Trooper Maurice Edwin Gorman

BIRTH & BAPTISM First name(s) Maurice Edwin Last name Gorman Sex Male Birth year 1895 Birth place Thorpdale Father's name James Mother's name Rose Diver Registration number 25084 State Victoria Country Australia

Narracan Shire Advocate 11 May 1910 This might refer to either Maurice or Paddy, but I believe that both were working together and it was Maurice who was injured. Note that James seems to be named Gorman and O'Gorman in the same article - there was an O'Gorman family in Childers at this time. The fourteen-year-old son of Mr J. Gorman, of Cbilders, met with a most unfortunate accident on Friday morning last, at about 9 a.m. The boy was engaged in clearing operations, and was felling saplings at the time. He had just felled one of the latter, which was supporting a large log, on sideling, when the log commenced to descend the hill end first. It had just started to move in this way, when it suddenly gave a roll, and knocked tbe boy flat on tbe ground and passed over his body. Fortunately the lad fell into a cavity in the ground, otherwise tbe accident must have meant instantaneous death to him. A younger brother, similarly engaged and not far distant, noticed the accident, and observing that his brother was badly hurt, went for assistance. Mr O'Gorman had the boy conveyed to Thorpdale, where an examination was made by Dr Smithwick, who found that no bones were broken. A bad cut in the abdomen, and another on the forehead, besides several bruises, were visible. The doctor considered that tbe boy was badly injured internally, and ordered the sufferer's removal to the Melbourne Hospital. The lad accompanied by his father) was brought to Moe by the train from Thorpdale the same afternoon, and taken to Melbourne by the Gippsland passenger train, leaving Moe at 6 40.

AUSTRALIAN LIGHT HORSE Morwell Advertiser 12 Nov 1909 ON Tuesday last, King's Birthday, a parade and inspection of the 2nd squadron, both A.L.H., took place in Morwell, under the command of Colonel Lloyd, who was assisted by Captain Ogilvy, Sergeant Major Whitticombe, Lieutenants IB Ronalds and Lawrence. There was a good muster of men, and during the afternoon a sham fight took place in Mr Ronald's paddock, which passed off very satisfsctorily. During the fight, a mishap befell Private Gorman, of Thorpdale, owing to his horse suddenly shieing and throwing him. The horse galloped over him causing injuries to the back, but under the treatment of Dr. McLean he is making a rapid recovery. [This could refer to James but I think Maurice more likely since James had a dicky heart and was at least a corporal. Not even sure James transferred from VMR to the ALH since he was not by then a young man.]

618 Pte GORMAN Maurice Edwin, 4th Light Horse, enlisted 21 September 1914, shortly after war was declared, and was KIA 9 October 1915.

106th Casualty List, Nov 1915 VICTORIANS KILLED IN ACTION. 4th Light Horse. Private M. E. Gorman, Childers.

Gippsland and Mirboo Times 11 Nov 1915 Items about our Soldiers Private M. E. Gorman, of the 4th Light Horse, formerly of Childers, has been killed in action.

Argus 9 Oct 1916
GORMAN.—Sacred to the memory of No. 618, Trooper Maurice Gorman, killed in action at Gallipoli, October 9, 1915. For King and country.
—(Inserted by his friend, Trooper A. E. Sinclair, No. 301, 4th Light Horse, returned wounded soldier.)

This is what men were writing home " The dogs are as bad as the Turks When our troops captured a village at Cape Helles, the Ghurkas (Indians) went into it first, only to see the dogs eating the women and children who had been killed by the naval shells." This is the statement of Private A. Greenwood, of Jumbuk, in a letter from the front. Continuing, he says : "They had been warned to get out of it, but didn't seem to do it, so that's the end of them. I've no pity for them, anyhow." In speaking of field operations, Private Greenwood goes on to record, as an admirer of the Ghurkas : " My word, they are splendid fighters. It's pity help the Turks when they get a start. The Ghurkas are black, but when they are finished they are red. The Australians are not too bad, the only thing is that when they start you can't stop them ; but they will take a jerry to themselves." Owing to the trenches being so close to the enemy, eternal vigilance is the price of life, and on this point the writer says : "Our trench is only 25 yards from the enemy, and we have to keep a close watch, as the beggars will sneak up and throw bombs in. They are down hill from us, and so cannot throw too far uphill. They, however, started for a while, but we gave them hell with our bombs. So they took a jerry." As a country man, Private Greenwood naturally notes the agricultural possibilities about him. '"It is different country," he says, " from Jumbuk. It is covered with scrub, but the soil is poor. Down the valley, however, there appear to be good crops. I'd like to get down there for awhile; I'd have a lump of steak off one of their old cows." Steak-hungry he may be, but he is afraid his appetite for turkey is a thing of the past. " There are," it seems, " some big brutes amongst them (the Turks), also some very old gobblers. I don't think I shall ever be able to eat turkey again. When there are a few thousand dead ones lying around you for a time, well, you can't imagine the smell; it's something awful."

GORMAN, Trooper, MAURICE EDWIN, 618. 4th. Australian Light Horse. Killed in action 9th October 1915. Son of James and Rosehannah Gorman, of Childers, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. I. H. 4. Buried Shell Green Cemetery.

From Australian Light Horse Studies Centre. 618 Private Edward Gorman, 19 year old farmer from Thorpdale, Victoria. Enlisted 22/9/1914, KIA 9/10/1915. 4th Light Horse Regiment AIF. Embarkation Roll, 1st Reinforcements, embarked Melbourne, 22 Dec 1914, HMAT Barunga. Barunga was previously a German vessel called Sumatra. It was manned by Australian officers and crew, and later torpedoed and sunk by a submarine in the North Atlantic, 15/7/1918. A letter from Maurice's CO reports that Maurice was shot in the forehead at about 11pm, not in the throat as otherwise reported. This letter is to his mother and may have been a thoughtful lie so she did not believe he suffered, as he almost certainly would if shot in the throat.

"Gorman, Edward 618 Pte 04LHR 1R to A Squadron (G) reported shot to neck by sniper at Long's Post buried Shell Green Cemetery, Gallipoli AKA Maurice Edwin Gorman brother in 24th Bn. KIA 9/10/15" This paragraph is from an official report on Maurice's death, so I suspect the comforting lies to the mother.

There were so many reports to families at home, of soldiers who died instantly, shot through the head, that the Turkish and German snipers begin to seem like supermen. No-one describes the awful deaths many men suffered, to their families. No wonder 'shell shock' or PTSD were so common.

Maurice's letter from Egypt noting he had forgotten his 20th birthday is a bit touching to say the least.

Apologies for Maurice's letters being a little confused. They are all dated and page numbered so you can sort them. The website does not always seem to load them in order, and some are repeats to ensure good clear versions are there for us. All are page by page, and some are recopied as Maurice sent them and as Nell read them i.e. folded.

I note that Maurice's death was reported in the newspapers in November, in the 105th and 106th casualty lists for WW1. Shocking to think they are up to 106 when the war has been going barely a year.

Trooper Gorman enlisted age 19 yrs 4 months in the 4th ALH Rgt, "A" Squadron. He was 5 ft 10 ins tall, single and Methodist.

4th Light Horse The regiment landed at what became known as ANZAC Cove between the 22 and 24 May 1915. Initially, the regiment was broken up and provided squadrons as reinforcements for infantry battalions at various points around the beachhead, and it was not until 11 June that the regiment concentrated as a formed unit. After this, they were mostly used to defend the Allies' precarious position on the peninsula, especially in the area of "Ryrie’s Post", although they did take part in several small assaults. The regiment left Gallipoli prior to the end of the campaign on 11 December 1915. Maurice was transferred to the 1st ALH Brigade that arrived at Anzac on May 12 1915.

DEATH & BURIAL

He was killed by a sniper while on watch in the trenches at Lone Pine October 9 1915, after the Battle of Lone Pine and shortly before the withdrawal from Gallipoli.  I haven't been able to find Long's Post named on a battlefield map, but the Lone Pine battle field was surrounded by about 20 'listening posts' in no-man's land, and Maurice might have been on watch at one of these. There are several other numbered 'Posts' on the various maps of the battlefields, any one of which might have been known in 1915, as Long's Post. 

The Argus Mon 9 Oct 1916 GORMAN.—Sacred to the memory of No. 618, Trooper Maurice Gorman, killed in action at Gallipoli, October 9, 1915. For King and country. —(Inserted by his friend, Trooper A. E. Sinclair, No. 301, 4th Light Horse, returned wounded soldier.)

The Roll of Honour at Canberra reports Maurice has a wife called Annie Diver, of Childers. Not sure what that is about, but the Divers were his cousins, and there is no evidence Maurice married one that I know of.

From Victorian Roll of Honour GORMAN, Maurice Edwin Picture Service no 618 Private 4th Light Horse Regiment Born Thorpdale, Vic. Son of James and Rosehannah GORMAN Of Childers, Thorpdale, Vic. Occupation prior to enlistment Farmer Enlisted 22 September 1914 at Thorpdale, Vic. Served in Egypt and Gallipoli Killed in action at Gallipoli 09 October 1915 Buried Shell Green Cemetery, Gallipoli

GORMAN Trooper Maurice Edwin, 618, 4th Light Horse Regiment, AIF. Killed in action 9 October 1915 . Shell Green Cemetery I.H.4. Epitaph: Our Maurice So Dearly Loved And Sadly Missed By All At Home

UK & Commonwealth War Graves Commission Name: James Gorman Gender: Male Region or Memorial: Gallipoli Spouse: Rosehannah Gorman Child: Maurice Edwin Gorman Tpr Maurice Edwin, 618. 4th Light Horse. Killed in action 9th Oct., 1915. Son of James and Rosehannah Gorman, of Childers, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. I.H.4.

Maurice survived 5 months on Gallipoli. His brother Paddy (Henry Everard) told cousin Cissie Morgan in Leicester, that he was present at Maurice's burial. His name is on the Childers War Memorial.

In the early stages of mobilisation for war the men of the AIF were selected under some of the toughest criterion of any army in World War I and it is believed that roughly 30 per cent of men that applied were rejected on medical grounds. In order to enlist, men had to be aged between 18 and 35 years of age (although it is believed that men as old as 70 and as young as 14 managed to enlist), and they had to be at least five foot six inches tall (168 centimetres), with a chest measurement of at least 34 inches (86 centimetres). Many of these strict requirements were lifted later in the war, however, as the need for replacements grew.

Indeed, casualties among the initial volunteers were so high, that of the 32,000 original soldiers of the AIF only 7,000 would survive to the end of the war.

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James Gorman was a member of the Victorian Mounted Rifles from circa 1880, and young Maurice joined as soon as he was old enough. With federation in 1901 the new federal government began to tranform the colonial formations into a national military. The VMR became part of the Australian Light Horse in 1902. The Light Hose was re-formed once again in 1914/15 for WW1. Maurice enlisted in the 4th ALH.

The 4th Light Horse Regiment was formed as the divisional cavalry regiment for the 1st Australian Division on 11 August 1914. Belying traditional stereotypes, over 20 per cent of the original regiment were city dwellers from Melbourne. The regiment sailed from Melbourne on 19 October 1914 and disembarked in Egypt on 10 December.

The light horse were considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, but were subsequently deployed without their horses to reinforce the infantry. The 4th Light Horse Regiment landed on 22 and 24 May and its squadrons were initially scattered to reinforce the infantry battalions already ashore. The regiment was not reunited until 11 June. Much of the regiment's time at Gallipoli was spent defending the precarious ANZAC position, most frequently around Ryrie's Post, but its squadrons were involved in several minor attacks. It left the peninsula on 11 December 1915. Maurice was on watch at Long's Post, Lone Pine, when he was killed.

4th Australian Light Horse Brigade The 4th Light Horse Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) serving in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The brigade was initially formed as a part-time militia formation in the early 1900s in Victoria and Tasmania. After the outbreak of World War I, the brigade was raised as a volunteer formation within the AIF in March 1915 and shipped to Egypt and was broken up in August 1915 to provide dismounted reinforcements to other light horse formations already deployed to Gallipoli. Reformed in February 1917, the brigade was assigned to the Imperial Mounted Division, which formed part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, and in June 1917 transferred to the Australian Mounted Division, where it served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign until the end of the war. After the war, the AIF light horse regiments were demobilised and disbanded; however, the brigade briefly existed as a part-time militia formation in New South Wales until 1921 when its regiments were reorganised into cavalry brigades. The 4th Light Horse Brigade was initially raised as part of the militia in the early 1900s, being formed around 1902. That formation had been raised in Victoria and Tasmania, and had consisted of the 10th, 11th and 12th Australian Light Horse Regiments. In 1910, the brigade was reorganised when the 12th was replaced by the 19th Australian Light Horse, which was based in regional Victoria. By 1912, however, the brigade had ceased to exist and the consistent regiments reorganised and dispersed to other formations. The 10th Australian Light Horse became the 13th Light Horse Regiment and was assigned to the 5th Light Horse Brigade, the 19th was reorganised into the 17th Light Horse Regiment and assigned to the 7th Light Horse Brigade, while the 11th Australian Light Horse was split to become the 20th and 29th Light Horse Regiments. The 20th was also assigned to the 7th Light Horse Brigade, while the 29th became the divisional cavalry regiment. At this time, plans were made to re-raise the 4th Light Horse Brigade with the 8th, 10th and 12th Light Horse Regiments, but this did not occur before the war broke out.

The 4th Light Horse Regiment was a mounted infantry regiment of the Australian Army during the First World War. The regiment was raised in August 1914, as the divisional cavalry regiment for the 1st Division. The regiment fought against the forces of the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire, in Egypt, at Gallipoli, on the Western front, on the Sinai Peninsula, and in Palestine and Jordan. After the armistice the regiment eventually returned to Australia in March 1919. For its role in the war the regiment was awarded twenty-one battle honours. On 11 August 1914, the 4th Light Horse Regiment was raised in Melbourne, as the divisional cavalry regiment of the 1st Division. Light horse regiments normally comprised twenty-five officers and 497 other ranks serving in three squadrons, each of six troops.Each troop was divided into eight sections, of four men each. In action one man of each section was nominated as a horse holder reducing the regiment's rifle strength by a quarter. The 4th Light Horse eventually raised five squadrons and later in the war, two of these squadrons were detached to accompany the Australian infantry divisions to France, while the other three remained to the Middle East, serving with the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division.

All Australian Light Horse regiments used cavalry unit designations, but were mounted infantry, and mounted exclusively on the Australian Waler horse. The regiment sailed for war on 19 October 1914 and arrived in Egypt on 10 December. When the rest of the division departed to take part in the Gallipoli, the light horse were left behind the authorities under the belief that mounted troops would not be needed in the campaign due to the terrain. However, infantry casualties were so severe it was decided to send them, without their horses, as infantry reinforcements. The regiment landed at what became known as ANZAC Cove between the 22 and 24 May 1915. Initially, the regiment was broken up and provided squadrons as reinforcements for infantry battalions at various points around the beachhead, and it was not until 11 June that the regiment concentrated as a formed unit. After this, they were mostly used to defend the Allies' precarious position on the peninsula, especially in the area of "Ryrie's Post", although they did take part in several small assaults. The regiment left Gallipoli prior to the end of the campaign on 11 December 1915. The 4th ALH later took part in the charge at Beesheba.

Paddy left Gallipoli but Maurice was left in the Shell Green Cemetery.