ANZAC Day - a time to remember VC recipient Lewis McGee

At last year’s Anzac Day service at Avoca, the story of Verwood farmer and Victoria Cross recipient Lewis McGee was presented by his great, great nephew Ralph McGee. The following extract is printed today with the McGee family’s permission.  

A FULL LIST OF ANZAC DAY SERVICES IS AT THE END OF THE STORY

Just out over the way to the west of Avoca, there is a well-known property, Verwood, where 137 years ago on May 13, 1888, the youngest of 11 siblings was born. The son of a farm hand, the grandson of a freed convict, a child who lost his mother when he was only 7.

This family moved to "Snow Hill" and this boy went on to live and work at Avoca, as an engine driver, married and became a father himself.

This man, Sergeant Lewis McGee V.C. from humble beginnings, had such an impact on the men he led, their respect and honor still echoes to us across more than 100 years.

As a great, great nephew of Lewis let me tell you a little bit about him.

Lewis married Eillen Bailey on November 15, 1914 and their daughter Nada joined them on November 2, 1915

Thoughout this time the World War had begun and Lewis enlisted on March 1, 1916.

He did initial training at Claremont near Hobart and was soon recognized as a leader of men and promoted to Lance Corporal.

More training followed in England on Salisbury plains and deployment in southern France, small raids and skirmishes and a period in reserves, before deployment on November 23, 1916 on the Western Front.

This letter to his sister Eva is dated 21st November 1916:

Dear Eva, Just a few lines to let you know that I am still alive and well also that we are leaving for the front in a day or so. So, I expect long before you get this, I will be in the thick of it. I don't know how I will behave under fire but at the present time I don't feel any fear so I expect I will be alright, I hope so anyhow. I wouldn't like to disgrace the name, so let us hope that I will keep my end up.

I am a section commander now with 14 men depending on me so it won’t do for me to show the white feather will it. I have not got my other stripe yet but hope to get it before long now.

Dear Eva, if it should happen that I get put out I want you for the sake of old times to be a true sister to Eileen, you know how much I love her and little Nada and I know you will do all in your power to comfort her, and tell her if anything does happen to me that I want her not to fret but to live for dear little Nada.

Don't think for a moment that because I write like this that I think I am going to be killed because I don't, but it’s the duty of every man going into action to be prepared for what might happen and I may not get another chance to write you another long letter like this. So, you must not take too much notice of this.

Well Eva it is late so must cut this short for this time, with lots of love from your loving brother Lewis.

This letter is written in beautiful cursive, until the last couple of paragraphs, where it became a little shaky.

Lewis was promoted to Sergeant on January 12, 1917, less than one year from his enlistment.

In late autumn of 1917, the 40th was moved to Passchendaele, Belgium as part of the 10th Australian Brigade. The 4 Battalions in the offensive had a particular objective each. The final target was atop of the Broodseinde ridge. This was the objective of the 40th. From here, control of the rail network held strategic advantage. As the fighting intensified, to the point where Lewis' platoon was suffering heavy casualties, Lewis armed solely with a revolver, dashed across open ground to capture a machine gun post. Returning to his men and reorganized them he then led a bombing party in the capture of a second machine gun post.

McGee's actions re-ignited the 40th battalion’s advance with Lewis himself in the foremost in the remainder.

Lewis never saw the Victoria Cross he earned; he was killed in action on October 12, 1917 just eight days later. Seemingly, in a similar situation.

Lewis was buried in Tyne Cot cemetery in Belgium. One of almost 12,000 buried in the largest commonwealth war graves commission cemetery in the world.

The battle of Passchendaele was one of the major battles of WWI.

The people of Belgium hold very dear the allied forces that helped to liberate them. 

This small densely populated country, about half the size of Tasmania, borders with France, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and Germany. To this day, and for a long time to come yet, at Menin Gate in Ypres, every evening at 20 hundred hours a moving ceremony is conducted. 

The road is closed, the local volunteer fire brigade plays the last post, a minute’s silence is observed and wreaths may be laid and revile played. 

Each evening, since the opening of the memorial in 1927. The only time it hasn't been was during occupation in WWII, and during this time the ceremony was carried out in England at Brookwood military cemetery. 

In fact, the very day Ypres was liberated, the tradition continued, even while fighting continued nearby. 54,000 times this ceremony will be done. For each and every soldier's name on the memorial, they honor and remember. Fifty-four thousand.

"This makes the 14th Avoca lad who has paid the supreme sacrifice which is a very heavy toll for a small community" (The Examiner, Nov 8th, 1917).

Here at the Avoca memorial, there are more than four dozen trees. Each one with its own plaque, to remember each of the Avoca lads who fought. Some soldiers returned, others didn’t. These men and their families paid a heavy toll.

Just before the end of the war, the Victoria Cross was presented to Lewis’s widow Eileen in October, 1918 by the Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson at York Park, Launceston.

I recall as a young lad, at a family re-union, Nada was there, wearing the V.C. her father was awarded. Nada didn’t have children of her own and passed away in 1993.

Nada is the little girl that grew up, knowing her father was a hero, but never having known him. That is the price Nada had to pay.

In a letter to his widow, Lieutenant Leslie Garrard described Lewis's last moments.

“Turning to his men he cried ‘Steady Lads; keep a good line’. A machine gun opened on us from the front and some fell. Then another machine gun took us in the flank. The Sergeant's face was shining, and his jaw was set. More men felt and some took cover in shell holes. No cover for him, the gallant man; straight for the guns he rushed, and might have taken them; but it was not to be; a bullet pierced his head, and he fell dead. But his memory will live while any of the 40th who had the honor to be associated with him remain above ground.”

In 2016 the Campbell town ANZAC committee put in place an award each year for a student from Avoca and another from Campbelltown schools to receive a medallion to encourage and reward the spirit of Lewis and to remind us all the sacrifice others have made for us, his sense of duty, the need to protect his men as they were pinned down. 

While this is not military award, it is to remind us all of the boy, born at Verwood and who sacrificed himself in service to King and country.

This medallion has the words upon it. Courage, Endurance, Mateship, Sacrifice and Lest we forget.

2026 ANZAC DAY SERVICES AROUND THE STATE

Avoca: Service 9:00am, Cenotaph, Boucher Park.

Bagdad: Dawn Service 6:30am, Community Club.

Beaconsfield: Dawn Service 5:45am; Main Parade 10:30am; Main Service 10:55am (RSL Park).

Bicheno: Dawn Parade 5:45am; Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am (Cenotaph).

Bishopsbourne: Main Service 9:00am, Recreation Ground.

Bothwell: Main Service 11:00am, Cenotaph (Queen’s Park); gathering after.

Bridport: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:40am; Main Service 10:50am (Hall & Cenotaph).

Bronte Park: Dawn Service 6:00am, ANZAC Memorial.

Bruny Island: Dawn Service 6:00am, Alonnah Memorial.

Burnie: Dawn Service 6:00am (march from RSL 5:40am); Main Parade 10:40am; Main Service 11:00am (Cenotaph).

Cambridge: Main Service 10:00am, War Memorial.

Campbell Town: Dawn Service 6:00am; Parade 10:45am; Service 11:00am (Sports Ground).

Channel: Dawn Service 6:00am, Woodbridge School.

Claremont: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 8:40am; Main Service 9:00am (War Memorial).

Clarence: Dawn Service 6:00am, RSL Rosny.

Collinsvale: Main Service 9:30am, Memorial Hall; morning tea after.

Cressy: Main Service 9:00am, Main Street Monument.

Cygnet: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am (Cenotaph).

Deloraine: Dawn Service 5:45am; Main Parade 10:30am; Main Service 11:00am (Cenotaph).

Devonport: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:30am; Main Service 11:00am (Cenotaph).

Dover: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am (Cenotaph).

Dunalley: Dawn Service 5:45am, Community Hall.

Evandale: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Service 11:00am (War Memorial).

Flinders Island: Dawn Service 6:00am (Emita); Main Parade 10:30am (Whitemark); Main Service 11:00am (Arts Centre).

Geeveston: Dawn Service 5:40am; Main Parade 10:30am; Main Service 10:40am (Cenotaph).

George Town: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:30am; Main Service 10:45am (Max Harris Reserve).

Glenorchy: Main Service 11:00am, Council Chambers.

Hobart: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 11:00am; Main Service 11:45am; Fly Past 12:00pm (Cenotaph).

Huonville: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:00am; Main Service 10:00am (Cenotaph).

Kempton: Main Service 6:30am, Memorial Hall.

King Island: Dawn Service 6:00am; Gunfire breakfast 7:00am; Main Parade 10:20am; Main Service 10:30am (Cenotaph).

Kingston Beach: Dawn Service 6:30am, Memorial Site; Parade follows.

Latrobe: Dawn Parade 5:50am; breakfast after.

Launceston: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 9:45am; Main Service 10:45am (Cenotaph).

Lenah Valley: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 8:45am; Main Service 9:00am; ANZAC in the Park 10:00am.

Lilydale: Dawn Service 5:50am; Main Service 11:00am; morning tea after.

Lindisfarne: Main Parade 7:15am; Main Service 7:30am (ANZAC Park).

Longford: Dawn Service 6:00am; Parade 10:30am; Main Service 11:00am (Cenotaph).

Maydena: Dawn Parade 5:50am; Dawn Service 6:00am (RSL).

New Norfolk: Dawn Parade 5:45am; Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:50am; Main Service 11:00am.

Nubeena: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:40am; Main Service 11:00am.

Oatlands: Dawn Parade 5:45am; Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am.

Penguin: Dawn Parade 5:45am; Dawn Service 5:55am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 10:55am; meals after.

Perth: Main Service 9:00am, War Memorial.

Primrose Sands: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am (Memorial).

Queenstown: Dawn Service 8:00am; Main Service 9:00am.

Railton: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Service 12:00pm; Main Parade 12:20pm.

Richmond: Main Service 9:00am; tea after.

Scottsdale: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:20am; Main Service 10:50am.

Sheffield: Dawn Service 5:45am; Main Parade 11:00am.

Smithton: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:00am; Main Service 10:30am.

Somerset: Main Parade 8:20am; Main Service 9:00am; brunch after.

Sorell: Dawn Service 5:45am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am.

Southport: Dawn Service 6:00am.

South Arm: Dawn Service 5:55am; Main Service 10:25am.

Spring Bay: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am.

St Helens: Dawn Parade 5:45am; Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:45am; Main Service 11:00am.

Swansea: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:40am; Main Service 11:00am.

Ulverstone: Dawn Parade 5:45am; Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 11:00am; Main Service 11:30am.

Westbury: Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:40am; Main Service 11:00am.

Wynyard: Dawn Parade 5:20am; Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:30am; Main Service 11:00am; meals after.

Yolla: Dawn Service 5:30am.

Zeehan: Dawn Parade 5:45am; Dawn Service 6:00am; Main Parade 10:30am; Main Service 11:00am; lunch after.