7th Batallion reunion, 1920s

AWM image P09772.007. Place and date unknown, but probably Melbourne during the 1920s. Group reunion of the 7th Battalion AIF. The men all wear returned service badges on their lapels. The 7th Battalion, was raised by Lieutenant Colonel Harold 'Pompey' Elliott, and along with the 5th, 6th and 8th Battalions formed the 2nd Brigade. The men of the 2nd Brigade all enlisted in Victoria. The 7th Battalion participated in the second wave of the Anzac landings, and whilst the unit was in Turkey four of its members received Victoria Crosses: Corporal (Cpl) l A S Burton, Acting Cpl W Dunstan, Lieutenant (Lt) W Symons and Lt F H Tubb. The Battalion moved to France in 1916 where it participated in many major actions between then and the end of the war including: Pozieres, Ypres Salient, Menin Road, Broodseinde, Bullecourt and Amiens. By 1918 the 7th Battalion was so depleted in strength that it was merged with the 6th Battalion to form a composite battalion.

Only one of the men mentioned in the description of this photograph had a connection to our local area and that was Lt William Symons VC. Symonds was born and educated at Eaglehawk but moved to Brunswick with his family in 1906. After the war and his marriage to an Englishwoman, he moved to England where he died in 1948.

Lieutenant Colonel Harold 'Pompey' Elliott, the Commander of the 7th Battalion, was well known in the area having commanded the 58^th Infantry Regiment (Essendon Rifles). 

There were 70 Coburg and Brunswick men in ‘Pompey’ Elliott’s 7^th Infantry Battalion on board the HMAT A20 Hororata when it sailed out of Melbourne on 19 October 1914.

They include:

514 Pte Archibald Alexander, KIA 26 April 1915.

207 Pte CharlesEdward Bromley.

208 Pte Albert Edward Bunting.

184 Pte Philip Everend Cook MM.

187 Pte Nassan William James Davis (aka 484 Pte William James Davis).

219 Pte Archibald Ernest Feddersen.

234 Pte Donald William Johnston, KIA 8 May 1915, Krithia, Cape Helles.

112 Pte Frank Kiely, KIA 25 April 1915, Gallipoli.

Lieutenant Herbert Thomas Christoph Layh DSO.

742 Pte William John McFarland.

418 LanceCorporal Arthur Mueller (Joe) Pearce. He was a member of the Coburg Cricket Club.

252 PteHarold Nicholls.

182 Lance Sergeant Ernest James Orr, died 14 November 1915 of wounds received at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915.

58 Colour Sergeant John Edward Porteus.

7601 Pte Frank Raymond Richards.

196 Driver John Ross, DOW 10 August 1918.

154 Lance Corporal Alfred Bernard Scott.

189 PteFelix Wentworth (Wen) Shore.

177 SgtErnest Albert Smith. KIA 25 April 1915.

289 PteStanley Hewitt Wood.

Other Brunswick and Coburg men who served with the 7^th Infantry Battalion include:

1122 Pte Claude Cary.

5375 Pte Edwin William Dunstan (17^th Reinforcements), KIA 19 July 1916, Fleurbaix (Fromelles).

267 Pte Leslie William Hart, DOW 4 May 1915.

230 Pte Alfred Howard, KIA 8 May 1915, Krithia.

4006 Pte Cyril Allen Jolly (12^th Reinforcements), KIA 21 September 1917, Polygon Wood, Belgium.

2849 Pte Albert Harrison Lee.

2864 Pte Thomas Oscar Meredith (9^th Reinforcements), KIA 19 August 1916, France.

2184 Pte Harold Frederick Robinson, KIA 9 August 1915.

5439 Pte Rupert Clement Robinson.

It is likely that at least some of those local men who survived the war attended the reunion pictured here.

You can read more about the experiences of those Coburg soldiers who attended Coburg State School in my book The old boys of Coburg State School go to war, published by Coburg Historical Society in 2017. 

It is available for purchase from the Historical Society. You can find the details here.