St Andrew's Anglican Church First World War Memorials, Wahroonga

These three war memorial plaques are located inside St Andrew's Anglican Church in Wahroonga, NSW. The largest is a rectangular honour roll for the First World War, which is made of a dark timber and features a decorative border and wreath. The names of those who served in the war are raised in relief from the backboard.

There other two are smaller metal plaques, each dedicated to a single serviceman from the war. Lieutenant Pockley and Captain Pockley are both included on the larger honour roll. 

The memorials are located on the south wall of the church.

About the veterans

Research on this memorial was carried out by the late Mr Ian Ramage and not used prior to his passing. Instead, it was given to St. Andrew's archives to be used as seen fit.

Frank Chamberlain 5068, 4th Battalion, A.I.F.

• Frank Chamberlain was born in Wahroonga, to Florence Chamberlain of Kintore Street and the late Francis George Baron Chamberlain. At the time of enlistment, he was a Butcher's Apprentice, having been educated at Warrawee Public School. His father's headstone on his grave in the cemetery of St. John's Anglican Church, Gordon, bears tribute to his son "also to his son, Pte. Frank Chamberlain died at Tidworth Military Hospital England 3rd July 1916 18 years – Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends, Amen".

• On the Wahroonga War Memorial, he is shown as having enlisted in 1915. His name also appears on several honour rolls: Warrawee Public School; Turramurra Park; St. Andrews Anglican Church, Wahroonga; and St. James Anglican Church, Turramurra.

James Alexander Cormack 22789, Gunner, 2nd Battery 7th Brigade, Australian Field Artillery, A.I.F.

• James Cormack was the son of William and Elizabeth Cormack of Kintore Street, Wahroonga.

• He was Presbyterian, educated at Warrawee Public School and listed as a Postal Assistant.

• He enlisted at 18 years and was killed in action on 23 July 1917. He was buried in the Kandahar Farm Cemetery, NeuveEglise, Heuvelland, WestVaanderen, Belgium, in grave 11.C.7.

• On the Wahroonga War Memorial, he is shown as having enlisted in 1915. The honour roll of St. Johns Presbyterian (now the Uniting Church Wahroonga) records he was killed in action. His name also appears on the honour rolls at St. Andrews Anglican Church, Wahroonga, and Warrawee Public School.

Charles Bernard Donaldson 1341, Private, 2nd Battalion, A.I.F.

• Charles Donaldson was the son of Grace Gertrude Donaldson and the late George Donaldson of Kintore Street, Wahroonga.

• He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and the University of Sydney, gaining a BA and Diploma in Economics and Commerce. Charles was enrolled in Law 111 and was working in the Crown Law Office.

• Charles was an Original Anzac, having sailed on 11 February 1915, landing at Gallipoli on 25 April where he was killed at Lone Pine on 20 July 1915, aged 24 years. He is buried in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac Turkey, in grave 11.E.14.

John Ebenezer Donaldson, Captain, 19th Battalion A.I.F.

• John Donaldson was the husband of Katherine of Kintore Road, Wahroonga.

• He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and University Sydney graduating with an M.B. He was a member of Sydney University Scouts, gained a rowing Blue and was a champion heavyweight boxer.

• John joined the Australian Army Medical Corps in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Forces, which aimed to put German wireless stations in the Pacific out of action. He was discharged in 1915 and listed as a combatant, appointed to the 19th Battalion as Lieutenant on 8 June, serving there until the evacuation. He landed in France in March 1916, got promoted to Captain and fought at Fleurbaix and Posieres where he was severely wounded on 26 July. He died of wounds on 11 August 1916, aged 30 years. He was buried in Etaple Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, in grave 1.A.42.

• Of his siblings, Sister Katherine Minnie Donaldson was in Australian Army Nursing Service and received award of Associate of the Royal Red Cross. His brother Lieutenant George Shirley Donaldson, M.C. served with the 55th Battalion.

Arthur Alfred Felton, Lieutenant, 4th Battalion, A.I.F.

• Arthur Felton was the son of Maurice Ernest Henry Felton and the late Diana Maxfield Felton of 'Arthursleigh', Junction Road, Hornsby. The 1915 Sands Directory lists the address as Coonanbarra Road, Wahroonga.

• Arthur was killed in action on 17 April 1918, aged 21 years. He is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux memorial, Somme, France. It is the Australian National Memorial erected to commemorate all Australian soldiers who fought in France and Belgium during the First World War, to their dead and especially to those whose graves are not known. The 10,700 Australian servicemen named on the memorial died on the battlefields of the Somme, Arras, in the German advance of 1918, and the Advance to Victory.

• On the Wahroonga War Memorial, he is shown as having enlisted in 1915. 

Leslie Thomas Manning Fitzgerald 239, Sergeant, 9th Battalion, A.I.F.

• Manning Fitzgerald was the son of John Timothy Fitzgerald B.A. and Mary Catherine Fizgerald of Miller Street, Gilgandra, NSW. 

• He was listed as a Grazier. The form supplied to the Australian War Memorial stated the town or district in Australia with which he was chiefly connected and under which his name ought to come on the memorial, was Wahroonga, it was supplied by Mrs. Edward Fitzgerald, Mother, Brighton Street, Petersham, NSW.

• Manning died of wounds of 23 August 1916, aged 23 years. This occured on the same day his cousin, Harold Edward Fitzgerald, also lost his life at Boulicourt. 

• In the Beecroft Cheltenham History Group, it is recorded Manning Fitzgerald won a scholarship in the High School Examination. His name is on the Beecroft Public School Honour Roll, although the record supplied to the Australian War Memorial notes he was educated at Eltham College and Sydney Boys High School. Eltham College had been established by his mother in Cleveland Street, Wahroonga in 1908, before being acquired by Mr A. Smith Douglas in 1913 and relocated to Wahroonga House at the comer of Bums Road and Grosvenor Street.

• Manning Fitzgerald was buried in the Warloy Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, on the Somme, France, in grave VII. D.42. The Commonwealth SAR Graves Commission notes the fighting from July to November 1916 on the northern part of the Somme front accounts for the majority of the burials in the extension. 

Charles Wesley King 373, Private, 17th Battalion, A.I.F.

• Charles Wesley King was born at Paddington, NSW, to Charles and Esther King of Westbrook Avenue, Wahrooga.

• His occupation was listed as chauffeur. His father was a well known cab proprietor in Wahroonga, operating livery stables from Wahroonga Park.

• Charles was educated at the Gordon Superior Public School, although the name of C. King also appears on the honour roll of Warrawee Public School.

• He was killed at Gallipoli on Hill 60 on 27 August 1915, aged 24 years and nine months. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes on the afternoon of 6 August, after mine explosions and bombardment from land and sea, the position was stormed by the First Australian Brigade. By 10 August, the Turkish attacks had failed and the position was consolidated. It was held by the 1st Australian Division, which included the 17th Battalion, the North Sydney Regiment forming part of the 5th Brigade, until 12 September.
• Charles' name is included on panel number 59 of the Lone Pine Memorial. He is also on the honour roll at St. Johns Presbyterian (now the Uniting Church Wahroonga).

Brian Colden Antill Pockley, M.I.D. Captain, Australian Army Medical Corps, 1st Military and Naval Expeditionary Forces

• Brian Colden Angill Pockley was born on 4 June 1890 to Dr. Francis Antill Pockley and Helen Clare Pockley (nee Hooke), of Greystanes, Bums Road, Wahroonga.

• His early education was at Sydney Church of England Grammar School Shore and University of Sydney in the Faculty of Medicine. He was a resident of St. Paul’s College and graduated in Medicine.

• Pockley was a member of the Sydney University Scouts and with a number of members of this unit, enlisted in the 1st Military and Naval Expeditionary Force on 4 August 1914. The Force had been assembled rapidly with the intention of putting German Pacific wireless stations out of action.

• He landed with a Naval Reserve party at Kaba Kaul on 11 September and having attended to a wounded sailor, Able Seaman Williams, he was called to attend to a wounded German, Sergeant Major Mauderer. He took off his Red Cross brassard to protect the escort of the wounded sailor and, despite warnings, went forward to aid the wounded German. He was fired on and became the first Australian officer to fall in the Great War. He was killed in action on 11 September 1914.

• He was buried in the Rabal (Bita Pika) War Cemetery P.NB.G., grave number Aa.A.1. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes New Britain was formerly a German possession, and Rabaul was the scene of the first fighting by Australian troops in the First World War, when they seized the German wireless station. The War Cemetery stands on that site. The area is subject to earthquakes and instead of the traditional Commission headstones, each grave is marked by a bronze plaque on a low concrete pedestal.

• In the records of the Wahroonga Progress Association there is mention of proposals to erect a monument honouring Brian Pockley at the entranced to the family home, although nothing appears to have been done.

John Graham Antill Pockley, Lieutenant, 33rd Battalion, A.I.F.

• John Graham Antill Pockley was also the son of Dr. Francis Antill Pockley and Helen Clare Pockley (nee Hooke), of Greystanes, Bums Road, Wahroonga. He was born at North Sydney on 14 August 1891 and was married to Nancy Julia Pockley (nee Sargood), the daughter of Frederick Sargood of Rippon Grange, Water Street, Wahroonga.

• On joining the A.I.F. his place of enlistment was given as Wahroonga and he was described as a Grazier.

• He was killed in action on 30 March 1918, the day of the start of the first Battle of Villers Bretonneux. He is commemorated on panel 122 at the Villers Bretonneux Memorial, Somme, France, which is the Australian National Memorial, erected to commemorate all Australian soldiers who fought in France and Belgium during the First World War, to their dead, and especially to those whose graves are not known. The 10,700 Australian servicemen named on the memorial died in the battlefields of the Somme, Arras, the German advance of 1918, and the Advance to Victory. The names on this memorial are engraved in order of battalion, then alphabetically under rank.

• On the Wahroonga War Memorial, John is shown as having enlisted in 1915. 

George Burgoyne Owen, Captain, 3rd Division Field Artillery, A.I.F.

• George Burgoyne Owen was the son of the late George Owen and Janet M. Owen (nee Culver). The Sands Directory of 1915 records E. W. Culver as living in Rockesley, Stuart Street, Wahroonga.

• George died of sickness on 5 November 1918, aged 38 years. He was buried in the Busigny Communal Cemetery Extensio, Nord, France, in grave V111.A18. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes the great majority of the men whose names are contained in these Registers died in one of the three hospitals. After the Armistice, it was enlarged by the concentration into Plots 11 to V11 of the graves from a wide area between Cambrai and Guise.

Thomas Mountford Rowley 1726, Private, 57th Battalion, A.I.F.

• Thomas Mountford Rowley was the son of Reuben Thomas Rowley and Winifred Rowley of Lochville Street, Wahroonga. He was born at Redfern, NSW. Information given to the Australian War Memorial shows he had been educated at the Croydon Public School and that, although he had trained as a carpenter, his occupation on enlistment was that of Station Hand.

• He was wounded at Bapaume and died from those wounds on 16 March 1917, aged 24 years. He was buried in the Bernafy Wood British Cemetery, Montauben, Somme, France, in grave K.38. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes the cemetery was begun by a Dressing Station in August 1916 and used as a frontline cemetery until the following April. At the Armistice, it contained 284 graves and it was then increased by the concentration of graves from Benafy Wood North Cemetery and from the battlefields immediately east of the Wood.

• On the Wahroonga War Memorial, Thomas is shown as having enlisted in 1915. 

Arthur Edward Scrutton 971, Private, 54th Battalion, A.I.F.

• Arthur Edward Scrutton was the son of Robert Scrutton and Susannah Scrutton of Koorawatha, Cleveland Street, Wahroonga. He was married to Elsie Mabel Scrutton, also of Cleveland Street.

• He was born at Petersham, NSW, and was educated at Sydney Grammar School. His occupation was given as Analytical Chemist.

• Arthur was killed in action on the road between Bapaume and Cambrai on 29 March 1917, aged 34 years. However, there is no record of his burial on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

• The number 26 bell in the University of Sydney War Memorial Carillon was donated in his honour by Mrs. A. E. Scrutton, Mr. R. L. Scrutton and daughters. This bell also honours a number of others who lost their lives. On the Wahroonga War Memorial, Arthur is shown as having enlisted in 1916. 

Elliott Darcy Slade, Lieutenant, 33rd Battalion, A.I.F.

• Elliot Darcy Slade was the son of John Elliott Slade and Ada Slade of Elleker of Cleveland Street, Wahroonga. His birth was registered at Marrickville, NSW, but he enlisted from Wahroonga.

• He was educated at Gordon Public School and Sydney High School, graduating in Arts at University of Sydney. He was a member of the Sydney University Scouts. He was a second year Law student when he enlisted.

• Killed in Action 30th March 1918 aged 34 years

•  

• In May 1915, Elliot enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corps, sailing on the Hospital Ship Karoola in July. After several voyages, he transferred to the Infantry and after attending Duntroon was commissioned and sailed in January 1917. He crossed to France with reinforcements and joined the 33rd Battalion in October. He served as Passchendale and Villers Bretonneux and was promoted Lieutenant on 23rd June 1917. He was killed in action Villers Bretonneux on 30 March 1918, aged 34 years.

• His Commanding Officer wrote the following to his parents: "Your son distinguished himself throughout this difficult operation attack with 12 Lancers on a line from Marcelcave to Aubercourt by his excellent leadership, his coolness and courage, and by his determination." It was in this same action Lieutenant John Graham Antill Pockley, also of the 33rd Battalion, was killed.

• On the Wahroonga War Memorial, Elliot is shown as having enlisted in 1915. His name appears on the Villers Bretonneux memorial.

George Lewis Blake Concannon, M.I.D. Captain, 2nd Battalion, A.I.F.

• George Lewis Blake Concannon was the son of William Augustus Concannon and Elizbeth Lloyd (nee Jenkins). He was married to Evelyn in 1910 and they had a daughter, aged two at the time of his death. 

• He was educated at Armidale School and Leys College, Cambridge and at RS, and again on his return to Australia, as a Second Lieutenant in the Irish Rifles, later the 33rd Battalion. Reportedly, he attended as many courses of instruction and military camps as possible and read widely on military subjects. He was regarded as one of the most efficient and brilliant junior officers. Promoted to Captain on the formation of the 19th Battalion, Commonwealth Military Forces, he assumed command of the Hornsby Company. He was gazetted Major in May 1915. He is described as being of 'independent means' and at one time was a planter in New Guinea. His address was given as care of National Bank of Australasia Limited, Pitt Street, Sydney.

• Killed in Action 27th April 1915, aged 33 years

• He was killed in action at Russells Top, Walkers Ridge, Central Anzac, on 27 April 1915, aged 33 years. As a company commander, he led his men in a bonnet charge after having been wounded four times in two days. He applied field dressings, sat down, and directed the fire until he received his final wound, a direct rifle shot in the forehead.
• When news of Concannon's death was received, the Rector of St Paul’s Wahroonga advised the congregation of his landing and announced that "every day at noon the church bells would ring as an invitation to all who can do so to join in prayer for our brave representatives at the front."
• The Lone Pine Memorial stands on the site of the fiercest fighting at Lone Pine and overlooks the whole front line of May 1915. George is commemorated on panel 16. On the Wahroonga War Memorial, he is shown as having enlisted in 1914 and his rank is given as Major.