WOOLNOUGH, Ernest Ralph
| Service Number: | 5295 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glanville Road, Semaphore, 10 May 1877 |
| Home Town: | Unley, Unley, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peter's College, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Warehouseman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 28 March 1918, aged 40 years |
| Cemetery: |
London Rifle Brigade Cemetery London Rifle Brigade Cemetery, Wallonie, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board, Unley Arch of Remembrance, Unley Town Hall WW1 Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Mar 1916: | Enlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 5295, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
| 12 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 5295, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ballarat, Adelaide |
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From the book Fallen Saints -
Ernest Ralph Woolnough of Unley South Australia was born at Glanville near Port Adelaide. Prior to enlisting at Unley on 28 February 1916 had been employed as a ‘Warehouseman.’ He was posted to C Company 2nd Depot Battalion until on 16 April he joined the 3rd quota of reinforcements for the 50th Battalion at Mitcham Camp.
On 1 May, he commenced a two-week course at the Musketry School and after successfully completing that course underwent a month of training at No 10 NCO School. He was reallotted to the 14th quota of reinforcement for the 27th battalion on 1 July and made acting Lance Sergeant five days later.
Acting Lance Sergeant Woolnough sailed from Adelaide aboard HMAT Ballarat on 12 August, and after reaching England at the end of September he reverted to his substantive rank. He marched in to the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone as a member of the permanent cadre on 1 March 1917 and was appointed temporary Corporal.
On 22 April, he was admitted to Fargo Rolleston Military Hospital, Salisbury with an incised wound under his left eye, which was the result of a training accident but discharged for full duty on 5 May.
He reverted to Private on 13 October and sailed for France where he was held at the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Havre until joining the 27th Battalion in Belgium on 19 October.
5295 Private Woolnough was killed in action on 28 March 1918; he was 40 years of age.
Reports and witness statements [i]
Private James Gilbert when interviewed in June 1918 said Woolnough was in the HQ Machine gun Section and they were in the front of Ploegsteert when Ernest was killed. ‘It was probably about 4 p.m. when a pineapple bomb exploded and killed Woolnough, and wounded two others one of whom died subsequently.’ He said he was near Woolnough when he was killed and when buried nearby the next morning and a cross was erected on his grave. ‘He was about 5’ 11’ inclined to be ginger in colour, fresh complexion. He was very active and had been bombing instructor in Blighty.’
Private Benjamin Marshman who was interviewed in June 1918 said that on 28 March they holding the front line at Ploegsteert near Armentieres and facing the River Lys. ‘A ‘Pineapple’ struck Woolnough in the head, killing him outright. He was taken 4 miles back and buried.’ He said ‘I was about 22 yds away when he was killed.’ Woolnough belonged to 16 Platoon D Company and that Stretcher Bearers Buggins and Spry of D Company helped carry him out.
Private Walter Paech, also interviewed in June, claimed to have known Woolnough ‘fairly well’ and said he was a Lewis gunner and married with children. (He had a son and daughter)
Paech said Ernest used to show him and the men in his section photos of his wife and children. He said Woolnough was a yachtsman who was well known in Adelaide. Paech recalled how on the night of 28 March the Germans sent over a barrage of small bombs. He said Woolnough was in next bay of trench to him and was looking up when a bomb fell on the parapet right in front of him and he was killed instantly. ‘I saw his body very soon afterwards. Stretcher bearers took his body back. I do not know where he was buried.’
When Sergeant Walter Wilson was interviewed on 24 June 1918 he said Ernest and he were friends and that he well remembered the circumstances surrounding his death for it was he who had carried him out to the stretcher bearers. He said ‘he was killed on the Armentieres front at Frelinghien by a pine-apple bomb thrown by a machine, which killed 3 men in the trench. In my notebook I have the date March 27th. It was his first day in the trench.’
[i] Australian War Memorial, Australian Red Cross wounded and missing enquiry bureau files – Woolnough, Ernest Ralph / 3020602, viewed 19 November 2005
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