Private Reginald Baden Crowley, 34th Australian Infantry Battalion
Australian War MemorialReginald Crowley was born on 26 March 1900 in West Wyalong, New South Wales. He was one of eight children born to John Crowley, a journalist, and his wife Elizabeth. He received his education at West Wyalong Public School where he was an active member of the cadets program. He later moved to Sydney where he studied electrical engineering. He was working in this area when the First World War broke out in 1914.
By 1916, both of Reginald’s older brothers had already joined the colours. One was serving with British forces, while the other had joined the Australian Imperial Force. Despite being underage, Reginald enlisted on 22 May 1916. Giving his age as 18 and a half, he was accepted and assigned to the 6th Reinforcement of the 56th Battalion. During his training, Reginald’s father John, also enlisted but was assigned to a different battalion. John Crowley was still in training when Reginald embarked on the troopship Ceramic in early October 1916.
Private Crowley arrived in Plymouth, England, on 21 November. He was sent to camp and was eventually reunited with his father and his two older brothers in January of 1917. In April that year, Private Crowley was transferred to his father’s unit, the 34th Battalion.
In July, Crowley and his father joined their unit in the trenches of Belgium, arriving after the battalion’s attack on Messines Ridge. Crowley and his comrades alternated between periods of duty in the front lines, and training in the rear areas. Reginald contracted trench fever, and was evacuated to hospital in September. While he was recovering in an English hospital, the 34th Battalion took part in an attack on the strategically important village of Passchendaele. His father John did not survive that battle.
Private Reg Crowley was discharged from hospital on 3 November 1917. After time in a convalescent camp, he re-joined his unit in France in March 1918, in the midst of the enemy’s Spring Offensive. The enemy launched multiple heavy attacks along the allied front which proved costly for both sides. Crowley’s unit was part of the force deployed to defend the vital railway city of Amiens. The 34th Battalion took up defensive positions near Villers-Bretonneux, which, if taken by German forces, would place their artillery within range of Amiens.
On 4 April 1918, German forces heavily shelled Villers-Bretonneux and its railway line, causing heavy casualties. Crowley’s unit was forced into a counter-attack pushing toward the railway line with the 33rd Battalion. Fighting continued into the night. At about 10 pm, the 34th Battalion received orders to capture the railway bridge, against enemy machine-guns and infantry. During this attack, Private Reggie Crowley was shot and killed by an enemy officer. His comrade told the Red Cross:
“Crowley was in the act of bayonetting a German officer – he could use his bayonet very skilfully. The German officer cried out for mercy and that put the young fellow off guard, and the officer shot him dead with his revolver. I was just a yard or two off – Crowley was shot clean dead and there were two bullet holes in the stomach. After that we took no more prisoners; it was a case of no quarter.”
Crowley’s final resting place was lost during the subsequent fighting, and today he his commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
Private Reggie Crowley was 18 years old.
- AWM Roll of Honour https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1726141
