LYONS BROTHERS – Michael & Thomas
SAPPER THOMAS LYONS
4774 – 2nd Tunnelling Company
Thomas William Hill Lyons was on born 12 April 1887 at Beaconsfield, Tasmania, the son of John Lyons and Emma (nee McKercher).
A medical examination at Queenstown on 27 March 1916 recorded that he was 28 years and 11 months of age. He was 5ft 7ins tall and weighed 168 lbs. He had a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. He was of the Roman Catholic faith.
He stated he was a Miner by trade, adding that he had completed a 4½year apprenticeship as a Blacksmith with Mr. Frank Vincent. A second Application states that he had not been an apprentice and was a Miner by trade.
He named as his Next-of-Kin his mother Mrs Emma Lyons of Lyell Road, Queenstown, Tasmania.
He signed the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’ on 22 March 1916, and the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ on 3 April 1916 at Claremont, Tasmania as ‘Thomas Lyons’, omitting his other given names.
On 24 April 1916 at Claremont he was appointed to No.5 Company Miners. On 29 April at Broadmeadows, Victoria he was appointed to No.5 Tunnelling Company. Thomas embarked at Melbourne on 25 May 1916 on board Warilda.
Two Sections of the Northern recruits to form the No.4 Company had embarked from Brisbane, Queensland early in May, 1916 aboard HMAT A69 Warilda for Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). Six officers and 152 other ranks together with the 1st Reinforcements of fifteen other ranks made up the two sections.
At Rosebery Park, Sydney, NSW they joined their Headquarters and two sections (8 officers & 153 O.Rs.) plus 1st Reinforcements consisting of one officer and seventeen other ranks for final training.
The 7713-ton transport departed Sydney, NSW on May 22, 1916 and collected in Melbourne, Victoria the No 5 Company recruited from Victoria, South Australia & Tasmania consisting of a Headquarters and 2 Sections (8 officers & 173 men) (3 M.D.). 1 Section from Tasmania (3 officers & 76 O.Rs); also 1st Reinforcements for No 5 Company (17 men from Vic. & 8 men Tas.) The ship departed on May 25, 1916 for Adelaide, S.A. to collect one Section of 3 officers & 76 O.Rs with 1st Reinforcements of 8 O.Rs.
Docking at Fremantle, W.A. on June 1, 1916 No 6 Company recruited from W.A. of 14 officers and 325 O.Rs along with 1st Reinforcements of 1 Officer & 32 O.Rs embarked and Warilda departed the same day for the European theatre.
Durban, South Africa was reached on June 16, 1916 and Cape Town on June 21, 1916 while St Vincent completed the African ports of call on July 7, 1916. Discipline was fairly good except at intermediate ports where soldiers going Absent Without Leave caused concern. The fifty-eight day voyage experienced remarkable pleasant weather and terminated at Plymouth, England on July 18, 1916. Four, Five and Six Companies comprising of 1064 officers and other ranks were detrained to Amesbury and Tidworth to begin training for the front.
A ‘Mining Corps’ did not fit in the British Expeditionary Force, and the Corps was disbanded and three Australian Tunnelling Companies were formed. The Technical Staff of the Corps Headquarters, plus some technically qualified men from the individual companies, was formed into the entirely new Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company (AEMMBC), better known as the ‘Alphabetical Company’.
No.2 Company of the Mining Corps became the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company (2ATC) and members of No.5 Company were absorbed into it.
Thomas proceeded overseas to France on 22 September 1916 and marched in to the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot (2ADBD) on 26 September. He marched out to the 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion on 12 October.
The 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion was an advanced section of the Base Depot. Formed at La Motte, France on June 6, 1916 with Captain N. Macrae being seconded from the Mining Corps as Adjutant and Quartermaster, the Battalion had an initial strength of 21 Officers and 1003 Other Ranks, mainly Infantry. The Battalion organised works near the lines and through duties would accustom the reinforcements to war conditions before being assigned to a company in the field.
For a time, all infantry reinforcements were drawn from this unit. Heavy losses at Pozieres in July through September 1916 caused all infantry to be directly absorbed into their fighting units.
The Battalion continued to be a transit unit for tunnelling reinforcements and in October 1916 there were 9 officers and 203 men in the Battalion, which now served as a tunnelling company, working with the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company at St Eloi, The Bluff and the Ravine (near Ypres). On 5 November 1917 the 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion was abolished.
On 26 October Thomas was attached to the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company (1CTC). Thomas was officially taken on strength of 2ATC on 25 December 1916 while still attached to 1CTC.
He reported sick on 2 January 1917 and was admitted to the 1st New Zealand Field Ambulance with influenza, rejoining his unit on 7 January.
On 25 January 1917 he was admitted to the 139th Field Ambulance from 1CTC with dental caries. He was transferred to 47 D.R.S. and admitted with pyrexia, being discharged to his unit on 22 March.
He marched in to the Australian Infantry Base Depot (AIBD) at Rouelles on 28 August 1917 and was transferred to the Australian General Base Depot (AGBD) at Havre, before rejoining his unit on 9 September.
On 28 December he was admitted to the 57th Field Ambulance with a sprained right ankle which he had suffered accidentally when a piece of timber fell on him. He was transferred to the 56th Casualty Clearing Station on 29 December and then to Ambulance Train 16 on 31 December.
He was admitted to the 6th General Hospital at Rouelles on 1 January 1918 and on 12 January he was evacuated to England on Hospital Ship Grantully Castle where he was admitted to The King George Hospital, Stanford Street, London, with a sprained ankle on 13 January.
On 31 January he was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford. He was discharged to furlough on 11 February to report to No.4 Command Depot at Hurdcott on 25 February. He marched in to Hurdcott on 20 February and reported sick. He was placed in Camp Isolation on 21 February, reporting back to No.4 Command Depot on 4 March. On 9 March he was back in Camp Isolation, and then back to No.4 Command Depot on 15 March.
On 27 March he was charged with neglecting to obey orders, “dress”, and awarded 3 days Confined to Barracks.
On 5 April Thomas was again placed in Camp Isolation and on 8 April he was admitted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Bulford. He was discharged from hospital on 11 April and marched in to the Conversion Training Depot at Parkhouse. He marched back in to No.4 Command Depot on 28 May and on 7 June marched out to the Overseas Training Battalion at Longbridge-Deverill.
He was admitted to the Military Hospital at Sutton Veny on 15 June with P.U.O. (pyrexia of unknown origin) and was discharged back to the Overseas Training Battalion on 28 June.
On 16 July 1918 Thomas was charged with (1) neglect to obey A.I.F. Order 719 of 22 June 1917 (2) refusing to obey an order given by M.P. – forfeits 2 days pay.
Thomas proceeded overseas to France on 25 July 1918 and marched in to AGBD on 26 July 1918, rejoining 2ATC on 1 August.
He reported sick on 24 November 1918 and was admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital with ‘I.C.T. ankle’. He was transferred to the 1st Australian Convalescent Camp at Havre on 30 November, being admitted there on 2 December. On 10 December he was discharged to the AGBD, where it was noted that he was ‘still in Depot’ on 5 April 1919.
Thomas left France on 10 June 1919 and marched in to No.2 Group, Sutton Veny on 11 June, ending his association with the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company.
2ATC had relieved the 172nd Tunnelling Company, R.E. in May 1916 in the Neuville St Vaast/Vimyarea. They supported the Australian 5th Division at Fromelles and relieved the Canadians at the Bluff in January 1917. The Company moved to Nieuportin the same month, to construct subways for Operation Hush. Involved in enemy attack - Operation Strandfest - in this coastal sector in July 1917, recorded in the official histories as ‘The Affair at Nieuport Bains’. In April 1918, troops of the Company fought a large fire in Peronne.
Following the Armistice, members of the company were involved in the clearance of mines and delayed-action booby-traps and in the re-construction of civilian infrastructure.
Thomas left London on 22 July 1919 on board Ulysses for return to Australia, disembarking at Melbourne on 2 September.
He was discharged from the A.I.F. in Tasmania on 25 October 1919. He was entitled to wear the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
The 1922 Electoral Rolls for Wilmot/Beaconsfield record:
Lyons, Thomas William – Bell Street - labourer
Carr Villa Cemetery records show: Lyons, Thomas William - burial number 6683; 13 December 1926; block A2; grave 188.
SAPPER MICHAEL LYONS
1273 – 3rd tunnelling Company
Michael Lyons was born at Beaconsfield, Tasmania.
A medical examination at Queenstown on 7 August 1915 recorded that he was 21 years and 4 months of age. He was 5ft 9ins tall and weighed 12 stone. He had a dark complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. He was of the Roman Catholic faith.
He stated he was a Labourer by trade and named as his Next-of-Kin his widowed mother Mrs. Emma Lyons of Queenstown, Tasmania.
He signed the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’ on 7 August 1915, and the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ on the same day at Claremont, Tasmania. On 16 December 1915 at Claremont he was appointed to the No.3 Company Miners. Michael embarked at Sydney on 20 February 1916 on board Ulysses.
At a civic parade in the Domain, Sydney on Saturday February 19, 1916, a large crowd of relations and friends of the departing Miners lined the four sides of the parade ground. Sixty police and 100 Garrison Military Police were on hand to keep the crowds within bounds. The scene was an inspiriting one. On the extreme right flank, facing the saluting base, were companies of the Rifle Club School; next came a detachment of the 4th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, then the bands of the Light Horse, Liverpool Depot, and the Miners’ on the left, rank upon rank, the Miners’ Battalion.
Following the farewell parade in the Domain, Sydney, the Australian Mining Corps embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on 20 February 1916 on board HMAT A38 Ulysses.
The Mining Corps comprised 1303 members at the time they embarked with a Headquarters of 40; No.1 Company – 390; No.2 Company – 380; No.3 Company – 392, and 101 members of the 1st Reinforcements.
Ulysses arrived in Melbourne, Victoria on 22 February and the Miners were camped at Broadmeadows while additional stores and equipment were loaded onto Ulysses. Another parade was held at the Broadmeadows camp on March 1, the Miners’ Corps being inspected by the Governor-General, as Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth military forces.
Departing Melbourne on 1 March, Ulysses sailed to Fremantle, Western Australia where a further 53 members of the Corps were embarked. The ship hit a reef when leaving Fremantle harbour, stripping the plates for 40 feet and, although there was a gap in the outside plate, the inner bilge plates were not punctured. The men on board nicknamed her ‘Useless’. The Miners were off-loaded and sent to the Blackboy Hill Camp where further training was conducted. After a delay of about a month for repairs, The Mining Corps sailed for the European Theatre on 1 April 1916.
The ship arrived at Suez, Egypt on 22 April, departing for Port Said the next day; then on to Alexandria. The Captain of the shipwas reluctantto take Ulysses out of the Suez Canal because he felt the weight of the ship made it impossible to manoeuvre in the situation of a submarine attack. The Mining Corps was transhipped to B1 Ansonia for the final legs to Marseilles, France via Valetta, Malta. Arriving at Marseilles on 5 May, most of the men entrained for Hazebrouck where they arrived to set up their first camp on 8 May 1916.
A ‘Mining Corps’ did not fit in the British Expeditionary Force, and the Corps was disbanded and three Australian Tunnelling Companies were formed. The Technical Staff of the Corps Headquarters, plus some technically qualified men from the individual companies, was formed into the entirely new Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company (AEMMBC), better known as the ‘Alphabetical Company’. No.3 Company became the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company (3ATC)
On 2 August 1916 Michael was charged with: (1) disobedience of orders; (2) bringing drink into billet. He was awarded 4 days No.1 Field Punishment for the fist offence and 3 days No.1 Field Punishment for the second offence and total forfeiture of 4 days pay.
On 21 November he was fined 10 shillings for being drunk.
Michaels’ records show he was buried at Pont D’Achelles, 2 miles N.E. of Steenwerck and 3 miles N.W. of Armentieres.
Note: Commonwealth War Graves records his place of burial as Hersin Communal Cemetery Extension.
Michael Lyons was a member of 3ATC from May 1916 until his death in November 1916. 3ATC first saw action at Boers Head in the lead up the Fromelles diversion ‘stunt’ of July 1916. The Company was allocated to the First Army and were engaged variously at Laventie-Fauquissart, Givenchy, Loos, Lens, Double Crassiers and Vermelles and other places on the Western Front.
Emma Lyons, widowed mother of 1273 Michael Lyons, was granted a War Pension of 40/- per fortnight from 15 February 1917.
Michaels’ personal effects, comprising only a pocket wallet, was forwarded to his mother, Mrs. G. E. Lyons of Queenstown, Tasmania, and was signed for by Mrs. Gladys Emma Lyons on 26 August 1919.
In May 1920, Emma Lyons of Beaconsfield, applied for the War Gratuity in respect of deceased soldier: Lyons, Malcolm Michael, 1273, Private, 3rd Tunnelling Company. She stated she was the mother of the deceased soldier, that his father was dead and that the deceased soldier had never been married.
She further stated that she was in receipt of a £2 per fortnight War Pension paid at the Beaconsfield Post Office.
In November 1921 Mrs. G.E. Lyons signed for the Memorial Scroll and King’s Message in connexion with the late 1273 Sapper M. Lyons. In the same month she received the pamphlet “Where The Australians Rest”.
In December 1921 Mrs. E. Lyons signed for three copies of a photograph of the grave of the late 1273 Sapper M. Lyons, 3/Tunn. Coy.
In August 1922 Emma Lyons signed for the Memorial Plaque in connexion with the late No. 1273 Sapper M. Lyons, 3rd Tunnelling Coy.
In March 1923 Michael’s Victory Medal was forwarded to his mother.
© Donna Baldey 2013
RESEARCH:
Children of John Lyons – b. 1861:
LYONSThomas William Hill – b. 1887
LYONSMargaret Grace – b. 1889
LYONSJohn Talbot L – b. 1890
LYONSTheresa May – b. 1892
LYONS, Malcolm Michael – b. 1894
LYONSLily Kate Elizabeth – b. 1895
LYONSPatrick – b. 1896
LYONSEmma Gladys – b. 1898
Emma McKercher born 1862
Emma McKercher married John Lyons at Launceston 4 August 1886.
1914/1919/1922 Electoral Rolls for Wilmot/Beaconsfield:
Emma Lyons – Grubb Street – domestic duties
Emma Lyons died 6 March 1923 age 56. Buried Beaconsfield General Cemetery, RC Section, with Margaret (d. 1907 age 78) and Theresa (d. 1926 age 70) McKercher