The Olney Family of Whittlesea – WW1
by Gayle Thwaites
I am not sure if my great grandfather Allan Murdoch “Murdie” Olney had been allowed to enlist in World War One (WW1), whether or not I would be here today to tell this story. I take it as a blessing that he was not allowed to enlist, but I can only imagine at the time the frustration and heartache he must have gone through to be rejected five times[1] whilst his brothers William Henry “Bill” and Roderick McKenzie “Roddie” Olney had been able to enlisted to serve in the Australian Infantry Forces (AIF).
The Olney family, were originally caretakers at Wallaby Creek, for the Melbourne Water Board, from here they moved into Whittlesea to run the Whittlesea Coffee Palace, which included rooms for business services, meals and accommodation.
War is not just a story about those that served but it is also the story of the families who waved farewell to sons and brothers; who mourned the death of a son and prayed for the safe return of another; it is a story of a family who got in and did their bit during a difficult time. I do not believe they were unique or different from any other family at the time but they were my family – the Olney’s.
William ‘Bill’ Olney was the first to enlist, signing up on the 3rd January 1915.[2] Bill finished up his job as a grocer and a farewell social was held, on the 16th March, for the eleven local boys from Whittlesea and Kinglake who had all enlisted together at Glenvale. Bill and his mates were each presented with a Kangaroo Purse, which contained some money for each enlistee.[3] Bill then made his way to the AIF Camp at Broadmeadows, where his Attestation Papers listed him as being in the Permanent Guard.[4]
Winter of 1915 came along and with it also came an outbreak of cerebro spinal meningitis at Ballarat, Seymour and the Broadmeadows Camp.[5] On the 18th September, William and Lena (Bill’s stepmother) opened up their Newspaper, The Argus:[6] to read the following “MENINGITIS – THREE DEATHS YESTERDAY – The following deaths occurred at the Alfred Hospital yesterday – Pte William Olney, 23 years of age, Whittlesea” William’s beloved second son, had succumbed to the virus that was causing havoc through out the Victorian Army camps.
William made private arrangements for Bill’s funeral and he was buried on the 19th September 1915 at the Yan Yean Cemetery,[7] alongside his mother Mary-Ann Olney (nee McKenzie) who had passed several years earlier in 1905. His brothers Murdie, Roddy, Neil, Jock and sisters Millie, Ivy, Dolly, Katie, Jessie, Elsie, Marion, Bessie, his step-mother Lena and his father all mourned the loss of their dear brother with heavy hearts.[8]
Roddie, a pastry cook was the next son of William’s to successfully enlist on the 29th June 1915. In July, the Whittlesea Presbyterian Bible Class had to fill his position of the Vice-President as he was already engaged in his training at the military camp at Broadmeadows.[9] Roddie was a great loss to the local church.[10] He stayed in Australia until 1st August 1916, and then he was ordered to board the HMAT Miltiades[11] as part of the Australian Army Medical Corps and head to England. Roddy eventually joined the Australian troops in France, where he was quickly transferred into the 2nd Field Ambulance. His duties included stretcher bearer, dressing’s wrapper, fumigator, sanitary cleaner, ambulance driver, assistant in surgery, grave digger and many more tasks that occurred at the Medical areas.[12] I cannot imagine or comprehend the horror and atrocities that Roddie had to witness and the conditions he had to endure.
Roddie wrote to his brother Murdie in 1916[13], just before Christmas, saying that he had not received letters from home since he left England and came to the front in France. It was freezing and he asked his brother for warm clothes to be sent to him at ‘the front’ as he could not get any in the local villages and winter had set in hard. Poor Roddie missed his sisters and brothers, he longed for the contact that a letter or parcel from Whittlesea from his beloved family would bring. Murdie and his sisters did sent parcels and letters to the front and Roddie did eventually receive them.
The 2nd Field Ambulance was part of the 1st Australian Division, which was part of many great battles including Menin Road, Broodseinde, Passchendaele, Amiens, and Epehy. Whilst Roddie did not get wounded by the enemy, he did on the occasion get sick and was admitted to hospital to recover.[14] Somehow this young man from Whittlesea managed to survive on the Western Front. He finally returned home on the HT ORSOVA on the 18th July 1919 and was discharged on the 15th September 1919. Roddy returned to Whittlesea and did not get married to Annie Holloway Belcher until the 20th October 1923.[15] He did re-enlist for World War Two (WW2) but that is another story.
The Olney Family as a collective did pull together after Bill’s death and they used their strong Presbyterian faith to get them through this tragic event. The family was a great support to their local community; they were involved in a lot of charity work and helped out with fundraising for the WW1 memorial.
The motorcar had only just come to Whittlesea and William was one of the proud owners at the time.[16] To help out he would drive young men from the area into Melbourne in order for them to enlist at the recruiting depots.[17] William also donated rooms at the Coffee Palace to various organisations including the Australian Women’s National League and Red Cross Society in order for them to hold their meetings.[18] The Coffee Palace was used as the drop off centre for the local community to leave their donations of blankets, jumpers, food, books etc., and the Olney family would accept these donations on the Society’s behalf. The Olney girls Dolly, Marion, Jessie, Ivy, Elsie, Katie and Bessie would all help out, as they knew their brother Roddy was at the front. They joined the Whittlesea Band of Hope[19] and they helped out with the Whittlesea Patriotic Fund,[20] the YMCA – Red Triangle Button day[21]. Family members would participate at charity events such as soldiers’ farewells and welcome home socials, playing the piano and singing either solos or duets. [22]
Throughout his lifetime, William mourned the loss of his second son, Bill; it is hard on a parent to bury a child, as that is not the order of life events. William engaged himself by assisting the committee to erect an Honor Roll of those who had enlisted at Whittlesea. William also donated personally 10 Shillings to the fund[23]. The Memorial was not unveiled until 11th March 1927 and W. H. Olney is there, listed with the other boys of the Whittlesea community that died whilst on active service. In 1918, the Premier of Victoria, Mr. Lawson, presented William with a ‘Certificate for Soldiers for W. H. Olney’.
The Olney family left the wonderful community of Whittlesea at the end of the war in the early 20’s – they needed a new start, a fresh start without the memories. They continued to work for the Melbourne Board of Works and Murdie was the caretaker at Maroondah Dam in WW2; Lena and William were the caretakers at O’Shanassay Reservoir at Warburton, and Bessie and Roger Blacklaw came back to Yan Yean Reservoir as caretakers.
Had Murdie’s fate been different and he passed the medical test to enlist, he may not have met my Great Grandmother Eileen and my Grandfather, Gordon would not have been born. Fate is a funny thing, I feel for Bill but his time had come on the 17th September 1915 and he is buried with his beloved mother on home soil, unlike so many of his mates that never returned from Europe. Bill has a marked grave at the Yan Yean cemetery and is not somewhere in France with a marker, ‘Known only unto God’ and that is one thing the family can be thankful for.
I can only think some things are meant to be and Allan Murdoch Olney was meant to stay at home.
This story first appeared in “Fine Spirit and Pluck: World War One Stories from Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea” published by Yarra Plenty Regional Library, August 2016
