For more information on the soldiers listed below, click on their name.

For more information on the soldiers listed below, click on their name.

For more information on the soldiers listed below, click on their name.

For more information on the soldiers listed below, click on their name.

Penrith District War Trophies

During World War 1, guns captured from the enemy labelled with details of the name of the unit which had captured the piece, and the date and place of capture. Trophies were then sent to England for storage before being sent home to Australia. It was determined that the new National War Museum would only retain a portion of the trophies for display. A War Trophy Committee, set up to organise the allotment of the trophies, was inundated by requests for guns. It was necessary to draw up guidelines for disbursement which took into consideration the claims from soldiers who had captured the guns, and which recognised the towns from which the soldiers had volunteered. Distribution of the guns was based on a number of factors:

The claims of the AIF unit responsible for the gun’s capture. The restructure of the army after the war saw many of these guns allotted to Commonwealth Military Forces (CMF) units. Many units either handed control of the guns over to the council, or requested that they be distributed to other towns

Pool A Guns. The remaining guns were allotted to towns all over Australia. Towns applying for guns had to comply with a series of conditions which included the appointment of three trustees. One of the trustees was required to have served in the Australian Imperial Forces. The trustees were responsible for:

* Arranging for the gun to be permanently housed in a public park, garden or building within the town, and for its subsequent preservation and safe custody.
* Arranging a simple ceremony where it would be formally handed over.
* Bearing all expenses connected with transport and installation after arrival.

The following locations within the Penrith Local Government Area were issued with war trophies.

Castlereagh

Castlereagh, like many other Australian towns, applied for a war trophy and was awarded 2 machine guns. Three trustees had to be nominated, one of these had to be a member of the AIF. The trustees nominated for Castlereagh were: Ernest L R Keech of Nepean Park Castlereagh Rd Penrith (ex 105 Howitzer Battalion), Percy Landers and Albert J Craig. The trustees signed an agreement on 20 July 1920 to say that they would house the trophy in a public place or institution and arrange for a simple ceremony to formally hand over the trophy.

On 7 June 1921,Castlereagh received the following machine guns:

No 35692 Heavy machine gun without mount

No 1376 Light machine gun with bipod captured by the 20th Battalion

The guns are no longer on display and their fate is unknown.

Colyton

On 4 July 1921, Colyton submitted an application to the Committee. The three trustees nominated for Colyton were John Aston, Arthur Napier Goleby (9th Battalion) and William George Martin (4th Battalion). The application was followed by a letter from John Aston to the Secretary of the NSW State Trophy Committee asking for a deferment as there was no suitable place to house the gun. Aston stated that he had written to the Minister for Education asking for approval to house the gun in the school.

On 4 August 1921, the Committee replied stating that they would waive the requirement for the gun to be housed publicly, and gave permission for the gun to be housed in a private dwelling until a public building became available.

The trustees signed an agreement on 24 August 1921. Two machine guns were allocated to Colyton:

No 3211 Heavy Machine Gun (without mount) captured by the 4th Battalion

No 6911 Light Machine Gun (with bipod) captured by the 45th Battalion.

The fate of these guns is unknown.

Emu Plains

No information available.

Luddenham

Luddenham requested a war trophy captured by the 6th Light Horse or 54 Battalion.

The three trustees nominated for Luddenham were:

Leslie W J Eaton,
William Herbert Fryer
Colin Campbell Wallace (Lieutenant 33 Battalion).
The trustees signed an agreement on 19 February 1921 to say that they would house the trophy in a public place or institution and arrange for a simple ceremony to formally hand over the trophy.

On 16 June 1921 a Heavy Machine Gun without mount (No 9487), captured by the 54th Battalion was sent to Luddenham. The fate of this gun is not known.

Penrith

Like many other towns after World War 1, Penrith submitted a request for the allotment of a war trophy. Penrith, whose population was then around 3,500 was entitled to one gun. When requesting the war trophy for Penrith, the committee originally stated that the allotment would left in the hands of the NSW State Trophy Committee as the town of Penrith was represented in almost every NSW unit. However, in May 1920, Mr Orth the Town Clerk of the Penrith Municipality submitted a request that Penrith should be allocated the large gun (now known as the Amiens Gun) on view at the Central Railway Station as it was a Penrith lad, Lieutenant Burrows, who led the party that captured the gun. This request was refused and the gun was allocated to the Australian War Memorial.

The three trustees nominated for Penrith were:

Arthur Judges
T M Masters (believed to be Thomas Matthew Masters)
Arthur Oswald Thompson who had served as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 53rd Battalion.

Penrith was allocated a 105 mm Howitzer (no 6446), captured by the 3rd Battalion on the Western Front, on 14 March 1921. The existing records do not give details of the date or place of capture. It is believed that this gun was captured between August and October 1918 when the 3rd Battalion took place in major allied offensives at Proyart-Chuignies (23-24 August) and Hargicourt (18 September). Guns of this calibre were normally positioned behind the front line, indicating that the gun could only be captured after a considerable advance. I

Additionally, in September 1921, Penrith was also allocated a 75mm trench mortar (28768) which had been captured by the 19th Battalion. Two machine guns were later allocated to the town. The guns were removed from Memory Park at a later date.

One of the guns from Memory Park came to be in the possession of Mervyn Hunter. After his death it was donated to the Nepean District Historical Society who still have it to this day.

St Marys

St Marys was awarded 2 guns and 2 trench mortars. The trustees nominated for St Marys signed an agreement on 27 October 1920, to say that they would house the trophy in a public place or institution and arrange for a simple ceremony to formally hand over the trophy.

The following guns were dispatched on 21 July 1921 and were unveiled at the opening of the Victoria Park War Memorial on 28 October 1922:

3213 77mm gun allocated to St Marys for display

13259 77mm Field Gun captured by the 53rd Battalion, 30 Sep 1918, at Bellicourt. The capture of Mont St Quentin by Australian troops took place on 1 September 1918. Bellicourt, located 10 miles east of Peronne and Mont St Quentin was part of the Hindenburg Line and was not captured until 29-30 September. The 53rd Battalion, part of the 5th Australian Division, played a leading role in the breaching of the Hindenburg Line.

26612 75mm trench mortar captured by the 4th Battalion.

33625 75mm trench mortar captured by the 20th Battalion.

At the opening of the Victoria Park War Memorial, Mr R B Walker, MLA, made reference to the gun at the west of the memorial being captured by the 20th Battalion on the night before Mont St Quentin fell. This gun (trench mortar) was inscribed: “Captured by the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion, Mont St Quentin, 30th August, 1918.”

While the two trench mortars are referred to during the opening of the Victoria Park War Memorial, there is some doubt as to whether two field guns were received by St Marys. It is likely that the 77mm gun (13259) did arrive at a later date but it is unclear if the other field gun (3213) was eventually allocated to the town.

The fate of the guns that were mounted in Victoria Park is unknown. The trench mortars may have been removed in the early 1960’s.

Further Sources:
Billett, R S (1999). War Trophies From the First World War: 1914-1918. Kangaroo: East Roseville, NSW.
AWM194 Allotment of 1914-1918 War Trophies
AWM93 State Trophy Committee Meetings