 4 November 1943. His unit returned via the U.S.A., parading in New York. In addition to his World War One medals, Cyril gained a 1939/45 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and the Australian Service Medal. He was awarded an O.B.E. in 1944. Cyril Cole died on 1 October 1989.