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Fremantle Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses of the Great War

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Holloway, Ernest Charles

2665 Private Ernest Charles Holloway - 16th Battalion AIF

Ernest Charles Holloway was born in Fremantle in 1897 to Joseph and Mary Holloway. He had several siblings, Mary (1874), James (1876), Emma (1877), Joseph (1880), Alice (1882), Walter (1885), Frances (1886), Florence (1888), Frederick (1891) and William (1893).

The family were living at 83 Solomon Street Beaconsfield. (now 47 Solomon Street)

Fred was educated locally and after leaving school took up employment as a labourer. During this time Ernest had served in the 86A Cadets of the Citizens Military Forces.

On the 16th June 1915 Ernest enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 5 inches tall;

Weight - 130lbs;

Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Brown;

Hair - Fair;

Distinctive Marks - Tattoo on left and right forearm.

His father was nominated as his next of kin but sadly his father died on the 15th October 1915 just after Ernest had embarked overseas, so his next of kin was then changed to his mother.

Ernie was assigned to the 8th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion AIF.

On the 26th August 1915 Ernie went to Fremantle Harbour where he and his reinforcement group boarded the HMAT Anchises and set sail for Egypt. The journey took a month as on the 26th September they were disembarked in Egypt.

Ernie did not have long in Egypt as he was sent on to Gallipoli, being taken on strength of "C" Company of the 16th Battalion on the 23rd October 1915. The 16th Battalion were then holding the line in the northern sector of the battlefield.

On the 3rd November 1915 Ernie was slightly wounded by shrapnel but remained on duty. It had begun snowing at Gallipoli and conditions were very cold for the men. On the 18th November Ernie was sent ill to the 1st Australian Light Horse Field Ambulance and was diagnosed with mumps but returned to his unit on the 2nd December 1916.

Plans had been drawn up to evacuate the Gallipoli battlefield and each unit would be responsible for their area of the front line. Over the last few days of the evacuation the 16th Battalion slowly reduced their numbers so by the last few hours only a handful of men were holding the positions.

Ernie was part of the 16th Battalion "C" Company group that left Gallipoli at 5.20pm on December 19th 1915. This was just several hours before the final evacuation took place from Anzac in the early hours of December 20th 1915.

The evacuation went off successfully and after the 16th Battalion gathered at Mudros Island, they were eventually returned to Egypt on the 30th December 1915.

The 16th Battalion would spend the next few months training in Egypt. Due to the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force, the original 16 battalions were to be split in half to provide experienced men for the new units. The 16th Battalion split and one half went on to help form the 48th Battalion. However Ernie was in the half that remained with the 16th Battalion.

However they had lost a lot of experienced men to the 48th Battalion, so from March to May 1916, the 16th Battalion were kept on a busy training schedule in Egypt.

They left for France on the 1st June 1916, arriving at Marseilles on the 9th June 1916. After being disembarked the men were entrained north. They arrived at the Armentieres sector and they would have their first experience of the Western Front at place such as Bois Greiner and Estaires.

They only had a few weeks there and were then sent to the Somme Battlefield. The 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions had been at action at Pozieres from July 22nd 1916 and the 4th Division, including the 16th Battalion came into the line in early August.

After four days at the front Ernie was blown up by a shell. It appears that he was not wounded by shrapnel but he was heavily concussed/shell shocked. He was sent to the 1st Anzac Rest Station to recover and he rejoined the 16th Battalion on the 15th August 1916.

Ernie would have then taken part in the next action at Mouquet Farm on the 30th August 1916 but fortunately this time he came through safely. From September to October 1916 the Battalion moved to Belgium which was then a quieter part of the front but by November had returned to the Somme battlefield. They would spent the 1916/17 French winter on the Somme.

In March 1917 the Germans began their withdrawal to the pre-prepared defensive position known as the Hindenburg Line. The 16th battalion was one of the units tasked with breaching the line at Bullecourt.

The 16^th Battalion, as part of the 4^th Brigade were tasked with breaking the line at Bullecourt and capturing the German positions. This assault finally went ahead on April 11^th 1917 with the assistance of tanks though with no artillery support. On the 4^th Brigade front, the 16^th & 13^th Battalion broke through the thick barbed wire and despite the heavy German fire managed to capture sections of the trenches. However due to their flanks being unsupported and the lack of supporting fire along with running out of ammunition, the survivors had a choice to remain and become prisoners of war or to make a dash back for their own lines. The 16^th Battalion had very heavy casualties with only a handful of men making back to their own lines. Ernie had made it into the German trenches but ran out of ammunition and was surrounded by Germans and was captured.

The Germans initially worked the Prisoners of War closely behind the front lines but they were then sent into Germany. Ernie appears to have been interned at Limburg and a place called Schneidemuhl. In March 1918 Ernie wrote to the Red Cross;

I am enjoying the very best of health. There is an Australian with me. He is in the Scots Guards, Pte. S. Walker. I should have wrote before, but I wanted a good string of letters on the way to my dear Mother to make sure that she will get some.

Ernie was a prisoner of war until the Armistice. The POW's like Ernie were the repatriated to England. On the 1st December 1918 he arrived in England and was given a months leave until the 4th January 1919. He was then sent into camp to await being assigned a transport ship home.

On the 5th March 1919 Ernie boarded the ship Nevassa and set sail home for Western Australia. Ernie disembarked in Fremantle on the 20th April 1919. He was then sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for a medical checkup and was discharged from the AIF on the 13th June 1919.

Ernie was granted a pension of 40/- per fortnight.

Ernie's two brothers, Frederick and William, also served and came home safely.

Sadly shortly after Ernie and his two brothers returned home, their mother died on the 14th August 1919.

In 1921 Ernest married Florence Emily Humphrey in East Fremantle. A daughter Audrey was born in 1921 and a son William in 1923, Jack (1926), Leslie (1927), Alfred (1929) and Violet (1931).

After the Great War Ernie re-enlisted into the Army/Royal Australian Garrison Artillery and was initially posted to the Artillery Barracks in Fremantle. He and his family were living at 3 Dorothy Street Fremantle (now 4 Dorothy St). The following year they moved to 18 Glyde Street East Fremantle (Now called 6 Glyde).

By 1925 Ernie had been posted to the Permanent Garrison in Albany with the family living at the Barracks.

He served there for the next six years but sadly in 1931 Ernie died in Albany. The Mt Barker and Denmark Record newspaper recorded what happened;

FOUND SHOT

"STUMP" HOLLOWAY PASSES.

CIRCUMSTANCES INDICATE SUICIDE.

Warrant Officer Moncrieff, in charge of the Forts at Albany, made a shocking discovery when he entered the residence of Ernest Charles ("Stump") Holloway, a member of the permanent garrison, at about 8-30 this morning. Disturbed by the fact that he had not seen Holloway since Friday, Mr. Moncrieff walked through into the kitchen of the house, and there found Holloway sitting in a chair, apparently dead, with a bullet wound in his fore-head. The police were immediately summoned, and Constables Smith and Flanders attended. They found Holloway to be dead, and circumstances appear to indicate that he had shot himself with a service rifle. The Coroner (Mr. A. E. Burt) was notified, and ordered an examination of the body to be made by Dr. A. R. Home. Pending the result of that examination, no decision has been made as to a Coronial inquiry.

Enquiries reveal that the late Mr. Holloway had not been seen since last

Friday, when he was last seen by Mr. Moncrieff. On Friday he commenced 21 days' leave. A pathetic feature of his death is that his wife and children are absent in Perth. While it would be premature to comment on Mr. Holloway's death at this stage, it is believed that he had been greatly worried over the death some months ago, of Alfred Cuddihy, who was accidentally drowned while in the company of Mr. Holloway on a fishing trip to Cheyne Beach.

An inquest was held which was reported in the Albany Advertiser on the 5th October 1931;

E. C. Holloway's Death

VERDICT OF SUICIDE.

The inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of the late C. E. Holloway was held on Thursday last in the Albany Court before the Coroner, Mr. A. E. Burt.

Dr. A. R. Home gave evidence that he had examined the body which was that of E.C. Holloway whom he had known well. The report which he had previously submitted was true to the best of his knowledge.

The chief witness was Ernest Walter Moncrieff, Warrant Officer in charge of the Albany Forts. He said the deceased was a gunner at the Albany Forts, and that he was on annual leave at the time of his death. On the morning of the 21st he received a telephone message for the deceased and went to his quarters to deliver it. Receiving no reply he entered the kitchen and found deceased sitting in a chair with his head between his legs and his arms drooping by his sides. Close to him was a service rifle and a coat hanger.

In the witness' opinion the latter had been used to press the trigger, because the deceased would not be able to reach it in the position in which the rifle had obviously been held. He rang the Police Station and when Constable Smith arrived they examined the room and the body. The rifle contained an empty shell and there was a hole in the ceiling evidently made by a bullet. Part of deceased's head was blown away. On the table was a pile of charred groceries, and a piece of burnt rug, and it appeared that a fire had started after the death. This was probably caused by a candle burning down and finally setting light to the rug. These details were afterwards corroborated in evidence by Constable Smith. The service rifle and

coat hanger were produced in Court.

William Joseph Cuddihy gave evidence, that at 8.15 p.m. on September 18 he had met deceased at the Esplanade Hotel and had a few drinks with him. They then drove up to the Forts in Cuddihy's car and after getting an accordion and mouth organ from Holloway's quarters they returned to the Beach. They drank a couple of bottles of

beer and deceased played his instruments. At about 11 o'clock Cuddihy left him at the Beach. At no time during the evening did he appear depressed.

Evidence was next given by Mrs. Cahill. She had been looking after two of Mrs. Holloway's children while the latter was in Fremantle with her mother, who was sick. She had been a friend of deceased's family for some years. Since Mrs. Holloway had been away she had seen him a number of times and he was frequently depressed. On one occasion she picked up his coat which was lying on the table and three cartridges fell out of the pocket. When she asked him what they were for he said, "Don't worry they won't hurt you but they'll be a good friend to me some day."

Montague Norman said that on the 19th September about 1.10 p.m. he had seen deceased in Grey Street, near York Street. He had called out to him and deceased had answered. Apparently this was the last time that Holloway was seen.

Mrs. Holloway was the last witness. The deceased, her husband, and she had always been happy together except when occasionally he was under the influence of drink.

At these times he frequently threatened to take his own life. He had frequent fits of depression and often said he could not forget the death of Alf Cuddihy. Though in debt he did not appear to be greatly worried by that.

The Coroner found that deceased met his death at the Albany Forts on or about September 20, as the result of a bullet wound, self-inflicted.

Ernest Holloway was buried in Albany Public Cemetery Plot Anglican Row 22 Grave 1075

(Photo courtesy of Tom Holloway)

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