Ernest Roland (Rollie) Touzel
Stephen LearmonthRollie was one of eleven children of Francis Giles and Sarah Maria (née Carter) Touzel. He was born on the 17th of July, 1892, at Cudgewa, Victoria. Rollie also had three step-siblings from Francis’ first wife, Charlotte, who died in 1879.Prior to marrying Sarah in 1886, Frank had established a blacksmith business at the southern end of Cudgewa.
Rollie enlisted in the 1st AIF on August the 4th, 1915, with the 15th Reinforcements of the14th Battalion AIF at Corryong Victoria. He was a farmer’s labourer for most of his 25 years of life and a well liked member of his local community in the Upper Murray, North East Victoria. Rollie was a prolific diary keeper and, in a chance finding on the 46th Battalion Facebook page, we can read Rollie’s story through his eyes.
On August the 11th, 1915, Rollie travelled by coach to Tallangatta, arriving 4½ hours after he had departed Corryong. He then went by train to Melbourne where he undertook a second medical examination at Broadmeadows Camp. His initial examination was completed by Dr Greenham, in Corryong, back on the 4th of August. It took him six and a half hours to travel back to Wodonga by train. He arrived at 10:30pm on the night of the 14th of August. The next day he walked the 24 miles to Allan’s Flat where he stayed for four days. On the 20th, he left Albury at 8 o’clock that evening, arriving back in Corryong at 6 am the following day. For the remainder of August, Rollie visited relatives and friends in the Upper Murray.
On the first day of September, 1915, Rollie reported to the Army Camp at Royal Park near Melbourne. Here, he was issued with a great coat, boots and blankets. During the months of September and October, Rollie was involved in a variety of training exercises and classes. Finally, on October the 22nd, the troops were issued with uniforms. In early November, some troops were removed to Seymour to alleviate serious concerns about their health, due to the poor conditions at Broadmeadows. On November the 23rd Rollie was transferred to the 5th Battalion. The next day he went back to Corryong for final leave. There were over 14 local lads who were home on leave at that time. Rollie and his mates had a send off at Corryong on the 26th, followed by another one at Cudgewa the next day. His family enjoyed an early Christmas dinner and celebrations on the 27th of November, the day before Rollie left to return to his unit.
Training continued through to the new year and it wasn’t until the 14th of March that Rollie embarked on HMAT A68 Anchises at the Port of Melbourne. During a brief stop over at Adelaide, 30 men were left behind as they were late arriving back to the ship. The Anchises crossed the equator on March the 29th and arrived at Colombo on the 31st, where the troops were able to disembark and exercise by way of marching around the town. Back at sea, the first of many deaths and burials occurred when the ship’s Steward was buried. On that same day Rollie saw a water spout that went from the sea to the clouds.
Rollie records:
April. 13. Anchored out of suez [sic]. Windy and dusty about 24 ships in the bay.
April. 14. Showery. Disembarked at 0400 and entrained for Tel-eb-kebia [sic] we passed through a couple of camps, and large irrigation flats along water channels from the Nile. There is a number of sailing boats on these channels.
April 17. Issued with rifles and helmets. went to a native circus, one of the best that I have seen.
April 21. Good Friday had look over old battlefield of 1892 the trenches are still intack [sic] and a few bones and cartridges cases remains. The stones are very pretty and of all colours.
Rollie had many different experiences between the 21st of April and early June. Other than training and desert exercises, he was able to see how the locals lived and he noticed the differences between their society and the one he knew so well back in Cudgewa. He saw the aftermath of the Cairo riots and experienced the very first celebration of the day ANZAC forces landed on Gallipoli. His keen eye noticed the ancient farming practices used by the local population, commenting on the prices of different livestock.
On June the 6th, all troops were issued with two days rations and entrained at 2030, arriving in Alexandria at 0330 the following morning. They embarked on HMT E80 Huntspill, an Austrian prize steamer. Rollie couldn’t help but notice how dirty the ship and the eating utensils were, having been used and left by the previous group of British troops. The Huntspill arrived at Marsceilles at 1500 on June the 13th. The following day they disembarked, marched one mile to the train then boarded the train for northern France. Rollie was enthralled with the countryside they travelled through: “hilly and of marvellous vegetation, vineyard, orchards, gardens, crops and are coloured with flowers in abundance everywhere”. He also commented on how it was old men and women who were tilling the fields.
The train arrived at Etaples on June the 16th at 1 o’clock in the morning. June, July and August saw more training, issuing of equipment, and even more training. The techniques were now focussed on trench warfare and not open plains warfare, as was practised in Egypt. Rollie also caught up with a couple of lads from the Upper Murray, John Boyle from Walwa and Hugh Taylor from Corryong. On the 21st of July Rollie was transferred to C Company of the 46th Battalion, 14th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Australian Division.
Rollie was about to experience his first major battle on the Western Front. Above the date of August the 3rd he wrote in capital letters “POZIERES”
Aug.3. Fine. Light duties, went to sausage gully and our company got lost and went right up to the front line and went back to a sap and slept there.
Aug.4. Fine. Clarry, four of our boys got wounded by premature explosion of one of the guns near. Tea a 1530 and went on fatigue carrying wire and ammunition to the boys that hopped over and took two lines of germans trenches and was there almost as soon as the first. Our coy [company] never had a casualty [sic].
Aug.5. Fine, carried grenades and ammunitions to the seventh brigade. No casualties.
Aug.6. “Sunday”. Took water to the second line, and helped the stretcherbearers the rest of the day. While having breakfast at 0100 three shrapnel shells came over on the dump killed four and wounded about twelve, the wounded are very cheerful and have to be carried between two and three miles to the dressing station and one and a half miles to the cars. the trench that we slept in was shelled all night with little damage.
Aug.7. Fine. rebuilding a sap and started to build a dressing station nearer the front line. left it about one hour when a shell came along the dump and set fire to the stokes [mortar] and killed fourteen men only one escaped.
Aug.8. Fine. fatigue in the morning went to the supports in the afternoon under heavy shell fire all the time had a few casualties.
Aug.9. Fine rebuilt the sap. And went out over the front line and sapped till 2400 when it got too warm for working a heavy artillery [sic] bombardment on both sides from then till daylight then it was quiet. We cannot see anything of the germans. Went back to the gully for a rest after three days and nights without rest.
Aug.10. Showery. spell in the morning had a look over the field and got a few paybooks from the dead and handed them to in so that they could tell what happened to the owners carried rations for the rest of our own battalion which relieved us from the front line went back after teat to finish the sap got shelled and had to retire and to for one hour got knocked over twice [by the shelling] but never got a scratch got to sleep at 0150.
C Company remained in the front line for five more days, carrying out work parties, being shelled and getting very little rest. On August the 15th they were relieved and made their way back to Albert and finally Cagny, via motor buses and marching. By the 9th of September the entire 46th Battalion was billeted at Kenora Camp at Reninghelst, near Amiens. They would remain here until the 20th when the 46th Battalion 1st AIF relieved the 46th Battalion 10th Canadian Brigade in the front line near Ypres.
For the next six months, the 46th Battalion went through a series of rotations in the front line, reserve and then at rest. Training and fatigue parties continued while out of the line. Whilst in the line some trench raiding parties were sent over to the German lines. Although the battalion suffered casualties, including the officer commanding C Compnay, Captain F.O. Purnell, they were relatively light.
Not only was there the shelling from the Germans to contend with, but the weather was appalling with rain, snow, sleet, hail and, above all, mud! The conditions were such that Rollie specifically mentions them on a number of occasions.
Oct.18. Wet. Spell day fatigue all night one man got bogged and it took two men over two hours to get him out.
Feb.21. Cloudy. Carried rations 1½ miles or 45 Battn in front line through [sic] mud and slush up to our hips, got shelled fairly heavy two of us got hit on arm with piece of shell just bruised. Home at 2400
On the 1st of April 1917 the battalion moved from Warlencourt to Bapaume and into billets.
April.2. Showery. Marched three miles then went to Baphume [sic] in lorries. Slept in tents on the wet ground. The town are blown to pieced by the germans before they were driven out and buried some of their dead in the French graves.
April.3. Snow. put floors in our tent from the wreckage of the town.
April.4. Snow. Rose at 0450, marched three miles and then came back to camp.
On the 4th of April the battalion moved from Bapaume taking over dug-outs that were occupied by the 13th battalion near Monument School.
The following day, the 5th of April, 1917, Rollie was wounded by a gunshot to the head which also resulted in a fractured skull. He was immediately taken to the 4th Australian Field Ambulance where he died of his wounds that same day. He was buried in the Bapaume Australian Cemetery, France.
In November of 1917 a small brown package arrived at the Touzel household in Cudgewa. In it were the personal effects of the late 4972 Private E.R. Touzel, 46th battalion A.I.F. It contained a wallet, letters, postcards, sovereign purse, notebook, 2 small souvenir booklets of views, metal chain and an identity disc.
One year after Rollie died, two of his siblings, George and Grace, placed this poem in the Yackandandah Times.
In Memoriam.
TOUZEL,- In loving memory of our dear brother, Ernest Roland Touzel, who gave his life for the Empire in France, April 4th, 1917.
He gave his life for his country,
For honor, faith and right,
With us his memory ever lives,
He fought a noble fight.
Midst the roaring of the battle,
And the rain of shot and shell,
Fighting for home and country,
He like a hero fell.
No loved ones stood around him,
To bid a fond farewell,
No word of comfort we could give,
To him we loved so well,
To live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die.
- Inserted by his loving brother and sister George and Grace Touzel.
Rollie is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Corryong War Memorial, the Cudgewa State School Roll of Honour, and the Cudgewa War Memorial. For his service, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
