16

SNFEATURE NEWS DESK (03) 58 203 221; editor@sheppnews.com.au

SMS 042 SMS NEWS; www.sheppnews.com.au
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2008

Heavy price to pay

The Gorey family watched four of their five boys go off to war. These are their stories...
1918 began badly.
The terrible Passchen-
daele fighting had left the
Australians exhausted and
under strength and with
few new volunteers, rein-
forcements were hard to
come by.
The divisions were under
strain, but it was clear there
were still many more battles
to fight.
Victory would come be-
fore year’s end, but for the
Australian Corps includ-
ing the 21st Btn the most
important fighting still lay
ahead.
At Dernancourt they with-
stood the heaviest attack
ever made on them, and
at Villers-Bretonneux their
bayonet charge repelled
the Germans within sight
of Amiens. On July 4, under
Sir John Monash, they went
on the offensive with a well
planned and executed at-
tack at Hamel. Then came
the great victory of August 8
at Amiens.
Further success followed
when they captured the for-
tified hill of Mont St Quen-
tin in early September, then
broke the Hindenburg Line
four weeks later.
William Evans Gorey, a
sleeper cutter, soldier, rab-
bit trapper, orchardist and
restaurateur who lived an
interesting and varied life
was there at the front line
as those final battles were
played out.
On November 11, 1918
he wrote in his diary: “The
great day we have been
waiting for for so long, the
signing of the Armistice.
The excitement! All the bells
ringing and flags flying from
almost every house.’’
It must have been a relief
to have made it through
but the Gorey family paid
a heavy price for King and
country.
Four of five brothers went
to war yet the family still re-
ceived white feathers in the
mail, a symbol of cowardice
sent maliciously in the cir-
cumstances.
One son would not return,
another lived the lonely life
of a tramp, affected forever
by his wounds and prob-
ably his nightmares.
Bill Gorey was a ma-
ture soldier when he en-
listed aged 33 years and six
months on July 15, 1915.
Born at Corop on Janu-
ary 12, 1882, he had stayed
put for most of his life
(war years excluded) in the
Whroo-Shepparton area
and like it was for so many
the war was an adventure as
much as it was a duty.
According to his daughter
Evelyn, Bill worked early in
life as a sleeper cutter. She
recalls him saying that he
first set foot in Shepparton
in 1899, aged 17.
He must have liked the
town, which would have
been quite a contrast to the
farm at Whroo. He returned
Remembrance Day 2008 marks the 90th anniversary
of the armistace that ended the Great War.
It is also 90 years since the end game was played out
on the Western Front and Corporal William (Bill) Gorey,
who enlisted at Shepparton in 1915 was still in the
thick of the action. Bill made it through but his family
had sent four boys to war and was to pay a high price,
as DARREN LINTON reports.
A tank lies in ruins on the battlefield at Mont St Quentin which was one of the last and bloodiest conflicts of the war.
to Shepparton in 1910 and
worked at Ardmona.
Bill was a keen sports-
man, and at Whroo is
known to have participated
in cycling. He is also prob-
ably the Gorey referred to in
a Murchison Advertiser re-
port from October 16, 1903,
as being considered for se-
lection in the Whroo cricket
team.
The mines at Whroo pe-
tered out about 1908 and
the Gorey family shifted to
Shepparton soon after.
Bill enlisted at Sheppar-
ton and gave his father’s
name as next of kin.
Bill was described as be-
ing a Roman Catholic, 5 ft
5 in tall, 128 lb in weight,
with a swarthy complexion,
grey eyes and black hair. He
had vaccination marks on
his left arm.
Bill served with the 21st
Battalion in the Middle East
and France and was pro-
moted to Lance Corporal on
October 2, 1916 and Corpo-
ral on May 1, 1917.
Just two days later he re-
ceived gunshot wounds to
the face and was admitted
to the 12th General Hospital
at Rouen on May 4.
He was transferred aboard
the HS Western Australia
to England where he was
treated at the Richmond
Military Hospital. He was
Photograph courtesy Australian War Memorial.
discharged for furlough on
June 6 to report back for
duty on June 21.
His active service from
that time included peri-
ods at the front and train-
ing programs. He attended
bombing school and quali-
fied as an instructor from
gas school.
Bill returned to France on
April 4, 1918 after several
months in England and re-
joined his battalion in the
field on April 18. The final
push was on, and in July
and August he took part in
a major offensive against
the Germans which saw the
Allies cross the Somme and
seal victory.
On July 4 his diary records
the heavy shelling produc-
ing a deafening noise, but
being a “beautiful sight’’
as the Allies advanced on
Hamel.
“After dwelling a few min-
utes we go to do our job, by
this time the tanks are in
sight which added to the
roar; this being our first
time to have tanks accom-
panying us and they proved
a great assistance. Our ob-
jective was gained an hour
after starting, getting a large
number of prisoners,’’ he
records in his diary.
The following day the
Germans retaliated, with
aeroplanes being used to
identify the Australians’ po-
sition.
“We had to put up with a
good deal of shell fire until
relieved on the night of the
6th by the 19th Battalion
when we moved back to re-
serve trenches about six ki-
los back for a short rest.’’
On July 8, Bill was sent in
charge of a party of 20 men
on fatigue duty building
trenches close to a village.
Villers-Bretonneux would
later have the words: “Do
not forget Australia’’ print-
ed on school buildings and
above the blackboards.
“We remain for a month
during which time Fritz gas
shells us pretty frequently,
causing quite a number of
casualties,’’ Bill writes on
August 6, but the Austral-
ians are readying for an
offensive and on August 8
Bill’s diary entry is headed
“Our Day’’.
“At five in the morning
opens up the greatest con-
figuration of guns of all
calibre ever heard by any
of us, with tanks all around
us and the heavens full of
aeroplanes making an aw-
ful din.’’
“Never before have I seen
such a stream of prisoners
going to the rear, guns of all
descriptions in scores, ma-
chine guns, trench mortars,
etc and the dead Fritz were
terrible to gaze on.’’
On August 18, the men
had advanced more than
12 km and regained trench-
es lost in 1914. By August 20
the Germans were in rapid
retreat and Bill’s unit rested
for a few days in huts aban-
doned by the enemy before
crossing the Somme on Au-
gust 31.
Bill then had a few weeks’
rest, during which time he
caught up with his brother
James, sadly for the last
time. Together they inspect-
ed a “great 15 inch gun’’ and
participated in divisional
sports.
Soon after this diversion,
James was back at the front
as the Allies prepared for
their major offensive.
He was wounded in action
on October 3, 1918, and sus-
tained shell wounds to the
right arm, head and back.
James was treated initially
by the 5th Field Ambulance
and then transferred to the
16th General Hospital at Le
Treport on October 5, where
he died on October 13.
Just 29 days later the
Armistace was signed and
peace declared.
Bill welcomed the Armi-
stice on November 11 as
“. . . the great day we have
been waiting for’’.
He fought in some of the
bloodiest and most influen-
tial battles on the Western
Front including Pozieres,
Mouquet Farm, Bullecourt,
Villers Bretonneux, Hamel
and Mont St Quentin and
lived to tell the tale.
 Continued next page