A century on from the end of World War I we acknowledge their service …
Lest we forget.
Gunner Charles William Douglas McRae
Born: 6 December 1897 Pakenham. Died: 3 January 1983 Ipswich.
Enlisted: 1 March 1916 aged 19.
Served: Western Front.
Known as Doug, the only son of Donald and Mary Jane McRae, held down various jobs in Pakenham, including as a teamster, which in those days involved carting goods in a horse-drawn wagon.
Doug was taken on strength with the 55th Siege Battery, 36th Australian Heavy Artillery Group on the Western Front in February 1917.
The 55th Battery was equipped with powerful 9.2 inch long-range Howitzers, which could fire a 132kg high explosive shell almost 10 kilometres.
The unit supported British and Canadian forces when they attacked the Germans at Vimy Ridge near Arras and later at the Battles of Messines, Cambrai and Broodseinde near Ypres.
During 1918, the unit supported British operations in the Ypres area.
During the bitter conscription referendum campaign of 1917, Doug wrote home to his family from France advising them: “Don’t vote YES’. None of the men want to be called conscripts, we are all volunteers!” The family subsequently voted “no”.
Doug was living in South Melbourne in 1923 when he claimed his war medal.
In 1935 he married Beatrice Dudley and the couple had one child.
This is an extract from Patrick Ferry’s book A Century After The Guns Fell Silent – Remembering the Pakenham District’s WWI Diggers 1914-18.
For more details on this and other profiles in the book, head to the website www.pakenhamww1.com
