Arthur Broom, Coburg cyclist and WW1 soldier changes his name

Arthur Clarence Broom was brought up in Davis Street, Coburg (and later in Bell Street west) by Robert Broom (born in Coburg in 1852) and his wife Johanna Wark. The Brooms had three children of their own - Catherine, Lena, Robert Leslie (known as Les) and two 'adopted' sons - Arthur and William. 

Arthur's brother Les was a rising star in the local cricket and football world, but in November 1915 he died of pneumonia, aged 23. So Arthur and William were the only brothers left - and they both enlisted.

Like his brother Les, Arthur was a promising sportsman. He played football for Fawkner and was a member of the Coburg Cycling Club. Newspaper reports in the year leading to his enlistment note that he had been in 'striking form' as a cyclist. (Brunswick and Coburg Leader, 13 February 1914)

A milk carter by trade, he worked for Edwin Parker of DeCarle Street, Brunswick and had had a few run-ins with Coburg's sanitary inspector W.H. Budds regarding the sale of adulterated milk and it was noted by the inspector that he 'seemed to be of a defiant disposition.' (He'd tried to avoid the inspector by speeding off.)

On 2 July 1915, 2786 Private Arthur Clarence Broom enlisted in the 6th Infantry Battalion, 9th Reinforcements. He was 20 years old. He embarked in September and served in France where he was hospitalised a number of time with cellulitis in the leg. He was later wounded, but it was not a severe wound and he was able to remain on duty. He had a number of run-ins with the authorities but even so, was promoted to Lance Corporal in August 1917. He returned to Australia in March 1919 and was discharged in July.

At this point, he changed his name to Arthur Clarence O'Brien, later stating that he was an adopted son of the Brooms. 

The claim that he was alone in the world might well have been true in 1956 when he was living in far off Western Australia, but this was not always the case. Up until the 1940s he was living in Coburg and working at his old trade of milk carter. He had married (to Grace Healey) in 1926 and they had four children. 

His return to civilian life had not been smooth. In 1920, at Wirrabara Police Court (in the southern Flinders Ranges), he was found guilty of stealing clothing and supplies and sentenced to three months in prison. That his was an unsettled existence is evidenced by the fact that he was known to the court under four names - Arthur Clarence O'Brien, Larry O'Brien, Donald Fenwick and Arthur Clarence Broom. (Laura Standard and Crystal Brook Courier, 3 December 1920)

But after his marriage to Grace Healey in 1926, his name disappeared from the newspapers - until December 1941 when he and another man were involved in a fracas at a picket at Leeming's dairy in Victoria Street, Brunswick. Accused of assault, the men were sentence to a month's imprisonment. (Herald, 7 December 1941)

Arthur and Grace O'Brien divorced in 1949. She remained in the local area for the rest of her life, but Arthur moved to West Australia. In December 1956 his address was Warriedar Station via Wubin, WA and it was from there that he wrote that he had 'no one in this world to fall back on.' (Letter of application for the age pension, December 1956).

He died in Perth in 1970 aged 85.

Arthur Broom/O'Brien's 'brother' William Broom served as 501 (1864) Sapper William Broom in the 5th Infantry Battalion. He enlisted in January 1915 aged 22 and like Arthur, he was a milkman. He served in France and was sent to England with appendicitis in June 1916. Later that year, on 11 November 1916, he married 18 year old Gladys Morton at Peckham. After a period in England and many run-ins with the authorities, he returned to France where he was wounded in the right knee in May 1918, a wound that saw him return to Australia in January 1919.

Like Arthur, William Broom changed his name after the war. As William O'Meara, he married Esther Davis in July 1919. The problem was that he was still married to Gladys Morton, who had remained in England and was receiving a military pension. In 1925 he was found guilty of bigamy and given a 6 months' suspended sentence. Things can't have gone well for the O'Mearas, because in April 1927 William, now a resident of Port Melbourne, was released from gaol having agreed to pay off arrears owning for the maintenance of his child. By July he was back in prison, having failed to pay.

The final sighting of William O'Meara is in July 1935. He was living in Musswellbrook, NSW and had applied for a replacement discharge certificate - needed so he could apply for work. 

So it appears that life was not kind to the 'Broom' brothers who served in World War One. They were not alone, of course, but those without family support must have found life very tough indeed, especially through the Depression years of the 1930s.