36 Australian Heavy Artillery Group, 5th Reinforcements (Siege Artillery Brigade) in Sydney, 1916

Group photograph of the 5th Reinforcements Siege Artillery Brigade at South Head, Sydney, 10 March 1916

Reverse of photograph.

The photograph above is part of a new World War I collection which was recently donated to the library regarding the war service of Gunner Charles O'Shea of New Farm, Brisbane.  Charles enlisted in December 1915 and joined the 36 Australian Heavy Artillery Group, 5th Reinforcements, Siege Artillery Brigade.

The photograph was taken at South Head, Sydney, in March 1916, prior to embarkation on the HMAT Nestor on the 9th April.  The reverse of the photographic postcard has been signed by some of the men of the brigade, who very kindly have included their service numbers. This photograph was published in the Sydney Mail of the 22nd March 1916, p.17, and included the names of the men photographed:

Caption: These men form part of the Fifth Reinforcements of the R.A.A. Siege Brigade. Reading from left to right: Back Row: Gunners Luff , Woodland, Dalton, Robertson, Powter, Mason, Ion, Gregor, Campbell, Marriott, Paterson . Second row: Gunners Lewis, Hutton, Bedford, Dangar, White, Gwyther, Desmond, Spencer, O'Shea. Front row: Gunners Hartman, Wild, Laforest, Harrison, Gell, Rankin, Webber. Source: Sydney Mail, 22 March, 1916, p. 17.

The 30 men who signed the photograph are listed below with a link to their service records, held by the Australian National Archives.  Please note that some of the men do not appear in the photograph.

• Beaumont, John William (also known as Harold Claude Miller), No. 669
• Bedford, Andrew Thomson, No. 657
• Dalton, William James, No. 644
• Dangar, Frank Henry, No. 653
• Desmond, John Patrick, No. 651
• Gordon, George Leslie, No. 646
• Gregor, Charles Harold, No. 652
• Gwyther, Erle Cawdor, No. 648
• Harrison, George William, No. 641
• Hartman, Harry, No. 655
• Hislop, Noel Bowler, No. 667
• Hutton, Thomas Sidney, No. 606
• Ion, Frederick Charles, No. 659
• Laforest, William Raymond, No. 654
• Lewis, George Studley, No. 642
• John Luff, No. 650
• Marriott, William Benjamin George, No. 660
• Mason, Joseph, No. 643
• Milazzo, Emanuel, No. 645
• O'Shea, Charles, No. 666
• Paterson, Colin Alexander, No. 618
• Powter, Claude Jabez, No. 661

• Rankin, Clifford Egerton Lore, No. 662
• Robertson, Louis Leighton, No. 668
• Spencer, Thomas Robert, No. 649
• Webber, Edmund Charles Somerset, No. 663
• White, Arthur, No. 602
• Wild, John Henry, No. 665
• Woodland, Ernest Edwin, No. 664

Lynn Meyers, QANZAC100 Content Curator