302 Private WILLIAM CONSIDINE
[AKA Thomas O’Connor]1889-1919
William Considine served as an Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) infantry
soldier with the 13th Battalion during World War 1 (WWI) using an
assumed identity.[1] Apart from a handful of days in battle
William spent the first half of WWI training in Egypt and the second in France,
Germany and Poland as a Prisoner of War (POW).
William died on a Troop Ship during his return voyage to Australia in
May 1919.[2]
Born into a large farming family in County Clare, Ireland in late 1889,[3] William was the youngest
son of Patrick and Margaret Considine. Unemployed and living with his elderly
parents in 1911,[4]
by 1914 aged 23 he was living in Australia. It is thought he was sent there by his father
to keep him away from trouble related to the political unrest in Ireland.[5]
When England declared war on Germany in August 1914 and thrust Australia
into WWI,[6] William was quick to
enlist.[7] As a young Catholic
Irishman in Sydney he may have felt considerable pressure to volunteer and
prove himself in his new homeland, given the generally negative view with which
Irish Catholics were regarded in Australia.[8] Perhaps he was caught up as were many early enlistees
in the opportunity for adventure[9] and along with others,
considered the day they enlisted, the most momentous of their lives.[10]
William enlisted and was attached to the 13th Battalion “C”
Company using the name Thomas O’Connor, and brazenly provided many false
details about his identity, next of kin (NOK), age and his military
experience.[11] It seems likely that his
false identity was an attempt to hide his enlistment from his family, although
the change in his eye colour from brown in 1914[12] to grey in 1915[13] suggests there may have
been something of the joker in him.
The 13th Infantry Battalion was recruited in New South Wales,
and along with the 14th, 15th and 16th
Battalions recruited in other States made up the 4th Brigade, initially
under the command of the then Colonel John Monash[14] they saw action at Gallipoli[15] and later at The Western Front.[16] Known as “The Two Blues”[17] they were reputed to be
“among the pick of the biggest and healthiest Australians and the 13th
became known generally as the Battalion of Big Men.”[18]
With just over two months of training in Egypt, William and his Battalion
landed at Anzac Cove in the afternoon of April 25th 1915[19], in what was to be a
“disorganised and ineffective military action”.[20] After four days of
fighting with little food and inadequate water,[21] William was wounded on the April 29th,
becoming one of the thousands of ANZAC casualties.[22] He was subsequently hospitalised in Cairo and
then returned to Australia to be discharged.[23] A month after arriving in Australia he re-embarked
at Melbourne with the 13th Battalion 10th Reinforcements
and in October 1915 arrived back in Egypt.[24]
December 1915
began some months of trouble for William when he was confined to barracks for
being drunk and absent without leave (AWL), and then accused of malingering,
having claimed he could not carry out his duty because of an injury.[25] Found guilty at his Court Martial in January
1916 he was sentenced to two months of Field Punishment Number 1.[26] Often referred to as ‘Crucifixion’, this was
considered an unfair and humiliating punishment by the soldiers and required
the offender be immovably bound to a
stationary object in a public place for up to two hours per day.[27] Six weeks after the guilty verdict William’s conviction
was quashed, and he was admitted to hospital.[28]
Illustration of
method of attachment to fixed object as required
in Field Punishment no 1 (War Office, London, 1917) (Source: AWM25 807/1).
in Field Punishment no 1 (War Office, London, 1917) (Source: AWM25 807/1).
William left Egypt in August 1916 and after training in England with the
4th Training Battalion he embarked for the Western front re-joining
the 13th Battalion in France in March 1917.[29] Three weeks later on April 11th the 4th
Division attempted to breach the Hindenburg line at Bullecourt where miscommunication
over artillery cover and the failure of tanks resulted in the loss of some 3000
men; 1170 as POWs, and the balance to death.[30] William was captured by the Germans and held
prisoner at the Western Front, in Germany and Poland during the following 20
months.[31]
William’s capture coincided with a period of ‘reprisals’[32] in which Germany
subjected their newly captured prisoners to severe and violent mistreatment at
the Western Front in response to the British and French Armies keeping German
POW’s behind allied lines and within range of the German guns at Verdun.[33] Through the rest of his captivity William was
forced to work for Germany and although he would likely have fared better than
in the early months, was reliant on receiving regular Red Cross Parcels, as
these for many were the difference between eating and not.[34] Despite providing the AIF with incorrect names
for his NOK when he enlisted, Germany had correctly recorded his Mother’s name
and address, and William undoubtedly had some contact with his family while he
was a POW.[35]
When repatriated his fellow prisoners detailed their brutal treatment as
POW’s,[36] and William stoically reported
that apart from the period of ‘reprisals’ he had been treated fairly by his
captors.[37] Later it would be shown that William did
experience brutal treatment while a POW[38] and it is not known why
he minimised this on his return to England.
There are several potential explanations, including that he may have
experienced shame,[39] as being captured by the
enemy was considered close to desertion. Also possible is that he could have
been suffering psychological damage related to his experiences.
William was repatriated to England in December 1918 and spent the
following months recuperating during which he was twice sanctioned for being AWL.[40] These two incidents in quick succession
suggest he may have struggled to return to his Army life and gives some
credence to the notion that he was perhaps emotionally damaged by his POW experiences. In April 1919 William embarked to return to
Australia and died suddenly on the Troop Ship during the return voyage.[41] Perhaps aware of his fragile health William had
confessed that he was not Thomas O’Connor, in the days before he died.[42]
William’s family story is that he had taken part in a ‘tug of war’ on the
deck of the Troop Ship and it was this exertion which exacerbated his death.[43] A Magisterial Enquiry recorded his death as
by ‘natural causes’ though noted that his treatment as a POW may have
contributed to his state of health. The Enquiry heard medical evidence of
brutal treatment by German Guards,[44] which resulted in three
months in hospital much of this time unconscious’, and the Australian
Newspapers picking up this story claimed William as an ‘Aussie’.[45]
William was buried at Cape Town, South Africa on the day of his death,[46] the names W. Considine
and T. O’Connor are recorded on his headstone.[47] Although his medals were issued in the name
Thomas O’Connor,[48]
he is memorialised on the Australian War Memorial ‘Roll of Honour’ at Canberra
as William Considine,[49] and also at Kilrush,
Ireland where a memorial unveiled in 2014 commemorates the Clare men who died
during WWI.[50]
William’s war experience was perhaps not entirely typical of an Infantry
Soldier. The false details he provided in
1914 are indicative of a young man with a sense of bravado. This impression is vastly different from that
of the man who would give his account of being a POW in a few short paragraphs
in 1919. William’s war consisted of training
and long waits and only a few days of active fighting followed by 20 months of
working for the enemy. Ultimately this
war cost him his life, not in the heat of battle but unexpectedly when it was
over, and he was going home.
Bibliography
Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1889 - 1931).
Australian War Memorial.
Baker, Chris, The Long,
Long Trail – The British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918, ‘Military Crimes
1914-1918 British Army, http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/military-crimes-1914-1918-british-army/.
Bean, Dr. C.E.W. Official History
of Australia in the War of 1914–1918.
Beaumont Joan, ‘Australia’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/australia,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson, eds., 1914-1918-online.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie
Universität Berlin, 2015.
Clare Peace Park Initiative https://www.clarepeaceparkinitiative.com/about,
accessed 18 March 2018
Crotty, Martin, ‘Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression
(Australia)’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/social_conflict_and_control_protest_and_repression_australia,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson, eds., 1914-1918-online.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie
Universität Berlin, 2014.
Find A Grave, database and
images https://www.findagrave.com,
memorial page for PVT William Considine (18 November 1889–1 May 1919).
Frevert, Ute, ‘Wartime Emotions: Honour, Shame, and the Ecstasy of
Sacrifice’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/wartime_emotions_honour_shame_and_the_ecstasy_of_sacrifice,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson, eds., 1914-1918-online.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie
Universität Berlin, 2015.
Gammage, Bill, The Broken Years : Australian soldiers in
the Great War, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1974.
Grayson, Richard S., ‘Ireland’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/ireland,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson, eds., 1914-1918-online.
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Jones, Heather, (2014). ‘Prisoners of war’ In J. Winter, ed, The
Cambridge History of the First World War, Cambridge, Cambridge University
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Laseron, Charles Francis,
From Australia to the Dardanelles : Being
some odd pages from the diary of Charles Francis Laseron, sergeant in the 13th
Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces, Sydney, John Sands, 1916.
Pegram, Aaron, ‘Prisoners of War (Australia), 5- German Reprisals on the
Western Front’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/prisoners_of_war_australia,
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Kramer, and Bill Nasson, eds., 1914-1918-online.
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war statements, 1914-18 War - AWM30 B13 - 4th Australian Division, Australian
War Memorial; Australian Red Cross Society, Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1397113.
Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld:1866 – 1939.
Serle, Geoffrey, 'Monash,
Sir John (1865–1931)', in Australian
Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National
University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/monash-sir-john-7618/text13313,
published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 17 March 2018.
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Ireland, Census of Ireland 1911, Townland Dangananella East, DED Drumellihy,
County Clare.
Welch, Steven R., ‘Military Justice’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/military_justice
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
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Westerman, William,
‘Warfare 1914-1918 (Australia)’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/warfare_1914-1918_australia,
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Kramer, and Bill Nasson, eds., 1914-1918-online.
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White, Thomas A., Fighting Thirteenth :
The history of the Thirteenth Battalion, A.I.F., Sydney: Tyrells Ltd. for
the 13th Battalion, A.I.F. Committee, 1924.
[1]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor], B2455, National
Archives of Australia.
[2]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.10.
[3]
Birth record of William Considine, born 18 November 1889, Danganelly, Group
Registration ID 822743, Irish Genealogy.ie, accessed 11 March 2018.
[4]
The National Archives of Ireland, Census of Ireland 1911, Record for Patrick,
Margaret, William and Gretty Considine, Townland Dangananella East, DED
Drumellihy, County Clare, accessed 11 March 2018.
[5] Peter McDermott to Maureen O’Connor, email, February 2018,
original held in author’s possession; Richard S. Grayson, ‘Ireland’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/ireland,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson eds., 1914-1918-online.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie
Universität Berlin, 2014.
[6]
Joan Beaumont, ‘Australia’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/australia,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver
Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson eds., 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia
of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, 2015.
[7]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor], p. 2.
[8]
Martin Crotty, ‘Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Australia)’,
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/social_conflict_and_control_protest_and_repression_australia,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson eds., 1914-1918-online.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie
Universität Berlin, 2015.
[10]
Charles Francis Laseron, From Australia
to the Dardanelles - being some odd pages from the diary of Charles Francis
Laseron, sergeant in the 13th Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces,
Sydney, John Sands, 1916, p. 13.
[11]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor], p.2.
[12]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.2.
[13]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.14.
[14]
Geoffrey Serle, 'Monash, Sir John
(1865–1931)', Australian Dictionary of
Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/monash-sir-john-7618/text13313
, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 17 March 2018.
[15]
Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War, ‘13th Infantry
Battalion’, April 1915, AWM4 23/30/6, Australian
War Memorial.
[16]
Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War, ‘13th Infantry
Battalion’, July 1916, AWM4 23/30/31, Australian
War Memorial.
[17]
The Fighting Thirteenth Sydney
Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 - 1954), Monday 17 March 1924, p. 8.
[18]
Thomas A. White, Fighting
Thirteenth - The history of
the Thirteenth Battalion, Chapter I – The Call, A.I.F. Sydney: Tyrells Ltd. for the 13th Battalion,
A.I.F. Committee, p. 15.
[20]
William Westerman, ‘Warfare 1914-1918 (Australia)’ https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/warfare_1914-1918_australia,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson eds., 1914-1918-online.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie
Universität Berlin, 2016.
[21]
White, Fighting
Thirteenth, Chapter IV – Anzac p. 30.
[22] Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas
O’Connor] p.20; Dr. C.E.W. Bean, Official History
of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Volume
I – The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first phase
of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941), Chapter XXVI – End
of the First Phase of the Campaign, Australian War Memorial, 1941, p. 598.
[23]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor], p.20.
[24]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor], p.17.
[25]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor], p.15.
[26]
Steven R Welch, ‘Military Justice’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/military_justice,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver
Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson eds., 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia
of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, 2014;
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.48.
[27]
Chris Baker, The Long, Long Trail – The
British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918, ‘Military Crimes 1914-1918
British Army, http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/military-crimes-1914-1918-british-army/
, Accessed online 18 March 2018.
[28]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.15
[29]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.9
[30] Bill Gammage, The
Broken Years, p. 184; Dr. C.E.W. Bean, First World War
Official Histories, Volume IV – The Australian Imperial Force in France, 1917
(11th edition, 1941), Chapter IX – The First Battle of Bullecourt,
Australian War Memorial, pp 314-320; Australian Imperial Force
unit war diaries, 1914-18 War, ‘13th Infantry Battalion’, April 1917, AWM4
23/30/30, Australian War Memorial.
[31] Service Record of William
Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor], p.9; Prisoner of war statements, 1914-18 War -
AWM30 B13 - 4th Australian Division, p.132, Australian War Memorial; Australian
Red Cross Society, Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1397113.
[33]
Aaron Pegram, ‘Prisoners
of War (Australia)’, 5- German Reprisals on the Western Front, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/prisoners_of_war_australia,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver
Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson eds., 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia
of the First World War, Berlin, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, 2015; Heather Jones, (2014).
‘Prisoners of war’, in J. Winter, ed., The Cambridge History of the First
World War (The Cambridge History of the First World War, pp. 266-290).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 10.
[35] Service Record of William
Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.72.
[36]
Prisoner of war statements, 1914-18 War, pp. 94, 96, 113.
[37]
Prisoner of war statements, 1914-18 War, p. 132
[38]
Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Brutal Enemies, Death of an
Australian, Beaten with a Rifle, Friday 16 May 1919, page 7.
[39]
Ute Frevert, ‘Wartime Emotions: Honour, Shame, and the Ecstasy of Sacrifice’, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/wartime_emotions_honour_shame_and_the_ecstasy_of_sacrifice,
in Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan
Kramer, and Bill Nasson eds., 1914-1918-online.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War, issued by Freie
Universität Berlin, Berlin 2014.
[40]
Prisoner of war statements, 1914-18 War, p. 132; Service Record of William
Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] pp. 23-24.
[41]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] pp. 40-41
[42]Service
Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p. 39.
[43]
McDermott to O’Connor, email, February 2018.
[46]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p.71.
[47]
Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com:
accessed 18 March 2018), memorial page for PVT William Considine (18 November
1889–1 May 1919.
[48]
Service Record of William Considine [AKA Thomas O’Connor] p. 74.
[49]
Australian War Memorial, AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army
[50]
Clare Peace Park Initiative https://www.clarepeaceparkinitiative.com/about, accessed
18 March 2018
Well done Maureen!
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