PRIVATE JAMES DUNCAN MCDONALD

1098 / 5483 – 11th Infantry Battalion

 Born in Inglewood / Serpentine, near Bendigo, Victoria in 1878, James was the son of Donald and Jane, nee Cannan, McDonald.

 He completed the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’ at Derby, Western Australia on 4 October 1915, stating he was aged 34 and a Stockman by occupation.  He named as his Next-of-Kin his sister Mary Edith McDonald of 25 Barclay Street, St Kilda, Victoria

 A medical examination on 16 October at Derby, Western Australia recorded that he was 34 years and 5 months of age.  He stood 5ft 7¾ins tall, weighed 11 stone 2 pounds, and had a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark hair.  He was of the Presbyterian faith.  Distinguishing marks recorded were scars over his left eyebrow and outer side of lower end of biceps.

 He signed the Attestation, and the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ on at Blackboy Hill near Perth on the same day.  Training began at the 33rd Depot and 4th Depot Battalion until 30 November when he was transferred to the No.3 Company of the Mining Corps with rank of Sapper and the Regimental number of 1098.

 The original No.3 Company consisted of Company Headquarters and 3 Sections recruited in the 5th M.D. (Western Australia).  The major portion of No.3 Company was recruited by 2nd Lt. L.J. Coulter, A.I.F. who was sent from N.S.W. to W.A. for that purpose.

 Recruiting for the Miners’ Corps began officially on December 1st, 1915. The recruits were placed for basic training the following day at the Helena Vale camp at Blackboy Hill, W.A. as the Corps was being established.

 No.3 Company, with a strength of 1 Officer and 274 Other Ranks embarked from Fremantle, W.A. on December 18, 1915 and sailed to Sydney, NSW on board the troopship SS Indarra. 

 On Boxing Day (Dec 26th), 1915 the Unit arrived in Sydney and marched into Casula Camp, near Liverpool, NSW.  They were joined by the 4th Section of the Tasmanian Miners, bringing the establishment strength up to 15 officers and 349 Other Ranks under the command of 2nd Lieutenant L.J. Coulter.  Mining Corps Units from all Military districts came together at Casula to complete training as a Corps.

 James embarked at Sydney with the Australian Mining Corps on 20 February 1916.

 At a civic parade in the Domain, Sydney on Saturday February 19, 1916, a large crowd of relations and friends of the departing Miners lined the four sides of the parade ground.  Sixty police and 100 Garrison Military Police were on hand to keep the crowds within bounds.  The scene was an inspiriting one. On the extreme right flank, facing the saluting base, were companies of the Rifle Club School; next came a detachment of the 4th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, then the bands of the Light Horse, Liverpool Depot, and the Miners’ on the left, rank upon rank, the Miners’ Battalion. 

 Following the farewell parade in the Domain, Sydney, the Australian Mining Corps embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on 20 February 1916 on board HMAT A38 Ulysses. 

The Mining Corps comprised 1303 members at the time they embarked with a Headquarters of 40; No.1 Company – 390; No.2 Company – 380; No.3 Company – 392, and 101 members of the 1st Reinforcements.

 Ulysses arrived in Melbourne, Victoria on 22 February and the Miners were camped at Broadmeadows while additional stores and equipment were loaded onto Ulysses.  Another parade was held at the Broadmeadows camp on March 1, the Miners’ Corps being inspected by the Governor-General, as Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth military forces. 

 Departing Melbourne on 1 March, Ulysses sailed to Fremantle, Western Australia where a further 53 members of the Corps were embarked.  The ship hit a reef when leaving Fremantle harbour, stripping the plates for 40 feet and, although there was a gap in the outside plate, the inner bilge plates were not punctured.  The men on board nicknamed her ‘Useless’.  The Miners were off-loaded and sent to the Blackboy Hill Camp where further training was conducted.  After a delay of about a month for repairs, The Mining Corps sailed for the European Theatre on 1 April 1916. 

 James failed to re-embark on Ulysses at Fremantle and on 16 April 1916 he embarked on HMAT A60 Aeneas with the 17th Reinforcements to the 11th Infantry Battalion.

 On 12 May 1916, while at sea, he again completed and signed the Attestation Paper and the Oath.  His rank was changed to Private and he was re-allocated the Regimental number 5483.

 James disembarked at Suez on 14 May 1916.  From 3 Training Battalion, Perham Downs, he proceeded overseas to France on 15 August 1916 and marched in to the 1st ADFD at Estaples on 16 August.  He joined the 11th Infantry Battalion in the Field on 1 September.

 James suffered more than his fair share of illnesses, being hospitalised for over 600 days in the following 2 years, including 3 weeks recovering from wounds he received in action in June 1918. 

 James was killed in action on 10 August 1918 and was buried in an isolated grave 1 mile West North West of Lihons and 9 miles West North West of Nesle.

 251 Australians died on the Western Front on 10 August 1918, 48 of them were members of the 11th Battalion.

 After the Armistice, great effort was made to recover soldiers buried in isolated graves and re-inter them in established war cemeteries.  James and a number of his comrades who died with him were re-interred in Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, France.

Nathan Fuller