The Seabrook brothers: all three killed at Passchendaele
13 November 2007 by
Craig Tibbitts .
13 Comments
To Flanders Fields, 1917 , Frontline troops, Passchendaele (Ypres)
Seabrook brothers. L-R: Theo, William and George Seabrook, 17th Infantry Battalion H05568
As haunting as any image of the ghosts of Passchendaele is this studio portrait photo of the Seabrook brothers, the sons of William and Fanny Seabrook of Five Dock in Sydney NSW.
Theo (age 25) and George (age 24) were both privates, while their younger brother William (age 20), with his previous military experience, soon made it to Second Lieutenant. William had in fact joined the AIF back in August 1915, but this had somehow fallen through as he was discharged two months later. At any rate, he joined up again with his two elder brothers in August 1916 and they left Sydney together as part of the 17th Reinforcements for the 17th Infantry Battalion.
By the time they got over to Belgium to actually join their unit it was already June 1917 and preparations were well underway for the great offensive at Ypres. The Battle of Menin Road that began on 20 September 1917 was the first engagement of Australian infantry in this offensive and proved a stunning success.
But despite this success, for the Seabrook boys it was their first, last and only battle. All three were mortally wounded in action, and died in the days immediately afterwards. For some the war was very short, but the sacrifice was nevertheless the full measure.
One can scarcely begin to imagine what went through the minds of William and Fanny Seabrook, and how they might come to terms with this perhaps baffling and seemingly pointless loss of their three cherished sons.
William is buried at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, just west of Ypres. George and Theo’s remains were either never identified or never found, so they are commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Another poignant article Craig, and a particularly haunting photo. Menin Road was surely one of the first ‘bite and hold’ engagements for the Passchendaele ridge, but wasn’t Messines the first engagement Australians took part in during the Ypres offensive?
Cheers,
Aaron
Editor’s comment: Thanks Aaron. Although the Battle of Messines was very nearby (both in distance and timing), I tend to view it as a separate battle in its own right. Certainly the Ypres offensive was dependent on clearing the southern flank around Messines, so I can understand you viewing it as part of Third Ypres - indeed most good books on the topic include a chapter on Messines. But it’s traditionally regarded as a seperate battle and not one of the recognised phases of Third Ypres. In an earlier post I’ve listed the eight recognised phases of Third Ypres beginning with Pilckem Ridge on 31 July.
Cheers,
Craig
PS: Perhaps you’d like to post the paper you gave last night to the ASA on this blog? It will be closing soon, but will remain on the AWM website. If you’re interested I’d recommend just focussing on the personal story of Albert at Polygon Wood. Just email it to me and as editor, I’d have to check it over first, but I could then post it under your name. Keep it concise - you need only tell the story of the actual offensive or the battle in the briefest and most basic terms. As I said, best to concentrate on the personal story. Just include a couple of photos if you like (we’ll of course use the one in the AWM collection). What do you think?
November 16th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Another tragic story.
Are you aware of the 4 Keid brothers who died during WW1 albeit at different times. The names of 3 of them are on the Graceville war memorial in Brisbane? Leaving another sad family.
Regards,
Kevin McSweeney.
Editor’s note: Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment. No, I hadn’t ever heard of the Keid brothers. A quick look at their online Roll of Honour entries reveals they died at three of our momentous battles; Gallipoli, Somme 1916 and Passchendaele. I also did a Google search and discovered someone has written a book about them (The brothers Keid by Cedric Hampson). Have you read this? I notice our library at the AWM doesn’t have a copy, so I’ll recommend to our librarian that we get one. The online link for details and ordering info is here.
Cheers,
Craig.
December 9th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
These three men were my great great uncles and I know personally of the shockwave felt by not only their parents, but of the successive generation (in particular my great grandfather - their younger brother). The pain was too great for him to speak of in his lifetime.
My family have loaned our family artifacts (postcards, photos, letters, medals, plaques etc) to the Memorial Museum in Passchendaele for their recent exhibition and opening of their new Tyne Cot visitors centre. We had hoped this will help to ‘tell the story of our Seabrook boys’ and set the story down for our future generations.
Thank you for highlighting them here and acknowledging their brief, but heartfelt contribution to the war.
Regards,
Kristie Harrison
February 24th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Thank you Craig Tibbitts for bringing the history of the Seabrook brothers to us. My great uncle, Private George Scrivener, 4070 died on Sept 20 1917 at Ypres. George was 27 when he died and he is remembered at Menin Gate Memorial.
Like many families, we had 6 men that I know of in the war. In early 1917, while my great aunt, Hope, was “heartbroken” and writing to the army for any news of her brother, George, who she had heard through the grapevine was injured; feared missing; her own 18 year old son, Cecil, who was a clerk, was enlisting in the army. The next year got worse for Hope. Her brother, George died Sept 1917, and her young son in 1918, Private Cecil Herbert McKeown, 3442 died of wounds on the Western Front and is buried in France, March 30, 1918.
It is tragic that so many strong young Australians were never bought home. I can’t imagine this being condoned today. Logistics would have been incredible but somehow we owed it to them. It was the very least we should have done.
George’s mother was 66 years old when he was killed at Ypres. She deserved to have a grave to put flowers on, a place to mourn her youngest son. His was the greatest sacrifice a man can give to his country. His country owes his mother the best it can do for her in her grief. No doubt these men and women would not have asked for this. They were much too humble and in awe of authority and hardly ever asked for anything all their lives. Such a scheme now might be impractical but haven’t we done impractical things before? I guess I don’t believe in overseas graves for our soldiers. If a man is willing to lay down his life for his country the very least his country can do for him is to bring him home, even if they can’t find his body, bring home and bury a memorial of him. Go through the motions and give the family a burial in their own land, somewhere to really remember him. Families should have more than a name on a list to look at on Anzac Day. There should be a plot and a headstone in their own country for each of them.
I feel very strongly about this and hope others feel the same too. I understand the rules about this were changed after WW2, but what are we doing about all those soldiers now? This is something that needs a sweeping government action that will mean more than a tear in a politician’s eye on Anzac Day.
Sorry if I sound too radical but I really believe in this.
Thank you for listening; Mary H
March 30th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I am writing an article on the Seabrook brothers and would like to get in touch with Kristie Harrison to get some background material. My address is timobrien@mcelhone.com.au so Kristie if you are out there please make contact.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
My Grandfather was Albert Seabrook a cousin of the Seabrook Brothers I also would like to get in touch with Kristie Harrison.
April 27th, 2008 at 3:41 am
I have always been very interested in WWI and I was wondering if there is a site that lists all relatives that were killed during the war. I have found one that list brothers killed on the same day, but was wondering if a larger list exists
Thanks
Editor’s response: Hi Karen. Sorry, I’m not aware of any such comprehensive list of relatives killed during the war. I’m currently researching the history of the 56th Battalion, and so far I’ve identified about fifty sets of brothers and several cousins all serving in that unit, and I’m sure I’ll find more as I go on. I was surprised there were so many and assume it was similar in other units. Of those fifty, it appears that in a dozen cases one of the brothers died while the other survived. In three cases, both died, but not on the same day.
Regards,
Craig.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:17 am
There were 3 Hunter brothers killed in WW1, two of them on the same day 27/08/1915.
Editor’s response: Thanks for this info Hugh. I’ve looked them up and found Frederick (age 26) and Maurice (age 22) were both killed at Gallipoli serving with 18th Battalion. It was their first battle, having only landed on Gallipoli five days before. Their younger brother William was just 21 when he lost his life on the Western Front at Pozières with the 45th Battalion almost exactly one year later. It must have been a fearful blow to their parents, Edward and Fanny. The family was from Redfern in Sydney. It would be great if someone could find photographs of these men as the Memorial apparently has none to attach to their Roll of Honour entries online. If anyone can help, please click here.
Regards,
Craig Tibbitts
Curator Official Records.
May 28th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Choat Brothers. 32nd Batalion A company.
Raymond Choat aged 24, Wesley Choat MM aged 20 and Archibald Choat aged 18 from S. Aust, Were three brothers who enlisted on the same day in 1915, regimental numbers 66,67 and 68.
Raymond and Archibald were KIA on the 20/7/1916 at Fromelles
and Wesley was taken POW on the same day. Wesley later escaped and walked out through Holland (Red Cross Archives. Aust War Mem Site) and returned to Aust in 1918.
Editor’s response: Many thanks Doug. Do you know of any photos of Raymond and Wesley. If so, please contact the Memorial’s Photographs Section as they’re always looking for photos of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Craig Tibbitts
May 28th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Further to my earlier post… results of google search on Choat Brothers
PDF] BIBLIOGRAPHY Records held by the Australian War Memorial AWM 8 …File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
Choat, WP: ‘A Bold Bid for Freedom: War Prisoners’ Experiences’ (no details, … Kerr, Greg: ‘Lost Anzacs: The Story of Two Brothers’ (OUP, Melbourne, 1997) …
http://www.library.unsw.edu.au/~thesis/adt-ADFA/uploads/approved/adt-ADFA20051115.094949/public/13bibliography.pdf - Similar pages
May 30th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
One can but speculate on the cataclysmic reaction to the parents of these three young men killed in the war. During a visit to my uncle’s grave at the Tyne-cot cemetery a few years ago I learned of an even more horrific story of an event during the battle of Vimy Ridge, a Canadian mother Mrs Williams, lost her seven sons. When one looks back at the unimaginable horror that soldiers of every nation faced during that dreadful war it is quite remarkable that any of them survived with their sanity intact. The only marks left on earth by my uncle are his medals,memorial plaque, his enlistment photo and a handful of letters which have been treasured thru the years…his last letter written three weeks before he was killed at Passchendaele on the eve of his 22nd birthday….some present eh?
Editor’s response: Thanks for this Bill, indeed another heavy price to pay. I did a bit of quick checking but couldn’t find anything about a Canadian family named Williams who lost seven sons. I did however find out a little about the Wood family from Canada who lost five sons. There has apparently been confusion over the years as to whether they lost five, seven or eight sons to the war. From what I could figure out, they lost five during the war, but a further two were seriously wounded and may well have died after the war of those wounds. The mother’s name was Charlotte Wood and the boys lost were a mixture of sons and stepsons. I found this article online about their sacrifice. I will contact my colleague at the Canadian War Museum and see if he knows any more.
I also stumbled across another that lost five sons, the Beechey family from Lincolnshire in the UK. There’s a short article on them here. I bet the more you looked, the more cases like these you’d probably find. Perhaps in the east where the scale of losses were staggering (and the recordkeeping poor), you’d probably hear stories of some Russian, Turkish or east European family that lost even more than five or seven to the war.
Regards,
Craig Tibbitts
Curator Official Records
Research Centre
Australian War Memorial
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:22 am
I’ve just discovered that one of the five Beechey brothers killed in the war was serving with the Australians. This was Lance Corporal Harold Reeve Beechey, who was killed in action whilst serving with the 48th Infantry Battalion at Bullecourt on 10 April 1917.
Craig Tibbitts
November 11th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
After reading the article in the Daily telegraph today, I was surprised to find that only 5 sets of brothers were killed in World War 1.
Our family lost 2 brothers, John Reginald Storer, who is remembered at Villers Breonneux and William Edgar Storer, who is buried at Bancourt British Cemetery near Albert. William was apparently killed in the last battle of the war onthe 5th of October 1918.
In 2003, I took my mother to find the grave of my Great Uncles and her Uncles. I think we would have been the only visitors to Williams grave from the family. My mothers brother Harry, had the medals and was able to see the photographs of the grave before he passed away a couple of years ago.