Arthur George Howard Hastings (1894 - 1915)

Ancestors

Biography

Genealogically Defined

Arthur was born on 8th January 1894 in Clarence Street, Elsternwick. He was the second child and eldest son of George Hastings, a carpenter, and Mary Lomman.^[1] He grew up with two sisters and three brothers, while the youngest sister died in infancy.

Arthur was educated at Elsternwick State School and was employed as a carpenter.^[2] He enlisted for the First Australian Imperial Force on 22nd August 1914, less than three weeks after Britain declared war on Germany.^[3]

Almost 21 years of age at enlistment, Arthur stood at 5 feet 6.5 inches tall, weighed 10 st 6 lbs, had a chest measurement of 34-36.5 inches, with a dark complexion, green eyes and dark brown hair. He was of the Baptist faith.^[3]

With 12 months of previous service in the Cadets and two years in the Citizen Forces, Arthur was assigned to the 5th Infantry Battalion, H Company as a Private.^[3] The 5th Australian Infantry Battalion was among the first infantry units raised for the Australian Imperial Force during the Great War, being raised within two weeks of the declaration of war. It was recruited from Victoria and, together with the 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions, it formed the 2nd Brigade.^[4]

Following initial training, Arthur embarked with the 5th Battalion from Melbourne on board HMAT Orvieto No. 3 on 21st October 1914. The Battalion disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd December 1914, where they proceeded by train to Mena Camp for further training, about 10 miles from Cairo. Training took place from 10th December and on 4th April 1915, the Battalion returned to Alexandria. They embarked on HMAT "Nevian" A12 the following day.^[5]

Photograph taken by Lyell Tatton, Wellington Battalion, of troops and supplies coming ashore at Anzac Cove, circa 25-26 April 1915. The hill in the foreground leads up to Plugge's Plateau.

As part of the attempt to seize the Gallipoli Peninsula in order to suppress the Turkish defences guarding the Dardanelles, military landings were made on 25th April 1915 at Cape Helles at the southern tip of the peninsula (the main landing) and on the west coast near Ari Burnu. The landing took place in the darkness, into rugged and difficult country.^[6] The first wave of landing boats reached the shore around 4:20 am. The second wave, including the 5th Battalion, were close behind, approaching the shore around 5 am under heavy fire from the Ottomans. They experienced many casualties as they landed on the beach. ^[7] Units mixed up on their arrival rushed inland and became separated from the main force, which came under growing fire from the Turkish defenders.^[6] By 8 am 3,500 ANZACs ashore vastly outnumbered the 300–400 Ottoman troops in the area. Unaware of this numerical advantage, Lieutenant-Colonel Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan, commander of the 3rd Australian Brigade, made a crucial tactical decision at 400 Plateau: he persuaded Colonel James McCay (2nd Australian Brigade), to reinforce his right flank rather than head up Hill 971 as originally ordered. Sinclair-Maclagan then ordered his men to dig in at 400 Plateau rather than advance further. These decisions would be subsequently criticised as tactical errors.^[7] However, it has been argued that the Ottoman response was more rapid than previously realised, and Sinclair-Maclagan was aware of this. Recent renaissance reports had erroneously reported of a battalion-sized encampment nearby which did not exist, and Sinclair-Maclagan did not receive updated intelligence when this error was realised. Therefore an argument can be made supporting his decision to halt the advance.^[8] While Turkish reinforcements arrived, the ANZAC position became increasingly precarious as the assaulting force failed to secure their initial objectives. Falling back on improvised and shallow entrenchments the ANZACs held on for a crucial first night. By that first evening 16,000 men had been landed; of those over 2,000 Australians had been killed or wounded.^[6] Arthur was among the deceased.^[9]

Arthur was buried the following day in the Victoria Gully Cemetery, about one half mile south east of ANZAC Cove. In 1921 his body was exhumed and reinterred in Browns Dip Cemetery, about 500 yards south of ANZAC Cove. This site proved to be exposed to torrential rains and in danger of obliteration by flooding, so in 1923, Arthur's remains were exhumed again and finally reinterred in Lone Pine Cemetery, about one and three eighths miles south east of ANZAC Cove, in plot 1, row G, grave 20.^[3][10] His name is located on panel 43 of the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra,^[9] and the Elsternwick State School Honour Roll in Victoria.^[11]

Arthur's mother, Mary, received a war pension as the result of the death of her first born son, a sum of £5 4s per annum, as from 10th August 1915.^[3]

1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Arthur's medals, the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, were received by his father.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Birth - Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Victoria. Record - Birth (https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history : accessed 29 Apr 2020) record for Arthur George Howard Hastings (father: George Thomas, mother: Mary Lommon, birth date: 8 Jan 1894, place: Elsternwick, registration number: 3022/1894).
2. ↑ Education & Employment - The AIF Project (https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=130587 : accessed 30 May 2020), database entry for Arthur George Howard Hastings, Regimental Number 931.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Attestation - National Archives of Australia. ( (https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4768262 : accessed 30 May 2020), Attestation Paper for Arthur George Howard Hastings, series B2455.
4. ↑ 5th Battalion - 5th Australian Infantry Battalion (Australian War Memorial, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51445 : accessed 30 May 2020).
5. ↑ Unit War Diary - AWM4 23/22/1 - August 1914 - April 1915. Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War - AWM4 Subclass 23/22 - 5th Infantry Battalion (Australian War Memorial, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1343840 : accessed 30 May 2020).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Landing at ANZAC Cove - Landing at ANZAC Cove (Australian War Memorial, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E84713 : accessed 30 May 2020).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Timeline - The Gallipoli Campaign - 25 April 1915: Anzac landing timeline (New Zealand History, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/gallipoli-campaign/25-april-timeline : accessed 30 May 2020).
8. ↑ Landing - Williams, Peter D. Z Beach. The Landing of the ANZAC Corps, April 25, 1915. Thesis submitted for degree of Master of Arts. Pages 55-68. (Charles Darwin University, Darwin. https://ris.cdu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/22698073/Thesis_CDU_8296_Williams_P.pdf : accessed 31 May 2020.)
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Death - Roll of Honour (Australian War Memorial, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1636311 : accessed 30 May 2020), database entry for Arthur George Howard Hastings (cause of death: killed in action, date of death: 25 Apr 1915).
10. ↑ Burial - Commonwealth War Graves Commission (https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/604086/hastings,-arthur-george-howard/ : accessed 30 May 2020), database entry for Hastings, Arthur George Howard.
11. ↑ Honour Roll - Elsternwick State School Honour Roll (Victorian Heritage Database. http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/veterans_result_detail/191187 : accessed 31 May 2020), entry for A. Hastings.