Virtual
War Memorial
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James Archibald Lennard - A “Kurrajong”

James Archibald Lennard was born 18 March 1894 at Nullamanna, nr. Inverell, NSW. He was killed in action at the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917 and has no known grave.

James was the second of five children of George Henry Lennard and Phoebe Ann Robinson. George died in 1903 so James, being the eldest son, probably left school at a young age to help support his mother and younger siblings. He was not a tall man – his army medical report records him as being 5ft 4ins. And he weighed only 128 lbs., but he was probably strong as during his working life he was a labourer. He had blue eyes, dark brown hair and a fair complexion. James’ mother remarried in 1911 and, as Mrs P Phillips, she was named in the enlistment papers as his next of kin.

Following heavy losses of men during the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in 1915 it became the norm in rural Australia for “snowballing route marches” to be organised to encourage the enlistment of men for the new battalions that were needed in Europe. Each march was given it’s own individual name. James’ cousin, Sidney Harold Colley, had joined the march of the Wallabies from Narrabri to Newcastle in December 1915. The Inverell Recruiting Association had worked hard towards organising their own march and James was in the first contingent of 114 “Kurrajongs”, as they were known (taking the name from the hardy evergreen Australian tree) to formally join up together in Inverell on 12 January 1916 (although he had actually applied to enlist on 13 December and his medical examination was carried out 20 December) and then to leave by special train later that day for Narrabri via Warialda and Moree where further recruiting rallies took place. Before their departure from Inverell these first Kurrajongs posed for a photograph, with the photo appearing in the Sydney Herald on 26 January 1916.
On 10 January a roll call of the volunteers had taken place at the Drill Hall in Inverell after which they marched to the town park where they stood in a place of honour on the dais set up for the occasion. Each man was presented with a bronze medal inscribed “Inverell NSW. Presented by Citizens 10/1/16”. The medal can be clearly seen on the left breast of the volunteers in the pre-departure photograph of the Kurrajongs. Early on the morning of Wednesday 12 January 1916, James and the other Kurrajong volunteers (with included James’ cousin, William Robinson from Gum Flat) formed up at the Drill Hall. After a short religious service and the taking of the pre-departure photograph, the men were given white summer hats and, with sprigs of Kurrajong in hand, they began the two-mile march to the railway station accompanied by several bands, mounted troopers and a detachment of the Light Horse. Nearly the entire population of Inverell and surrounding areas turned out for the public farewell of James and his fellow Kurrajongs. It must have been an unforgettable day for each of them, especially as they were also overwhelmed with gifts of cigarettes, tobacco, etc. as they marched to the railway station. As the train, decorated with flags, bunting and a small Kurrajong tree in pride of place at the front of the engine, detonators set by railway staff exploded as the wheels passed over them. And as the band played “Auld Lang Syne” and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” the Kurrajongs waved their white hats out of the windows. After rallies in Warialda and Moree, much marching (it was four miles from the station at Kelly’s Gully into Warialda) and generally being treated as heroes, the Kurrajongs finally arrived at Narrabri on the afternoon of 17 January when they then marched to the Narrabri depot camp located at the showground. Here, James, now Private 1179 Lennard, received some items of uniform, inoculations and conducted drill and distance marches until departure for Armidale Camp on 30 January. This was where the real training began, to form the 1000+ men who had arrived into a new – 33rd Battalion of the 9th Brigade, consisting of four companies largely formed along regional lines. James, who had been living at Swan Vale prior to enlistment was allocated to D company comprising men from the areas around Glen Innes, Guyra and Tenterfield. As the majority of the 33rd Battalion came from the New England region of New South Wales, it came to be unofficially known as “New England’s Own”. Training was intense, with regular marches at night, often in rain which soaked through the tents, to turn the Kurrajongs, mostly sturdy men who had been born and bred on the soil, into a strong and brave fighting force. Little did James and his mates know that they would encounter worse conditions in France.
In March the now 33rd Battalion transferred by train to Rutherford Camp near Maitland. Here training continued with three brother battalions in the 9th Brigade (the 34th, 35th and 36th Battalions) but now with more focus on warfare itself – bayonet work, practical musketry, trench work, etc. as well as an inevitable continuation of night marches. In April, with departure for the war getting closer, seven days final leave was granted and it is likely that James and his Inverell comrades undertook the nineteen-hour journey home to see their families one more time. It is also quite likely that, while at Rutherford, James and cousin William Robinson, will have had contact with their cousin Sidney Harold Colley who was with the 34th, perhaps enjoying a bit of battalion rivalry, as well as with yet another cousin, Colin Allan Robinson, who was at Rutherford training with the 7th Reinforcements for the 30th Battalion. Only William Robinson would survive the war.


At last the day of departure arrived. On 3 May, with bands playing and flags flying, James and his fellow Kurrajongs, along with the rest of the 33rd Battalion, marched through the Sydney streets to their troopship HMAT (A74) Marathon berthed at Woolloomooloo No 2 Wharf. The streets were lined with residents and family and friends of the troops who had travelled to Sydney to bid a final cheer and farewell. At about 8pm the Marathon put to sea. The euphoria of the day soon wore off as many quickly succumbed to sea sickness and a miserable night in hammocks hung from hooks between decks.
The battalion’s destination was Egypt via Albany, Western Australia but en-route was changed to England. After making stops at Durban, Cape Town and Dakar, the battalion arrived at Devonport, England, on 9 July 1916 where an empty train was waiting to take the troops to their camp on Salisbury Plains. Stopping in Exeter they were greeted by local residents with tea and buns!
On 14 July the Inverell Times reported:
“All doubts as to the destination of the “Kurrajongs”, who form part of the 33rd Battalion, were set at rest yesterday when cables were received by numerous families in town conveying the information that they had arrived “all well” at Larkhill Camp, Salisbury Plains.”

At Larkhill, the 33rd underwent five months of intensive training along with the rest of the 3rd Division to prepare them for the rigours of war on the Western Front. While at Larkhill James wrote a poem – “The Kurrajong Boys”. On 21 November they crossed the English Channel on the ferry SS Mona Queen. After arriving in Le Havre at midnight and disembarking at 7am they moved by rail to Bailleul, from where they marched to their frontline trenches, in the “quiet” or “nursery sector” around Armentières, seen as an area of less intense fighting than in areas such as the Ypres Salient to the north. It was the start of a bitterly cold winter! For the next month they rotated between the forward trenches and undertaking training courses as the battalion was introduced to life on the European battlefield. Contemporary diaries paint a picture of freezing rain and snow during the next few months when activities such as drill, parades, sandbag filling, bayonet training, barbed wire instruction and bomb throwing continued, alternating with stints in the trenches. Occasional football matches were held. For much of the time, however, the greatest difficulty was keeping dry, warm and free of frostbite during one of the worst known winters in France. Although the battalion gained some combat experience through small scale raids against the German lines during the Christmas period, the first major battle did not come until mid-1917.
Eventually, in May 1917 the 33rd Battalion moved to Belgium, south of Messines near Ploegsteert Wood. Australian battalions were also along the north side of the Wood. The 33rd was brought forward through Ploegsteert Wood to the St Ives area on 6 June in preparation for the famed Battle of Messines. At 3.10am 19 deep underground mines were blown along the Messines Ridge, three of which exploded on the 9th Brigade’s front. Despite suffering around 200 casualties from Allied gas shells that had dropped short, the battalion went “over the top” at the appointed hour and, after skirting the large crater that a mine had caused, secured their objective. Pvt. James Archibald Lennard was one of the battalion’s 92 killed in action or who died of wounds during the assault that day. The precise circumstances of his death are not known. A further 260 were wounded. This was the heaviest toll that they would suffer for the entire war. James’ cousin, Sidney Harold Colley, who was with the 34th Battalion in the Battle of Messines, was killed on the same day.

Details of the losses did not reach Inverell until Thursday 5 July. The Moree Gwydir Examiner and General Advertiser of Tuesday 10 July carried the headline “Inverell’s Black Thursday. Kurrajongs Suffer Severely”. The article went on “Thursday 5 July will long be remembered in Inverell as probably the saddest day in her history. An all-pervading gloom spread like a pall over the town, and everywhere little knots of people discussed in subdued tones the fateful news which flashed over the wires throughout the day and plunged so many of the community into the darkness of unspeakable grief…”
Private James Archibald Lennard has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial (panel 23) in Belgium. His name is also inscribed on panel 122, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT.
In Inverell his name is recorded on the Honour Roll and Cenotaph. In 1919 a tree was planted in his memory in Kurrajong Parade where 215 Kurrajong trees were planted, each representing a soldier from the Inverell district who gave his life during the great war.
James’ mother, Mrs Phoebe Phillips, received his medals, Memorial Plaque (commonly called the dead man’s penny) and King’s Message and the booklet “Where the Australians Rest” in the early 1920s, as well as his personal effects.


Acknowledgements:
Wikipedia
The Harrower Collection
Australian War Memorial
Sydney Herald
Inverell Times
Moree Gwydir Examiner & General Advertiser
www.wartimememoriesproject.com
Inverell Remembers
Inverell & Surrounding District Memories FB Group
Inverell Remembers the Kurrajongs FB Group
33rd Battalion 1st AIF FB Group