Brogmus, Ernest Alfred
3608 Private Ernest Brogmus - 51st Battalion AIF
Ernest Alfred Brogmus was born in Fremantle WA on the 9th December 1899 to Ernest and Ada Brogmus. He had four younger siblings, Edgar 1901, Reginald 1904, Cecilia 1908 and Vera 1910.
In 1904 the family moved from Fremantle to Maylands and in 1910 to East Perth. The family had lived in Sewell Street East Fremantle.
He was working as a farm labourer at Korbel near Merriden prior to the Great War.
On the 16th February 1917 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 6 inches;
Weight - 112lbs;
Chest Measurement - 32-35 inches;
Complexion - Fresh;
Eyes - Grey;
Hair - Light Brown.
Upon his successful enlistment he was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 10th Reinforcements to the 51st Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for the next few months.
On the 29th June 1917 Ernest and his group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Borda. The ship then took him to England where they disembarked in Plymouth on the 25th August 1917.
After being disembarked the men were sent to the 13th Training Battalion at Codford Camp on the Salisbury Plains. He remained training at this camp for the next few months though his departure for France was delayed as in December 1917 he was sent to hospital with scabies. However he recovered quickly and on the 5th January 1918 Ernest was put in a draft of soldiers bound for France.
On his arrival Ernest was sent to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Le Havre. He spent a few weeks here and was then taken on strength of the 51st Battalion on the 26th January 1918.
The 51st Battalion were then in the line in Belgium just south east of Ypres near Hollebeke. They remained in this sector for the next few months.
On the 21st March 1918, the Germans had launched a massive assault which had broken through the British lines further south. The Australian Divisions in Belgium were then sent south to the Somme to help stop this German advance. Ernie and the 51st Battalion were sent to an area between the French towns of Albert and Dernancourt and they came into contact with the Germans in late March.
The Australians, including Ernie's unit, helped stop the Germans at Dernancourt. However in April the Germans launched another large attack which captured Villers-Bretonneux. A counter attack was immediately ordered and the 51st Battalion played a large role in this attack. The 51st Battalion succeeded in capturing their objectives, however casualties were very heavy and during the assault Ernie had been shot through the left thigh.
The stretcher bearers took Ernie to the 25th Field Ambulance where his wound was initially treated and from there he was taken to the 5th Casualty Clearing Station. After more work was done on Ernie's wound he was then put on an ambulance train which took him to the 47th General Hospital at Le Treport. Le Treport is a pretty little French fishing village in the Normandy region.
His wound was classed as severe and he was kept in Hospital at Le Treport for the next few months.
On the 21st July 1918 he was finally well enough to be sent to England and upon arrival was sent to the Royal Victorian Hospital at Netley. He was a patient in this hospital from the 22nd July 1918 to 23rd October 1918.
Ernie was then transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford. He was here for a week and was then transferred to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth on the 30th October 1918.
Ernie would be returning to Australia but he just had to wait till he was a ssigned a berth on a troopship home. He ended up spending Christmas and New Year in England.
On the 18th January 1919 Ernie boarded the transport ship Ulysses and set sail for Australia, disembarking in Fremantle on the 24th February 1919.
Ernie was then sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle where he was given a thorough medical examination. He was discharged from the AIF on the 26th March 1919.
He then returned to his family home but the thigh wound was still giving him trouble.
Ernest changed his name in 1923 to Jack Roy Douglas.
It was reported that in 1923 Jack married Leila Marion Criddle from Dongara however this is not listed in Births Deaths and Marriages.
Sadly, Leila died on 15 March 1924 at Fremantle.
He then married on the 4 February 1926 to Thelma May Southwood in Bunbury. Jack/Ernie had now found employment as a Lumper at Bunbury.
Sadly Jack/Ernie died on the 27th May 1926 in Bunbury aged just 26. He had been found drowned in the Leschenault Estuary. He was then buried at Bunbury Cemetery.
There is further information on Ernest on the following lost fishermen website
(Photo of Ernie/ Jack courtesy of family ancestry site)