A Symbol of Community Grief
Henry MouldsAbout 55 kilometres north Canberra lies the small village of Collector. The War Memorial at Collector is a simple four-sided obelisk. Names are engraved on two sides, one of which is dedicated “Fallen in their country’s service”.
Many of the 44 men who enlisted from Collector were related by birth or by marriage and include brothers and cousins. Like young men in so many rural communities, sometimes all the sons in a family enlisted. At times, the father too enlisted. All too often, they didn’t all return. The men from Collector were farmers, labourers, railway workers, graziers and numerous manual trades.
Alfred and Eliza Noble only had two sons. The first, Alfred Laurence, died of wounds in March 1917, serving with the 35th Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force in France, having begun his service in the 55th Infantry Battalion. He is buried in the Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery at Armentieres in France. His brother Joshua was killed in September of the following year, whilst serving with the 55th Infantry Battalion in France. Both men had enlisted on the same day, although Joshua wasn’t sent to France until September 1916, three months after his brother. Their names are on the Collector memorial.
The family name Sheridan features seven times on the memorial. Cousins Stanley, Harry and William all died. Light Horseman Stanley was killed in action at Gallipoli. Harry and William met their fates in France. The 1916/17 winter in France and Belgium was the harshest in over a generation and many men fell sick in those horrific conditions. Harry Sheridan contracted pneumonia in April 1917 and although hospitalised, died just eight days after admission. William Henry Sheridan was serving with the 35th Infantry Battalion at Villers-Bretonneux when he was killed in action on the 8th of August 1918. He lies in the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Picardie, France.
Thirteen of the 44 men who had enlisted from Collector died, but Stanley Sheridan’s three brothers, Harold, John and Ernest, were among those who returned home. Harry Sheridan’s brother Fred also returned. The impact of the war on the small village was significant, with the death toll of those who had enlisted being twice the national average. Even those not directly related would have known many of those men who enlisted from Collector. Most of those who survived returned changed by their wartime experiences, and many left the district soon after their return.
If we consider the relationships between those men, perhaps we can begin to imagine the community-wide grief the Collector War Memorial represents.
Lest We Forget
Sources:
AWM Wesite Roll of Honour
AWM Roll of Honour circulars
Collector Anzacs – A tribute to our town and district’s contribution to World War 1. Second edition 2018, Collector and District Historical Association
