Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Eric was the second son born at his mother, Ivy Agnes’s hometown of Brinkworth in the mid-north of South Australia on the 24th May, 1916. His father was Bertram David Teakle. Eric also had five siblings including older brother Rex Bertram and younger brothers Lawrence and Alvin Stanley (Stan) with two sisters, Iris and Vida.
In ’28 Eric was a student at the Roseworthy School which held its annual picnic at Quindoo Park. This was a day for the children to be involved in various events which were supported by the school staff and frequently parents of the students. Eric’s father provided his lorry to take many of the children to the picnic grounds (in an era well before seatbelts and other safety features). Each of the children were provided with nuts and a bun to eat before all participated in various sporting events. Eric won the under 14 running event and Bertram the bowling at a cricket stump.
The family eventually moved to Ungarra, a farming town near Tumby Bay on the Yorke Peninsula where they were involved in wheat and mixed farming. There they joined in the social events of the surrounding areas including the Port Neil athletics field day held in April ’47 held at Butler. Eric ran in the Sheffield Handicap, coming a creditable third behind Allan Rodda and Roy Goodes who was also later to enlist in the 2/48th Battalion.
With the outbreak of WWII, Eric officially enlisted on the 20th March ’41 at Cummins and was allocated the number SX11860. This followed a strong, three-week recruiting drive on the West Coast where the AIF was based at Port Lincoln. Those who enlisted with Eric included Phillip Heath Bascombe (Port Lincoln) SX11298, Eric Robert Teakle (Ungarra), Leslie Samuel O'Byrne (Yallunda Flat) SX11824, Reginald Thomas Allen Hull (Elliston) SX11299, Ai'thur Howard Dobbins" (White's Flat) SX11559 (who later died of illness in Burma), Leonard Jeffrey Harris (Brimpton Lake) SX11343, Charles Isaac Woodfield (Edillilie) and Ronald Breed (Karkoo) SX12723. Of that group, only Eric was to be allocated to the 2/48th Battalion.
18-year-old Stan, Eric’s younger brother also a farm hand, enlisted a few months after Eric in November as S85906. He was discharged in in August ’43. The following year, Eric’s older brother Rex also enlisted with the RAAF as 48591.
Following pre-embarkation leave, on the 17th April Eric was on the Ile de France heading for the Middle East, arriving on the 5th August. He eventually travelled to the Amiriya Training Camp. From the staging Camp, in December ’41 Eric was allocated to the 2/48th as part of the reinforcement as the ranks of that battalion had continued to be depleted.
Eric then trained as a Group III Driver Mechanic but was soon wounded in action with a gunshot wound to his left arm July ’42, causing him to be evacuated to hospital.
At that stage, orders had been received to capture West Point of Tel el Eisa in a dawn attack. In late June ‘42 with Rommel crossing into Egypt, the 2/48th were in an offensive to capture Trig 33, which was achieved on the 10th July. In doing so, over 400 Italian prisoners were taken. The 2/48th Battalion then advanced south, capturing the Tel el Eisa station and repelling numerous counter attacks. However, they were eventually forced to withdraw, having suffered over 100 casualties. Between the 7th July and 23rd October, Eric’s battalion suffered 215 casualties. Of that number, 64 men were killed and six, died of their wounds. 125 other men were wounded but survived, as had Eric.
In his book, ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’, John G. Glenn described the ferocious encounter;
‘When the troops were well forward of the start-line they came under terrific fire from shells and mortars from the front and left and suffered heavy casualties. With the slow deliberate movement of perfectly trained soldiers both companies continued the advance in perfect formation, over ground that trembled and erupted with vicious explosions. Through this, sometimes obscured by the smoke and dust, the men moved, and, as they advanced, the fire kept place with them, leaving behind the still shapes of fallen men among the camel bush and sand.’

Throughout August, the Adelaide based newspapers released the names of those killed or wounded in that battle. Included with Eric were several others from his battalion. They were SX7666 Pte. E. J. Chuck, Kalangadoo SX14872 Pte. James S. Darwent, Coonawarra. SX13569 Pte. Kenneth. J. Grindell. Mundalla. SX7996 L/Sgt. Colin R. Jacka , Adelaide. SX13300 Pte. Leon W. Jackson, Cowell. SX8019 Pte. Elliot Maloney, Birdwood. SX9555 Cpl Charles T. Matthews. Iron Knob. SX7312 Pte. Charles D. Rosenberg. Adelaide. SX7933 Cpl. Walter H. Stewien. Verdun. SX11860 Pte. Eric R. Teakle. Ungarra and SX13709 Pte. Laurence C. Walker. Beverley.
Whilst he was recovering, Eric joined the Infantry Trig Division. However, the injury to his deltoid muscle continued to give grief in lifting and carrying activities, again requiring hospitalisation before Eric was able to re-join his battalion. Soon after his discharge from hospital, Eric went AWOL, which became a financially costly activity. He was finally able to leave dusty conditions of the Middle East and return to Australia via Melbourne in February ’43. This preceded training in Queensland to face a totally different enemy in very tropical conditions in New Guinea where he disembarked at Milne Bay.
In October ’43 Eric was promoted to A/Corporal, having been a Group III Driver Mechanic. Early the following year January ’44 Eric sustained his first bout of malaria requiring hospitalisation. That news filtered back to the Port Lincoln Times which reported that ‘John Boundey (SX15871 of the 2/43rd) was in hospital in New Guinea with malaria. He enjoyed a real festive Christmas. Eric Teakle, also in New Guinea, is getting fed-up with being so wet without and so dry within.’
Whilst in New Guinea, Eric almost inevitably sustained an extremely high temperature (Pyrexia of Unknown Origin) which preceded him again contracting malaria and having some time in hospital over March ’44. Eric reverted to being a Private and in June was reappointed to being a Group III Driver Mechanic. Soon after, Eric and Audrey Nell Stewart of Butler Tanks, announced their engagement on the 29th June ’44. Nell had been a regular member of the Butler Band of Hope, frequently being involved in drama, recitations and music productions as well as being an active stall holder for the Methodist Fairs. Eric continued to be affected by several bouts of malaria causing several bouts of hospitalisation before the local paper reported that ‘Mr. Eric Teakle, who has been in hospital with malaria, is home again.’ Eric was finally discharged in October ’44.
On January 25th the following year, Eric and Audrey (Nell), married in the Butler Church. Eric chose his two brothers Rex, who was still serving with the RAAF and Stan as his attendants. Rex was finally discharged from the RAAF in March ’46.
The entire family, including 57-year-old Bert and Ivy, Eric and Audrey plus the other three unmarried sons, Rex, Laurie and Stan, all moved to Jondaryan in Queensland in May ’45. This area formerly part of Jondaryan Station, the last of the old Downs stations. It had never been farmed but post war, the 56 miles of plain were cut up into 38 holdings averaging about 1000 acres, and sold to 54 new settlers, either as owners or joint owners. Most of the properties were then run by brothers or families, all with previous wheat-growing experience. Some of the farmers were locals, but like the Teakle family, many came from all parts of Queensland and other States.
The Teakles had heard of the richness of the soil from friends but were cautious about the extravagant claims. However, when they heard of the land being for sale, they immediately terminated their lease at Ungarra, loaded up their ute and headed for the Downs in Queensland. They were one group of 4000 farmers.
Once there they immediately began building a homestead and farm buildings, while also ploughing up their 1100 acres. They were met by drought that first year, but success followed. It was hard work as the men took turns sowing in an around-the-clock team, at night working by tractor lights in temperatures not far above freezing point. The Courier Mail in ’47 interviewed Eric ‘a former Rat of Tobruk’ giving an extensive report in June ’47, about the staggering effort the family had put in. ‘With two tractors and combine sowing arms, each sowing rows seven inches apart and three inches deep, they will plant 200 acres a day. They will sow three different varieties of wheat so that their crop will mature in sections instead of all at once, and so stagger the harvesting. The work will be worth it. If the weather holds for the next few months, they will have anything up to 24,000 bushels to harvest. From the time the first green shoots begin to appear towards the end of next week the family can do nothing but wait for the weather.’ This was a huge step forward for Queensland as it meant the state would be able to export wheat for the first time since 1938.
As part of the interview with the Courier Mail, the reporter added ‘Eric Teakle and his brothers drove us in their old utility truck across roadless plains about 1 1/2 miles to Mount Moriah — little more than a pile of rocks about 100 feet high but looking like a mountain because it is the only rise in miles of flat plains. From the top we looked out over flat, fertile miles of black soil where a man could plough a straight furrow for as far as from Brisbane to Ipswich without striking a hill or upturning a stone. The country was made up of contrasting squares — small green patches where oats grew, and the large squares of black soil prepared for sowing. 'This country makes the best South Australian wheat lands look poor,' said Eric. 'The irrigated areas of the Nile Valley are the only things I’ve seen to equal it. 'At home we had to give the ground a year's rest after every crop, but up here some of the land has been producing a crop year in and year out for 63 years,' he continued. 'We had a river flowing through part of our property in South Australia. One area of about nine acres was always well watered and a picture for growing wheat. The soil was rich and black, and the crops came up thick every year. 'We often used to say, jokingly, that we wished we had a thousand acres like those nine.' He pointed down to their own ploughed acres. 'Well now we've got them.'
September ’49 saw Eric and 27 other returned servicemen from the area successful in drawing blocks of land under the War Service Land Settlement Scheme with the release of land in the Dalby and Toowoomba Lands Office districts. Eric Robert Teakle of Cecil Plains gained Portion 107 (660 acres Jondaryan Parish). In the ensuing years Eric and Nell welcomed, Kathryn, Barbara Ellen in December ’51, Ian Eric in June ’53 followed by Maxine and Rodney.
Initially, the rosy picture painted of the area soon revealed drainage problems. Uncultivated, water had spread out over the grasslands, into the Condamine River system. However, the addition of roads, fences and earthen barriers resulted in frequent floodings and subsequent heavy damage to crops, fences and roads, and erosion of soil, plus weed infestation. Once again, the Teakle family were interviewed following flooding in 1950 which caused scouring and subsequent loss of productive land. Bertram, who was secretary of Jondaryan branch of the Grain Growers' Association and a shire councillor, revealed ploughed paddocks were actually waterways. Built fences trapped grass roots and rubbish which then trapped water. When that spilled over, it cut soil and caused gullying. He observed that "In our ignorance we worked all the land, and in consequence the water has gone in all directions," he said. "If we had known what we know now we would have left the waterway grassed."
When "Queensland Country Life" looked at the problem, the Teakles suggested that “the solution was to grass the course of the water, confining the flow within this area by banks and by running out contour banks to catch the water which came now from a rocky outcrop just outside his boundary, and so leading the water into the course proper in a slow and gradual drop.” New ideas of crop rotation and grazing confined to lambs or baby beef fattening would trample in the stalk and stubble and return the humus from the stubble, and their droppings to the soil. Additionally, wheat stubble would not be burned, rather left on the soil as mulch. This was the beginning of radical but successful farming.
Aged 66 Eric died on the 15th March 1983 in Toowoomba and was buried in the Toowoomba Garden of Remembrance In the Cossart Lawn Plot 244 C 2. Audrey (Nell) died in her 98th year in May 2019 and now rest with him.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes, SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.