Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born on the 9th September, 1905 at Mundalla in the south-east of SA, just out of Bordertown, Herbert (Herb) spent his early years of schooling and work in the Bordertown area as a tractor and truck driver. He inadvertently tangled with the law as a 22-year-old in being generous on Christmas Eve ’28. At that time liquor could not be sold after 6:00pm. A very officious officer witnessed Herb bring four bottles of beer from his room at the Globe Hotel to share with his friends. The beer had been purchased legally as part of a half dozen bottles. In his defence, The Narracoorte Herald reported that Herb wrote to the court:
"I want to plead guilty to carrying away four bottles of beer from the premises known as the Globe Hotel, MacDonnell Street, Narracoorte, on the night of December 24, at 10.25 p.m., when I was stopped by Sergeant Jury. I wish to inform the Court that I did not think that I was doing any great harm in taking the drink out to some friends who were waiting outside, and they asked me to go in and get some beer for them, as I had half a dozen bottles in my bedroom which I had purchased before 6 p.m. I am 22 years of age. My people live at Mundalla, and I have never been in any trouble of any kind before, and I have never been before a Court I ask the Court to deal as leniently as they can with this.”
The prosecuting Sergeant Jury added that “From all he could gather he (Herbert) was a quiet, respectable fellow, working now and then in the district. He had evidently been persuaded by the other young fellows he met to go. into the hotel to procure the bottles of beer in his bedroom to share it with them. He asked for an exemplary fine to put a stop to this kind of way of defeating the law especially as some youths under age would get liquor in this way. Fined £2 and £1 costs.”
Ten years later Herb was again to be in front of a Court, but as an extremely fortunate young man. Herb and his two friends, Bill Quinn and Jack Richardson stepped off a footpath to cross the road. A speeding, drunken, unlicensed, former racing driver was found to ‘seeing them approaching, deliberately looked at them and turned the car in their direction, striking Matthews’. The Border Chronicle continued its report that ‘as a result of which Matthews was admitted to Hospital with head and arm injuries.’ Bill Quinn added that as he “turned back to jump clear, he saw Matthews hurtling through the air, then lying on his side in the gutter about 20 feet from the point of impact.” Herb spent three days recovering in hospital while the driver was heavily fined and disqualified from obtaining a licence for three months. An indication of the extent of the severity of injury to Herb and the speed of the car was evident with the front bumper bar and radiator being extensively damaged.
Herb had married Jean before he enlisted on the 29th June 1940, just after his 25th birthday. He and his close friend, Bill Quinn, also from Bordertown, enlisted together. Herb was allocated the number SX7128 and Bill SX7176 with both being assigned to the newly formed 2/48th Battalion. Their initial days were spent in the cold of the Pavilions, now part of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds before the new enlistees headed to Woodside for their preliminary training. Pre-embarkation leave gave Herb time with his family before the 2/48th contingent embarked on the Stratheden for the Middle East, on the 7th November 1940, arriving on the 19th December 1940 and their Battalion completing a few months training in Cyrenaica.
By the start of April 1941, the 2/48th were in Tobruk where the dust, flies, heat, minimal water supplies and constant bombardment were quite a challenge to new enlistees. They were to become the famed Rats of Tobruk. By July ’42 Herb was wounded in his right leg in the daylight attack on West Point 24 of Tel el Eisa under heavy fire and severe casualties. Herb was hospitalised before eventually going to a staging camp. He had just been there for a few days when he heard of the death of his close friend from Bordertown, Bill Quinn.
John Glenn in ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’ describes Bill’s death and the carnage caused by the chance hit by an enemy shell on a truck loaded with mines.
‘An ear shattering explosion dwarfed the sound of the guns into insignificance. Seven other trucks, all ladened with mines, had been set off. The whole area became a ghastly raging inferno. As trucks burned and exploded a great wall of fire shot into the sky. The gun flashes seemed dimmed; night was turned into day. The concussion was terrific…. Two thousand mines went up in this explosion; all the war equipment of both B and D Companies was destroyed. Of the ten men who were in the vehicles, not one was saved. They were: Corporal R. Bryant, W.D. Cockshell, W.C. Quinn, J.J. Buckley, H.S. Searle, W.A. Craig, C. Fraser, C.H. Schulz, C.E. Dolling and E. Parkyn.’
On the anniversary of Bill’s death, Herb placed a remembrance notice in the Advertiser Tuesday 26 October 1943, QUINN. —Killed in action overseas, Oct. 25, 1942, L.-Cpl. W. C. Quinn (Bill). — Ever remembered, Bert, Jean, and Ray Mathews.
His own war continued as dermatitis, then acute bronchitis eventually caused Herb to be hospitalised in South Australia. Finally, he was discharged in February ’44. Herb died aged 70 on the 20th May 1976 and is buried in the North Brighton Cemetery.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.