On the War Memorial in Moonta are the names of four Quintrell men. Three of them were brothers—the sons of Mary Ann Quintrell of Moonta Mines and Stephen Quintrell who died in 1913. Stephen and Mary Ann had 7 sons and 6 daughters.

The two first-born sons died in infancy and the third, Stephen William, was well over 40 when the Great War began. The fourth son also died when he was less than 2 years old. Their three youngest sons all fought on the Western Front—none of them returned to Australia. In referring to her sons Mary Ann apparently did not count those who died as babies. Clarence was referred to as the second son but he was actually the fifth.

Clarence Horace, the oldest of the three soldiers, was the first to enlist in the A.I F—on the 9th of October 1915. On the 30^t" of December 1915 both his younger brothers, John Adolphus and Richard Hugh, enlisted. When they enlisted only John gave his correct age. Clarence understated his age by a year while Richard pretended to be 4 years younger than he really was.

The first to die was Richard. He was involved in the tragic battle at Fromelles. He was at first declared missing but later it was officially decided that he died on July the 20" 1916. Less than a month later on August the 16th Clarence Horace was killed at Mouquet Farm. John Adolfus died at sea on September the 1^5t 1917 while being repatriated to Australia.

This then is a brief history of their part in the Great War. It begins with Richard Hugh who, although the youngest was the first to die. If I have dwelt on Richard's story in more detail it is because although the battle lasted for less than 24 hours, it to me, epitomises the mistakes, the arrogance of those in charge and the disregard for the lives of the soldiers which characterised the offensives on the Western Front for much of the war.

In memory of

Private RICHARD HUGH QUINTRELL

32^nd Bn, Australian Infantry, a.i.f.

who dies aged 34 on Thursday, 20^th July 1916.

Private QUINTRELL was the son of Stephen and Mary Ann Quintrell, of Moonta Mines, South Australia.

Remembered with honour

V.C. CORNER, AUSTRALIANCEMETERY MEMORIAL,

FROMELLES, Nord, France.

In the perpetual care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

RICHARD HUGH QUINTRELL

Richard Hugh Quintrell was the seventh and youngest son of Mary Ann and Stephen Quintrell. He was born on October 8th 1881. When he enlisted in the A.I.F. on December 30th 1915 he gave his age as 30 years and 3 months whereas he was almost 34 years and 3 months. He gave his occupation as a moulder.

His 'description on enlistment' was

 Age                                        30 years and 3 months (he was actually 4 years older]

Height                                     5 feet 2 inches 

Weight                                    120 Ibs 

Chest measurement             33-34 inches

Complexion                           Fresh

Eyes                                       Hazel 

Hair                                         Brown 

Religious Denomination       Methodist 

Distinctive Marks                  Scar on chest from burns

Like all those who enlisted he had the choice of swearing that he would 'well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King '. He chose to sign.

OATH TO BE TAKEN BY PERSON BEING ENLISTED[1].­

I, Richard Hugh Quintrell swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force from December 30, 1915 until the end of the War, and a further period of four months thereafter unless sooner lawfully discharged; dismissed or removed there—from ; and that I will resist His Majesty's enemies and cause His Majesty's peace to be kept and maintained; and that I will in all matters appertaining to my service, faithfully discharge my duty according to law.

SO HELP ME GOD.

Signature of Person Enlisfed,

Taken and subscribed at  ADELAIDE

in the State of.SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

this DEC 30, 1915 day.  before me-

' A person enlisting who objects to taking an oath n,ay make an affirmation in accordance with the Third Schedule of the Act and the above farm most be amended accordingly. A11 amendments n:ust be initialled by the Attesting Officer.

On his enlistment in Adelaide he was appointed to B Coy 2"^d Depot Battalion on 6-1-1916. On 16-1-16 he was appointed to B Coy 1^st Depot Battalion. He left Adelaide for Egypt on H.M.A.T. A 68 'Anchises' on 30-3-1916. On 22-4-1916 he was attached to the 32nd Battalion where he was 'taken on strength' (supernumerary) on May 16th. The next day he was 'absorbed on strength'. After training in Egypt for about 2 months he left Alexandria on June 17th 1916 on H.M.T. Transylvania to join the B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force). After 6 days crossing the Mediterranean Sea he landed at Marseilles and, with the rest of the 32nd Battalion, journeyed northwards to join the Australian 5th Division. The 32nd Battalion, which was part of the 8th Brigade, was made up of men from South Australia and Western Australia. (His brother John was also to become a member of the 32"^d Battalion , but not until after Richard died.)

Less than a month after arriving in France, and in the very first major action involving Australian troops on the Western Front, Richard Quintrell was reported as 'missing in action'. He lost his life in an ill-conceived attack on the Germans near Fromelles which is a small village a short distance south of Armentieres. He was one of 5533 Australian casualties in the attack which was carried out in the early evening and night of July the 19^th and 20th 1916. It was one of the lesser known disasters to befall the Australians in the Great War but one which decimated the 5th Division.

In 1916 the Battle of the Somme, which began at the beginning of July, was not progressing as well as the British had hoped and, to deter the Germans from transferring more men to the Somme, senior British strategists suggested a show of strength elsewhere. The Commander of the British XI Corps was 54 year old Sir Richard Haking who had been advocating an assault in the Fromelles area for some weeks. Despite flaws in his philosophy on military tactics he kept getting promoted. (He was a friend of the British Commander- in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig.) Haking was already known as 'Butcher Haking'. His promotions brought him into contact with Philip Game, a senior British officer who later became Governor of New South Wales. (He dismissed Premier Jack Lang in 1932). Game described Haking as 'a vindictive bully' and 'really impossible, untruthful, and a bully, and not to be trusted'.

The plan was a combined attack by the Australian 5th Division and the British 61^st Division. The commander of the Australian 15^th A.I.F. Brigade, which was positioned between the 14th A.I.F. Brigade and the 184th British Brigade, was Brigadier General Harold 'Pompey' Elliott who was regarded as a highly capable tactician. He was amazed that his men would be taking part in a full scale assault since they had arrived at the front only a few days earlier and had not had time to familiarize themselves with their surroundings or learn about European style trench warfare. Opposite Elliott's men was a formidable German stronghold known as the Sugarloaf. It was an elevated concrete bastion with many machine guns.

Elliott was convinced that the plan for the attack was flawed

Ø      because preparation time was inadequate

Ø      most of the gunners were even more inexperienced than the infantry

Ø      the distance to the German trenches (440 metres where his brigade was to attack ) was too great, and

Ø      the commander of the British Brigade, Brigadier General Carter, a career soldier of ' pronounced limitations' intended to send his men through openings, known as 'sally ports', in the front line breastworks. From his experience in Gallipoli Elliott knew that sally ports could be too easily blocked.

Douglas Haig, the British Commander in Chief :  Haking was his friend

The attack was scheduled for July 16th but heavy rain and mist caused a postponement, much to the relief of the men who were exhausted by the rushed preparations.

At 11a.m. On July 19th, the final bombardment of the German trenches began. The Germans replied with a bombardment of their own, catching some of the 60th Battalion moving to the front line. There was concern that the bombardment of the Sugarloaf, which had been going on for several days, was not as successful as had been hoped. Much of the German wire was uncut and at least 3 machine gun emplacements were undamaged.

When the attack began at 6pm the Germans responded immediately with rifle and machine gun fire. Eventually Elliott learned that the 59th's attack had been halted half-way across no-man's land. This had been caused by the inability of the British to get out through the sally ports to attack the Sugarloaf.

In less than 24 hours the attackers had more than 7,000 casualties - killed missing, wounded or captured. Of these 5533 were Australians - 178 officers and 5355 men. The German casualties were less than 1,000. One of their survivors was a 27 year old despatch runner—Adolf Hitler.

Items such as this occurred very frequently in the  newspapers

On the 12th of August 1917, 'A Court of Inquiry, Held in the Field,' was convened by the CO of the 32nd Battalion. It was decided that Private R H Quintrell had been killed in action on the 20th of July 1916. No doubt this letter[2] was considered in making the decision.

On September 22nd 1917 'the Moonta Peoples Weekly' reported that on the 10th of September the Rev Pemberton called on Mrs Quintrell to inform her that her son Richard 'had made the supreme sacrifice on the field of honour' in the previous year (Rev Pemberton was to return 2 days later with further tragic news.)

 Such was the carnage from the battle at Fromelles that it was impossible to bury all the dead in separate graves. So in the VC Corner Australian Cemetery there are 410 men buried in the 2 mass graves. If Richard Quintrell's unidentified body was found it lies in one of the graves. If not, then his remains lie somewhere on the battlefield.

The VC Corner Australian Cemetery. The two common graves are clearly visible

This is the only Commonwealth War Cemetery to have no headstones but the back wall has the names of 1,298 Australians missing including those from the Battle of Fromelles One of the names is Richard Hugh Quintrell, Service No 2319 First A.I.F.