A moving tribute from Gallipoli

THE impact of the First World War on small towns across Australia was profound.

Many young men did not return, and those who did were often changed forever.

Tooborac’s Hayes/Donaldson clan sent eight men to the battlefields of the Middle East and France, and only six of them came back.

Lance Corporal Albert ‘Abbie’ Hayes was killed in October 1917 at Passchendaele, Belgium, and his cousin Lance Corporal Joe Donaldson in April 1918 at Dernancourt, France.

One of Joe Donaldson’s older brothers, Mark Edward Donaldson, served in both the Boer and First World wars.

Mark was a member of the Victorian Imperial Bushmen, along with his cousin William Joseph Hayes – who was Abbie Hayes’s brother.

Both men later volunteered for the First World War, with William Joseph, known as Joe, also serving in the Citizen Military Forces in the Second World War.

Mark was born in 1873 to William Donaldson and his wife Maria, nee Hayes.

He was the fifth of 12 children, and his Boer War attestation paper states his occupation as boundary rider.

The Imperial Bushmen enlisted a number of men from the region in March 1900, but Mark was invalided home after less than a year, having spent two months in hospital with what the McIvor Times reported was “fever.”

He received a hero’s welcome on his return to Tooborac in January 1901 and the newspaper carried an effusive account of the proceedings.

“By the time the 8 o’clock train was due, a crowd had assembled to receive their soldier boy,” it reported.

“On arrival Mr Donaldson met with much greeting and congratulation, whilst many sang Home Sweet Home and patriotic songs.”

He was “borne to the town shoulder high by the crowd.”

The editor noted “I would say if you wish to gain the admiration of the people, become a soldier of the Queen.”

Mark Donaldson subsequently re-enlisted as part of the second commonwealth contingent for service in South Africa in January 1902, and he gave his age as 28 years and three months.

When Australia entered World War One in August 1914, he was quick to join up again.

But in October 1914, this was restricted to men between 18 and 38.

Undeterred, he shaved a decade off his age and stated he was only 32 years old.

Mark also signed up in Colac, more than 200 kilometres from Tooborac.

Whether this was because he was working in the area at the time, or because he didn’t want his true age to be more easily uncovered is unknown.

He entered the war as a driver in the 3rd Light Horse Brigade Train and was sent to Egypt as part of a contingent defending British interests in the face of Turkish aggression.

June 1915 saw his first hospital admission, in this instance for tonsilitis.

It was the beginning of a round of health issues that would eventually see him discharged on medical grounds at the end of 1917 with a diagnosis of myocarditis and general debility.

In mid-November 1915 he was briefly transferred to Gallipoli, but the evacuation of all allied troops meant he was back in Alexandria by boxing day.

However, his short time on the Turkish battlefield with all its attendant horrors appears to have left a strong impression, and he sent his mother this poem that she subsequently submitted to the McIvor Times.

It was originally published on 23 December 1915.

A SOLDIER’S THOUGHT
A light horse lad from a forest town
To pass the time, his thoughts put down,
While round him buzz the hungry flies,
In a narrow trench the soldier lies;
The Turkish troops not far away,
With deadly aim intent to slay.
Their bullets made the sand-bags fly,
While at every Turkish head we try.
Here life to us is but a span,
But then it’s sure he dies a man;
Even as I write these lines
I’m passing equipment down the lines,
The boys who wore it did their bit,
And now they’re in the honored pit.
To realize what warfare is,
One has to see the boys at bizz;
But may kind mercy spare your eyes,
For men go down like corn by scythes;
With thoughts like these upon one’s mind
It takes us back to where they’re kind–
Where peace and plenty hold full sway,
No shrapnel whizzing all the day.
No none of us, to you can tell,
If we’ll come home safe and well;
You read the news, Advance, Retreat,
And pray that Turkey may be beat ;
Every lad in his courageous heart,
Altho’ he does his manly part,
Prays to his Maker day by day,
That peace may come, and come to stay.
Australia sure has made a name,
The boys as soldiers play the game.
Reinforcements for the troops arrive,
And like true Britons, they all strive;
It’s liberty and right they back,
And for ever flies the UNION JACK.