When writing tributes to our Anzac heroes it is hard to not think about the men who were enlisted in 1916-17 after a call for men who had experience in mining and tunnelling.
This resulted in the formation of three companies of these men in 1916 when enlistments were called for, and of course, the Killarney district was an ideal recruiting place owing to the mines in the region.
The first Australian Tunnelling Company was formed in August 1916 and after training, were sent to work at Hooge, in the Ypres sector of the Western Front where they were used in two types of mining operations.
One was a more offensive group which were used to sink shafts under the enemy’s front line and fill them with high explosives in attempting to halt the incessant shelling by the German forces.
The other method used was more defensive mining that included digging underground galleries and chambers, to protect soldiers from the German artillery.
One man from the Southern Downs who experienced the dangerous job as a tunneller was Sapper Oscar Bonwick and here is his story.
Oscar, the son of James and Agnes Bonwick was born in Goulburn, and registered in Argyle, New South Wales, in 1882. His early life is unclear as he moved to New Zealand where he was employed as a cheese maker at a large cheese factory in Waverley and married Margaret Ann Foley, a local school- teacher, in 1904.
He returned to Australia in 1913 and settled on a property close to Killarney on Barlow’s Gate Road, not far from the border. Oscar was eventually employed by J.P. Peterson as he must have been a skilled cheese-maker to be appointed as Manager of the Westmore Cheese Factory in 1913.
When Australia was committed to World War I in 1915 and were calling for volunteers, Oscar made the decision to enlist for active service on 7 July 1917 at Toowoomba. He was then sent to basic training with the 11th Reinforcement 4th Pioneer Battalion, at Enoggera Camp in Brisbane. After initial training and a short period of leave, Oscar was re-allotted to the Miners Depot, 1st Military District.
On August 8, 1917, he was transferred to the Miner’s Training Camp at Seymour, Victoria and given the rank of Sapper. Oscar was now a proud member of the ‘tunnellers’ and looked forward to the challenges it provided.
Oscar embarked from Port Melbourne on board HMAT A71 “Nestor” bound for Suez, arriving on 21 November 1917. After a roundabout journey via Taranto, Italy, his unit eventually arrived at Tidworth, England after a long spell of training. Oscar and the Reinforcements eventually proceeded overseas from Southampton to France on 2 March 1918.
On 8 March, Oscar was soon into action when attached to the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company on 15 March. Thirteen days later, the Company marched out to Querrieu at 4am under horse transport. Oscar was then wounded in action near Rouelles, when he was gassed from a gas shell attack and taken to the 56th Casualty Clearing Station and later, to the 14th Field Ambulance and ended up being hospitalized at the 6th Convalescent Depot in Estaples, on 30 March.
Oscar was transferred to England’s Cambridge Hospital in Aldershot on 14 July 1918, and again bad luck befell Oscar when the next day, he was injured in a motor bike mishap suffering cerebral concussion and abrasions to his face.
After further hospital admissions he was eventually released to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital and classified as unfit for further service with a disability (anaemic) and was medically boarded out of the service.
He embarked on board the HT “Euripides” and arrived in Melbourne on 20 April 1919. He then returned home to Long Swamp, Killarney, and along with his gassing and motor bike injuries, was never the same man as his health deteriorated and he passed away on 7 December 1919, aged 37 years, leaving behind a grieving wife Margaret and five young children.
Oscar Bonwick was a true patriot who enlisted at the age of 35 to answer his country’s call for volunteers and was laid to rest in the Soldier’s Section of the General Cemetery in Warwick.
It should be noted that the Killarney Parish of the Church of England made a memorable effort on behalf of St Martin’s Hospital on Wickham Terrace, the great memorial, which the Church of England in Queensland was erecting to the memory of their sons who fell in the war. Oscar’s loving wife, Margaret, was a donor to this cause in memory of her husband Oscar.
