Phillip Hall, Amble ANZAC

[Coquet]

I'm not going to post too many of these, [ I'll keep them for the 100 anniversary of the war next year ] but I thought hollydog might be interested in this one:





PRIVATE PHILIP HALL AMBLE AND ASHINGTON.

Mrs. Thompson of Ashington has received the sad news of her brother, who died of wounds received at the Dardanelles, on May 15th and was laid to rest at Alexandria, in Egypt. He was a painter with Mr Neil Young, of Amble. He emigrated to Australia in 1911 and when war broke out enlisted for service in the Australian contingent.


His Australian service papers have his trade as a "Paper Hanger", apprenticeship served with Mr Young, 5 years. He enlisted on the 13th October 1914 in Western Australia, aged 23 years and 9 months. He was 5' 9", Dark complexion, blue eyes, dark brown hair. His next of kin was his brother John, also living in Australia.
He joined the 16th Battalion and proceeded to Gallipoli on the 12th April 1915.
On the 2nd May he received a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and was evacuated the next day to the 17th General Hospital at Alexandria, arriving on the 6th. Here his wounds are described as gunshot wounds to lower spine and left and right thigh - severe. On the 13th he is described as dangerously ill. On the 16th he died of wounds and was buried on the 22nd in Chatby Military Cemetery.

Surviving Army correspondence with his next of kin reveal another brother; 5023 Private William Hall 28th Battalion A.I.F. was also killed in the war, so three brothers were at one time in Australia, with a married sister left in Ashington.



.......Lest we forget.......

[hollydog]

Thanks Coquet

[hollydog]

Very thought provoking. I always assumed that the ANZAC disaster in Gallipoli happened literally to people from a land down under who possibly/probably were descendants of British and other Europeans. It seems that was not always the case.
Philip Hall left Amble in 1911, Northumbrian born and bred, joined the Australian forces 3 years later and ended up buried in Alexandria amongst ANZAC casualties.
Fascinating what can turn up in history!

[Alan J.]

ANZAC's weren't the only, although the majority, of troops at Gallipoli. British troops were there as well. One of my mothers uncles, my great uncle, was there with the Royal Naval Division and later fought in France after being withdrawn from the Gallipoli disaster. I wonder if there was ever an opportunity for these local lads to come across one another whilst in transit or in rest areas.

[hollydog]

I wonder if there was ever an opportunity for these local lads to come across one another whilst in transit or in rest areas.[/QUOTE]

Neil Young's brother Frank was in Eygpt at that time I believe as well, in the Rifle Brigade. But before mobile phones etc. it was probably about knowing what regiment your friends were in and if you recognised the badge asking if they knew so and so!
How times have changed......

[mainy]

Allow me to introduce myself. I live in Belford . I'm a semi-retired electrician and amateur historian. I became interested in Philip Hall after I discovered where he'd written his name on the loft wall in a house at Broomhill. It reads, in pencil, "Philip Hall, painter and decorator, Bamburgh, 18 January, 1910" After some research I discovered enough about Philip to be able to write an article on him which I titled "Amble to Alexandria". This was originally for Belford History Society but later, after a few minor alterations, it was published in Tyne & Tweed magazine. Philip and two of his brothers, William and Albert are remembered on Bamburgh war memorial. I was thrilled to see your photograph of him as all the time I was researching this, I often wondered what he looked like. Do you know any more about his sister, Jenny Thompson? He also had half brothers and sisters called Wallace. Regards, Ian Main.

[Coquet]

Hi Ian, most interesting and unexpected! Did you access the battalion war diaries for the period around the date of his wounding by any chance?

[mainy]

No, I've never accessed war diaries, but there's plenty about the 16th battallion's campaign (massacre?) to be found on the internet. Together with the Australian army's site, the war graves commission and the census for Bamburgh 1891, 1901 and 1911 I was able to put together a lot of this sad but interesting story. Ian.

[Coquet]

Baby 700, The dominant high ground feature overlooking the Anzac landing area was believed to be lightly held by the Turks, who were distracted and reinforcing other parts of the line. As part of the attack on the 2nd May the 16th would advance up a narrow gully in front of Baby 700 then climb the steep ridge to their right, hold that ground, then the 13th AIF would advance from there to Baby 700. The New Zealanders would take the area to the left of the 13th, then join up with them. The Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Division, and two battalions of Royal Marines would be in support.




I can add for future reference the official account of the attack our Amble painter and decorator found himself in:


you can see on the map the position on the ridge taken by the 16th Battalion, "16"





"THE ATTACK ON BABY 700, 2ND MAY
One crowning mercy enjoyed by the Expeditionary Force in the early days of the campaign was the perfect spring weather. Later in the year the climate was to prove a remorseless enemy to the troops. But at the beginning of May climatic conditions were almost ideal for campaigning, and an unbroken series of brilliant days went far to hearten the troops in their otherwise depressing surroundings. This circumstance must not be overlooked when studying the events of April and May. Ideal weather was one of the two main factors—the other being the Turkish shortage of gun ammunition—which enabled the invaders to maintain their precarious foothold on the peninsula till further help could reach them.
At Anzac the chief problem facing General Birdwood's . corps at the beginning of May was the improvement of the position at the head of Monash Gully, where the Turks on Baby 700 still overlooked the greater part of that valley, as well as the trenches on Russell's Top and MacLaurin's Hill. For a day or two, according to the war diary of General Godley's division, the enemy's artillery fire practically ceased; and the erroneous impression prevailed that the majority of the Turks had been withdrawn to oppose the 29th Division, so that the Anzac corps was being actively contained by only a small force. In those circumstances, orders were issued by the corps for an operation to be carried out on the evening of the 1st May with the object of capturing Baby 700 and of incorporating in the eastern front of the Anzac position the whole of Mortar Ridge and 400 Plateau. Later in the day these divergent objectives were considered too ambitious, and that part of the operation affecting Mortar Ridge and 400 Plateau was cancelled. It was decided to postpone the attack till the evening of the 2nd May, and to confine it to an attempt on Baby 700 by three battalions of General Godley's division.
The general plan was as follows:
At 7 P.M. on the 2nd May Baby 700 was to be bombarded by naval and military guns for a quarter of an hour. At 7.15 P.M. the fire was to lift to Battleship Hill and Chunuk Bair, and the infantry to advance to the assault, the Otago Battalion (Lt.-Col. A. Moore) of the New Zealand Brigade moving by the western fork of Monash Gully and the 16th and 13th Battalions of Colonel J. Monash's 4th Australian Brigade by the eastern fork. The 16th Battalion (Lt.-Col. H. Pope) was to file up the narrow valley bed till the whole battalion was north of the foot of Quinn's Post, and was then to turn right-handed, climb the steep, scrub-covered hill-side, and seize and hold the crest from Quinn's Post to the northern end of Second Ridge. The 13th Battalion (Col. G. J. Burnage), following behind the 16th, was to continue the line from the head of Second Ridge to the summit of Baby 700. The Otago Battalion was to turn right-handed at the head of the western fork, and carry out the attack with its right flank directed on the summit of Baby 700, where it would join up with the left of the 13th Battalion, and its left on the seaward slopes of the hill. As soon as it had reached its objective, one company of the Canterbury Battalion from Walker's Ridge was to move forward across the Nek, and continue the line to the seashore near No. 1 Outpost. The Nelson Battalion (Royal Naval Division) was to be at Colonel Johnston's disposal as a support for the operation, and the Portsmouth and Chatham R.M.L.I. battalions were subsequently sent to reinforce the 4th Australian Brigade.
This carefully prepared but difficult scheme was unsuccessful, and its failure was due partly to the difficulties of the ground, partly to the troops' inexperience of night operations, and partly to the Otago Battalion being 1.5 hours late at the rendezvous in Monash Gully. On the afternoon of the 2nd the battalion was near the foot of Walker's Ridge. From this point to the rendezvous, via Russell's Top, was only a few hundred yards, but the Top was so exposed that Colonel Moore decided to move round via Anzac Cove and Shrapnel Gully, a distance of more than two miles. Unfortunately this route was very congested with traffic. Interminable delays occurred, and instead of reaching the rendezvous before seven o'clock the battalion did not arrive till 8.3o P.M.
The bombardment opened at 7 P.M., and with the 16th and 13th Battalions moving off punctually, a considerable advance was made on the right flank. But as soon as these troops reached the crest of Second Ridge they came under a heavy fire from their flank and rear, which led to some confusion. On the left the Otago Battalion eventually started its attack about 8.45 P.M.; but by this time the Turks were well prepared, and the New Zealand troops could do no more than occupy a line very slightly to the north of the existing position on Pope's Hill. Here they tried to entrench, but their right was out of touch with the left of the 13th, and their left, completely in the air, was badly enfiladed from the Nek.
Meanwhile on Walker's Ridge it was reported that the Otago Battalion had reached its objective, and a company of the Canterbury Battalion was pushed forward to support it via the Nek. Meeting with strenuous opposition this party was forced to retire, and after a second attempt had shared a similar fate, it was decided to send the rest of the battalion across Russell's Top into Monash Gully, with the object of reinforcing the Otago via the western fork of the gully. So difficult was the country that few of the battalion found their way by this route, but eventually a small party came up on the left of the Otago and continued the line of that battalion in the direction of the Nek. At the same time Colonel Monash sent forward a party of the 15th Battalion to fill the gap between the right of the Otago and the 13th.
About 1.30 A.M., believing that all was going well, General Godley placed the Portsmouth and Chatham Battalions R.M.L.I.at Colonel Monash's disposal to confirm the success; but then two battalions, which were bivouacking in Shrapnel Gully did not reach the foot of Pope's Hill till day was breaking.
Colonel Monash ordered them up the eastern fork of the gully to support the 16th Battalion, but by this time there was a good deal of confusion in that sector. Streams of wounded were pouring down the valley; the marine battalions, strung out in an attenuated line, had lost all cohesion; and though heavy firing could be heard at the top of the scrub-covered height above them, where the ridge rose like a wall on their right there was great difficulty in learning the situation. After considerable delay the leading platoons of the Portsmouth Battalion began to climb the steep hill-side, but a moment later a few shells from Australian guns, falling short, dropped on the summit of the ridge. The troops in the neighbourhood came pouring back into the valley, the marines came back with them and the whole line broke. After a fresh delay another effort was made to reinforce a small body of the 16th which still clung to the ridge, but it was too late. By midday all the gains in this part of the field had been lost.
Soon afterwards the troops on the left were also forced to retire. The Otago and Canterbury Battalions fell back into the gully, and a little later the 13th and 15th Battalions were obliged to conform. By the afternoon of the 3rd May not a man remained in advance of the positions held the day before, and the attempt to capture Baby 700 had resulted only in some six hundred casualties. Fortunately the Turks failed to take advantage of the resulting confusion, and there was no counter-attack.
For some time the failure of this attack was not realized at corps headquarters, where early in the morning it had been reported that all was going well. At 9 A.M. on the 3rd General Birdwood visited the Commander - in - Chief on board the Arcadian, and reported that the operation had enabled him to straighten out the left of his line, and that he now felt comparatively secure."




Here is the area in question. Photo take from Ari Brunu. As Walker's Ridge is on the left and Plugge's Plateau on the right, the ground the 16th were trying to take must be in the middle there somewhere just over Russell's top?

Looks impossible terrain.

[Coquet]

A failure. Par for the course in the Dardanelles. Only thing that went 'like clockwork' was the final evacuation.

Looks like the initial problem with this attack was the delay with the New Zealanders taking up their positions on the left.

[Coquet]

I lived in New Zealand for a few years and these guys that fought and died on the Gallipoli Peninsula have taken on an almost mythical status. 25/04/1915 is the date when to apron strings to the mother country were finally cut for both Australia and New Zealand. It is seen as the point when they stood on their own two feet as independent nations - nothing was the same again after that date. It is hard to overstress the importance of ANZAC Day down under!

I was at the Auckland War Memorial on the 25th of April every year to watch the 2 NZEF vets march past. Hard to keep a dry eye.

[Coquet]

I think it will be difficult to find his sister in the census with that common surname?

[Coquet]

Ian, what edition of 'Tyne & Tweed' was your article in? I don't have any copies but I do see them occasionally for sale second hand.

[Coquet]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NORTHUMBER...item5d44e6be60

an ebay one.

[mainy]

Tyne and Tweed Vol. 65, October 2011

[hollydog]

Thankyou Ian, he worked for my great grandfather in a very different world to today!

[mainy]

I take it he must have been working in that house when he wrote his name on the wall. Although based in Bamburgh I assume that he must have lodged somewhere in Amble while working for Young's.

[hollydog]

It was traditon to write your name as a decorator on the wall before wallpapering

[mainy]

His home was Bamburgh but I assume that he must have lodged in Amble while working for Young's.

[mainy]

Where he wrote his name was in the loft, just above the hatch. He must have put his head and shoulders through the hatch in order to so. Ian