Ballarat’s Pozieres men remembered

A SHORT service to commemorate the one hundred and third anniversary of the Battle of Pozieres will take place this Sunday at 11am at the Arch of Victory.

Twenty-six Ballarat men died in the French battle which began on 23 July, 1916 and lasted over a month throughout places including Mouquet Farm and the Windmill.

Local men, George Everett James, Clarence Gerald Parkinson, Thomas George Thwaites, Harold Barber, Bertrand Allenby Boyce, Henry Jesse Trimmer Brown, Stanley Joseph Callow Champion, William Charles Coxon, John Pearce, William Henry Thurling, Victor Grose Warburton, James Phillip Zahnleiter, Charles Edward Hardman, Clarence Walter Sharp, Eric Thomas Brind, Charles Herbert Harrop, Charles Thomas Hill, Ernest Charles Gilbert Youdan, Francis Dysart Lever, Harold Illingworth Clark, John Fenotti, Neil MacDonald, William James Gingell, Frederick Preisig and Harold Stanley Yates were killed at Pozieres. Their names will be called during the service.

The commemoration is to be hosted by the Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee. President, Garry Snowden said the impact on the Ballarat community must have been devastating.

“The tragedy of these losses is further magnified when you consider that 19 of those men have no known grave, and their families were denied even the slight comfort of knowing that their loved one had a grave and headstone bearing his name,” he said.

“At least in our Avenue of Honour, the sacrifice of each of these men is commemorated by a tree and a plaque bearing his name.”

Captain George Everett James was the first “Avenue man” to be killed at Pozieres. Home for Captain James was Chisolm Street, Soldiers Hill.

“The son of John and Elizabeth James, he was educated at Ballarat High School. He was a teacher at Mount Rowan State School when he enlisted in January 1915,” Mr Snowden said.

Part of the Gallipoli campaign, he was shot during a Turkish counterattack that year. After the evacuation, he was in Egypt and then France. He died at Pozieres on 24 July, 1916 having been wounded.

“He was 25 years of age. His younger brother, John Cullen James also served but returned safely to Australia in May 1919.”

The whole Ballarat community is invited to the Arch on Sunday morning to acknowledge Captain James and his colleagues.

“Any citizen, young or old, will be welcome to lay a floral tribute during the service, but of course we will be very pleased to involve any descendants of the men being remembered,” Mr Snowden said.

“The service will include some stories that highlight the impact of these losses on family and friends at home.”

Australia lost 6800 people by the time Pozieres concluded.