NEWMAN, Ralph Elswick
| Service Number: | 1459 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 October 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 301st Company Mechancial Transport |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1897 |
| Home Town: | Waverley, Waverley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Fort Street SPS and Sydney Technical High School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Engineer |
| Died: | Orange, New South Wales, Australia, 12 December 1961, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Sydney Technical High School WW1 Roll Of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Oct 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Driver, 1459, 1st Division Supply Column | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement 1459, 301st Company Mechancial Transport, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked 1459, 301st Company Mechancial Transport, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Sydney Technical High School
Ralph Elswick NEWMAN was born in 1897 in Cumberland, Sydney, NSW to Charles Ernest NEWMAN (1870 - 1916) and Flora Nee Cripps (1971 - 1958). (1) While little is known about his early life, he attended Fort Street Primary School and Sydney Technical High School (formerly Technical High School). (2) During high school, he frequently enjoyed maths, his highest-scoring subject, and performed decently, placing 16th in his class with a total mark of 562.5. (3) After graduation, Newman had worked as an engineer. (4)
Newman was 5’ 6” tall at the point of enlistment and was a Presbyterian. (5) He was enlisted on 17/10/1914 within the 1st Division Supernumerary Company (1st D Sup Coy) (6), and later on in Victoria, took the Oath and Medical on 14/12/1914. (7)
He embarked from Melbourne, Australia on the HMAT A.40 “Ceramic” on 22/12/1914. (7) After a diversion to England, Newman and his unit embarked from Avonmouth, England on the S.S “Saba on 12/7/1915. (8) Upon arriving at his destination in France, his unit was renamed the 17th Division Ammunition Sub Park and taken under the control of the British. It was around this time he was promoted to the position of “driver”. (9) He was promoted on 28/8/1915. (10) This rank is equal to the rank of “private” and their role is essentially to drive teams of horses that pulled guns. (11)
Although Newman suffered numerous sicknesses during the war, he was never physically injured. He was admitted to and discharged from hospital several times during his service due to influenza, infection, tonsilitis and ear infection. (14) One of the hospitals he was admitted to was the Middlesex War Hospital in March 1918. (15)
Newman had a clear criminal record before enlisting for war, but during the war he got in trouble quite a few times. Once he lost one day of pay for being 20 minutes late to a parade. (16) Other times, he received 2 charges of crime, 28 days of detention, and was deprived of 7 days of pay due to ‘neglect of duty’. Additionally, Newman was gifted some tobacco during the war so this likely indicated that he smoked during this time. (17)
Newman finally returned to Australia on 3rd December 1918. (18) Not long after his return, he married Mabel M Potta in 1920 in Waverly, NSW. (19) Newman’s first child Geoffrey Gordon was born in August 1922 but sadly, he only lived a very short life of 16 months. (20) There is a slight possibility that Newman also had a second child named Neil but very little information about him is available. (21)
During his post-war years, Newman had served in Orange, NSW. One mention of him is seen in a newspaper article called “Queanbeyan Observer” which described him as a capable M.C. during the Loyal Orange Lodge ball. (22)
Interestingly, Newman had survived longer than all of his family members during his lifetime. His father, Charles Ernest Newman, had passed away on 14th June 1918. His child, Geoffrey had sadly passed away in his infancy on 13th December 1923 due to unknown causes. His wife, Mabel M Potta, passed away on the 23rd of February 1953. His mother, Flora Cripps, passed away on 29th May 1958. (23)
Newman passed away in Orange, New South Wales, Australia on 12 December 1961, due to unknown causes at the age of 64. (24)
Endnotes
1. Anonymous (n.d.) Google Drive folder: Word Document (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ODULCOH8T2k9cjqs7ZEZFRAzLtmLzEq) accessed 8th July 2024
2. Anonymous (n.d.) Virtual War Memorial Australia website (https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/67742) accessed 29th July 2024
3. Anonymous (n.d.) Google Drive folder (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ODULCOH8T2k9cjqs7ZEZFRAzLtmLzEq ) accessed 8th July 2024
4. Anonymous (n.d.) Virtual War Memorial Australia website (https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/67742) accessed 29th July 2024
5. Anonymous (n.d.) Australian Imperial Force website (https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=222581) accessed 28th July 2024
6. Anonymous (2024) Australian War Memorial website (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2381023) accessed 1st August
7. Anonymous (n.d.) National Archives of Australia website (https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7994988) accessed 26th July 2024
8. Ibid
9. Ibid
10. Ibid
11. Anonymous (22 March 2024) Wikipedia website (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_(rank)) accessed 1st August 2024
12. Anonymous photo of the Australian War Nominal Roll (n.d) Australian War Memorial website (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2381023) accessed 2nd August
13. British Colonial Photo Company (20 April 1915) Australian War Memorial website (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H01898) accessed 2nd August 2024
14. Anonymous (n.d.) National Archives of Australia website (https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7994988) accessed 26th July 2024
15. Ibid
16. Anonymous (n.d.) National Archives of Australia website (https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7994988) accessed 26th July 2024
17. Anonymous (n.d.) Google Drive folder: PDF article (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ODULCOH8T2k9cjqs7ZEZFRAzLtmLzEq) accessed 8th July 2024
18. Anonymous (n.d.) Australian War Memorial website (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2381023) accessed 1st August
19. Anonymous (n.d.) Google Drive folder: Word Document (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ODULCOH8T2k9cjqs7ZEZFRAzLtmLzEq ) accessed 8th July 2024
20. Ibid
21. Ibid
22. Anonymous (n.d.) Google Drive folder: PDF article (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ODULCOH8T2k9cjqs7ZEZFRAzLtmLzEq ) accessed 8th July 2024
23. Anonymous (n.d.) Google Drive folder: Word Document with timelines (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ODULCOH8T2k9cjqs7ZEZFRAzLtmLzEq ) accessed 8th July 2024
24. Anonymous (n.d.) Virtual War Memorial Australia website (https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/67742) accessed 29th July 2024
Bibliography
- Ralph Elswick Newman (Research on Google Drive) Anonymous (n.d.) Google Drive folder (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ODULCOH8T2k9cjqs7ZEZFRAzLtmLzEq) accessed 8th July 2024
- Ralph Elswick Newman (NAA records) Anonymous (n.d.) National Archives of Australia website (https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7994988) accessed 26th July 2024
- Ralph Elswick Newman (AIF Project) Anonymous (n.d.) Australian Imperial Force website (https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=222581) accessed 28th July 2024
- What does a driver in WW1 do? (Wikipedia) Anonymous (22 March 2024) Wikipedia website (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_(rank)) accessed 1st August 2024
- What does contraction mean? (researchingww1.com) The website used to understand the abbreviations used in handwritten sources, accessed 26th July 2024
- Ralph Elswick Newman (NSW War Memorial Register website) (https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/content/ralph-elswick-newman) accessed 29th July 2024
- Ralph Elswick Newman (Virtual War Memorial Australia) Anonymous (n.d.) Virtual War Memorial Australia website (https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/67742) accessed 29th July 2024
- 301st (Mechanical Transport), 8th company (AIF Order of Battle/Service Corps) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/OrderOfBattle/Service_Corps.html accessed 3rd August 2024
- AWM8 25/98/1 - 301 MT [Mechanical Transport] ASC 17 Divisional Ammunition Park (Dec 1914) (Australian War Memorial website) British Colonial Photo Company (20 April 1915) (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H01898) accessed 2nd August 2024