Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

Captain William Charles Scurry, MC, DCM.  Australian

War Memorial Collection.

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/P03143.001

Scurry W C     Pte    2668    William Charles             7 Inf Bn    19    Modeller    Single    C of E       

Address:    Ascot Vale, Middle St, 70   

Next of Kin:    Scurry, W C, father, 70 Middle St, Ascot Vale   

Enlisted:    19 Jul 1915       

Embarked:     A68 Anchises 26 Aug 1915  

Prior service:  58 Inf Regt.

AWARDS: MC, DCM, MID

Relatives on Active Service:

Captain H D Preston, Military Secretary, Rabaul

Pictured at a military display and entertainment put on by the 58th Inf (Essendon Rifles) are:

Standing at the back: A J May, Hon Secretary of the Essendon Red Cross branch; and Lieutenant Charles Scurry.   Seated in the front, left to right:   Capt. H. M'L. Duigan; Cr. J. Goldsworthy (Mayor of Essendon); Lieut. Grigsby.  "Military Display and Entertainment by the 58th Infantry," Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 - 1918; 1925) 22 April 1915: 15. Web. 30 Oct 2016 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138698870>.

Ascot Vale State School "Noble Deeds"

SCURRY, William Charles, Cptn

The following information is supplied by Brigadier General Elliott:

One whose career shed lustre on his old school was William Charles Scurry, the younger, born 30^th Oct 1895.  It may be said of him at once that he was a natural soldier and a born leader of men. As a boy of eighteen he could drill and handle a Battalion on parade with the assurance and confidence of a veteran soldier.  He received his Commission in the Essendon Rifles almost immediately after he joined.   

Scurry as an officer in the Essendon Rifles. 

Australian War Memorial Collection.

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/P04263.001

He of course was amongst the first who volunteered, but owing to his extreme youth was rejected.  He then desired to resign his Commission and go in the ranks, but for a time this was not permitted.  Nevertheless, a few months later, he was on his way to Gallipoli, and served during the later months there as a non-commissioned officer.  It was not till the evacuation of the peninsula that he obtained his first chance to prove himself.

The great danger of the operation of evacuating the trenches and embarking in the face of a vigilant enemy was apparent, and as a means of misleading the enemy various plans were proposed, but that which received the most universal approval was one put forward by Corporal Scurry of the 7^th Battalion.  This plan consisted of an ingenious device whereby rifles could be fired automatically from the trenches after all the men had left them, thus deceiving the enemy as to the time of the actual evacuation of the trenches by our troops.

The plan was adopted, and undoubtedly the ruse played a great part in the success of the operations.  Corporal Scurry played his part well.  He volunteered to remain with the rear party in the retreat to supervise the laying of the rifles and the final adjustment of his invention.  For his services on this occasion he received the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and shortly afterwards was again promoted to Commissioned Rank.

The delayed action device,  called a drip rifle, invented by Lance Corporal

Scurry 7 Battalion, AIF, for firing a rifle by means of weights operated through

water escaping from one tin into another.  Australian War Memorial Collection.

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/G01291

He subsequently served in France in command of the 15^th Brigade Light French Mortar Detachment, the efficiency and discipline of which he maintained to a remarkable degree, and by his example did much to make this arm popular with the Infantry.  For his services he received the Military Cross.

Unfortunately the effect of a wound deprived him of his sight almost  entirely, not long afterwards, and thus his country lost the service in the field of one who promised to be one of her most brilliant soldiers.  His unfailing cheerfulness despite this appalling misfortune, and the energy with which upon his recovery he devoted himself to the instruction of recruits for his arm of the service formed a striking example to all who came in contact with him during the rest of the war.

In the War Museum there is to be found an example of the ingenious device whereby young Scurry so brilliantly solved the difficulty of the retreat in the face of the Turks.  

An example of Scurry's drip system constructed at the Army Museum Bandiana. 

Photo:  Lenore Frost, 2007.

Five officers of the 15th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery,  France, 1917. Captain Scurry

is in the front row, left.  Lieutenant Leonard Morris, standing at the back on the left,  was a

school fellow from Ascot Vale State School.  Australian War Memorial Collection.

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/P01786.001

William Scurry, MC,DCM with other officers at the Australian Corps School, France 1918. [Notes as written on the frame read:]Back, left: LTS. McKenzie, Baldry, McAnna (St Peters 43rd).  Front, left:   Capt. Scurry, MC, DCM, Lieut Durdin, M.C. (27th).  Durdin Family collection.  See a full description of this photo in the State Library of South Australia collection.

Mentioned in these publications:

Australian Dictionary of Biography

Find-A-Grave

The Fair Dinkums by Glenn McFarlane,  This book draws heavily on Scurry's letters to his mother.  Mentioned on these pages:  35-37, 62-63, 66-67, 72-74, 76, 81-84, 94, 98-99, 109-110, 115-116, 117, 122-126, 129, 131-134, 142-144, 147, 148-9, 152, 153, 154, 163-166, 173, 179, 220-221, 228-231, 235-236, 247-251, 260-262, 287, 293, 321-324, 326-327, 341-345.

RSL Virtual War Memorial

Wikipedia

War Service Commemorated   

Essendon Town Hall R-Y

Ascot Vale Congregational Church

Ascot Vale State School

Ascot Vale SS Noble Deeds

Essendon Gazette Roll of Honour Wounded

Regimental Register