SAPPER FRANCIS HENRY WOODRIFF
833 – 2nd Tunnelling Company / Aust. Electrical & Mechanical Mining & Boring Company
Born in 1886 at Burwood, New South Wales (NSW), Francis was the son of Francis Henry and Margaretta Mary (nee Tingcombe) Woodriff.
Francis completed an ‘Application to Enlist in the Australian Imperial Force’ at Victoria Barracks, Sydney, NSW, on 11 January 1916. He stated his trade as Motor Mechanic and gave his address as ‘Combewood’, Penrith, NSW.
A medical examination the same day recorded that he was 29 years and 4 months of age. He was 5ft 9ins tall and weighed 183 lbs. He had a dark complexion, blue eyes and dark hair. Francis was of the Church of England faith.
A single man, he named as his Next-of-Kin his father Mr. Francis Henry Woodriff of ‘Combewood’, Penrith, NSW.
His application was accepted and he signed the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ at Casula, NSW on 1 February 1916 and the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’ on 2 February.
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On 10 February he was appointed to No.2 Company, Australian Mining Corps and embarked from Sydney on board Ulysses on 20 February 1916.
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’.
Under the new organisation, Francis was a member of the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company (2ATC), which first saw action at Cordonnerie before supporting the Australian troops at Fromelles in July 1916.
Francis was transferred to the AMMBC on 29 September 1916 and taken on strength of that unit on 30 September.
He was admitted to the 12th Casualty Clearing Station on 21 October with bronchitis. On 24 October he was transferred to the 13th General Hospital at Boulogne and on 3 November transferred to the 1st Convalescent Depot, also at Boulogne. He was discharged to Base Details on 10 November, rejoining his unit on 13 November 1916.
Francis was wounded in action (gassed) on 18 August 1917 and was admitted 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance and then to the 58th Casualty Clearing Station the same day. He was transferred to the 7th Canadian General Hospital at Etaples on 20 August. Francis was evacuated from Etaples to England on board Hospital Ship Stad Antwerpen on 30 August and admitted to the Pavilion General Hospital, Brighton. He was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, on 24 September. On 15 October he was granted furlough until 29 October when he marched in to No.2 Command Depot, Weymouth. He was transferred to No.4 Command Depot, Codford, on 3 November, and then to the Overseas Training Brigade at Longbridge Deverill on 1 December 1917.
He proceeded overseas to France on 9 April 1918 and marched in to the Australian General Base Depot (AGBD) on 10 April, rejoining his unit on 18 April.
Francis enjoyed some leave in France from 29 March to 8 April 1919. On 28 April he marched out to England for repatriation and demobilisation, marching in to No.1 Group at Heytesbury the next day. He marched out of Heytesbury to No.1 Group at Sutton Veny on 23 June 1919.
On 22 August 1919 at the Parish Church of Sutton Veny, Francis married 21-year-old Georgette Goimard of Westview Villa, Pound Street, Warminster, Wiltshire. Georgette was the daughter of Rene Paul Goimard, the Inspector of News Agents, Paris.
He proceeded on indefinite leave on 3 September 1919, awaiting the availability of a ‘family’ ship.
Francis and his wife left London on 2 December 1919 on board Shropshire for return to Australia. After stops at Liverpool and Manchester, Shropshie voyaged via Fremantle, Adelaide and Melbourne before the couple disembarked in Sydney on 30 January 1920. Georgette (Mrs. G. Woodriff) is recorded as an Unassisted Immigrant on the manifest of Shrophire.
Discharged from the A.I.F. in Sydney on 30 March 1920, Francis was entitled to wear the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
The AEMMBC, with a strength of little more than 300 men, was employed along the entire Western Front providing lighting and ventilation to dugouts and boring for water supplies where needed. They worked with all 5 Armies of the British Expeditionary Force.
Francis travelled to Hobart, Tasmania on board Zealandia in January 1930 in Saloon Class. Also on board in Saloon Class was a Miss E. Tomlinson
On 6 February 1930, Francis married Essie Clare Tomlinson. Essie was born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1890, the daughter of Henry Tomlinson and Matilda, nee Morgan.
It is not known what happened to Georgette.
The Electoral Roll for 1930 records Francis Henry Woodriff, ‘garage proprietor’, and Essie Clare Woodriff, living at “Kentville”, The Mall, Leura, NSW.
In December 1934 his medical and military records were forwarded to the Repatriation Commission, Sydney.
In August 1940 he received his Victory Medal at his address of 87 Frenchman’s Road, Randwick and in September 1940 his Returned Soldiers Badge.
In 1943 Francis is recorded as having ‘no occupation’ and he and Essie are still living at 87 Frenchman’s Road, Randwick North.
By 1949, and through to 1954, Francis is a ‘Turner’ and is living with Essie and son Peter Edward, a ‘student’, at 39 William Street, Hornsby.
The Electoral Rolls of 1958 and 1963 record Francis, ‘no occupation’, Essie and Peter, ‘Salesman’, living at 26 Grassmere Road, Killara.
Peter died at St Leonards, Sydney, in 1967. Francis and Essie were still living at the Killara address.
Francis Henry Woodriff died at St Leonards on 21 July 1968, the son of Francis Henry and Henrietta (Margaratta Mary Tingcombe (1859-1950)) Woodriff.
In 1980 Essie was still living at 26 Grassmere Road, Killara.
Reunions
Past members of the Australian Electrical & Mechanical Mining & Boring Company and Tunnelling Companies gathered on or about Anzac Day for a reunion luncheon. We have had access to some of their records, which were very well kept and are quite detailed.
Francis Woodriff first appears on the list in 1934 giving his address as Merriwa Street, Katoomba, NSW. A letter to him at that address was returned in 1939. He was not known at that address in 1955.
© Donna Baldey 2013
Siblings of Francis Henry Woodriff:
Jane Florence – 1859-1950
Allan Tingcombe Woodriff – 1890-1951 (son Geoffrey John Woodriff - WW2: N30621)
Geoffrey Besant Woodriff – 1894-1918
753 Geoffrey Besant Woodriff enlisted on 10 May 1915. A single farmer aged 21 years and 5 months, he named his father as his Next-of-Kin. Appointed to 7th Reinforcements, 4th Infantry Battalion. Embarked on 25 June 1915, disembarking on 16 August and proceeded to join the 18th Battalion at Gallipoli. Suffered shrapnel wounds to arm, hand and leg on 27 August and was evacuated to Mudros on 28 August and then England on 30 August. Admitted to Military Hospital, Hampstead on 16 September. Rejoined his unit at Moascar on 7 March 1916. Embarked at Alexandria on 18 March, disembarking at Marseilles on 25 March. Promoted Temporary Sergeant on 26 June 1916. Promoted to Sergeant on 5 November 1916. Reported sick with Trench Feet on 26 November and treated at 2nd General Hospital, Havre. Marched in to 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples on 31 December 1916. Placed in Segregation Camp on 20 January 1917 and admitted to 26th General Hospital with influenza on 3 February, rejoining the 18th Battalion on 28 February. Proceeded to Officer Cadet School, Oxford on 31 May. Appointed 2nd Lieutenant on 27 September 1917 and rejoined 18th Battalion in France on 20 October. Promoted to Lieutenant on 1 January 1918. Killed in action 19 May 1918. Buried at No.2 Military Cemetery Heilly (Map reference: K.13.D.25.85. Sheet 62.D.N.E.)
[HEILLY BRITISH CEMETERY No.2 (so called in relation to Heilly Station Cemetery), which was in the grounds of Heilly Chateau. It was made by units in April-August 1918, and it contained the graves of 79 soldiers from Australia and 24 from the United Kingdom.]
His personal effects were received by his father during 1918-19 including a sealed suitcase received from Miss M.E. Stilwell, “The Pines”, Windlesham, Surrey. War memorabilia was received by his father during 1921-23.
In August 1922 Australian Graves Services, London advised Base Records, Melbourne that they could not locate his grave and that the Imperial War Graves Commission had marked his file “No trace on research”.
Lts. Walters and Semple are buried in Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-L'Abbe, France and have headstones over their graves.
Geoffrey Besant Woodriff has no known grave.
He is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
His name is located at panel 87 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial.
LEST WE FORGET
Daniel Lethbridge Woodriff – 1897-1949
38407 Gunner Daniel Woodriff enlisted at Sydney, NSW on 17 May 1917, with his parents consent, at 19 years and 7 months of age, naming his father as his Next-of-Kin. Still a student, he was appointed to the Field Artillery Reinforcements on 18 July 1917 at Liverpool, NSW. Embarked on Canberra on 16 November 1917, disembarking at Suez on 21 December. Embarked on Kashgar at Port Said on 9 January 1918 disembarking at Taranto, Italy on 20 January, arriving at Southampton, England on 30 January 1918. Proceeded overseas to France on 22 April 1918 and marched in to the Australian General Base Depot, Rouelles. Joined the 10th Field Artillery Brigade on 3 May 1918.
Attached to 4th D.A.G. 6 September, rejoining his unit on 10 November. Admitted to 12th Australian Field Ambulance on 24 November 1918. Transferred to 41 Casualty Clearing Station and thence to the 6th General Hospital at Rouen on 27 November.
Left France on 16 December 1918 and admitted to 2nd Southern General Hospital, Bristol with influenza. Transferred to 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford on 20 December. Granted furlough from 23 December to 6 January 1919 when he reported to No.1 Command Depot, Sutton Veny. Admitted to Group Hospital from 4 to 21 February with influenza. Returned to Australia on board Khyber, embarking on 3 March and disembarking in Sydney on 14 May 1919. Discharged 8 June 2929 entitled to wear the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
He served in WW2: Regimental number: Q205055; Unit: 6 Voluntary Defence Corps.
His death on 27 January 1949 was deemed to be due to his war service and he was placed on the Imperial War Graves List on 20 September 1949. His medical documents were forwarded to Repatriation Commission in April 1949.
Kenneth Felix Woodriff – 1900-1961
Henry Oswald Woodriff – 1903-1982
Served in WW2: Regimental number: N443864; Unit: – 2 Engineer Stores Base Depot.
Margaritta Mary Woodriff – 1907-1980
Margarita married Douglas Campbell Tilghman at Penrith in 1947. Douglas was the son of Francis and Agnes Tilghman and died in 1971 at Nowra, NSW.
Margarita died at Yass, NSW.