My dear boy ...
Mary placed the newspaper on her writing bureau. Her hand
shook slightly as she took one piece of lined writing paper. She filled her pen
from the ink well and in cursive script she wrote:
The
Offices
Moonta Mines
Yorke Peninsula
17 Sept 1917
Mr Chas A. Edmunds, Hon. Secretary
Dear Sir,
Last Thursday fortnight my daughter-in-law
received word from the Defence Dept Melbourne stating that her husband (my only
child) was wounded 2nd occasion, anything further would be communicated at
once. We have waited & waited & as I am weak after a long illness with
heart trouble the anxiety is making me ill again. We sent to Melbourne &
had word that nothing more has been heard relating to No 216 Sergeant R.O.
Harris, 113th Howitzer Battery, Australian Field Artillery,
Australian Imperial Forces, Abroad, but would let the wife know as soon as any
message was received.
It has upset me very much to notice in
tonight’s paper that 2 or 3 dear fellows have been killed, who were just
wounded. We are told that you can help us. If you could we would be deeply
grateful. My dear boy has been gone 3 years last August & was wounded in
the famous landing…
Yours very faithfully
Mary L. Dain[1]
-------------------------------------------o------------------------------------------
Mary Louisa Tiddy was born in 1858 in Cornwall where she grew
up with her family. Her mother died when she was 29 and she remained in the
family home with her father and younger sister. Eventually Mary married a local
man, Robert Harris, when she was 34. In the course of his work as a miner, her
husband travelled regularly between England and South Africa. In 1893 Mary gave
birth to a son, Robert Oxenberry Harris, in Cornwall. On 24 June 1898 her
husband died in Johannesburg leaving Mary his worldly possessions, amounting to
£371, and a 5yo son to raise on her own. Two months later her father died
leaving Mary and her sister £956.
The two estates ensured Mary was able to provide for
herself and her son. At some stage she met Christopher Dain, who was also a
widow. He worked in the north-east of England and in May 1905 they married in
Sunderland. Christopher was eight years older than Mary, and a science lecturer
by profession. By this time her son, who they called Roy, was not quite 12
years of age. In Sunderland Roy met Edmund Arrowsmith, the third child of
Robert William and Sarah Arrowsmith. Edmund had two older sisters - Lillian
Minnie and Winifred - and a younger brother. The Harris and Arrowsmith families
became very friendly.
In March 1911 best friends Edmund Arrowsmith (16) and Roy Harris
(17) set sail from Liverpool. Two months later Mary and Christopher Dain also
set sail. They met up at Maitland on the Yorke Peninsula where Mary’s cousin
James Oxenberry (JO) Tiddy was a stalwart of the district. The rest of the
Arrowsmith family followed and by August 1913 they were all living on the Yorke
Peninsula.
On August 5, 1914 Australia woke to the news that the
United Kingdom had declared war on Germany. It had been building for months so
it didn’t come as a surprise. Many believed it would be a short war, possibly
over by Christmas. Young men enlisted in the thousands, anxious to not miss out
on the action, and many hurriedly married their sweethearts.
Mary gained a daughter-in-law when Roy married Winifred Arrowsmith
on 10 August 1914 at the St John Church of England in Maitland. Winifred was
about six weeks pregnant which she may, or may not, have realised. Several days
after the wedding the 3rd Light Horse Regiment (3LHR) of the
Australian Imperial Force was raised in Adelaide and Edmund and Roy travelled
together to Morphetville to enlist.[2]
On the 18 March 1915 Mary became a grandmother. She was
delighted when Winifred gave him the exact same name as her son – Robert
Oxenberry Harris. However, their joy was overshadowed by the war and three
months later Winifred received notification from the War Office that Roy had
been wounded – gunshot wound, slight – at the Dardanelles (Gallipoli). Roy
recovered but he was unwell with recurring gastritis, as well as problems with
his teeth and kidneys. Several times he was hospitalised.
After spending some time in England, Roy was sent to France
and he was posted to the 13th Field Artillery Brigade in April 1917.
From that time on communication was scant until Winifred received a letter in late
August 1917 from the Defence Department saying that her husband had been ‘wounded
- second occasion’. No further details.
By the time Mary
read the 337th Casualty List ‘Wounded - 216 Sgt RO Harris, Maitland’
on 11 September 1917 she was incredibly anxious.[3]
-------------------------------------------o------------------------------------------
Mary addressed the envelope to Mr Chas A. Edmunds, Hon.
Secretary, Red Cross Information Bureau. She walked to the Moonta Post Office,
bought a stamp and posted the letter that she hoped would bring news of her
son. Within days Mary received a reply that they had previously received an
enquiry from ‘Mrs Harris … and his name was included in our cable of enquiry to
the Red Cross Commissioners in London of this week’s date.’
The
Offices
Moonta Mines
Yorke Peninsula
23 Sept 1917
Dear Sir,
Thank you very much for your letter of the 18th.
My daughter-in-law and her Mother are great workers for the Red Cross at
Maitland & I am so thankful she wrote you in time for last week’s cable,
pray God we may soon have good news of my dear boy, the anxiety is terrible,
again thanking you.
I am yours gratefully
Mary L. Dain[4]
There was nothing more Mary could do but wait. Her anxiety
deepened as the weeks passed. Each week she read the Casualty List in the paper
hoping for news; but also hoping to not see his name amongst the dead. It must
have felt like an eternity as Mary and Winifred waited. Finally, a response from
the Red Cross came on October 9, 1917. It was short, but it was good news!
The
Red Cross Commissioners … notify that Sergeant Harris rejoined his Regiment,
having apparently quite recovered from his recent wounds on August 27th last.[5]
Mary immediately penned her final letter to the Red Cross:
Dear sir, please accept my heartfelt thanks
for your kind letter of the 9th telling me you had received word that my dear
son Sergeant RO Harris had rejoined his regiment. I can assure you it is a very
great relief. What a blessing for us Mothers, wives & indeed all who have
dear ones at the front, to be able to get such comfort through your society,
may God help the people to keep it going.
Again thanking you
I am yours
Very gratefully
Mary L Dain[6]
-------------------------------------------o------------------------------------------
Sergeant Robert Oxenberry (Roy) Harris survived the war and rejoined his wife Winifred in Maitland in January 1919.
He held his almost four-year-old namesake for the first time. Roy and Winifred had two more children together.
Mary Louisa Dain died on May 1926 in Maitland, nine months after her husband had died in Glenelg.
[1]
State Library of SA (SLSA), South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau, Robert
Oxenberry Harris, https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/soldier/robert-oxenberry-harris
[2]
National Archives of Australia (NAA), B2455, HARRIS R O
[3] The
Register, 1917, Sept 11, p8, 337th Casualty List
[4]
State Library of SA (SLSA),
[5]
ditto
[6]
ditto
Comments
Post a Comment