Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sydney was Broken Hill born on the 18th April 1921. His father Patrick .Joseph Farrell, was a miner in the North mine area of the town. Sydney was very close to his older sister Irene Maud who was almost seven years older. Their baby sister, Edith Ray, died when Sydney was just 19 months old and was buried in the local Anglican Cemetery on the 24th November ’22.
Sydney was aged eight when his sister married Simon Crase Jnr, the son of an original settler (also named Simon) in Broken Hill, on the 7th December ’29. Sydney’s childhood was unsettled. Three months prior to his 10th birthday, in July ’31, he was reported as missing from his home in South Broken Hill, causing alarm and prompting a police search for him. Fortunately, he was found the following day, having walked to his grandmother’s home in West Broken Hill and stayed overnight.
About the time of Irene’s marriage, Patrick, described as a widower, sought more regular work away from Broken Hill. At the time massive work had begun constructing locks to control water in the River Murray. Teams of men constructed one lock, living close by the river, then moved further downstream to start building the next lock. Patrick worked in a team of five as a pile driver at Lock 8, near Wentworth. His role was to sit on a ladder on top of the already placed piles, 30 feet from the ground preparing to form inter-locking steel piles for a coffer dam. He would then guide a steel pile, suspended from a flying fox into the channel of the already positioned piles. Horrifically, the chain sling broke with the 2260 lb suspended pile knocking the other piles. Their vibrations threw Patrick, causing him to fall a distance of over 23 feet, further striking other stock-piled steel piles on the ground. He sustained severe head and chest injuries and died instantaneously This was just prior to Sydney’s 12th birthday, in the evening of 3rd April ’33.
A coroner’s inquiry was held with the finding that Patrick’s death was accidental. A subsequent order was then given for his body to be buried in the Roman Catholic portion of the Wentworth Cemetery, following a service in the local Roman Catholic Church.
As both children were still young local Broken Hill identity, Simon Crase, (father of Irene’s husband) on their behalf, sought compensation for the two children from the Commissioner of Public Works of South Australia. By June ’34 a £100 settlement was reached.
Sydney’s disrupted education meant he relied heavily on his sister Irene for formal written communication –especially post war. He lived with Irene and Simon in Broken Hill, working as a Station Hand in the surrounding area. However, with the war escalating, just after his 20th birthday, Sydney enlisted on the 8th July ’41. The Barrier Daily Truth reported that he would leave for camp on the 11th July. He was soon allocated the number SX13683, initially with the 2/10th Reinforcements, but by October was placed in the 2/48th Battalion. Sydney was soon on his way to the Middle East, arriving in November that year.
His brother-in-law, Simon, also initially served as S2946, then as SX29555, at the Loveday Internment Camp and also Darwin. Both he and Sydney nominated Irene as their next of kin.
In the fierce fighting which began at the end of October ’42 and into November Sydney received a gunshot wound in the left thigh and knee when he was wounded on the 6th.
At the time, the 2/48th Battalion were exposed to ever-changing conditions and the fighting continuous. The men had prepared for the second battle of El Alamein which began on October 23rd. That month, Mongomery ordered the 9th Battalion to attack northward. This included an all-out attack on the strategically positioned Trig 29. The evening was described by John Glenn in ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’ as ‘an occasional burst from a machine gun disturbed the night of 24th October. Nevertheless, it was a busy time for the tired men. Little or no sleep could be had. A hot meal sent forward after dark was quickly swallowed. There was no time for yarning. Defences had to be improved, more digging and wiring done, and patrols sent out.’ He later added that ‘the 2/48th had stirred up a real hornets’ nest.’ On that night alone 9 of the Battalion were killed and 20 wounded in action. Of these 16 were from South Australia and the remainder from Western Australia. Glenn explains they were ‘running into particularly stiff opposition to the west of the Trig point. It was only after hard fighting, with heavy casualties on both sides, that they were able to consolidate on their objective. Gradually the platoon, small in number to start with, was being whittled away and those remaining were being forced to go to ground.’ He added ‘At last light on the same front some three hundred enemy troops attacked, and D Company area was swept by small arms fire.’
Back home the November issue of the Chronicle carried an extensive list of the cost to the soldiers involved in Sydney’s battalion. SX11130 Pte. Ernest W S. Moore from Nth. Kensington and SX13756 Pte. Edward G. Davis, from Salisbury were killed in action. SX8096 A-Cpl. Henry D. Laughton, from King's Park was listed as Dangerously Wounded. Many others were listed as wounded in action including SX10316 Mjr. Geoffrey S. Edmunds, Toorak; SX9064 Lt. Hugh F. Treloar, Adelaide; SX8402 Pte. Arnold R. Dolan, Renmark; SX6910 Pte. Hoard Major, Woodville; SX6832 Pte. Walter J. Fennell, Berri; SX13701 Pte. Frank M. Lowe, Whyalla; SX7609 Pte. Colin H. Rickard, Penola; SX7411 Pte. Walter H. J. Hay, Murray Bridge; SX7122 Pte. Percival G. Bartholomew, Narrung; SX11828 Pte. Roy H. Winter, Thebarton; SX7242 Pte. P. A. Pfeiffer, Berri; SX7130 Pte. Eric A. Goold, Salisbury; SX6829 L-Cpl. Clement R. P. Billing, Pinnaroo; SX10501 Pte. Hedley K. Bonython, Burnside; SX7591 Cpl. Jack S. Bowers, Unley; SX7666 Pte. Eric J. Chuck, Kalangadoo; SX8810 Pte. Havard (Howard) R. Crabb, Whyalla; SX13683 Pte. Sydney L. Farrell Broken Hill: SX7657 Pte. Myers A. Geraghy, Pt . Macdonnell; SX7266 Sgt. Neil Gilchrist, Balaklava; SX9376 Pte. Harold H. Gogel, Moorook; SX11131 Pte. H. N. Headon, Adelaide; SX7642 Pte Donald J. Kerin, Burra; SX8837 Pte. Edgar V. W. Lynch, Adelaide; SX9445 Pte. Lawerence H. Mickan, Cummins; SX7025 A-L/Cpl. Paul B. Morrissey King's Park; SX9530 Pte. David R. Munn, Colonel Light Gardens: SX5030 Pte. Eric R. Olds, Adelaide; SX8239 Pte. Colin R. Parsons, Minlaton; SX8904 Pte. Keith Player, Warooka; SX6915 Cpl. Glyn H. Pope, Cheltenham; SX13012 Pte. Jack Ralla, Brompton; SX7410 Cpl. Robert F. G. Ranford, Davington; SX14283 Pte. John D Seebohm, Tantanoola; SX11302 Pte. Walter Sharp, Magill; SX7206 Pte. Ronald. C. Smith, Helmsdale; SX6894 Pte. Thomas V. Trish, Mile End; SX7221 Pte. William H. Vivian, Albert Park; SX7689 Pte. John E. Wakeman, Robe; SX11160 Pte. Samuel E. Welsh, Adelaide and SX7808 Sgt, Jack K. Weston, Appila.
Sydney’s injury resulted in him being hospitalised for a fortnight. He was released in time to celebrate Christmas with the 2/48th but by the end of December was facing a charge of behaviour to the ‘prejudiced of good order and military discipline’ and received a fine of £1. More important to Sydney was the prospect of leaving the Middle East in February ’43 returning to Australia via Melbourne and back to South Australia for leave.
The conditions in the Middle East had severely affected Sydney. He absented himself from training for combat in New Guinea from March to June ’43. A Court Martial held in July inevitably found him guilty and sentenced to six month’s detention. He was held in a Punitive Detention Centre.
By November ’43 Sydney was still missing from the forces and by that time had forfeited a huge 278 days’ worth of pay. On his release from detention, he was re-allocated to serve at Redbank but within a fortnight had again gone absent without leave, with a warrant being issued for his illegal absence in December and a calculation made as to the cost of army articles still in his possession. Despite peace being declared, Sydney was placed on the Illegal Absentee list towards the end of January ’46. In his subsequent absence, classed as misconduct, by July ’46 a discharge certificate was officially declared to not be prepared for him.
About this time, his sister Irene was also being ill-treated by her husband, Simon who was discharged in December ’44,. This culminated in his appearance in the Police Courts at Broken Hill charged with assault. Simon was ‘bound over’ for 12 months, entering into a bond of £10 to be of good behaviour.
By February ’48 Sydney had also enlisted the support of Irene, still living in Broken Hill. She wrote to Army authorities explained that Sydney was “not much at letter writing” and that she did “all his business and correspondence” but on his behalf she was, ambitiously, seeking to ascertain if he had any deferred payments due to him. (This was all consumed by fines for him being AWOL).
That year a Roll of Honour was erected in the Silverton War Memorial Youth Camp, (the old Courthouse) with all who enlisted for WWII, invited to attend the unveiling in April ‘48. The preparatory work had been done voluntarily with no money paid in wages. A decision had been made to incorporate the idea of a war memorial to the memory of those men of the Silverton district who had fought and died in the war. Sydney’s name was featured amongst the 30 WWII enlistees.
In contrast and regardless of his almost two years of service, Sydney’s medals, including the African Star, Defence Medal and War Medal were denied him because of his discharge for being Absent Without Leave.
Sydney later married Louisa May with the two having three children, Margaret, Michael and Sydney. Aged 76, he died on the 18th March 1997 and now rests in the Port Pirie Cemetery, Garden of Memory in Row 2 Grave 11. Louisa lived a further seven years and died aged 72 in June 2004. She now rests with Sydney.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.