Private Frederick Wallace Jones of Coromandel Valley

Fred Jones was the fifth child of Edwin Elliott Jones and Annie Jones (nee Wait). He was born at Glen Osmond in 1888, and his father died four years later when Fred was just 4. He attended Coromandel Valley Public School and the family were active in the Coromandel Valley Methodist Church. Fred was honorary secretary of the Blackwood Rifle Club and a member of the Blackwood, Belair and Coromandel Valley Boy's Club. Like many young men at the time, Fred chased work wherever he could find it, including breaking rocks for council road-making in the district. He enlisted on 28 August 1914, and the September 1914 issue of the Blackwood Magazine noted that he was amongst the first men to enlist from the area.

He joined B or 'Beer' Company of the 10th Battalion at Morphettville, and shipped out with the rest of the battalion on the 'Ascanius' on 20 October 1914. By December 1914 the battalion was camped in tents at the foot of the Pyramids in Egypt. Training continued till early April 1915 when the battalion moved to Alexandria and then to the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea.

About 2pm on the afternoon of 24 April 1915, Fred, loaded down with his pack and rifle, climbed on board the British battleship the 'Prince of Wales', along with the rest of 'Beer' and 'Cork' companies of the 10th Battalion. The 'Prince of Wales' then slipped out of Mudros Harbour, along with other ships carrying the rest of the first wave that was to land on Gallipoli.

Around 7pm that evening the battalion were told they could rest until 11pm. Those that were able to sleep were woken at midnight, and they were all given a welcome cup of hot cocoa by the ships' crew.

At 1am the ships stopped so the soldiers could start climbing down rope ladders into lines of rowing boats moored alongside the battleship. By 2.35am the rowing boats were full, and the battleship set off again with the lines of rowing boats attached to its sides. At 3 am the moon set and the sky grew very dark. At 3.30am the boats cast off from the battleship to be towed in threes towards the distant shore by small steamboats.

It was so dark that they would probably not have been able to see the lines of boats being towed alongside. Perhaps they could have just made out the boat behind or in front. The water was smooth as satin. It was a cool peaceful night. There was still no sign of any sort that the Turks had seen them. Close to the shore, the steamboats cast off the lines of boats, and they began to row.

About 4.29am a figure appeared silhouetted on a cliff overlooking the beach and a shot rang out, whizzed overhead and plunged into the sea. Moments later, as the boats reached the stony beach, Fred and his mates slipped over the side and waded ashore, weighed down by their equipment. Bullets struck sparks off the stones on the beach, and men were killed and wounded in the boats, in the water and on the beach. Those that hadn’t been hit ran across the stony beach to the cover of a sandy bank. They started to scale the steep hill in front of them, some driving their bayonet into the dirt to give them a handhold, as the Turks kept shooting at them with rifles then machine guns, the fire getting heavier and the casualties mounting every minute.

Sometime in the next few days of confused fighting, Fred Jones was seriously wounded. On 1 May 1915 at sea aboard the 'Derfflinger', he died. He was buried the following day at the Chatby War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt. He was the first man from Coromandel Valley to die as a result of enemy action in the First World War. He is commemorated on the family grave in the Coromandel Valley Cemetery, on the Coromandel Valley Public School Roll of Honour, at the Coromandel War Memorial, and in the South Australian National War Memorial.

His younger brother Perc enlisted in January 1916, served in the Middle East with the 9th Light Horse Regiment and survived the war.

Private Frank Palmer Smith of Coromandel Valley

In 1896, the year Frank Palmer Smith was born, his parents Jacob Adam and Mary Ellen 'Nell' Smith (nee Mincham) bought a block of land along the Sturt River in Coromandel Valley where they established a dairy. Their home was built by John Weymouth and it still stands on The Knoll Crescent. Frank attended the Coromandel Valley Public School, and as a boy enjoyed roller skating and playing the piano, for which he won several prizes. He also served for a year in the senior cadets. In 1912 he passed the civil service exam and began work as a clerk. Before the war he assisted with gymnasium classes at the Blackwood, Belair and Coromandel Boys’ Club.

He enlisted on 11 September 1914 at the age of 19, joining 'Cork' Company of the 10th Battalion at Morphettville and boarding the troopship 'Ascanius' on 20 October 1914. By December 1914 the battalion was camped in tents at the foot of the Pyramids in Egypt. Training continued till early April 1915 when the battalion moved to Alexandria and then to the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea.

About 2pm on the afternoon of 24 April 1915, Frank, loaded down with his pack and rifle, climbed on board the British battleship the 'Prince of Wales', along with the rest of 'Cork' and 'Beer' companies of the 10th Battalion. The 'Prince of Wales' then slipped out of Mudros Harbour, along with other ships carrying the rest of the first wave that was to land on Gallipoli.

Around 7pm that evening the battalion were told they could rest until 11pm. Those that were able to sleep were woken at midnight, and they were all given a welcome cup of hot cocoa by the ships' crew.

At 1am the ships stopped so the soldiers could start climbing down rope ladders into lines of rowing boats moored alongside the battleship. By 2.35am the rowing boats were full, and the battleship set off again with the lines of rowing boats attached to its sides. At 3 am the moon set and the sky grew very dark. At 3.30am the boats cast off from the battleship to be towed in threes towards the distant shore by small steamboats.

It was so dark that they would probably not have been able to see the lines of boats being towed alongside. Perhaps they could have just made out the boat behind or in front. The water was smooth as satin. It was a cool peaceful night. There was still no sign of any sort that the Turks had seen them. Close to the shore, the steamboats cast off the lines of boats, and they began to row.

About 4.29am a figure appeared silhouetted on a cliff overlooking the beach and a shot rang out, whizzed overhead and plunged into the sea. Moments later, as the boats reached the stony beach, Frank and his mates slipped over the side and waded ashore, weighed down by their equipment. Bullets struck sparks off the stones on the beach, and men were killed and wounded in the boats, in the water and on the beach. Those that hadn’t been hit ran across the stony beach to the cover of a sandy bank. They started to scale the steep hill in front of them, some driving their bayonet into the dirt to give them a handhold, as the Turks kept shooting at them with rifles then machine guns, the fire getting heavier and the casualties mounting every minute.

Sometime on that first ANZAC Day, Frank Smith was shot through the left foot. Four agonising days later he finally made it to a hospital in Cairo.

He survived his wound, but it was bad enough that he was repatriated to Australia and discharged as medically unfit in November 1915. He had spent little more than a year in the AIF. His older brother John enlisted a year after Frank, and died of arsenic poisoning whilst training in Egypt in May 1916.

After the war Frank worked on the family farm, eventually taking it over when his father died. He met Muriel Mcintosh at a dance, they married in 1928, and had four children, twins that died shortly after they were born, and Patricia and John. Frank and Muriel were devoted to each other. In 1935, Muriel died when John was only three months old, and it hit Frank very hard. Patricia went to live with her grandparents Jacob and Mary, and John, who was disabled, went to live with an aunt closer to Adelaide. Frank continued to work the dairy farm. Sadly, Frank’s suffering wasn’t over. When John died at the age of twenty two, Frank went down the Sturt River and in his grief dug a dam which today is known as the John Wesley Smith Memorial Lake. It is located within the Frank Smith Reserve, just behind the Coromandel Valley Primary School off Magarey Road. Frank didn’t want the land broken up, so when he sold it to the Mitcham Council he made sure it would be kept as one lot, which is why the community is still able to enjoy it today.

Frank is remembered by his family as a kind man, who played the piano beautifully. He was an active member of the Blackwood RSL. Early in the Second World War he enlisted in the Army for home service, and sometime that year he married Hilda Priest. In 1944 he tried to enlist in the RAAF.

Frank died at the Repatriation Hospital at Daw Park on Ash Wednesday 1983 at the age of 87 and was buried in the Derrick Gardens at Centennial Park. His daughter Pat is still alive, two of his grandsons still live on the Knoll at Coromandel Valley, and his granddaughter Heather works at the Blackwood Library. His name is inscribed on the Blackwood Soldiers' Memorial.

Lieutenant Horace Lionel Billing of Coromandel Valley

Horace Billing was born in Mount Gambier, SA on New Year's Eve 1891 to Clara Eleanor Billing. He attended school in Mount Gambier, finishing his high school days in 1910. He worked as a student teacher at several schools over the next few years, including Mount Templeton, Hummock's Hill (Whyalla) and Thebarton. In December 1915 he received his senior certificate from the Public Examinations Board and it is believed he was teaching at Coromandel Valley Public School when he enlisted in March 1916.

Horace attended non-commissioned officer training in Adelaide in May and June 1916 and was allocated to the 6th reinforcements to the 50th Battalion in October 1916. He sailed for the UK in late October 1916 as an acting sergeant (probably due to his age and status as a teacher), but reverted to the ranks upon arrival in England a few days before his 25th birthday. His leadership skills must have been obvious as he was promoted to provisional corporal after a few days and attended more non-commissioned officer training before he was sent to France where he joined the 50th Battalion on 13 May 1917. Less than two weeks later Horace was promoted to lance corporal, and he served during the Battle of Messines from 7-12 June 1917. In July he was promoted to corporal, and in September the battalion was again heavily engaged during the Battle of Zonnebeke on 26 September 1917. A few weeks later he was sent for officer training, and after further training rejoined his unit on 17 April 1918 as a second lieutenant, and was allocated command 10 Platoon, 'Cork' Company.

Early on the morning of 24 April 1918, the German spring offensive hit the frontline east of Villers-Bretonneux. 10 Platoon were roused from their billets in the village of Daours at 5am to participate in a counter-attack to recapture the town, but didn't move off until after 11am. As they marched to link up with the 49th Battalion, 'Cork' Company was hit by a number of German 'whizz bang' shells, one of which struck very close to Horace causing a serious head wound. He was promoted to lieutenant on 14 May whilst he was recuperating, and rejoined the 50th Battalion on 12 June 1918 whilst they were back in the frontline near Daours. On 8 July the Battalion was involved in the Battle of Hamel, then between 8-10 August they attacked along the Bray-Corbie Road as part of the Battle of Amiens. Horace went on leave in the UK in September, followed by a further training stint at the gas school before the war ended.

After the war ended Horace was initially detached as a finance officer at the Australian Corps School before being granted six months leave to attend language courses at the Sorbonne in Paris and at Rome University. Before he embarked to return to Australia he also visited schools in Scotland. He finally returned to South Australia in February 1920 and his appointment as an officer was terminated in April 1920. At first he lived in Malvern with his mother, but was moved around to various locations as a school teacher then school inspector. During the Second World War Horace served as a lieutenant in the 4th Garrison Battalion between June 1940 and February 1944. He was living in Lamaroo when he volunteered. In the 1950's the Billings lived in both Goodwood Park and Mount Pleasant, and they were living at Glengowrie when his wife Irene died in 1969. Horace marched with his former battalion comrades on ANZAC Day, often catching up over a drink at the Crown and Sceptre hotel afterwards. Horace passed away on 6 December 1976 at the age of 84 and was cremated at Centennial Park. His name is inscribed on the Coromandel Valley Public School roll of honour and the Unley Town Hall Honour Board.

Photograph: Courtesy of State Records of South Australia