SAPPER JAMES DOUGLAS MUNRO
1084 – 3rd Tunnelling Company
Born in Port Adelaide, South Australia on 19 July 1884, James Douglas
Munro, the son of a Mining Engineer, was a single Miner when he signed the
Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad at Kalgoorlie on 22
November 1915. His Medical examination on the same day found him to be
fit for active service.
James was aged 31 years and 1 month, 5ft 8¾in tall, weighed 180lbs and had
a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. He named as his Next of Kin
his mother, Mrs G. B. Munro of Post Office, Brownhill, Western Australia,
his father, George Brown Munro, being deceased.
At Blackboy Hill, W.A. on 27 November he was appointed to the Mining
Corps, with the rank of Sapper, by the Lieutenant Colonel Commanding the
Helenavale Camp.
Training at Blackboy Hill camp followed where James was introduced to the
peculiarities of military service.
The Australian Mining Corps left Sydney, N.S.W. on HMAT A38 S.S.
Ulysses on February 20, 1916. Their voyage sailed via Melbourne, Victoria,
and Fremantle, Western Australia where additional members of the Corps
were embarked. After a delay of about a month due to Ulysses requiring
repairs following a collision with a submerged rock when leaving Fremantle.
The men on board nicknamed her ‘Useless’.
The West Australian miners joined the ship and Ulysses continued her voyage on 1 April, travelling
through the Suez Canal and Port Said terminating unexpectedly at Alexandria about April, 25 when it was
decided that Ulysses was not sea-worthy. The troops were transhipped to HM Transport B.1 Ansonia,
which docked at Marseilles, France on May 5, 1916, where the Corps disembarked. The men were
entrained for Hazebrouck, arriving at the Australian General Base Depot on May 8. The Mining Corps
was disbanded and redesignated into three tunnelling companies.
The Embarkation Roll, and his military records, show James
embarking from Sydney on 20 February 1916, but does not record
his movement from Western Australia to the Mining Corps training
camp at Casula, NSW, from where the Corps departed on 20
February.
James was wounded in action on 21 December 1917, suffering
severe gas burns to his right leg. He was admitted to 1st Casualty
Clearing Station. On 23 December he was transferred to a hospital
Barge, and on 4 January 1918, James was transferred to England
from 30th General Hospital, Camiers per HS Ville de Liege. He
was admitted to Devonport Military Hospital and on 11 January he
was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital for on-going
treatment.
Discharged from hospital to furlough on 30 January, James was to
report to No. 3 Com. Depot at Hurdcott on 13 February. He was
then transferred to the Overseas Training Battalion on 10 May
1918, and on 31 May preceded overseas to France from Longbridge
Deverill via Southampton, marching in to the A.G.B.D. at Rouelles on 1 June. On 7 June, James rejoined
his unit.
In early August he was again hospitalised, not rejoining his unit until 13 October.
On 30 December James was granted leave to England until 13 January 1919, however he was hospitalised
whilst on leave until 24 April when he was attached to 1st A. D. Hospital at Bulford for duty. He
remained with this unit until his repatriation to Australia.
On 6 August 1919, 35-year-old James married 24-year-old Margaret Bagrie in Whiteinch, Glasgow,
Scotland. Margaret was the daughter of William Bagrie, a Shipyard Engine Keeper of Glasgow. James
and his wife left London on 24 December 1919 on board HT Konigan Luise for the voyage to Australia,
disembarking at Fremantle on 28 January 1920.
Sapper James Douglas Munro was discharged in 5th Military District (Western Australia) on 27 April
1920, entitled to wear the British War Medal no. 8174 and Victory Medal no. 8139.
In February 1922 his military documents were requested by the Repatriation Department in Melbourne.
In October 1929, the Perth Repatriation Office also requested James’ military records. His health was so
affected by the mustard gas he had been exposed he was no longer able to go down the mines.
James Douglas Munro died 26 June 1950 and is buried in Kalgoorlie Cemetery with his wife Margaret,
who died in 1985.
© Donna Baldey
www.tunnellers.net
Compiled with the assistance of Merilyn Todhunter.
Merilyn Todhunter is compiling an extended family history and can be contacted through this website.
All photos provided by Merilyn & James Todhunter
More photos below
It is believed that James worked in the camp kitchens during his recuperation