A CHANCE discovery in a barn in rural England has brought with it a mystery from World War One — a mystery that may never be solved with the passing of so many years.
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Graham and Glynis Webber own a farm in Middle Kernborough in Devon and when cleaning out the barn last year they made an intriguing find.
Gathering dust in the barn for possibly 100 years was the exercise book of a World War One soldier who was subsequently identified as being from the Lithgow area.
In fading pencil was the identification that read: 1st Anzac Corp School, 17-6-17, Lt (Lieutenant) Fred Brown, 18th Battalion. Composite Division, SCA C5’ then an undecipherable word that appears to possibly read “Avelay’.
Lt Fred James Brown enlisted from Meadow Flat but inquiries by the Mercury and by Lithgow councillor (and Mt Lambie resident) Col Hunter have revealed no remaining descendants in the area.
The hand writing inside the book is mostly legible and is obviously a record of training and operational procedures for anyone of officer rank.
It includes sections on drill, discipline, setting of guard, field engineering, weaponry — and it goes on.
Of drill it read: ‘DRILL is the foundation of all discipline, of importance as a means to an end, ensures regularity of punctuality. Men drilled together will hop the parapet together. (Drill) simplifies law and order (and is) the basis of life saving formations.’
A Lieutenant Colonel Ross who had prepared the lesson also suggested ‘merciless criticism of individuals during parade’.
In the section headed ‘The Art of Instruction’ Lt Col Ross recommends: ‘Study your audience as to its intelligence ...’ then ‘...don’t be downhearted by bad answers’.
There are also loose leaf hand written notes relating to an action on the killing fields of the Somme in France towards the very end of the war in November 1918.
It relates to the area around Villers Bretonneux and Amiens and the breaking of the German front line in Hamel by the Australians in August that year.
The contents seem straightforward for the era but there’s nothing straightforward about the discovery of the book in the barn.
As far as the Webbers are aware there were no wartime training facilities around their farm and in any event the final entry is just days from the armistice.
As Graham and Glynis Webber told us ‘... identifying Fred’s connection was a long shot but was worth a try. It provides a glimpse into the life of an ANZAC in WW1’.
When the Mercury first published the mystery find last year after contact from the Webbers it appeared the passing of time proved too great an obstacle to new information.
The book has now been placed in the care of the Lithgow Library historical collection as one of our enduring mysteries from the Great War.