Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Cyril was born on 2 July 1891 in Murwillumbah, the ninth of 17 children and the sixth son born to Alexander Albert Eastaughffe and his wife Annie Matilda nee Healy. He moved with the family to Childers around 1901 where they bought a farm, Beliah Farm, south of the town and west of the main road. He was a gentle boy who, when he left school, joined the railways where he became a lad-porter. He was always very good with horses. At the time of his enlistment, he was very keen on a girl named Alice Brady, apparently a gentle girl from Bundaberg where her family was engaged in real estate. Cyril joined the 1st Australian Imperial Force in Bundaberg on 19 Aug 1914, two weeks after the start of the First World War. He signed on for the duration of the war plus four months. He joined the 2nd Light Horse Regt being given the Regimental No 53 and on 29 Aug, he was allotted to the Machine Gun Section. His CO was Lt Col RM Stodart. Cyril was 23 years and one month old, five feet seven inches tall and weighed 144 pounds. He had a dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair (according to the army record but the family said he had red hair) and by this time he was working as a railway porter. Previously he had served in the Wide Bay Regiment, a reserve unit, for two years and nine months. On 31 Aug 1914, he was transferred from the Machine Gun Section and his assignment was changed to Driver.

He embarked for Melbourne on 24 Sep 1914 from Brisbane aboard the HMAT Star of England A15 even though he and his comrades had virtually no training. The official policy was that they would be trained in Egypt, a land of wide open spaces thought suitable for training. It proved to be less satisfactory in practice though. The 1st Light Horse Brigade of which the 2nd Light Horse Regiment was a part, assembled in Melbourne where the men’s training was begun. On 15 Oct, the convoy in which the 2nd Light Horse Regiment was carried, departed from Port Melbourne and after a calm passage, it anchored in King George Sound, Western Australia while the first Australian Convoy assembled. They left on 1 Nov in convoy, being escorted by HMAS Sydney, HMAS Melbourne, HMS Minotaur and a Japanese cruiser. On 10 Nov, the convoy received advice of HMAS Sydney’s fight with the German ship Emden. They reached Colombo at 0900 on 15 Nov and left again on 17 Nov. They sailed for the Suez Cannel via Aden Suez and Port Said arriving in Alexandria on 8 Dec. On 9 Dec 1914, he landed from the ship and marched with his regiment into camp at Heliopolis.

The 2nd LHR began setting up camp at Maadi immediately but settling in was proving very difficult. Sanitation was a major problem, as was bathing. Washing in buckets of water had often to suffice and even then there was nowhere to get rid of the water other than to throw it on the ground. Camels were a feared source of disease and so had to be prevented from entering the camp lines, especially the horse lines because of the threat of mange and other infections. So poor was the organisation that men admitted to hospital had to take that day’s rations with them or go hungry. Their horses too needed to be looked after carefully as they had lost a lot of condition on the voyage. They had lost only 224 horses though and that was considered excellent in view of the confined conditions and the weather. Men whose horses were not fit had to be employed on fatigue duties or else drilled. They could not of course be allowed to enjoy themselves. They were allowed a little local leave and the men did some sightseeing but the local population failed to impress them at all favourably.

They celebrated Christmas and commenced training on Monday 28 Dec. But on 1 Jan, they interrupted their training and celebrated the arrival of the new year by holding a parade which was reviewed by George Reid, the Australian Prime Minister. By early January, the camp routine was fully established. Reveille at 0600, stables 0630, breakfast 0800, parade 0930, stables 1145, dinner 1245, parade 1400, stables 1530, dinner 1700, lights out 2215. That allowed for three and three quarters of an hour for training. Not much really, considering their lack of training so far. Squadron training commenced on 5 Jan 1915, musketry, visual training and distance judging to the fore. From this point, the brigade diary notes more intensive training, especially in musketry. On 6 Jan, the 2nd LHR fired their first proper shoot.

All was not well however for on the same day, the OC of the brigade found it necessary to open the Abbassia Detention Barracks specifically for the men of the brigade who were sentenced to detention for their misdemeanours. Men to be confined needed, like the hospital patients, to take their rations for the day with them. Discipline seems to have been rather slack when the men were on leave and parts of Cairo were placed out of bounds for the troops. That was not always effective though. There was even a case where a member of the AIF mutilated a statue in the Cairo Museum and it was threatened that if it happened again, the museum would be placed out of bounds.

By 6 Jan, something must have been in the wind as leave was stopped and men were ordered to sharpen their bayonets. Nothing special appears to have happened subsequently though and life resumed its normal pace. On 20 Jan, the COs of each of the regiments were instructed to send in the names of all the men who were considered unfit for active service with a view to reviewing their medical classification and possibly returning some to Australia. At the same time, they finally got round to establishing an accounting system for all receipts and expenditure, although books for accounting purposes were not issued until much later.

On 30 Jan 1915, the whole brigade marched out of Maadi Camp to Heliopolis where they established themselves and continued their training. As the men became more proficient, bigger exercises were held. On 12 Feb, the 1st LHB joined artillery and infantry units in a joint exercise. The days grew hotter and dustier but the training went on. There was still no information about their future employment and naturally rumours spread. Some of these found their way into the men’s letters, a practice which drew heavy criticism from their officers. Passing on any military information to the people at home was definitely forbidden under pain of severe punishment.

February melted into March with little change for the troops. Route marches over sandy ground proved very trying for men and horses. Initially, efforts were made to crack down on stragglers but eventually reason prevailed and easier route were chosen and water carts and wagons for those who fell out joined the trudging columns. Each weekday, training continued apace, on Saturdays, the men cleaned their kit, leather equipment, arms etc and on Sunday, after Church Parade, if it was held, they were free for the day. Leave in Cairo was still being given and many men availed themselves of the pleasures of that ancient city. However, the second pyramid at Giza, the Sphinx and all Arab villages were placed out of bounds.

By 22 Mar, they were considered well enough trained to parade as part of the 1st Division, in full marching order, with all their equipment. It went off well and the reviewing officer praised their turnout. Still though, there was no word of any movement to the front. More marches followed. They trekked to Maadi, to Helouan, to Mokatton Hills all the while wondering what the future had in store. March went on though in dusty, sandy training and slid almost unnoticed into April with no discernible distinction, except that Easter Sunday fell on 4 Apr and the men had a holiday long weekend. On that day, leave to Cairo was stopped indefinitely, possibly a sign to the men that something was afoot. On 5 Apr, everyone was confined to camp, and expectations grew that they were to move. These hopes or fears were not realized though for although many other units were moving out, the 2nd LHR remained in Heliopolis and continued with its training. A measles epidemic broke out among the men and the regiment lost four men to the disease through the month. On 25 Apr, while their comrades assaulted Gallipoli, life went on normally for the 2nd LHR.

On 30 Apr, a confidential order was issued regarding the movement of the brigade to Alexandria and it was clear that the brigade were about to embark, almost certainly to join in the fighting at Anzac Cove. Finally, on 5 May 1915, the brigade received orders to move to Alexandria. On 8 May, the 2nd LHR marched to Helmiah Railway Station and entrained. The train departed at 0120 the following morning and arrived in Alexandria at 0630. The trains were able to take them right to the wharf at their embarkation point and they boarded the SS Devanha A3 while their horses were taken aboard the SS Kingstonian. At 1730, they sailed for the Dardanelles. One of the lifeboats from the SS Devanha which was used in their landing at Gallipoli is still preserved in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. I wonder if it has Cyril’s initials scratched into it somewhere.

They arrived off the Hellespont at 1700 on 11 May and were sent on to anchor off Gapa Tepe at 1900. The 2nd LHR went ashore at Anzac Cove from 0700 12 May 1915, losing two men wounded in coming ashore. They moved forward to bivouac near Quinn’s Post losing another man wounded along the way. They were in the fight straight away, relieving the 15th Battalion at Quinn’s Post on 13 May and suffering the loss of another 13 men wounded. Between then and 15 May, the regiment was in the thick of it, losing 14 killed and 25 wounded as they attacked Quinn’s Post and afterwards an additional 11 men were found to be missing. They moved into the second line trenches in Monash Valley on 16 May and over the next ten days, suffered another three killed and 16 wounded. They relieved the garrison at Pope’s Hill on 26 May where they had another three killed and 12 wounded. In all during May 1915, the 2nd LHR which landed with 472 men suffered 20 men killed, 91 wounded and 11 missing.

They stayed there until the 3 Jun 1915 when they trudged back again to Monash Valley from where they moved back to Pope’s Post on 16 Jun. They were moved into the second line in Monash Valley on 6 Jun but were still suffering casualties here. Nowhere in the beachhead was safe. On 23 Jun, they were relieved by the 1st LHR and became the local reserve unit for Pope’s Post but stationed in Monash Valley where they spent the rest of the month. On 29 Jun, the Turks attacked their position but were beaten off. During this period, casualties were an every day occurrence, only the numbers differing. They had four killed and 24 wounded during the month. The Regimental Diary is very uncommunicative about the conditions in the front lines but we know they were very close to the Turkish trenches and vicious bomb fights were a constant feature of the battle. There was no escaping to a quiet area as the whole of the defended area was subjected to Turkish artillery fire.

The losses were replaced to some extent by the arrival of 106 reinforcement on 14 Jul 1915. Nine days later, Cyril was wounded. The world he had come to was very nasty indeed. The Regimental Diary does not record any significant action on 23 Jul but there were a steady stream of casualties every day over that period. Possibly, Cyril was sniped that day or hit by shell fragments from artillery fire and wounded in the head, back and leg. Later on, another record says he was wounded in the hand, leg and thigh. The unit diary records that they had one man wounded that day. To judge by the nature of the wounds, an artillery shell is much more likely than a single shot from a sniper’s rifle.

Initially, he was reported to be slightly wounded and the Army told his father so on 4 Aug 1915, but it was serious enough to have him confined to hospital for seven months. He was evacuated to the Auberge de Baviere Hospital in Malta aboard the Hospital Ship Sicilia on 28 Jul 1915. This hospital had opened on 15 Jun 1915 as the scale of casualties grew. Initially, it had 105 beds but grew to 155 beds before it was closed on 14 Aug 1917. On 20 Aug 1915, he was transferred to England on the Hospital Ship Somali and was admitted to King George Hospital, Stamford St, London. On 27 Aug 1916, he was classified as severely wounded, so badly in fact that he needed a steel plate inserted into his head to replace the damaged segment of his skull. His father was informed of his departure for England and later of his arrival in London by a letter sent on 17 Sep 1915. On 16 Feb 1916, he was released from hospital and sent to a convalescent depot at No 2 Command Depot in Weymouth. Then on 11 Mar 1916, he was returned to Australia aboard HMT Suevic A29 which arrived home on 22 Apr 1916. His father was advised on 19 Apr 1916 that Cyril would be arriving in Melbourne around the end of April 1916. He seems to have enjoyed being back in Australia as he went AWL on 5 May 1916, a Friday night. A Sister Wallon dobbed on him but he was only awarded a caution so evidently it was not taken too seriously.

He was discharged on 17 May 1916 being medically unfit as a result of gunshot wounds to his head, back and right leg. He received a fortnightly pension of three pounds two shillings from 18 May 1916 which was reduced by half to thirty-one shillings by a grateful government on 1 Jan 1917. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal after the war.

On 27 Sep 1916, he married Alice Brougham (b. 12 May 1890) in St Mary’s Catholic Church in Bundaberg. His sister Elspa was the bride’s maid and the happy couple left by train for Tweed Heads where they spent their honeymoon. Alice was a local show jumping champion who had grown up in Childers. They had two children, Alison Ellen Ann (b. 25 Sep 1917 in Bundaberg) and Cyril Herbert (b. 24 Dec 1923 in Bundaberg) who followed his father’s footsteps in World War 2.

Initially, they lived in Barolin St, Bundaberg while Cyril worked as a clerk with the railways. They lived there until about 1925 when they moved to George St. About this time, it was discovered that the piece of shrapnel which had caused his discharge from the Army and which had lodged in his mastoid bone behind the ear, could be removed. In 1925, he had an operation to remove the steel plate from his head. His next posting was to Kingaroy in 1932 but in 1936 they moved to Railway St, Innisfail where Cyril was still a clerk in the railways and where his daughter Alison met James Dowling whom she married on 8 Nov 1941 in Brisbane. Cyril’s brothers, Harold and Alexander and their wives lived in the area as well.

Then during World War 2, they moved to Bale St Albion in Brisbane before 1943 and Cyril continued his work for the railways. Harold had moved to Brisbane too and lived on the corner of Jimbour and Dawson Sts in Kalinga. Alice passed away on 29 Jan 1947. In 1948, Cyril married his old flame Alice Mary Brady from 35 years before and moved back north to ‘Green Gables’ in River St, Mackay. They moved later on to 171 Denham St, Mackey where they stayed until they relocated to Brisbane where his son, Cyril Herbert, was living, in 1958. They lived at 25 Weenga St, Geebung and by this time, Cyril had retired from the railways. There he died on 18 Dec 1974 at the age of 83 at home. Alice died of stomach cancer and senility in 1978.

I knew Cyril in his old age. He was still a gentle, quietly spoken man and until I started this project, I had no inkling of his wartime experiences. I find it very hard to equate the man I knew with the experience he endured. His trial began when he was one of the early volunteers who did not wait to see how things progressed. Perhaps it was in a bout of enthusiasm or simply patriotism which prompted him but whatever the cause, he was to suffer considerably for his decision. He was wounded so badly that he spent seven months in hospital recovering and in those times, he was probably lucky to have survived at all. He certainly played his part but he suffered for it. Through it all, he proved himself highly worthy of our respect and earned the right to be commemorated for his generous service, and remembered particularly among the men of Anzac.