Spotlight On ... A Timeline for My Grandparents

Memories of my maternal and paternal grandparents are few, and that's because I really only knew them for a few short years. 

George Thomas Connors
1880 - 1966
(photo courtesy of Carmel Ryan)

 My paternal Grandfather George was 79 years old when I was born  and died when I was 6 years old.

Grace Olive Brown
1885 - 1974
(photo courtesy of Carmel Ryan)

 My paternal Grandmother Grace was  74 by the time I was born, and Grace  passed when I was 14.  

 They lived at the other end of my home  state and visits only happened every   couple of years until Grace died.

James O'Donnell
1887 - 1974

My maternal Grandfather James was 72 years old when I was born, and passed away when I was 14.

Sarah Mary Josephine McCane
1894 - 1970

My maternal Grandmother Sarah was 65 when I came into this world, and Sarah passed when I was 10.

By the time I had celebrated my 15th birthday, my grandparents had all passed on and the memory-making times were ended.  I was left with just a few scant memories of elderly people, and to be honest, had not given them much thought for quite a long time.

In recent years though, since I began researching my family tree, I have started reflecting on the times and historical events that shaped my grandparents lives, and have often wished I had had more time with them to talk about the things that made a mark on their thinking and experience of the world.  

All four were born within a 14-year time period at the end of the 19th century - between 1880 and 1894 - and they lived for six or seven decades into the 20th century.  

My paternal grandparents:   George lived until he was 86.  Grace lived until she was 89.

My maternal grandparents:  James lived until he was 86.  Sarah lived until she was 75.

All lived what could still be considered quite long lives, and would have seen some incredible changes to the world they knew.

Here are some of the events that shaped world and Australian history during their lifetimes:

(pictures are taken from the National Museum of Australia's 'Defining Moments In Australian History' timeline).

1880s

• Irish-born bushranger Ned Kelly had achieved notoriety stealing animals and money. To some he was a hero, as he passed on money to the poor, but unfortunately he also killed a number of policeman, which meant he was seen a vicious criminal to others.
• Ned Kelly was hanged at Melbourne Goal in 1880. 
• Australia had defeated England in a cricket match that had been held on English soil for the first time in 1882.  This match led to the birth of a cricket series known as "The Ashes" played between Australia and England, which has been a significant event throughout the decades since. My grandfathers would have eagerly followed the Test Cricket series throughout their lifetimes.
• The Australian Women's Suffrage Society was formed in 1889.  Their aim was to obtain the same rights for women as for men, including the the right to own property. It's amazing to think that the movement to secure voting rights for women only began around the time both my grandmothers were born!

1890s

• South Australian women were granted the right to vote in 1894, followed by the women in Western Australia in 1899.
• The Australian Olympic Committee was founded in 1895.
• "Waltzing Matilda" was first sung in public in 1895 in Winton, Queensland.
• Edwin Flack was the first athlete to represent Australia in the Summer Olympics, held in Athens in 1896.
• The 1890s Depression occurred after the land boom bubble of the 1880s burst.  Overseas investment dried up, banks failed and unemployment soared. The formative childhood period of my grandparents happened during these Depression years and their day-to-day life at this time would have been quite austere.  Long into their adult years, they all lived 'working class' lives, making do with what they had.

1900s

• Australia became a federation in 1901.
• Edward Barton (later Sir Edward Barton) became the first Prime Minister of Australia.  He was elected in 1901.
• The original design of Australia's national flag was first flown in 1901.
• Women in Queensland, where my maternal grandmother was born, were granted the right to vote in 1905, when my maternal grandmother was 10 years old. I wonder if she was made aware of this major change for women by her own mother at the time?
• Women in New South Wales, where my paternal grandmother was born, had been granted the right to vote in Federal elections in 1902, when my paternal grandmother was 17. I imagine my paternal grandmother would have been well aware of this meaningful change to basic rights for women in her home state.

1910s

• The Royal Australian Navy was founded in 1911.
• The first national census was conducted in 1911.
• The Australian Capital Territory was proclaimed in 1911.  
• Canberra, in the ACT was officially named as the capital of Australia in 1913.
• Australia sent women to the Olympic Games for the first time in 1912.
• Australian soldiers landed at ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey.
• Australia suffered heavy casualties in the Western Front Battle of the Somme.
• The Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade launched the last cavalry charge in modern warfare to capture Beersheba from the Ottoman Turks.
• First World War ended in 1918 - 60,000 Australians dead. Two of my paternal grandfathers' brothers served in WW1, and only one returned home.  My grandfather George's youngest brother died in the Somme, in France in 1916.  Three of my maternal grandmother's uncles served in WW1.  Two returned home, but one died in Belgium in 1917.  All my grandparents' lives were impacted by the war in some way.

1920s

• Australia's own airline, QANTAS, was founded in 1920.
• Edith Cowan became the first woman elected to an Australian Parliament.
• Vegemite was first produced in 1923.
• Construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge began in 1923.
• Australian pilots Bert Hinkler and Charles Kingsford Smith completed successful first ever flights in 1928 - Bert Hinkler flew from Britain to Australia, and Charles Kingsford Smith flew from the United States to Australia.  
• My maternal grandparents began their married life in the early 1920, whilst my paternal grandparents celebrated nearly 15 years of marriage.  My maternal grandparents were about to start their family, with their first son born in 1922, followed by the birth of another four children by the end of the 1920s.  My paternal grandparents already had a family of six children by 1920.  Sadly, they would lose two newborns in 1921 and 1922, before welcoming twin boys in 1924 and their last child in 1929.

1930s

• New South Wales batsman Don Bradman scored a world record first-class individual innings of 452 not out in a 1930 Sheffield Shield match against Queensland.
• In the 1930 Third Test at Leeds, against England, Don Bradman scored 100 before tea, 100 before lunch, and 100 by the end of the day's play - 309 in total. I would think that both my grandfathers raised a glass or two in celebration that day!
• Legendary horse, Phar Lap, wins his only Melbourne Cup race in 1930.
• The Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932.
• Sir Charles Kingsford Smith disappears during a flight in 1935.
• The last thylacine (commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger) dies.
• Victoria is devastated by the Black Friday bushfires in 1939.
• Australia enters the Second World War in September of 1939.  The thought of having to live through another war must have weighted heavy on all my grandparents.  My paternal grandparents would have immediately thought about the possibility of some of their sons having to go off to war!   They had sons aged 31, 28, 25 and 15.  Thankfully, my maternal grandparents had sons who were considerably younger at the time, and they no doubt breathed a sigh of relief that they could remain safe at home.

1940s

• A team of scientists, under Howard Florey, develops penicillin in 1940.
• In 1941, three divisions of the newly formed 2nd Australian Imperial Force join operations in the Mediterranean.  After initial successes against Italy, the 2nd AIF suffered defeat against the Germans in Greece, Crete and North Africa.
• In April to August of 1941, an Australian garrison (known as the Rats of Tobruk) halt the advance of Hitler's panzers for the first time during the Siege of Tobruk.  One of my paternal grandparent's sons (my uncle) served in WW11 and was one of the Rats of Tobruk.  His war service impacted the remainder of his life, and would have been keenly felt by his parents (my paternal grandparents) and his siblings. 
• Singapore falls in 1942 and 15,000 Australians become Prisoners of War of the Japanese.
• Japanese air raids on Australia occurred in 1942 and 1943 - almost 100 attacks on sites in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.  No doubt my maternal grandparents in particular would have been extremely concerned about the possibility of Japanese air raids impacting their place or residence, as the lived in north Queensland and would have heard about raids in places nearby.  
• The bombing of Darwin in the Northern Territory saw the largest attack on Australia by a foreign power.
• In May of 1942, the U.S. and the Royal Australian Navy halt the advance of the Japanese towards Port Moresby, in the Austalian Territory of Papua.
• During July to November of 1942, Australian soldiers halt the Japanese march on Port Moresby in what became known as the Battle of the Kokoda Trail.
• Australia wins its first Oscar in 1943, with cinematographer Damien Parer honoured for his 'Kokoda Front Line!' documentary.
• 1945, Nazi Germany and Japan surrender.
• Australia becomes a founding member of the United Nations in 1945.
• Australia becomes a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
• Holden starts manufacturing its first Australian designed and built car in 1948.
• The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed in 1949.  The Act established Australian citizenship marking the end of Australians being identified as British subjects.

1950s

• Australian troops are sent to the Korean War in 1950, to assist South Korea.
• In 1952 the first nuclear test was conducted in Australian by the United Kingdom, off the coast of Western Australia.  By this time my paternal grandparents were now grandparents, whilst grandparenthood (is there such a word?) was not far off for my maternal grandparents.  I have no doubt they would have reflected on what sort of world their grandchildren would witness.   
• Television was launched in Australia in 1956.
• The 16th Summer Olympics was held in Melbourne in 1956.
• Construction of the Sydney Opera House began in 1959.  It would eventually cost $102 million.   

1960s

• Robert Menzies' Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 provided that all indigenous Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections.
• The Beatles' 1964 world tour reached Australia.
• Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, announced in 1964 the reintroduction of compulsory military service for men aged from 18 to 25 years old.
• The first troops were sent to the Vietnam War in 1964.
• The Australian currency was changed to dollars and cents in 1966, with the Australian dollar replacing the Australian pound.
• In 1967, the constitution was changed to allow Aboriginal Australians to be included in the population count 
• Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared in 1967 while swimming.
• Australia signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1968.

1970s

• In 1970, more than 200,000 people participate in the largest demonstration in Australian history, against the Vietnam War.
• Neville Bonner becomes the first Aborigine to become an Australian member of Parliament in 1971.
• In 1972, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission rules that women doing the same job as men have the right to be paid the same wage.
• The first Labor government since 1949 is elected under the leadership of Gough Whitlam in 1972.
• The Sydney Opera House is formally opened by Queen Elizabeth 11 in 1973.
• The Vietnam War ends in 1973. 
• The White Australia Policy (established back n 1901) is officially dismantled.
• "Advance Australia Fair" is recognised as Australia's national song in 1974, but not as the national anthem.

By the mid-70s, all my grandparents had passed.  They had lived through the very end of the 19th century, and over half of the 20th century and had witnessed some quite extraordinary world-changing events including World War 1 and World War 11, the rise of nuclear weapons, space exploration, as well as fantastic technological and scientific advances.  

Their birthplace, Australia, changed significantly in their lifetime with the development of nationalism and decolonization.  Australia was becoming a nation that was standing on its own two feet, developing its own national identity, and no longer regarding itself as just another colony of the British Empire. 

At the start of their lifetimes, Australia could have been characterized as an overwhelmingly Christian nation with inhabitants born almost exclusively in Australia, the United Kingdom or Ireland.  So much has changed since then.

The Story of Ernest Thomas Stanley Cusack

Documents are the essential resource for anyone researching their family tree.  I spend a lot of time reading through records of all types, then follow this up with hours and hours spent analysing the information, coming to conclusions and entering accurate, worthwhile data on my family tree. Most of the time this process does not elicit an emotional response.  

There are some documents however that really do tug at the heartstrings.  They make you pause and consider the impact certain events have on people you may have never met but feel a very strong connection to, because they're family.  War Service Records belong in this category of documents.  

Every year, as we approach our national day of remembrance known as ANZAC Day (April 25th), I pull out one of these records, spend time reading through it all very thoroughly, then pause to reflect on the contribution made by that family member, and the impact their service must have had on their immediate family at the time.  This year I thought I'd share some of the details from one particular war service record, from World War 1.

What's in an Australian World War 1 service record?

- an attestation paper completed on enlistment.  It includes next-of-kin, employment, marital status, age, place of birth and a physical description

- a service and casualty form which shows movements and transfers between units, promotions and details of injuries and treatment

- military correspondence between the Department of defence and the soldier's next-of-kin notifying of wounds or death, awards and medals, and answering questions on the whereabouts of a service member.

There are no details about that service member's involvement in particular actions and battles, nor any account of their day-to-day life in the service.  Those aspects of their war-time service need to be discovered elsewhere.

This week's post uses one particular war service record to tell the story mostly of my paternal 1st cousin 2x removed, Ernest Thomas Stanley Cusack (1897 - 1919), but I do include a few little details about two of his brothers, who also answered the call to support the British Empire during the dark days of World War 1.

Our Common Ancestors are:  Patrick Cusack and Eliza Exton.

Ernest Thomas Stanley (known as Tom by his close family) was born in July of 1897, the son of James Cusack and Mary Ann Catherine Davies.  He was the 8th of 14 children born to James and Mary Ann.  There were 6 boys and 8 girls in the family.  Ernest was born in the Murwillumbah area of New South Wales, but by the time he was 18, the family were living in Byron Bay.

As Ernest was approaching the end of his teenage years, his world was drastically changed by the outbreak of a world war.  When the U.K. declared war on Germany on the 4th of August 1914, nations in the British Empire, including Australia, followed willingly.  Recruiting offices around Australia opened only 6 days after the war began. 

Around 55,000 young men joined the newly formed AIF (Australian Imperial Force) in the first 4 months of the war.  Nearly 100,000 enlisted between April and October the following year, 1915.

One of Ernest's older brothers, Harold John Charles Cusack was amongst those 100,000. 

He was the first of the Cusack brothers to answer the call.  He joined the armed forces - 15th Battalion, 12th Reinforcement -  in August of 1915, at the age of 20, and embarked for overseas in November, aboard HMAT A23 Suffolk.  

Tel elKabir, Egypt
The Australian Army training camp c. 1916
Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial

Harold made it to training camp with the 15th Battalion in Tel elKebir, in Egypt, and was then posted to Zeitoun. 

Unfortunately, or luckily (depends on your point of view), he was admitted to hospital in March of 1916 with acute appendicitis.  

Harold did not proceed with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and did not end up seeing action during the war. 

He returned to Australia in May of 1916 and was discharged, medically unfit, upon arrival back home.

I'm assuming Harold met up with his younger brother Ernest upon his return to Australia, and no doubt had many long conversations about what it was like sailing overseas and landing in Egypt.  Maybe these stories helped convince Ernest that he also needed to serve.

Not long after, on the 15th of June 1916, Ernest himself enlisted with the 5th Machine Gun Battalion.  

First of all, he submitted his application to enlist: 

Application to Enlist

This provides some basic information - Ernest was literate, as he was able to provide a complete signature.  His occupation was that of labourer.  His father, James Cusack, had passed away and his mother, Mary Ann, was the one who gave consent for Ernest to enlist and added her signature to the document.  Ernest was aged 18 years and 11 months.  

On the same day, in the town of Lismore in New South Wales, his attestation papers were completed and signed by Ernest.

Front page of the Attestation Paper

So it was, that on June 15 1916, Ernest signed his life away.

For some unknown reason, of the three Cusack brothers who enlisted in WW1, there are enlistment photos for both of Ernest's older brothers, but none of Ernest.  His attestation papers do however provide a little detail about his physical appearance.

This is why I spend time pouring over documents.  Given this information, I found I was able to visualise Ernest without a photo.  He was quite a tall sturdy young man, 5 ft 8", with brown hair and grey eyes, weighing 9 1/2 stone. 

Another of Ernest's older brothers enlisted just two months later.

James Herbert Cusack enlisted in August of 1916 and his unit embarked from Brisbane on the 27th of October 1916.

James remained overseas, fighting on the Western Front, throughout 1917, 1918 and half of 1919.  He returned to Australia in August of 1919.

He had married in London, in May of 1919, so returned home with a bride.

Sadly, his younger brother Ernest never returned home.  Let's return to Ernest's story:

Just three days before Christmas of 1916, Ernest embarked from Australia on the ship "Persic" and sailed off to join the war effort.  His point of disembarkation was Devonport in England in March of 1917. 

Belton Park Camp, near Grantham during WW1

He was "marched in" to the Machine Gun Corp training camp at Belton Park Camp near Grantham, but it appears he fell ill within a week and was in hospital for 11 days.  

After that he returned to training.  Each man in the Machine Gun Corp (MGC) spend a minimum of five weeks in training before being posted to one of the frontlines.  They were taught the mathematics of the machine gun, firing, map reading and the use of semaphore flags.

It wasn't until June of 1917 that Ernest saw action in France.  All of these details are clearly recorded on the first page of Ernest's Statement of Service Form:

Statement of Service Form

Page 1 of this service form also shows that he was transferred to the 15th Machine Gun Company in late June of 1917.  Shortly after, Ernest was wounded in action, with a "shell wound to the chin", in September of 1917.  Sounds like he was hit by debris from an exploding shell.  

The military correspondence section of Ernest's war service record shows that his mother received this telegram in October of 1917:

Such a brief, stark statement!  Imagine receiving such a telegram!  It would be frightening and I can only imagine the anxiety it must have caused.  Of course, unknown to Ernest's mother, he was already in recovery.  Ernest re-joined his unit just a couple of weeks later.

Ernest's Casualty Form Active Service  (two pages) provides some detail about his whereabouts during his service  

He was at Camiers Camp in France, which was the base depot of the Maching Gun Corps (known today as Etaples Camp).  

He was also at Le Treport, which was an important hospital centre on the coast of northern France, about 50 miles south of Camiers.

As mentioned previously though, there is no mention of particular battles that he was involved in.

You can see on page 2 of this Casualty From that in March of 1918, he was granted leave in the U.K. for two weeks, and then was granted more leave in February of 1919.  

Leave was granted to the majority of men and women who served in the First World War. When the war first begin, there was an expectation that it would be a short war.  Of course, that proved to be far from the reality, so as the conflict dragged on, morale flagged and it became alarmingly clear that the hardship and horror of the front line fighting was taking a toll on soldier's physical and mental health.

Leave provided some respite from the dangers of war, and was deemed necessary in order to reduce the sense of separation which many of the Australian troops would have experienced, being so far from home.  The intervals of leave were not long, but provided much needed moments of rest and recreation.  

Unfortunately, whilst on this second round of leave, the benefits of this time off from war were very short-lived for Ernest.  He contracted influenza and was admitted to Endell Street Military Hospital in London on the 21st of February 1919.  

Endell Street Military Hospital
London

On February 24th there was an entry that read "dang. ill", which obviously meant "dangerously ill"; but that abbreviated word "dang." was crossed out at some point and "ser." was written underneath.  That meant "seriously".  So within 3 days, Ernest's health had deteriorated badly.

He hung on for nine days, but early on the tenth day, on the 3rd of March 1919, the Military Hospital at Endell Street sent a telegram to the Australian Army Headquarters in London, informing the office of the death of Private Cusack.  He was 21 years old.

This is a section from the Report of Death Form completed at Endell Street Military Hospital:

The form lists 'influenza' as the disease Ernest was afflicted with, but there is the word 'pneumonia' scribbled in pencil underneath as well.  It sounds like Ernest was indeed gravely ill.  The form states that he passed away at 6.50 am on March the 3rd.

Ernest's mother, Mary Ann, received this telegram on March 6th indicating that her son, who had been away from home for over two years, was "seriously ill". 

This news would have been devastating for everyone in the family, given they had not seen Ernest for such a long time.  Of course, Ernest had already died by the time this telegram had been sent, so worse was to come for his mother and siblings.

A newspaper article printed in the Tweed Daily newspaper indicates that the news of Ernest's death did not reach home until March the 8th (although there is an error regarding his name).  The article goes on to say that it was the Byron Bay Shire Clerk who received this news first.  He apparently then passed this on to a Reverend M. Gerry, who went to visit Mary Ann to give her the news.

Newspaper item in the Tweed Daily, Tues Mar 11 1919, p2                                               

Amongst the war service records of my relatives who fought and died in the first World War, disease was not listed as a common cause of death.  Of course, war creates perfect conditions for diseases to flourish and before the beginning of the 20th century, disease had indeed claimed many more military lives that combat itself.

Australians volunteering for the first world war were subjected to quite strict medical tests before enlistment and many were rejected.  Australians were also given a range of inoculations when they joined up, including jabs to fight smallpox and typhoid.

Unfortunately, despite all these precautions, many thousands of Australian troops succumbed to disease during the war.  The most common cause was respiratory tract infections, including influenza and pneumonia.  Combined, they claimed around 3,300 Australian lives during the war, and Ernest was one of them.

In Ernest's war service record there is a Burial Report, dated 12th March 1919, that provides some information about his funeral. 

 

Ernest was buried in the Australian Military Burial Ground at Brookwood, in Surrey, England - Plot IV, Row J, Grave No. 7 - and he was "accorded a full military funeral".

The report lists a Private Atherton, from the 4th Machine Gun Battalion, as either a relative or a friend, along with a Miss and a Mrs. Atherton, who all attended the funeral.  I found that particularly interesting as it seems to indicate that Ernest had family or perhaps a close friend over in England and probably spent his leave with them.  I suppose they visited him in hospital as well.  I do hope so.  It would be so comforting to think Ernest was not on his own when he was so gravely ill.

The information from the burial report then became the content of a letter that was sent to Ernest's mother on May 29th, 1919.

I do wonder if Mary Ann ever received a photo of Ernest's headstone.

In August of 1919 yet another telegram was sent to Ernest's mother, Mary Ann, informing her that she would be receiving a parcel of her son's personal effects. 

This is the list of what would have arrived in that parcel.

The following In Memoriam item appeared in the newspaper, The Byron Bay Record, on the 22nd of March 1919.

A Roll of Honour item appeared in the newspaper, The Northern Star, on the 21st of March 1919.

A Roll of Honour item appeared again in the newspaper, The Northern Star, on March the 3rd 1922.

Each evening between sunset and sunrise, names from the Australian War Memorial's Roll of Honour are projected onto the facade of the Hall of Memory (the dome) at our Australian War Memorial in Canberra.  

This Roll of Honour lists the 102,000 men and women from Australia's defence forces who have died in the service of our nation and Ernest's name will appear on these dates:

One of these days I would love to be there to see the name of a relative highlighted and acknowledged in this way!

 

Special Note to any family members:  If you have memories to add, photos or information to share, can I graciously ask that you do so.  Please use the comments box below or email me.  It may prove to be invaluable to the story and provide future generations with something to truly treasure.