Tom Douglas McKay, G Company, 4 th Battalion, William Myles O Connor, 4 th Battalion, 1 st AIF Tom and William (Bill) were both young men, aged 19 and 20, who played Australian football in Sydney around the time of the outbreak of WW1. Tom, originally from Melbourne, (where his family still resided) played for the Newtown Club and Bill, whilst born in Glen Innes, was a resident with his family in Glenmore Road in Paddington. This was a relatively handy address for his father who was a warder at Long Bay Gaol and also facilitated Bill s involvement with the East Sydney Australian Rules football Club. Tom had been employed as a typewriter mechanic during his three and a half years in Sydney and Bill was a labourer. The former was named after his father, Thomas Frazer, and was born on 18 th April 1895, the first son and third offspring to his mother Elizabeth, who had six children in total by 1902. This is stark contrast to Bill s known family which consisted of his father William and mother Mary. Both boys were a similar height at around 170cms and of slender build. Both had grey eyes, with Tom having a fairer complexion and several distinguishing moles on his torso. On the other hand Bill had dark hair and a darker complexion. Tom had a long association with the military, having participated in the school cadets from age 13 for two years and then senior cadets until his enlistment at Kensington on 18th August, 1914. It appears from his records that he applied for the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN & MEF) which went to New Guinea at the outbreak of war but instead was put into the 4 th Battalion G Company bound for Europe. Bill travelled to the racecourse in Gardeners Road Rosebery to enlist on 4 th September 1914 and for his medical a little over a week later. The two men were soon part of a rigorous training programme which included practice at a rifle range at Maroubra (Randwick Barracks now occupy part of this site) and there were plenty of hills and sand dunes to scale and in which manoeuvres could be practised.
A typical training day commenced at 6am, hitting the road by 7o clock and returning to camp at 6pm. Jaunts of 18miles (29kms) a day were all instrumental in increasing fitness and removing any extra kilos. A march from Kensington to La Perouse (19.2km return) is a good example of such a training session. One wonders whether Tom, stationed at Kensington Racecourse was part of the 1,000 strong route-march of infantrymen who marched into the city early in September, lunching at the Domain before making their return journey. Crowds cheered as they passed and they were complimented for their soldierly bearing A week later on the 19 th September, Sydney Football played its reserve grade grand final between Newtown and Paddington. With the Newtown captain unavailable, Tom was put in charge for the match and it was reported that he played like a senior performing very well in the course of the game. Maybe he was at his fittest! While in the training camps soldiers were interviewed by various newspapers and at times some glowing reports were published. They claimed that the food was good, that they were happy about the two sets of underwear they received and that the socks were soundly knitted and came well up the leg. Colonel Dobbin, who was in charge of the 1 st Battalion, stated that he even had the makings for a band with several musical instruments already accumulated. The problems with ill-fitting boots were solved by undertaking one of the long treks (I bet resulting in many blisters). Towards the end of October it was decided to evacuate the infantry battalions from the racecourses in Sydney to Holsworthy and Liverpool, south west of the city. Tom and Bill were about to embark on a much longer journey on board the Transport Ship A14 Euripedes which left Sydney on 20 th October 1914. It is recorded that when word got out that an early departure from Australia was imminent, several soldiers attempted to send telegrams to themselves advising of family problems such as deaths and illnesses to enable them to apply for compassionate leave which would then give them opportunity to say a final farewell to their loved ones. Only a few were successful after their ruse was foiled!
The ship arrived in Egypt on 2 nd December following a brief stop at Albany in Western Australia. After spending Christmas and the first few months of 1915 in Egypt the two men finally set sail from Alexandria on 12th April, on board the troopship Lake Michigan bound for Gallipolli. This photo shows the 4th Battalion camp in Egypt. Of the four officers shown, only one survived the war. In less than a month later they were dead! A church service is held on board the ship prior to the landing on 25th April,1915
Being part of the second and third waves to invade Turkey they ran up the beach at Gallipoli under fire about 7.40am on the 25 th April, 1915, Both managed to survive that ordeal. They were also lucky on the following day, with Tom (and presumably Bill) fighting on Knife Ridge. Their commander, Lt Colonel A.J.O. Thompson was killed that day defending the beachhead. Then, on 1st May it was their turn to join the ranks of those soldiers who were never to return home. It appears that Tom was shot in the head on Walkers Ridge (shown below). Reports differ but the one that states that he was playing cards in the trench when shot and that one of his comrades put flowers on his grave and that one of his comrades put flowers on his grave was maybe a more comforting account of his demise for his mother, if she ever received it. However this was to take a long time. It was mid-june before his family received the news that he had been wounded (not seriously), followed by a cable stating that he was missing. Then in October his sister had her worst fear confirmed with the return of a letter that she had written to him in Gallipoli with KILLED written across the envelope. She immediately wrote to the Defence Dept in Melbourne in an effort to clarify the situation, however it wasn t until late November that her mother, as next of kin, was advised that the matter was being investigated.
The anguish of not knowing was still not over! Mid December saw a letter arriving stating that another soldier of the same name was killed on 1 st May and that the KILLED endorsement was indeed an error. How heartbreaking! Ironically it was early September when the Military Board had already ascertained that Tom was indeed dead. The Public Trustee had been informed so why wasn t his mother relieved of her worry and perhaps a false hope? His meagre effects were returned 2 watches, 2 military books, cigarette cards, playing cards, letters and sleeve links. But it was not until 1923, nearly eight years after his death,that his identity disc and a button were forwarded to his family following the discovery of his remains which were exhumed and reburied in his final resting place in Lone Pine Cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsular. Below is a photo taken in 1919 depicting one of the Australian sections on the peninsular where exhumation of bodies would take place. Poor communication regarding their son s fate added to the O Connor s worries as well. Five months after his disappearance, his father sought an address to enable him to send a Christmas parcel to his son, a lad with whom he had shared probably 20 Christmases.
Mary, Bill s mother, also held onto a thread of hope that her son would return to his life in Australia. He had officially been reported missing in late January, 1916, seven months after his actual death. In 1918 Mary read a report of a Private O Connor in the Sydney Morning Herald that he had been a prisoner of war and was anxious to know if it related to her own son. She was quite succinctly notified that it was improbable that it was her son as he had been missing for three years. His demise was finally identified by the discovery of his identity disc during the excavation process at the end of the war. His body was never recovered. His name is recorded on the Lone Pine Memorial Panel along with the other 3267 Australian and New Zealand graveless and needless victims of the conflict. The medals that the two men were awarded posthumously In the annual report of the NSW Football League dated 1 st April, 1916 the president stated at the onset of the new football season and referring to the many fallen Australian footballers to date Death has all seasons for its own. Tom and William were never to enjoy a football season again.
Their short life was over and the League never did fulfil its pledge to construct an Honour Board for its fallen members.