SNFEATURE
au
for a brave family
 from previous page
The history of the 21st
Battalion, The Red and Black
Diamond, by N.C. Smith
gives some insight into the
horrors he endured.
There is a graphic diary
passage after the battle of
Pozieres attributed to sol-
dier Leo Hine.
There is no sleep and lit-
tle movement except for
the endless procession of
wounded.
The dead lie in the trench
in various attitudes. Here is
one sitting with his back in a
niche in the wall, a book on
his knees. There is no wound.
He was killed by concussion
a week ago and still he sits
there rotting away under
our eyes.
All the time there is the
drawn-out whine and nerve-
shattering crash of the shells.
Sometimes they come singly
along the trench, and some-
Edward Harold Gorey (Ned),
the second youngest of Edward
and Sophia’s seven children,
was born at Corop on August
16, 1888.
The family moved to what
is today known as Reedy Lake
near Whroo in 1890 and Ned at-
tended the nearby Angustown
State School that was provided
for the children of local farmers
and sawmill employees.
Ned formally enlisted at Mel-
bourne to serve in the First
World War on March 26, 1917
when he was 28 years and seven
months.
His occupation at the time
was described as cook. He gave
his permanent address as be-
ing Shepparton and his father’s
name as next of kin. Curiously,
he had completed an attesta-
tion paper four days earlier at
Trafalgar in which he gave his
mother’s name as next of kin
and stated his occupation as la-
bourer.
According to the enlistment
papers, an earlier application to
serve had been rejected on the
grounds of ‘teeth’ which Ned
must have had repaired.
Ned disembarked at Liverpool
on August 26, 1917 and pro-
ceeded to France on December
18 and joined the 57th Battalion
on Christmas Day.
On April 26, 1918, he sus-
tained gunshot wounds to the
back and was gassed severely.
He was treated at the 6th Gener-
al Hospital at Rouen and trans-
ferred to Alexandra Hospital in
Cosham, England, where he was
admitted on May 1.
He rejoined his battalion on
August 20, 1918 but just 10 days
later he was wounded again,
this time in the eye and he did
not rejoin his battalion until
shortly before the war’s end.
He was discharged from the
Army on December 8, 1919 and
signed a receipt for his British
War Medal on January 6, 1922.
Ned lived in the Shepparton
area for a short time after the
war before moving to Gippsland
where he acquired a Soldier Set-
tler potato farm at Dalmore.
Ned died on December 19,
1971.
NEWS DESK (03) 58 203 221; editor@sheppnews.com.
SMS 042 SMS NEWS; www.sheppnews.com.au
times they come in a perfect
tornado. To the man sitting
in the trench it is Hell. He
sees this one blown to piec-
es, that one buried, another
shockingly mutilated.
One of the most pitiable
of sights is that of a man
suffering from shell shock,
his nerves shattered, and in
some cases, his reason de-
stroyed.
He crouches on the ground,
shaking like a leaf, and at
the sound of an approach-
ing shell he whimpers like a
frightened child.
The victory at Villers-
Bretonneux in July 1918 is
famous in Australian mili-
tary history and to this day,
French school children in
the village honour Anzac
Day in recognition of their
town being liberated. Bill
Gorey was serving with the
21st Battalion during this
battle.
The battalion’s success at
Mont St Quentin on Sep-
tember 1, 1918 won world-
wide attention. It was re-
‘
garded as a turning point in
Never before have I seen such a stream
descriptions in scores, machine guns,
trench mortars, etc and the dead Fritz
of prisoners going to the rear, guns of all
were terrible to gaze on ...
– WILLIAM (BILL) GOREY
the later stages of the war.
The Germans had been
retreating for several days,
but chose to make a stand
at Mont St Quentin. The
German defenders were lat-
er found to be hand-picked
troops who fought to the
death. Bill Gorey completed
his service in Britain.
His exemplary record
was only tarnished when
charged as being absent
without leave. His service
papers state that he was
‘
absent from March 3 “until
placed under open arrest by
military police at Glasgow’’
on April 4.
He was held under charge
for four days before be-
ing severely reprimanded
by Major W.V. Jardine and
docked 39 days’ pay.
Bill departed for Australia
Charles Edward Gorey
(left) was born at Pan-
noomilloo in the Shire of
Echuca on September 18,
1878. The place name of
his birth does not survive
on maps today, but is situ-
ated near Echuca.
Charles was nicknamed
Boney by his brothers
and sisters, presumably
because of his angular
frame.
Until the 1908 electoral
roll he is recorded as be-
ing a farmer of Whroo but
around this time he moved
to Queensland when he
enlisted to serve with the
4th Tunnelling Co on De-
cember 7, 1915 at Bris-
bane.
Charles was 37 years
and two months at enliste-
ment.
Tunnellers dug trenches
and did manual labor for
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2008
aboard the HT Runic on
April 27, 1919 and disem-
barked on June 6. He was
formally discharged on Au-
gust 2.
According to The News
of Monday, July 14, 1919 an
‘enthusiastic gathering’ of
Grahamvale residents wel-
comed their heroes.
The local school was
filled to capacity for a party
in honor of Bill, his brother
Charles and five other re-
turned servicemen.
There were speeches and
musical entertainment
including the “singing of
Home Sweet Home by seven
young ladies”.
Shortly after his return
Bill successfully acquired
a Soldier Settler block at
Lemnos. He was one of
that area’s original settlers
and his name appears on a
1924 petition to the Educa-
tion Department seeking
engineers. It was hard work
and very dangerous.
He embarked from Syd-
ney aboard the Warilda on
May 22, 1916 arriving in
Plymouth on July 18. He
proceeded to France on
August 29 and was “taken
on strength” with the 1st
Australian Tunnelling Co
on September 30.
He sustained several in-
juries, the first of which
was a dislocated shoulder
that plagued him for at
least several months.
He rejoined his company
at Rouelles on June 12 and
was severely wounded by
shell fire to the neck and
left arm at Ypres on Sep-
tember 29, 1917, and as a
result he saw no more ac-
tive duty.
His medical history re-
veals that Charles had his
ulna nerve severed, lead-
James Daniel Gorey
was born at Whroo on
November 8, 1894 and
baptised at Sacred Heart
Catholic Church in Tatu-
ra on November 4, 1895.
Little is known about
his early life but as the
youngest in the family,
James was probably the
only child still living with
his parents when they
moved from Whroo to
Shepparton about 1910.
Family tradition has it
that James enlisted un-
der age to serve in the
First World War, but was
pulled out by his father,
Edward Gorey.
James served with
the 2nd Pioneer Battal-
ion and proceeded via
the British Expedition-
ary Force in Alexandria
in Egypt to Marseilles,
where he arrived on
March 26, 1916.
On February 14, 1917
he wrote to the Cobram
and District Soldiers
Committee. His sister
Mary was living at Co-
17
the establishment of a local
school. Bill worked as a rab-
bit trapper while waiting for
his peach, pear, plum and
apricot trees to bear fruit
and continued to work the
block until forced to sell the
farm to clear debts in 1942.
From 1942 to 1948 Bill
and his wife Jemima op-
erated the Central Dining
Rooms in Wyndham Street
which provided meals for
bus travellers heading to or
from Benalla, Bendigo and
Echuca.
The couple retired to Car-
rum where Bill built chicken
sheds along the back fence
of a large block and raised
poultry.
Bill Gorey died at Foster
on June 6, 1961. His life and
his service should never be
forgotten.
 The News would like to thank
Michael Gorey for his assistance
in compiling this feature.
ing to paralysis and dis-
charged as the disability
was permanent.
Charles attended a wel-
come party with his broth-
er Bill on Friday, July 11,
1918 at Grahamvale.
Mr Roxburgh, repre-
senting the Shepparton
Fathers’ Association, was
reported in the The News
as saying he hoped aid
would be extended to all
the Grahamvale soldiers
in need of it “for too much
could not be done for such
men”.
Charles was rarely seen
by his relatives, although
he did make several visits
to his brother Bill at Shep-
parton between 1942 and
1948.
According to his death
certificate, Charles died
“in camp on river” near
Deniliquin in 1949.
bram and presumably
arranged for James to
receive parcels from
home. James was ad-
mitted to hospital twice
with illness, the second
time being for mumps
on April 3, 1917. He at-
tended divisional bomb-
ing school on May 27 and
rejoined his unit on June
3. A year passed without
incident, although there
is evidence James fought
in some of the war’s
bloodiest battles.
On June 16, 1918,
James was transferred
to the 2nd Australian
Machine Gun Battalion
a move which probably
cost his life as machine
gunners suffered a high
rate of casualties.
James was wounded
in action on October 3,
1918, and died from his
wounds 29 days before
the war ended.
Edward and Sophia
Gorey were notified of
their youngest son’s
death on October 18.