Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Enlisted and served as Stanley CALLAGHAN

From Francois Somme

Pte 4378 Stanley Owen James Callaghan,
18th Australian Infantry Battalion,
5th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division

In the fields of the Somme a new autumn spreads its veil of mist through the poppies through which in the silence the footsteps of men can sometimes be heard walking ghostly as they did more than a hundred years ago with in their hearts an invincible ardor and the conviction to do what was right in the prime of their lives and animated by the desire to fight, in the trenches, in the mud and the barbed wire made their loved ones and their country proud by their unfailing bravery which was sorely tested in the face of the atrocities, the fury and the horrors of an apocalypse that dragged the world into the madness of a war in which so many young men volunteered to do their part on the fields of the Somme and far from home, in the north of France, united in camaraderie and fraternity, moved forward with resolution and faith in bayonet attacks which, in rains of bullets and storms of shells, were mowed down in their young lives, in a war that shattered their dreams and their families but in the blood they shed, sowed for future generations the seeds of hope and for them, for all they did for us, we will sow the seeds of remembrance so that these young boys who rest in peace in the peaceful cemeteries of the fields of the Somme are never forgotten, so that their names, season after season, year after year live forever in the eternal light in which they stand forever young and proud and in which I will always watch over them so that their memory never fades.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and with the deepest gratitude and compassion that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, of one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 4378 Stanley Owen James Callaghan who fought in the 18th Australian Infantry Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, and who was killed in action 106 years ago, on November 15, 1916 at the age of 22 during the Battle of the Somme.
Stanley Owen James Callaghan was born in 1894 in Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia, and was the son of James and Mary Callaghan, of Read Avenue, Lithgow. He was educated at Lithgow Public School and before the outbreak of the war worked as a miner.

Stanley enlisted on October 9, 1915 in Lithgow, New South Wales, in the 18th Australian Infantry Battalion, 11th Reinforcement, which was raised in March of the same year. After a training period of just over five months in Liverpool, New South Wales, Stanley embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A71 Nestor on April 9, 1916 and proceeded overseas to France via England.
On September 11, 1916, after several months at sea, Stanley arrived in France and was disembarked at Etaples where he joined the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot then joined the 18th Battalion on September 23 in the Zillebeke trenches, in the Ypres salient where they relieved, with a force of 246 men, the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion under terrible fire from German artillery. A few days later, on September 29, the 18th played a supporting role during a raid by the 21st Australian Infantry Battalion on enemy lines aimed at capturing as many prisoners as possible and causing as much damage as possible including the destruction of several machine gun nests. This raid, led by Captain Bruce and Captain Lane and 41 men was a success, largely thanks to the support of the 18th Battalion which was relieved the following night by the 20th Battalion and were, after a few rest days, sent to Godewaersvelde, in the north of France where they arrived on October 6.

On October 6, 1916, after arriving at Godewaersvelde, Stanley and the 18th Battalion marched for their billets at Steenvoorde for reorganization and during this period, Stanley was sent for some time to a trench mortar school, where his excellent conduct was noted by his superiors.On October 17, he returned to his unit at Chippewa Camp, in Steenvoorde then the next day, the battalion moved to Arneke and Nordausques on October 19 for a training period of a few days. On October 24 at 6pm, the 18th Battalion left Nordausques and moved to Audruicq, in the Pas-De-Calais then arrived in the Somme, at Pont-Remy the following day and marched into billets at Ballencourt , in very uncomfortable conditions but stayed very little time here and on October 26, gathered at Ailly-Le-Haut-Clocher from where they embarked by motorized vehicles for Ribemont where they arrived the next day to follow new combat exercises and on November 4, moved to Montauban, near the front line that the battalion was soon to join.
On November 7, 1916, Stanley and the 18th Battalion entered the front line at Flers in horrific conditions which the battalion's war diary described as follows: "trenches in fearful conditions, mud everywhere, knees deep in the trenches, men suffering badly from wet cold,enemy snipers were very active,shelling fairly heavy,particularly along "Turk Lane" and "Sunken Road", raining practically all day."

On 8 and 9 November 1916, the conditions under which the men of the 18th Battalion worsened and were described in the war diary as follows: "enemy shelling still more active both on front trenches, on Turk Lane to Sunken Road, our men silenced one sniper,one Lewis Gun blown by shell fire,tw gunners killed,one wounded. Dry day, fairly clear but mud as bad as ever.Shelling continues at night but snipers less active. Our artillery active all the time. It is always much more than the enemy fire. Men suffering badly from the effects of the exposure."

On November 10, 1916, the 18th Battalion was relieved from the front line by the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion but remained in Flers, in a line of support called "Switch Trench" where living conditions were described as "more favorable and the bombardment are only occasional, the men can move without fearing the snipers and only a few high explosive shells fall near us" and the men were mainly employed to improve their positions as well as their shelters then on November 13 the battalion moved back to a rest camp located in Montauban where unfortunately, two days later, on November 15, 1916, an errant shell fell on the tent of Stanley who was killed instantly, he was 22 years old.

Today, Stanley Owen James Callaghan rests in peace alongside his comrades, friends and brothers in arms at Longueval Road Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Reader give thought to what great sacrifice your freedom bought."
Sadly, the tragedy of war did not end for the Callaghan family with the death of Stanley who had two brothers who also fought bravely on the battlefield.

Stanley's first brother was Private number 2539 Walter Leslie James Callaghan who fought in the 54th Australian Infantry Battalion. Unfortunately, On the 1st of September 1918, months before the end of the war, Walter was wounded in action during the assault on Mont St Quentin. He and his unit jumped out of their trenches at 5 am into a heavy German bombardment. Walter was badly gassed, and received severe gunshot wounds to the head. Everything was done to try and save him, but he passed away in hospital on the 4th of September at the age of 31. He left behind his wife, Essie Pearl Callaghan (née Chadwick), and a daughter, Vera Catherine Callaghan.

Today, Walter Leslie James Callaghan rests in peace at St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Normandy, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life that others may live."

Stanley's second brother was Private Number 4154 Horace William James Callaghan who fought in the 9th Australian Infantry Battalion. Unfortunately, Horace’s first major battle on the Western Front would also be his last. The 9th Battalion moved to the front line on the 19th of July 1916, tasked with holding a sector of the trenches near the town of Pozières. On the 21st of July, they commenced an attack on German positions. In bright moonlight they assaulted the German trench, but were pushed back in heavy fighting. They then received orders that they were to form part of the 1st Australian Division’s attack on the town of Pozières itself.Horace took part in the first attack soon after midnight on the 23rd of July. He ran across no-man’s-land in the darkness, but when he was about 100 metres from his trench a series of German flares lit up the battlefield. Horace jumped for a nearby shell crater to hide from view, but died instantly from a gunshot wound as he tried to reach cover. He was 19 years old. In the confusion of the battle that followed, his body was lost, and his name is now commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, along with over 11,000 Australian servicemen of the First World War who have no known grave.

Walter’s family was devastated.The loss of the Callaghans had a huge impact on their home town of Lithgow. In October 1918, their mother was honoured by opening the Lithgow Soldiers’ Memorial, a small gesture by the town to acknowledge the sacrifice of her sons.

Stanley, Walter, Horace, it is with determination and the greatest courage that for your country you answered the call of duty to do your part on the battlefields of the great war alongside your brothers in arms who , in the trenches, united by an unfailing brotherhood, fought side by side with pride to preserve humanity, to protect and save the peace and freedom of a world that was dragged into the madness and darkness of a war that pushed a whole generation of men to kill each other in terrible bloodbaths, in murderous battles which were nothing more than slaughterhouses taking place on grounds bruised by the endless hammering of the shells which were unleashed in the sinister howls of artillery that, endlessly, for four years of hell on earth, rained death and destruction upon brave young men who carried on their shoulders and under their boots the weight and the burden of the war. Through the rain and the blood, with conviction they held their position and behind the parapets, behind the barbed wire they did not let death break their front line despite their fears and fought fiercely for every meter forward never taking a single step back despite rains of bullets which mowed down their brothers and friends in this cataclysm which shattered dreams and hopes and which, one by one at an appalling pace, fell riddled with bullets and crushed, mutilated by hailstones of steel under which nothing and no one could survive.Watching over each other, the young Diggers made the whole young and strong Australian nation proud, whose sons and daughters served and fought with ardour, with valor and devotion in the purest spirit of camaraderie which was born in the sands of Gallipoli, a esprit de corps and unity in the face of adversity and which is proudly called the "ANZAC spirit", a spirit which guided the men and women of the Australian Imperial Force to surpass themselves and through the battlefields, in the air, through the poppies, on the seas, in the hospitals, did more than what was asked of them at the cost of admirable efforts and sacrifices in the front line and in the rear, all united for the same causes in a common front to make prevail the peace of which the world was deprived through the darkest hours of history. In Pozieres and Flers the young Australians showed the valour, the bravery of a whole country of which they were so far but found in the Somme, in Amiens, in Villers-Bretonneux and Vignacourt the love of France who loved these boys as our sons and were adopted, loved and admired so deeply and who, with deep gratitude, mourned these heroes over whom we watch today today with brotherly love, a brotherhood that was born in the trenches and became an unfailing friendship between our two nations which are and will forever be united around the memory of these men whom we do not all know but to whom we owe so much for all they gave and sacrificed to save our country which will never forget Australia.They were brave, as brave as lions and without hesitation, following their brothers, they went without fear but with resolution over the top and faced their destinies which were stopped, shattered too soon in the ardor of youth through the lines of barbed wire which have now disappeared to make way for the silence of endless rows of white graves on which are remembered and honored the memory of so many young men who came from the other side of the world but who, on these sacred grounds de la Somme, will always have the love of France and on which I will always watch with the utmost respect in order to preserve and perpetuate the memory of a whole lost generation in front of which I will always stand proud and grateful to bring them back to life, so that their names, their hopes and their dreams live forever. Thank you so much Stanley, Walter, Horace, for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember them.