Army Training in Australia 1916

A week after  Bernie, joined  the Conscription Referendum was defeated. While many soldiers were for conscription they were worried about non volunteers joining their ranks. Veteran of Gallipoli Archie Barwick recorded in his journal , that many soldiers were for conscription. Others felt that men should be volunteers only, as these men would "have your back".

Anti-Conscription Poster.

Basic training  

Training in a Pioneers battalion was hard work. Pioneers assisted the engineers digging trenches, building roads etc. As Bernie had said his occupation was labourer he would have been seen as a good candidate for the Pioneers. "A Pioneer Battalion was essentially a construction and labour unit. During World War I it was employed to construct road works (including corduroy roads [2]), to dig communications trenches, insert ‘duck board’ tracks, build saps, and extend ‘light rail’ systems. They were considered to be the ‘handy men’ of a Division and often completed their essential work under fire. The 1916 influx of 5th Pioneer reinforcements consisted of mainly tradesmen, miners and craftsmen, mostly originating from South and Western Australia (Inside History)".

In Australia,  training was mainly exercises, long route marches and gaining fitness. Physical training required very little equipment. However, soldiers had to be more than physically tough they had to be mentally tough as well.  The long route marches , cross country runs, in full kits, obstacle crossing drills, bayonet fighting, rope climbing, stretcher carrying and crawling along low barbed wire. 

All this was designed to toughen the men up. The major incentive for not giving up was the fear of letting your mates down (Silent Voices pg 32-33).

Basic training covered a range of topics including;

• cleanliness and care of feet 
• infantry training 
• marching 
• musketry training (including care of arms and ammunition and theory of rifle fire) 
• physical fitness 
• night and day visual training 
• judging distance 
• movements at night 
• noises at night 
• guards and outposts 
• construction of field defenses and obstacles
• use of entrenching equipment and tools 
• bayonet fighting

Meanwhile in France the 27th Battalion was preparing for the second battle of the Somme, and were digging trenches East of Flers. The 5th Pioneers were busy preparing the groundwork.

Pioneers were trained firstly as soldiers and could be transferred to other divisions or units depending on the requirements of the time.

Six months of training complete Bernie was set to leave Adelaide on the HMAT See Beang.

The HMAT A48 Seang Bee weighed 5,849 tons with an average cruise speed of 13 knots or 24.07 kmph. It was owned by the Lim Chin Tsong, Rangoon, and leased by the Commonwealth until 12 May 1917.

Where was James?

31st Battalion soldiers training for 3rd Battle of Ypres.

His brother James has begun fighting in in Flanders in November 1916. He arrived in France and was hospitalized with the Mumps. He returned to the battle field for a month. He spent some time in hospital with various illnesses that today would have easily been treated with antibiotics. The unhygienic conditions in the trenches meant the slightest scratch could become severely infected. The 31st Battalion War Diaries describe a very strained existence for the soldiers. If they were not at the front facing shell, shot or gas they were out the back if line training.

Where was George? 

Ambulance Duty.

George  was failing in health. Perhaps his age or the harsh conditions, the cold and the damp of England. He was hospitalized twice in France with pleurisy, he was transferred to England to be hospitalised again with bronchitis. In August 1917, he was returning to Australia on the Benella. He was discharged from the Army 8/11/17. His discharge papers stated he was   discharged in Adelaide with his disabilities listed as, chronic bronchitis and over aged.