TO most they are only names carved into stone – to be glanced upon once or twice a year as part of an Anzac Day or Remembrance Day ritual. But these men on marble, recognised on cenotaphs throughout the district were sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and mates. In this commemorative edition, Noosa Today profiles each of the fallen Great War Diggers at Tewantin – and on later pages Cooroy and Eumundi.
TEWANTIN
Private Roy Barr of the 25th Battalion
AGED just 26, Tewantin labourer, Roy Barr, set sail on 31 January 1916 on board the HMAT Wandilla. The Australian War Memorial lists Private Barr died from wounds on 13 June 1918 at age 28. Private Barr was buried at Querrieu British Cemetery, France.
Private Harold Sydney White of the 42nd Battalion
FORMERLY a coach driver, Private White boarded HMAT A46 Clan Macgillivray on 7 September 1916 bound for war effort. Described as “very well-liked by his chums”, Private White was 27 years old when he and four other soldiers were hit with a shell while at Somme Sector, France, on 24 April 1918. From reports, all men were killed instantly and buried at Bonnay Communal Cemetery, France.
Lance-Corporal William Augustine Bauer of the 41st Battalion
Lance-Corporal Bauer was just 19 years old when he embarked from Sydney on board the HMAT A18 Wiltshire on 7 February 1917. On 12 August 1918, Lance-Corporal Bauer was killed in action in France in an attack of heavy fire that saw 74 other men killed on the same day. Lance-Corporal Bauer was buried at Heath Cemetery, Picardie, France, but is also remembered by a the women of Noosa shire who embroider a wonderful panel with Lance-Corporal Bauer’s photos in the middle, which hangs in the Noosa Museum, Pomona.
Private James Ernest Marsden of the 49th Battalion
FORMERLY a dairyfarmer, Private Marsden embarked from Brisbane on 19 September 1916 on board the HMAT A49 Seang Choon at the age of 19. Private Marsden was killed in action on 8 August 1917 while fighting in Belgium and is buried at the Derry House Cemetery, Flanders, Belgium.
Private Roy William Finney of the 9th Battalion
AT JUST 19, Roy William Finney boarded the HMAT Warilda on 5 October 1915 to cross the oceans and join the war effort. Almost a year later, Private Finney was killed while fighting at Mouqet Farm, Pozieres, France, when a German shell hit the trench he was in. According to war records, the soldiers were “bombarded” by the German Army. When the shell hit, Private Finney was buried by the rubble along with six other men with only two men rescued. Private Finney was later laid to rest at the Serre Road Cemetery, France.
Private Robert Henry Finney of the 26th Battalion
PRIVATE Finney, a former drover from Pomona, embarked from Brisbane on board the HMAT A46 Clan Macgillivray on 7 September 1916 aged 20 years. Private Finney was killed in action of 3 May 1917 at the age of 21 while fighting in France. He is remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux memorial, France.
