WELCOME to Heroes Tales for March.
I hope you enjoyed reading last month’s story about our two unlikely Australian heroes, war horse Bill and war dog Horrie, who despite the odds survived the war and lived out their lives in contentment.
This month I would like to share the story of the Le Cerf boys from Tumbarumba, which is remarkable for the fact that, of a family of seven boys and two girls, five sons went off to fight in WW1.
The Le Cerf family (sometimes spelled as LeCerf) originally came from France. The patriarch of the family was Jean Le Cerf, who was born in Brittany in 1850 or 1851. After arriving in Australia, he settled in Tumbarumba and became a naturalised citizen on 11 April 1894. His Obituary, under the title ‘PERSONAL NEWS’, contains the following information:
“The death has occurred of Mr. Jean LeCerf, an old resident of Tumbarumba; at the age of 86 years. Mr. LeCerf, who was born in Brittany, France, came to Australia as a young man, after having visited many countries, and settled in the Tumbarumba district nearly 60 years ago. …..he met and married Miss Annie Sparks, who died a little more than two years ago. There were seven sons and two daughters of the marriage… The interment took place in the Tumbarumba cemetery.” (1934, September: Albury Banner and Wodonga Express NSW: 1896 – 1938).
Annie died in 1932 and is also buried in Tumbarumba. You can see photographs of Annie and her soldier sons at Tumbarumba Information Centre. She has a strong, almost fierce, look about her and, as we will see, given her circumstances, I don’t wonder that she found it difficult to smile!
CALL TO ARMS
When Australia found itself at war in 1914, the boys in the Le Cerf family answered the call to enlist. Jean and Annie had separated by that time, indicated by the fact that four of the sons had specified in their wills that their entitlements should go to their mother.
So, let’s follow the brothers – George, James, Albert, Francis and Joseph – as they set off for The Great War!
The first brother to enlist was JAMES – SN.3338. He was born on 10 December 1890 and was 25 when he enlisted in August 1915. He joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Egypt and served with the 53rd Battalion Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
From there he went on to France and by June he was on the Western Front.
To a young man who came from a small country town and had never been out of Australia, arriving in the middle of a harsh European winter and facing a barrage of lethal weapons must have been confronting, to say the least!
He joined the action at Fromelles, the first major battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front.
He was wounded in July 1916, suffering gunshot wounds to his left leg and back. After treatment and a period of leave in England, he underwent further training with the Overseas Training Depot to prepare him for his return to France.
I wonder how he felt knowing he would be going back to face more of the same! Nevertheless, he re-joined his unit in August 1917 but in December was detached for duty with the 28th Army Service Corps, which was responsible for providing the troops with rations and other supplies on the front line.
Between June and August, James attended Army Cookery School before returning to his unit in September, after a period of leave.
He was saved from involvement in any further action on the front line when the Armistice was signed, signalling the end of the war.
He was discharged from service on 18 July 1919 and was awarded the 1914/1915 STAR (as a member of the BEF), the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
In 1922 James married Neta Cayirylys in Tumbarumba and the couple had two sons, James and Kevin. He ran a general store in Parade Street, Tumbarumba, in partnership with Robert Blencowe, and was a well-known member of the community.
When the Second World War broke out James, at the age of 51, did what many other WW1 Veterans did and enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) SN. N383148. He served on a part-time basis between 1942 and 1945, when the corps was disbanded. He died on 20 September 1959 and is buried in Tumbarumba.
FRANCIS – SN.3339 was the next to enlist and as you can see from his service number he enlisted at the same time and place as his brother James.
Francis was born on 12 September 1895 and was 19 when he enlisted. He was attached to the 11th Reinforcements/2nd Battalion and boarded the ship ‘Euripides’ for the Middle East. He was taken from the ship in Albany, Western Australia, on 9 November 1915 suffering from pneumonia, and then to the local hospital where he died four days later. He was buried in Albany on 14 November 1915. His death certificate stated that the causes of death were Pneumonia and Heart Failure. He was not entitled to any medals because he had not served overseas.
A month later ALBERT – SN.2936 joined up. He was born on 1 June 1894 and initially enlisted on 6 September 1915 [SN.3347], when he was 21 years old. While training at Liverpool he was admitted to hospital to be treated for pneumonia. It was here that he complained of an irregularity with his heart. He was examined by the Army Medical Board which concluded that he was not fit enough at that time to carry out required duties and so he was discharged from the AIF in April 1916.
Not to be deterred, Albert re-enlisted in Goulburn on 25 July 1916. He joined the 18th Battalion on the Western Front in March 1917 and was wounded in action in April, suffering a gunshot wound to his right hand. He re-joined his battalion in May but was wounded for the second time two days later while fighting at Bullecourt. He was shot in the right arm and neck and died on 5 May 1917. He is buried at St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen. He was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
THE REALITY OF WAR
So, in the space of four months, Annie has said goodbye to three of her sons and has received the dreaded telegram telling her that 19-year-old Francis has died before getting the chance to serve his country. She is yet to receive the news about Albert. With a family of six still at home, she could have been forgiven if she did not want to see any more of her family in harm’s way. She was at least able to keep Joseph at home until he turned 18, as he was the next son to enlist.
JOSEPH – SN.2797 was born on 4 October 1899 and enlisted in October 1916 when he was 18 years old. He went to France in July 1917 and joined the 33rd Battalion, which was engaged in holding the line at Messines, and then in the fighting around Passchendaele on the Western Front. We can only imagine what it must have been like for Joseph and his fellow soldiers who were fighting in the heavy rain and mud which, as well as creating a quagmire in the trenches and in the battlefield, badly affected their weapons. Alexander Wallace, whose diary was printed in this paper last year, described it as like ‘being in hell’.
In March 1918 Joseph was admitted to hospital suffering from Trench Feet and was sent back to England for treatment. Following his discharge in April, he went for further training with the Overseas Training Brigade to prepare him for his return to France, where he re-joined his unit in July 1918. It is likely that he was there at the battle of Amiens in August, and in the operation that finally breached the Hindenburg Line, leading to Germany’s defeat.
He was still in France when he was admitted to hospital in April 1919, suffering from Iritis, an infection of the eye. After treatment he embarked to return to Australia. Joseph had one final hurdle to overcome. He was charged with ‘Failure to Obey a Command from his Superior Officer’ and forfeited 7 days’ pay. He was discharged on 4 September 1919 and was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
And now we come to GEORGE – SN.3289, Annie’s eldest son. Having already lost two sons, I wonder if Annie pleaded with him not to go as she needed his help at home, or whether, like the women of that generation, she stoically accepted that his country needed him more. We will never know.
George was born on 26 November 1887 at Tooma, near Tumbarumba and was 29-years-old when he enlisted in January 1917. On the way to Egypt, he fell ill aboard ship, and on arrival in Suez in October 1917 he was admitted to hospital for treatment. Discharged in January 1918 he was assigned to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment as a Trooper. He was hospitalised on two further occasions suffering from rheumatism and then from malaria. He returned to Australia in April 1919 and was honourably discharged in May 1919; he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory medal.
George married Ruby Florence Mabel (nee Burgess) in 1941, and the couple had three children, Neil, Marian and Dianne. There were also two children from Ruby’s first marriage, Ivan and Lorna. George worked as a Council labourer maintaining the roads. He died on 8 June 1959 and is buried in Tumbarumba. An obituary dated 18 June 1959 stated, “He had been in failing health over the past two years, but had been in hospital only a week before he passed away.”
THE REAL COST OF WAR
Perhaps, like me, you may think it is ironic that the efforts that young Albert went to so that he could serve his country should result in his death just short of a year later. The photograph of young Joseph Le Cerf kneeling at the grave of his brother Albert in France is a poignant reminder of the true cost of war, not only in terms of weaponry and buildings, but in the loss of those men and women who “shall grow not old as we that are left grow old”, and in the void they leave behind in the lives of their families and friends.
James and George returned home to Tumbarumba and had successful lives with their individual families but carried with them their experiences of war in silence. I don’t know what became of Joseph other than he left home to make his life elsewhere.
I am indebted to Marian Longbottom of Batlow, the daughter of George Le Cerf, for providing me with family papers, photographs and personal recollections of her father. She was only 15 years old when he died, but remembers him as a quiet, troubled man.
Other information is from National Australian Archives Service Records, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages, Virtual War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Records, and Trove.
If you have a Veteran you would like to have featured in Heroes Tales, please contact: snowyheroes1@ gmail.com or 0490 100 593. I would love to talk to you.
Until next month, cheerio!
Phyllis Darragh, Snowy Valleys Heroes Inc.
