NAME:  Kenneth TOLEMAN                                                  

SERVICE NO:  2218

YEAR OF BIRTH: 1892

PLACE OF BIRTH:  Mortlake

DATE OF ENLISTMENT: 15 January 1915

PLACE OF ENLISTMENT:  Hamilton

AGE AT ENLISTMENT:  22

UNIT: 46th Battalion (late 14th Battalion, 6th Reinforcements)

EMBARKED:  17 June 1915

TROOP SHIP:  HMAT A62 Wandilla

FATE:  Died of Wounds – 13 October 1916 – Belgium

Kenneth Toleman was born in 1892 at Mortlake to Jessie Agnes Toleman, a daughter of the late William Toleman and Sarah McKenzie.  Another brother William Frederick was born in 1896 in Prahran and Ernest in 1897 at Footscray. In 1906, Jessie Toleman married Henry Williams and went to live in Hopetoun. However, it seems Kenneth was raised by his grandmother Sarah Toleman and remained in Mortlake. When Kenneth left school, he became an electrician and was a member of the Mortlake Fire Brigade.  Kenneth worked with the Electric Light Company installing overhead wires at Mortlake and later at Koroit and Nirranda.

Around 1914, Kenneth moved to Hamilton to work for the Hamilton Electric Light Company. He boarded with Mrs Hunter in Gray Street and joined the Hamilton Fire Brigade and Hamilton Rifle Club. On 15 January 1915, Kenneth enlisted at Hamilton and he went into camp with the 14th Battalion. A send-off for Kenneth was held at the Mortlake Methodist Church Sunday School on 26 April 1915. Kenneth Toleman left Australia on 17 June 1915 and by his side was fellow Hamilton electrician and mate, Englishman Reg “Stuart” Briant.

Kenneth and Stuart arrived at Gallipoli on 1 August 1915.  It was a bad time to arrive with heavy fighting and great loss of life throughout the month.  The day of 22 August was a particularly dark day. The battalion took part in the attack on Hill 60 and Kenneth lost his mate, Stuart Briant.  Stuart was reported missing after the attack, but it was another year before an inquiry found he was killed on that day. Since Kenneth was there, he would have known there was no hope.

On 5 October 1915, Kenneth left for hospital at Mudros with dysentery.  He took the opportunity to write home on 12 October and put out a plea for Mortlake men to enlist to help those left at Gallipoli.

He concluded his letter with

On another occasion, Kenneth wrote to his grandmother Sarah to tell her of his encounters with Turkish soldiers. He praised the way they fought and their fairness, knowing of Australian soldiers who’d had their wounds dressed by the Turks and another wounded man who was given half the rations of a Turkish soldier and sent on his way back to the safety of the allied lines.

Kenneth rejoined the 14th Battalion at Gallipoli on 17 November 1915.  After their evacuation, Christmas 1915 was spent at Mudros East on Lemnos. Although slightly delayed, Kenneth eventually received thirty-five letters and three parcels. One parcel was cakes and sweets from Mrs King in Hamilton and a letter came from Captain White of the Hamilton Fire Brigade with Season Greetings.  

By 1 January 1916, the battalion was back in Alexandria.  On 9 February 1916, Kenneth wrote to Sarah, apologising for not having written earlier, but he told of orders of no letter writing until three weeks beyond their evacuation from the Gallipoli. He told her it took all of his and the other men’s manhood not to cry at the thought of what the Australians had been through. Of course, Kenneth had personal grief over the loss of Stuart.  He later had a letter from Stuart’s former schoolmaster in England, inviting Kenneth to visit if he got to England, and he was welcome to stay as long as he liked.

A promotion to corporal came on 28 February 1916 and on 3 March 1916, 146 men from the 14th Battalion transferred to the newly formed 46th Battalion at Tel El Kabir. Kenneth was among them. Soon after he received a promotion to Sergeant.  

In May 1916, Kenneth was in the trenches at Serapeum, Egypt and the weather was hot.  On the evening of 13 May, Kenneth sat on the top of a trench in the cool air after an exceptionally hot day and wrote to Sarah. He told her he received his pay that day and could buy items from the stores such as tinned fruit, jam, and pickles. In shorter supply was tobacco. They were normally paid as close as possible to the 15th and 30th of each month. Kenneth enclosed a Christmas Card from General Birdwood to the troops.

Kenneth arrived in France on 8 June 1916 and within three weeks was granted leave to England for eight days.  He took the chance to meet with Stuart Briant’s sister, Dorothy. He also accepted the invitation of Stuart’s schoolmaster and paid a visit to the school at Lymington, Hampshire. He was taken on a tour and was the first Australian soldier the children had seen. He received three cheers in all the classrooms. When he next wrote home to Sarah, he described it as a holiday he would never forget. At home, Sarah was reassured by a letter from Dorothy Briant who said Kenneth was “well and strong”.

On 2 July, the 46th Battalion marched into Sailly in northern France and then moved into trenches under two kilometres from Fleurbaix on 5 July. The following day was quiet, but out of the heavy mist on the morning of  7 July, came the sound of machine-gun fire growing in intensity. Soon, two men were wounded. Kenneth and Sergeant Norman Max Pontin of Richmond carried one man seventy metres out of No Man’s Land through heavy machine-gun fire before safely reaching the parapet of their trench. Their gallant actions were mentioned in divisional orders and they received the congratulations of the division General Officer Commanding. As a result, Kenneth was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 2 August 1916.

The battalion continued on to Pozieres and at times Kenneth acted as temporary captain. Thanks to the photos found in the personal effects of Sergeant Norman Pontin, there is a record of some scenes the men of the 46th Battalion saw there.

On 1 October 1916, the battalion was at La Clytte, Belgium, and moved into the frontline the following day to relieve the 48th Battalion. Ten days later, they were still on the frontline. On 12 October 1916,  Kenneth received a wound to his abdomen and died soon after at the 10th Casualty Clearing Station. There was sadness among the men of the 46th Battalion, as they considered Kenneth the most popular officer in the battalion.

On 25 October 1916, news Kenneth was dangerously ill from his wounds of 12 October reached Mortlake via the Mortlake Dispatch. The following day, the news reached Hamilton. Three days later, the Dispatch reported on Kenneth’s death, stating no sooner had the ink dried on the last edition than the sad news came through.  The past three Mortlake men killed were fire brigade members, and the past three wounded were also members.  On Sunday 29 October 1916, a memorial service was held at the Mortlake Methodist Church for Kenneth.

Two years after Kenneth’s death, Sarah Toleman placed a notice in the Mortlake Dispatch for the grandson she raised as her own son.

Sarah Toleman died in 1926, aged seventy-nine. Kenneth’s birth mother Jessie died in 1946 at Fitzroy, aged sixty-nine.

Kenneth Toleman is remembered on the Hamilton War Memorial, the Hamilton YMCA Honour Roll, and the Mortlake War Memorial.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Australian War Memorial – 14th Australian Infantry Battalion Unit Diary

Australian War Memorial – 46th Australian Infantry Battalion Unit Diary

Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour – Kenneth Toleman

Australian War Memorial – WW1 Embarkation Roll – Kenneth Toleman

Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery – Kenneth Toleman

Discovering Anzacs – WW1 Service Record – Kenneth Toleman

Newspaper Articles from Trove – Kenneth Toleman

The AIF Project – Kenneth Toleman