Australian stories from the First World War
Major Terence Ward Garling – Sydney, NSW
Terence Ward Garling, was born in Sydney, New South Wales on 15 February 1894. He attended Hunters Hill Public School, New South Wales, and was the younger sibling of Raymond (b. 1892). Both brothers underwent military training prior to the First World War and served with the 44th Battery, Australian Field Artillery.
On 20 August 1914, Terence Garling enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and was appointed second lieutenant in the 1st section of the 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, and left Sydney on 18 October, aboard HMAT A8 Argyllshire. Garling underwent training in Egypt and went on to serve on Gallipoli. He was transferred to the 5th Artillery Battery. He served with the Australian Field Artillery on Gallipoli and the Western Front, earning multiple commendations and promotions, becoming one of the AIF's youngest officers at just 22. During Garling’s time in France, he fractured his fibula and spent some months in England recovering.
Shortly after returning to the Western Front, Garling was appointed major and given the command of the 37th Battery, 10h Field Artillery Brigade. His final letter to his parents hinted at impending action, stating that he was summoned to France due to events at the front lines. Tragically, in April 1918, during a fierce battle at Dernancourt on the Somme, a shell fragment wounded him in the left thigh as he led his men to operate a battery of guns. Garling succumbed to his wounds despite being rushed to a field hospital.
Garling’s final letter to his family, written just a week before his passing, was marked by his parents as 'his last letter'. Immediately after this letter, they received the distinct pink telegrams that served as official notifications of a soldier's death. The Reverend Wilcoxson, from the Greenwich Anglican church, was responsible for delivering these distressing telegrams. He was tasked with informing Garling’s mother, Mrs Marie Garling, about the heartbreaking loss of her son. During wartime periods, clergy members like priests and ministers frequently bore the solemn duty of delivering the tragic news to families.
The following year, Terence’s father, William Garling, proposed naming a street in the Sofala Estate Subdivision as 'Terence Garling Street' to honour his fallen son. By September 1919, streets including Garling, Munro, Gentle, and Hallam were christened, commemorating local servicemen.
Garling is remembered with his name inscribed on the Lane Cove Council's First World War Honour Board. In 1920, the family was gifted poppy seeds from Villers‑Bretonneux, France, via the Sydney Botanic Gardens. Garling’s letters, as well as other memorabilia, were kept in a special box by his family.
Sister Florence Narelle Jessie Hobbes – Tilba Tilba, NSW
Florence Narrelle Jessie Hobbes was born in Tilba Tilba, New South Wales, on 21 August 1878. She commenced her nursing training in 1903 at the age of 24. After successfully completing her exams in 1910, Hobbes practised nursing in Cobar. By the time the First World War started in 1914, she had already been promoted to Matron at the hospital in Brewarrina, north-west NSW. Rather than waiting to enlist with the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS), Hobbes departed from Sydney to London and arrived in April 1915, where she was accepted into the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Medical Services Reserve (QAIMNS (R)). She commenced her service in Malta, attending to sick and wounded men from the Gallipoli Campaign.
By August 1915, Hobbes assumed leadership at St David’s Tent hospital in Malta and at the end of November she transferred to Sicily, serving at the Excelsior Palace Hotel Hospital. After the hospital's closure in March the following year, Hobbes briefly revisited Malta before being assigned to No. 22 British Stationary Hospital in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq).
In early June 1916, Hobbes reached Bombay (Mumbai), India, but due to unfavourable weather conditions in Mesopotamia, her onward journey was postponed. During this period, she rendered service at the Victoria War Hospital. Eventually, she reached Basra, Mesopotamia, and by October, her duties took her northward along the Tigris River to Amara, where she was allocated to No. 32 British General Hospital.
After an uninterrupted two-year service, Hobbes fell ill in June 1917 and was relocated to the Colaba War Hospital near Bombay. Upon regaining her health, she opted for recovery at Binsar, located in the Indian Himalayan foothills. However, her condition remained undiagnosed, prompting another move to Almora.
In January 1918, Hobbes was transferred to Meerut for medical evaluation. Subsequently, she was redirected to Bombay for specialised care, although a definitive diagnosis remained elusive. Around mid-February, Hobbes' sister, Elise, was dispatched by their family to check on her condition. Upon her arrival, Elise learned of Hobbes' critical state due to advanced liver cancer so she organised for their return voyage to Australia. On 10 May 1918, Hobbes passed away, and was buried at sea after a modest funeral service. Florence Narrelle Jessie Hobbes is honoured on the Basra Memorial in Iraq.
The QAIMNS (R) were a nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services. This meant that Hobbs didn’t receive the same benefits that were extended to the men and women of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Her pay was a quarter less and hers was not among the 60,000 names of Australia’s dead in the cloisters of the Australian War Memorial. As an Australian, we remember her service and sacrifice this Anzac Day.
Gunner Alan Frederick Garden - Melbourne, VIC
Alan Garden discontinued his law studies at Melbourne University to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He enlisted alongside acquaintances Bill Woodfull, who later led the Australian cricket team, Bill Leggatt, later known as Sir William Leggatt, Agent-General for Victoria in London, and an individual named Norm. Garden and Norm were posted to the 8th Field Artillery and underwent training in England before being deployed to France.
Throughout his service, Garden maintained correspondence with his parents. As a young wide-eyed Aussie kid, he found quaint old England a new experience. In his first letter home, he primarily detailed locations and events, ‘The streets wind about in all manner of ways and are uncommonly narrow. Seldom did I notice a straight lane – it seems that they must wind and bend about.’
In early letters from England, Garden described his journey from Plymouth, highlighting the scenic route through Devon and Somerset. He told stories of the places they went to, and shared what life was like at the Fovant barracks in Wiltshire, including the accommodations and routines.
In subsequent correspondence from January 1917, Garden reflected on his prolonged stay in England and the challenges of training horses. He observed the behaviours of other international military units stationed nearby, specifically mentioning Canadian and English troops.
Upon his eventual deployment to the front lines in France, Garden sustained injuries from gas exposure. Following a period of recovery and reassignment to France, he suffered a severe leg injury and further gas exposure, leading to lasting health implications.
After the war, Garden returned to Australia where he resumed his law studies, and established a legal practice in Swan Hill, Victoria. He became involved in local governance, serving multiple terms as the Mayor of Swan Hill, and actively participated in Rotary. Alan Garden passed away in 1959, at the age of 64.
Major Vivien Benjafield – Hobart, TAS
Vivien Benjafield was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 2 April 1879. During the First World War, Benjafield served with the Australian Army Medical Corps as a surgeon and administrator. He volunteered for service in September 1914 and was posted to No 2 Australian General Hospital in Egypt. His postings also included Gallipoli, hospital ships and England.
In April 1915, he was a Medical Officer on HMT Armadale, a hospital ship, during the Gallipoli Campaign. His letters provided details of the medical challenges and events during this period. In a letter to friends, he described tending the wounded at the time of the Gallipoli landings.
‘At a little after three we got one big rush of wounded, and between that time and 8 pm we took them in at the rate of over 140 per hour, till at the last we had a total of over 850 on board. We could do nothing more than sort them out as best we could, and send them to what appeared to be the most suitable portion of the ship. The very worst cases, unconscious and dying, were simply placed on a hatch and covered with a blanket; the next worst were put into the hospital, and the next upon some mattresses and stretchers I had found and placed in 'A' troop deck. The remainder were packed into the troop decks like sardines. Of course, most of them had on their first field dressings, and these had to suffice, except for the very bad ones, until such time as we could attend to them. One boatload of very severe cases I simply had to refuse, and insisted on their being taken to another ship.
Then began the work of attending to them, and we were hard at this till about 3;30 am Anything like surgical treatment was past all hope; all we could do being to re-dress the worst of the wounds and stop haemorrhage. Even fractures were left to the next day, merely being placed in a position which gave the greatest degree of comfort, or the least degree of pain.”
After time in a field hospital at Gallipoli, Benjafield was promoted to Major and appointed Medical Officer in charge of the military hospital at Ras-el-Tin in Alexandria. He later served in England before returning to Australia in November 1917 where he temporarily oversaw the Liverpool Camp. After the war, Benjafield continued to serve the medical community and treated around 50,000 individuals from the war. He died at 94 years of age in Sydney, New South Wales.
Lance Corporal Horace Archibald Davies – Normanton, QLD
Horace Archibald Davies was born on 3 April 1895, in Normanton, North Queensland. The eldest of 5 children, Davies was working as a farmhand when the First World War broke out in 1914. In December that year, he was just 19 years old when he enlisted for military service.
In February 1915, Davies and fellow members of the 2nd reinforcements, 9th Battalion, Australian Infantry Force (AIF), departed Brisbane aboard the 'Seang-Bee' for Egypt. The unit's war diary reports their arrival on 10 April 1915, at Lemnos, Greece.
The 9th Battalion was among the first to land at Gallipoli in the early dawn hours of 25 April 1915. Davies immediately experienced combat conditions as the Allied forces faced a fierce Turkish resistance. For more than 8 months Australians, New Zealanders together with British, French and Indian troops fought hard but gained little ground. The conditions at Gallipoli were tough and Davies, like many others, faced health challenges, including measles which required his hospitalisation in Egypt. After recovering, he returned to Gallipoli in July 1915, in time to be part of the failed August Offensive.
As the Gallipoli Campaign continued, more men were being evacuated sick than were killed or wounded. Conditions in the trenches led to diseases like dysentery which also affected Davies and resulted in his evacuation to a hospital in Malta. After 9 weeks in Malta, Davies was still weak and suffering from diarrhoea so he was sent to Egypt and then Australia to recuperate.
Davies resumed his duties in May 1916 and returned to Europe with the 26th Battalion in December that year. Although he faced health setbacks throughout his service, Davies’ experience and aptitude for leadership led to a number of promotions and roles of responsibility including the rank of Lance Corporal.
Having spent the first part of the year in England, Davies was sent to France in May 1917, where the 26th Battalion was involved in attempts to breach the Hindenburg Line. In September, he sustained a severe arm injury and was evacuated to England where he received medical treatment before transferring to a recuperation camp. After 6 months recovery, Davies returned to his battalion in Belgium. In July 1918, the 26th Battalion captured the first German tank to fall into Allied hands, which is now displayed in the Queensland Museum.
On 17 July 1918, Horace Archibald Davies was killed in action at Villers-Bretonneux on the Somme at the age of 23. He is buried in Adelaide Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux, France, near where he died.
Corporal John William Alexander Jackson VC – Gunbar, NSW
John William Alexander Jackson, also known as Bill, Billy, and Jacko, was born on 13th September 1897 at Glengower Station, Gunbar NSW. In 1914, when the First World War began, Jackson was a pupil at Gunbar School, a small one-room school in a town that, at the time, only had four houses. Jackson had left school and was working at Carlowrie Station when he went to Sydney with other men from Gunbar to enlist in the war.
Although only 17 at the time, Jackson claimed to be a year older to meet the age requirements when he enlisted in mid- February 1915. He was accepted and joined the 17th Infantry Battalion’s B Company, part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. After training, he embarked from Sydney on HMAT Themistocles on 12 May 1915, reaching Suez, Egypt, a month later.
The 17th Battalion arrived at ANZAC Cove towards the end of the August Offensive and for most of its time on the peninsular the Battalion was responsible for the defence of Quinn’s Post, one of the most contested positions along the entire Anzac front. On 3 October Jackson was evacuated with dysentery, rejoining his unit in Egypt 6 months later. Shortly afterwards the battalion left for the Western Front and relieved the Northumberland Fusiliers at Bois Grenier, near Armentières, France.
On the night of 25-26 June 1916 while returning from a successful raid, several members of the raiding party were seriously wounded in ‘No Man’s Land’. Despite the ‘most intense barrage of shell fire, shrapnel and crossed machine gun fire’ Jackson returned repeatedly to rescue his comrades. On one trip a shell exploded nearby and Jackson lost his right arm above the elbow. Even though he was seriously wounded, Jackson returned to the trenches, obtained assistance and went out again in search of the wounded men who were with him. For this act of courage he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. This was later overruled, and Jackson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his 'splendid example of pluck and determination'. The citation stated, 'his work has always been marked by the greatest coolness and bravery'.
Jackson was evacuated to England and embarked for Australia on 4 May 1917 before discharging in September. After returning to Merriwa, he began dealing in horses and animal skins and in 1927 became the licensee of the Figtree hotel in Wollongong. From 1941 to 1942, he served as an acting sergeant in the Eastern Command Provost Company during the Second World War. In 1953, Jackson moved to Melbourne and became commissionaire and inquiry attendant at the Melbourne Town Hall.
In later years, Jackson received several recognitions and awards and he travelled to England for the Victoria Cross centenary celebrations. In August 1959 he passed away from heart disease at the Austin Hospital in Heidelburg, Melbourne. Jackson is remembered as the youngest Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross in the First World War and his VC was the first to be awarded to a member of the AIF in France.
Lieutenant Leslie John Primrose – Ballarat, VIC
Leslie John Primrose was born on 14 May 1891 in Ballarat, Victoria. Before enlisting, he played Australian Rules Football while attending university and later became a school teacher. Primrose achieved academic excellence at university and contributed significantly to his community, both as a teacher and through his involvement in sporting competitions.
On 2 August 1915, Primrose enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, and by 23 December 1916 had joined the Australian Flying Corps. He arrived in England in April 1917 as part of No. 4 Squadron where they underwent training. Unfortunately, Primrose was involved in an aeroplane accident on 20 September 1917, sustaining a concussion, facial cuts and a wound to the left shoulder. Despite this, he was promoted to Lieutenant on the 12 of October.
When Primrose was ready to return to service, he joined No. 2 Squadron on the Western Front in France. Like much of the Allied air forces at the time, Primrose and No. 2 Squadron flew during the German Spring Offensive of 1918.
On 8 April 1918, Primrose wrote to his old teacher from Ballarat High School, Miss Jeannie Jobson,
‘For nearly three weeks our squadron has been fighting for its life, and during that time we have moved five times. Our job was to fight a rearguard action. We flew over the battlefield, some 60 miles in length, dropping bombs and lead on any suitable ground targets. It is rather interesting.
All the Australian divisions are down here now, and it does one good to see the 'Dinkums' again. Last week I had a bit of luck, shooting down an Albatross scout, and also a two-seater artillery observational machine. Both went down in flames. Our squadron has had a fair number of casualties, but that is only to be expected in a battle of such dimensions as this one.’
Tragically, Primrose lost his life on 4 June 1918, when his aircraft crashed during a patrol close to Bresles near Beauvais. He is buried at the Catenoy French National Cemetery. His mother later wrote to thank the French people, an American chaplain and others in attendance at his funeral, for the kindness shown in remembering her son.