SAPPER WILLIAM COLEMAN
517 – 2nd Tunnelling Company
William Coleman was born at Boors Plains, South Australia about 1873. His military experience was gained by eighteen months with the Mounted Rifles but discontinued because he left the district. In 1915 he was a labourer but had previously been a miner.
On October 15, 1915 he enlisted in Adelaide, S.A. at almost forty-two years of age and passed the medical examination. Attestation Forms reveal he was 173cms (5ft 8ins) tall and weighed 67.7kgs (149lbs) with a chest expansion of 88-93cms (34½-36½ins). Dark was his complexion with brown eyes and dark hair and his eyes tested to good vision. Distinctive marks were two vaccination scars on his left arm. Presbyterian was his religion. He nominated Mrs Emily Francis Coleman of Nortens Summit, S.A. as his next-of-kin and allotted two-fifths of his pay to solely support her as they had no children. ‘The Oath’ was signed and taken the same day.
He commenced basic training with E Coy at the 2nd Depot Battalion in Adelaide, S.A. with the number B8392 from October 14 to October 31, 1915. He was transferred the next day to the No. 2 Company Mining Corps at their Casula Camp near Liverpool, NSW. The Regimental number 517 and the rank of Sapper were assigned to him. Final Home Leave was taken from November 21 to 26, 1915.
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.
The Corps boarded HMAT A38 Ulysses in Sydney, NSW on February 20 and sailed for the European theatre. Arriving in Melbourne, Victoria on February 22 the Miners camped at Broadmeadows for a stay of 7 days while further cargo was loaded.
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.
Leaving Melbourne on March 1, Ulysses arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia on March 7 where a further 53 members were taken on board.
On Wednesday March 8, 1916 the whole force, with their band and equipment, paraded at Fremantle prior to leaving Victoria Quay at 9.30 o’clock.
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.
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.
Finally departing Fremantle on April 1, Ulysses voyaged via Suez, Port Said and Alexandria in Egypt. 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 troops were transhipped to HM Transport B.1 Ansonia, then on to Valetta, Malta before disembarking at Marseilles, France on May 5, 1916. As a unit they entrained at Marseilles on May 7 and detrained on May 11 at Hazebrouck.
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’.
On August 24, 1916 the Red Cross Society (South Australian Division) wrote to Base Records inquiring about William Austin Coleman who enlisted twelve months before. Base Records replied on August 29 that his name did not appear on the indexed rolls of the A.I.F. If the inquirer could furnish further details including a personal description they may be able to locate the name on the records.
Sapper Coleman was transferred to the 2nd Tunnelling Company on December 24, 1916.
The 2nd Tunnelling Company had been transferred to the Nieuport Bains sector of Belgium and to report to the 29th French Division. They went to work at once tunnelling in a small area of the sand dunes held by the British beyond the Yser.
The Official History by C.E.W. Bean records the following:
“The British dune area beyond the river was only 600 yards deep bya mile wide. Bordering the beacha long dune ran through the British line into the German line; and 250 yards inland another, known as the "Black Dune," also ran curving across No Man's Land, the two enclosinga curiously circular flat which had formed part ofa well-known golf-links. Any digging in the level sand almost immediately ran into deep water; but by tunnelling into the dunes, and keepinga few inches above water-level, 15 or 20 feet of head-cover could be obtained, and the German strong-points on those dunes might be undermined.
The company, 566 strong, had been increased by the attachment of 160 of its reinforcements and working parties of 500 British Infantry. Three-quarters of this force were worked beyond the Yser, and, within two anda half weeks, their tunnels were approaching No-Man's Land and, General Harvey's doubts had been dispelled. In addition the battalion headquarters was practically completed, and one underground communication trench had gone 100 yards with five entrances at intervals, and was being simultaneously worked on at several points farther ahead.
The story of the 1st Division and the Tunnellers isa short one as the Germans easily overran their position on July 10, 1917. The sandbagged trenches had given little protection from the bombardment, and the infantry losses had been very severe. The Australians and attached working parties in the tunnels were fairly secure, except where tunnels were broken in by minenwerfer shells; indeed, for some of these the first evidence of the attack was the non-arrival of reliefs to dig them out. Recognising then that they were cut off, Lieutenant W. M. Mortensen and Corporal M. G. Dunn witha dozen men in one of the tunnels barricaded the gallery and held out until dawn next morning, when the exhaustion of the air and its pollution by German smoke-bombs thrown from the sap-head forced them to surrender.”
Sapper Coleman was deemed killed in action and recorded as the company’s only fatal casualty for that day although another Sapper was killed and remained unaccounted for until after the war. No further information was given and Coleman’s body was never recovered. A Field Service Report was filed on August 1, 1917.
On July 21, 1917 his next-of-kin was notified of his death. As from September 21, 1917 Mrs Emily Francis Coleman of Rob Roy Hotel, Halifax Street, Adelaide, S.A. was granted a pension of $4 (£2) per fortnight.
The Australian Kit Store forwarded his personal items in a package on the ship Toromeo which contained the following articles:
Testament, Metal brooch and a Letter.
His widow Mrs Emily Coleman receipted delivery of the package on November 1, 1918.
The Circular about Australian Graves was posted to his widow on November 28, 1919 and a final notice sent on December 8, 1921.
Her address in 1921 was “Acton”, Harriett Street, Croydon Park, S.A.
For his supreme sacrifice Sapper 517 William Coleman, 2nd Tunnelling Company was awarded the British War Medal (32058) which was dispatched to the Commandant 4th Military District on December 16, 1921 for delivery to Mrs Coleman. The Victory Medal (31835) was sent to his widow on February 19, 1923.
The pamphlet “Where the Australians’ Rest” and the Memorial Scroll (32742) were forwarded to Mrs Coleman on January 12, 1922 and the Memorial Plaque went out August 31, 1922 and was receipted on December 22, 1922.
The Official Secretary for the Commonwealth of Australia, Australia House, London wrote to Base Records on March 25, 1924 after previous communications of December, 1923 and January, 1924 in regards to the German attack on Nieuport on 10/11 July, 1917 noting that the late 517 Spr. W. Coleman, 2nd Aust. Tunnelling Company for whom no known grave information was held, was killed in action on 10.7.1917. Confirmation whether he met his death on that date would be appreciated. A memo from Base Records dated May 3, 1924 advised that of the Australian personnel who participated in the action at Nieuport the only fatal casualty reported was that of the late 517 Sapper William Coleman, 2nd Tunnelling Company.
The firm of Fred. O. Emanuel and Pearce, Solicitors wrote on September 7, 1932 to Base Records on behalf of Mrs Elizabeth Coleman, wife of William Austin Coleman, who desired to ascertain if the information she had been supplied that her husband had been killed in action on or about July 10, 1917 was correct. He was believed to have enlisted in South Australia and been a miner working in the Wallaroo Mines at that time.
Base Records replied two days later stating that they were unable to trace William Austin Coleman as a member or the A.I.F. However, records were held for Sapper William Coleman who enlisted in Adelaide, S.A. and was reported killed in action on July 10, 1917. But as he nominated Mrs Emily Francis Coleman as his wife therefore it would not appear to be that he is identical with the subject of your inquiry. The solicitor sent a letter of thanks dated September 12, 1932.
Sapper Coleman’s name is commemorated on The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial for those who have no known grave.