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{{Short description|Australian stretcher bearer}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox military person
{{Infobox military person
| name = Langford Wellman Colley-Priest
| name = Langford Wellman Colley-Priest
| image =
⚫
| honorific_suffix = [[Military Medal|MM]]
| image_size =
| image = Colley-Priest enlistment paper.jpeg
| image_size = 200px
| alt =
| alt = Colley-Priest's enlistment paper
| caption =
| caption = Colley-Priest's enlistment paper<ref name="enlist"/>
| birth_date = September 1890
| birth_date = September 1890
| death_date = February 1928 (aged 37)
| death_date = February 1928 (aged 37)
| birth_place = [[Glebe, New South Wales]]
| birth_place = [[Glebe, New South Wales]]
| death_place = [[Balmoral, New South Wales]]
| death_place = [[Balmoral, New South Wales]]
| allegiance = Australia/British Empire
| allegiance = Australia
| branch = [[First Australian Imperial Force]]
| branch = [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]]
| serviceyears = 1915-1919
| serviceyears = 1915–1919
| rank = Private
| rank = Private
| servicenumber = 6618<ref name="AWM"/>
| servicenumber = 6618<ref name="AWM"/>
| unit = 8th Australian Field Ambulance
| unit = [[8th Field Ambulance (Australia)|8th Australian Field Ambulance]]
| commands =
| commands =
| battles = [[World War I]]:
| battles =
{{tree list}}
⚫
* [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
** [[Battle of the Somme]]
* [[First World War]]
⚫
** [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
** Battle of Recquingham
**[[Battle of Polygon Wood]]
*** [[Battle of the Somme]]
** [[Battle of Messines (1917)|Battle of Messines]]
*** Battle of Racquinghem
** [[Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux]]
*** [[Battle of Polygon Wood]]
** [[Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin]]
*** [[Battle of Messines (1917)|Battle of Messines]]
*** [[Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux]]
| awards = [[Military Medal]]<ref name="NLA" /><br />[[1914–15 Star]]<ref name="enlist2">[http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3270889&I=1&SE=1 Enlistment paper]. ''National Archive of Australia'': p. 37. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref><br />[[British War Medal]]<ref name="enlist2"/><br />[[Victory Medal (United Kingdom)|Victory Medal]]<ref name="enlist2"/>
*** [[Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin]]
{{tree list/end}}
⚫
| awards = [[Military Medal]]
}}
}}


'''Langford Wellman Colley-Priest''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|MM}} (September 1890&nbsp;– 11/12 February 1928)<ref name="enlist">[http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3270889&I=1&SE=1 Enlistment paper]. ''National Archive of Australia'': p. 1. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref> was an Australian [[stretcher bearer]] in [[World War I]] for the 8th Australian [[Field Ambulance]]. He was awarded the [[Military Medal]], whilst deployed in France, for conspicuous gallantry. He survived the war but later drowned and his body is believed to have been eaten by a [[shark]].
'''Langford Wellman Colley-Priest''' [[Military Medal|MM]] (September 1890&nbsp;– 11/12 February 1928)<ref name="enlist">[http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3270889&I=1&SE=1 Enlistment paper]. ''National Archive of Australia'': p. 1. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref> was an Australian [[stretcher bearer]] during the [[First World War]] for the [[8th Field Ambulance (Australia)|8th Field Ambulance]]. He was awarded the [[Military Medal]] for conspicuous gallantry on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in 1917. He survived the war, but later drowned in 1928, and his body is believed to have been eaten by a [[shark]].


==Early life==
==Early life==
Colley-Priest was born in [[Glebe, New South Wales]], to father George<ref name="enlist"/><ref name="BDM">{{cite web|title=NSW BDM index search|publisher=NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages|url=http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/IndexSearch?form=IndexingSearch&cgiurl=%2Fcgi-bin%2FIndex%2FIndexingBirth.cgi&sname=Colley&gname=&fname=&mname=&event=deaths&frange=1928&trange=1928&place=Sydney&x=43&y=12&SessionID=42768051|accessdate=23 November 2013.}}</ref> and mother Rose.<ref name="BDM"/> Prior to his embarkation for Egypt and deployment on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] he resided with his parents in [[Neutral Bay, New South Wales|Neutral Bay]] and worked as a warehouseman.<ref name="enlist"/>
Colley-Priest was born in [[Glebe, New South Wales]], in September 1890 to George and Rose Colley-Priest.<ref name="enlist"/><ref name="BDM">{{cite web|title=NSW BDM index search|publisher=NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages|url=http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/IndexSearch?form=IndexingSearch&cgiurl=%2Fcgi-bin%2FIndex%2FIndexingBirth.cgi&sname=Colley&gname=&fname=&mname=&event=deaths&frange=1928&trange=1928&place=Sydney&x=43&y=12&SessionID=42768051|accessdate=23 November 2013}}</ref> Prior to his embarkation for Egypt and deployment on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] he resided with his parents in [[Neutral Bay, New South Wales|Neutral Bay]] and worked as a warehouseman.<ref name="enlist"/> Colley-Priest was an Anglican.<ref name="enlist 3"/>


==Service==
==Service==
Colley-Priest enlisted in the 8th Field Ambulance, part of the [[8th Brigade (Australia)|8th Infantry Brigade]] of the [[First Australian Imperial Force]], on 19 May 1915 and embarked to Egypt for the Western Front on 9 November 1915.<ref>[http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3270889&I=1&SE=1 Enlistment paper]. ''National Archive of Australia'': p. 12. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref> While serving, he was deployed at [[Battle of the Somme|the Somme]], Recquingham, [[Battle of Polygon Wood|Polygon Wood]], [[Battle of Messines (1917)|Messines]], [[Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux|Villers-Bretonneux]] and [[Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin|Mont Saint-Quentin]]. He embarked from Melbourne for Egypt on the [[HMAT Ascanius]].<ref>{{cite web|title=First World War Embarkation Rolls&nbsp;— Langford Wellman Colley-Priest|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/nominal_rolls/first_world_war_embarkation/person/R1901382/|publisher=Australian War Memorial|accessdate=23 November 2013}}</ref> He later wrote the official history of the unit.<ref>Colley-Priest, L. W., [http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/26863841?q&versionId=32370008 The 8th Australian Field Ambulance on active service : a brief account of its history and services from 4th August 1915 to the 5th March 1919] (Sydney: D.S. Ford, 1919). Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref>
Colley-Priest enlisted in the [[8th Field Ambulance (Australia)|8th Field Ambulance]], part of the [[8th Brigade (Australia)|8th Infantry Brigade]] of the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]], on 19 May 1915 and embarked aboard the [[HMAT Ascanius]] on 9 November, bound for Egypt and the Western Front.<ref name="enlist 3">[http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3270889&I=1&SE=1 Enlistment paper]. ''National Archive of Australia'': p. 14. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Langford Wellman Colley-Priest|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1901382/|work=First World War Embarkation Rolls|publisher=Australian War Memorial|accessdate=23 November 2013}}</ref> While serving, he was deployed at [[Battle of the Somme|the Somme]], Racquinghem, [[Battle of Polygon Wood|Polygon Wood]], [[Battle of Messines (1917)|Messines]], [[Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux|Villers-Bretonneux]] and [[Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin|Mont Saint-Quentin]]. In 1917, Colley-Priest was awarded the [[Military Medal]].<ref name="NLA">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15777831 |title=Australians Honoured |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=28 December 1917 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The recommendation for the award noted that he displayed:


⚫
{{cquote|... conspicuous gallantry devotion to duty whilst continuously carrying wounded from that post to [[Second Battle of Ypres#Battle of Bellewaarde (24–25 May)|Belawaarde Ridge]] under very heavy shellfire of all kinds, [[explosive material|H.E.]], shrapnel and gas shells. On several occasions these men volunteered to carry urgent cases during a very intense period of heavy barrage. Throughout the action they showed great courage and devotion to duty, working continuously, and were responsible for saving many lives.|author=First World War Honours and Awards (Gazetted)|source=<ref name="AWM">{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/honours_and_awards/person/R1593939/?roll_type=Recommendations |title=Honours and Awards&nbsp;— Langford William Colley-Priest|publisher=Australian War Memorial|date= |accessdate=23 November 2013}}</ref>}}
Notable for its first-hand accounts of the front from the perspective of medical staff, he sold his war diary to the [[State Library of New South Wales]] in 1919 as part of their ''European War Collecting Project''.{{cquote|''July 19th to July 22nd.''<br> 10 p.m.


[[File:Colley-Priest enlistment paper.jpeg|thumb|right|Colley-Priest's enlistment paper]]
⚫
News just came through that the Australians have taken two lines of trenches & captured a number of prisoners. A small batch of German prisoners just been marched by. About a dozen were brought in to our dressing station to have their wounds dressed. Their clothes I noticed were in good conditions. Number of Australian wounded keep coming in. <br>2 a.m.
Colley-Priest returned to Australian in 1919, was discharged on 3 August and awarded the [[1914–15 Star]], [[British War Medal]] and [[Victory Medal (United Kingdom)|Victory Medal]]. for his war service.<ref name="enlist2">[http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3270889&I=1&SE=1 Enlistment paper]. ''National Archive of Australia'': p. 37. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref> He later wrote the official history of his unit.<ref>Colley-Priest, L. W., [http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/26863841?q&versionId=32370008 The 8th Australian Field Ambulance on active service : a brief account of its history and services from 4 August 1915 to 5 March 1919] (Sydney: D.S. Ford, 1919). Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref> Notable for its first-hand accounts of the front from the perspective of medical staff, he sold his war diary to the [[State Library of New South Wales]] in 1919 as part of their ''European War Collecting Project''.
{{cquote|''July 19th to July 22.''<br /> 10 p.m.


⚫
News just came through that the Australians have taken two lines of trenches & captured a number of prisoners. A small batch of German prisoners just been marched by. About a dozen were brought in to our dressing station to have their wounds dressed. Their clothes I noticed were in good conditions. Number of Australian wounded keep coming in. <br />2 a.m.
⚫
Orders to move off to the trenches to do our bit, all very anxious to be in the "Straffe" (If we only knew) The Sergeant in charge of the party took the wrong road, & we did not arrive at the other dressing station till about 3:30 a.m. Was very tired, no sleep. The sky looked beautiful, one mass of light & star-shells etc. & the booming of guns etc. was deafening. We had to start stretcher bearing immediately. I was working all that day, 36 hours altogether. The sight at the Dressing Station was terrible, hundreds of wounded men were lying about, some of them not recognisable, they were so shattered & covered in blood. The bearers carried these men after being looked at by the doctor, to the Motor Ambulances, about ¾ mile away. The noise of the guns grenades & machine guns was terrific. No one can realise what the noise is like unless they are close by.''|author=Langford Wellman Colley-Priest|source=<ref>[http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2012/D14133/a4954.htm Diary Transcription]. State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref>}}


⚫
Orders to move off to the trenches to do our bit, all very anxious to be in the "Straffe" (If we only knew) The Sergeant in charge of the party took the wrong road, & we did not arrive at the other dressing station till about 3:30 a.m. Was very tired, no sleep. The sky looked beautiful, one mass of light & star-shells etc. & the booming of guns etc. was deafening. We had to start stretcher bearing immediately. I was working all that day, 36 hours altogether. The sight at the Dressing Station was terrible, hundreds of wounded men were lying about, some of them not recognisable, they were so shattered & covered in blood. The bearers carried these men after being looked at by the doctor, to the Motor Ambulances, about ¾ mile away. The noise of the guns grenades & machine guns was terrific. No one can realise what the noise is like unless they are close by.|author=Langford Wellman Colley-Priest|source=<ref>[http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2012/D14133/a4954.htm Diary Transcription]. State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 November 2013.</ref>}}
Colley-Priest was awarded the Military Medal while on service in 1917.<ref name="NLA">{{cite news |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/15777831 |title=Australians Honoured |newspaper=[[Sydney Morning Herald|The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)]] |location=NSW |date=28 December 1917 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The commendation reads that he displayed:
⚫
{{cquote|"... conspicuous gallantry devotion to duty whilst continuously carrying wounded from that post to [[Second Battle of Ypres#Battle of Bellewaarde (24–25 May)|Belawaarde Ridge]] under very heavy shellfire of all kinds, [[explosive material|H.E.]], shrapnel and gas shells. On several occasions these men volunteered to carry urgent cases during a very intense period of heavy barrage. Throughout the action they showed great courage and devotion to duty, working continuously, and we're responsible for saving many lives."|author=Australian War Memorial|source=<ref name="AWM">{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/honours_and_awards/person/R1593939/?roll_type=Recommendations |title=Honours and Awards&nbsp;— Langford William Colley-Priest &#124; Australian War Memorial |publisher=Awm.gov.au |date= |accessdate=23 November 2013.}}</ref>}}

He was discharged on 3 August 1919 and awarded the [[1914–15 Star]], [[British War Medal]] and [[Victory Medal (United Kingdom)|Victory Medal]].<ref name="enlist2"/>


==Death==
==Death==
Colley-Priest went swimming on either 11/12 February 1928, at [[Balmoral, New South Wales|Balmoral Beach]], Sydney and was later reported missing on 13 February. On 14 February, a search team comprised of the Balmoral and Water police were unable to find any signs of Colley-Priest.<ref name="eaten"/> After the police search, a man observed a floating body in the distance and alerted the police to its presence. However, as the police approached the body a "huge object heaved out of the sea, grabbed the body, and disappeared."<ref name="eaten"/> Newspapers at the time suggested suicide and that the body had been eaten by a shark.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16441970 |title=Missing Man |newspaper=[[Sydney Morning Herald|The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)]] |location=NSW |date=15 February 1928 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=19 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="eaten">{{cite news |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/121862987 |title=Eaten by Shark? |newspaper=[[Empire (newspaper)|Evening News (Sydney, NSW: 1869 - 1931)]] |location=Sydney, NSW |date=16 February 1928 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=13 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> On 27 February, an arm washed up on the beach near [[Dobroyd Point]] and was assumed to be Colley-Priest's. A suitcase with his clothes and a note stating "Colley-Priest gone mad" were found on Balmoral Wharf. Members of the Mosman and water police retrieved a portion of a shirt believed to have been worn by Colley-Priest.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/93663593 |title=Grim Relic on Beach |newspaper=[[The Northern Star|Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954)]] |location=Lismore, NSW |date=27 February 1928 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Colley-Priest went swimming on either 11 or 12 February 1928, at [[Balmoral, New South Wales|Balmoral Beach]], Sydney and was reported as missing on 13 February. On 14 February, a search team comprising the Balmoral local police and the New South Wales Water police were unable to find any signs of Colley-Priest.<ref name="eaten"/> After the police search, a man observed a floating body in the distance and alerted the police to its presence. However, as the police approached the body a "huge object heaved out of the sea, grabbed the body, and disappeared."<ref name="eaten"/> Newspapers at the time suggested suicide and that the body had been eaten by a shark.<ref name="eaten">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121862987 |title=Eaten by Shark? |newspaper=[[The Evening News (Sydney)|The Evening News]] |location=Sydney |date=16 February 1928 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=13 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16441970 |title=Missing Man |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |location=NSW |date=15 February 1928 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=19 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> On 27 February, an arm washed up on the beach near [[Dobroyd Point]] and was assumed to be Colley-Priest's. A suitcase with his clothes and a note stating "Colley-Priest gone mad" were found on Balmoral Wharf.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181769492 |title=HUMAN ARM FOUND |newspaper=[[The Week (Brisbane)|The Week]] |volume=CV |issue=2,723 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=2 March 1928 |accessdate=2 December 2022 |page=25 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Members of the Mosman and water police retrieved a portion of a shirt believed to have been worn by Colley-Priest.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93663593 |title=Grim Relic on Beach |newspaper=[[The Northern Star]] |location=Lismore, NSW |date=27 February 1928 |accessdate=23 November 2013 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [[State Library of New South Wales]] [http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=862187 catalogue record]
* [[State Library of New South Wales]]&nbsp;– [http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=862187 catalogue record]
* [http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2012/D14133/a4954.htm Transcription of war diary]
* [http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2012/D14133/a4954.htm Transcription of war diary]
* [[Australian War Memorial]] [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/MSS1400/ record]
* [[Australian War Memorial]]&nbsp;– [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/MSS1400/ record]
* [http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/honours_and_awards/person/R1546139/?roll_type=Awards AWM Award]
* [http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/honours_and_awards/person/R1546139/?roll_type=Awards AWM Award]
* [http://www.worldcat.org/title/return-to-gallipoli-walking-the-battlefields-of-the-great-war/oclc/224801865 Return to Gallipoli: walking the battlefields of the Great War]
* [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/224801865 Return to Gallipoli: walking the battlefields of the Great War]
* [http://mosman1914-1918.net.tmp.anchor.net.au/memorials/7/names/results.html/ Mosman-Neutral Bay Rifle Club Roll of Honour]
* [http://mosman1914-1918.net/memorials/7/names/results.html/ Mosman-Neutral Bay Rifle Club Roll of Honour]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Colley-Priest, Langford Wellman}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colley-Priest, Langford Wellman}}
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[[Category:Australian soldiers]]
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[[Category:Australian military personnel of World War I]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Military Medal]]
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian Anglicans]]
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[[Category:Australian military personnel of World War I]]
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[[Category:Australian Army soldiers]]
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[[Category:Australian recipients of the Military Medal]]
[[Category:People declared dead in absentia]]
[[Category:People who died at sea]]
[[Category:People who died at sea]]
[[Category:People declared dead in absentia]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New South Wales]]
[[Category:Australian Anglicans]]
[[Category:People from the Inner West (Sydney)]]
[[Category:Shark attack victims]]

Revision as of 18:04, 22 August 2024

Langford Wellman Colley-Priest
BornSeptember 1890
Glebe, New South Wales
DiedFebruary 1928 (aged 37)
Balmoral, New South Wales
AllegianceAustralia
Service / branchAustralian Imperial Force
Years of service1915–1919
RankPrivate
Service number6618[1]
Unit8th Australian Field Ambulance
Battles / wars
AwardsMilitary Medal

Langford Wellman Colley-Priest MM (September 1890 – 11/12 February 1928)[2] was an Australian stretcher bearer during the First World War for the 8th Field Ambulance. He was awarded the Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry on the Western Front in 1917. He survived the war, but later drowned in 1928, and his body is believed to have been eaten by a shark.

Early life

Colley-Priest was born in Glebe, New South Wales, in September 1890 to George and Rose Colley-Priest.[2][3] Prior to his embarkation for Egypt and deployment on the Western Front he resided with his parents in Neutral Bay and worked as a warehouseman.[2] Colley-Priest was an Anglican.[4]

Service

Colley-Priest enlisted in the 8th Field Ambulance, part of the 8th Infantry Brigade of the Australian Imperial Force, on 19 May 1915 and embarked aboard the HMAT Ascanius on 9 November, bound for Egypt and the Western Front.[4][5] While serving, he was deployed at the Somme, Racquinghem, Polygon Wood, Messines, Villers-Bretonneux and Mont Saint-Quentin. In 1917, Colley-Priest was awarded the Military Medal.[6] The recommendation for the award noted that he displayed:

... conspicuous gallantry devotion to duty whilst continuously carrying wounded from that post to Belawaarde Ridge under very heavy shellfire of all kinds, H.E., shrapnel and gas shells. On several occasions these men volunteered to carry urgent cases during a very intense period of heavy barrage. Throughout the action they showed great courage and devotion to duty, working continuously, and were responsible for saving many lives.

— First World War Honours and Awards (Gazetted), [1]
Colley-Priest's enlistment paper

Colley-Priest returned to Australian in 1919, was discharged on 3 August and awarded the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. for his war service.[7] He later wrote the official history of his unit.[8] Notable for its first-hand accounts of the front from the perspective of medical staff, he sold his war diary to the State Library of New South Wales in 1919 as part of their European War Collecting Project.

July 19th to July 22.
10 p.m.

News just came through that the Australians have taken two lines of trenches & captured a number of prisoners. A small batch of German prisoners just been marched by. About a dozen were brought in to our dressing station to have their wounds dressed. Their clothes I noticed were in good conditions. Number of Australian wounded keep coming in.
2 a.m.

Orders to move off to the trenches to do our bit, all very anxious to be in the "Straffe" (If we only knew) The Sergeant in charge of the party took the wrong road, & we did not arrive at the other dressing station till about 3:30 a.m. Was very tired, no sleep. The sky looked beautiful, one mass of light & star-shells etc. & the booming of guns etc. was deafening. We had to start stretcher bearing immediately. I was working all that day, 36 hours altogether. The sight at the Dressing Station was terrible, hundreds of wounded men were lying about, some of them not recognisable, they were so shattered & covered in blood. The bearers carried these men after being looked at by the doctor, to the Motor Ambulances, about ¾ mile away. The noise of the guns grenades & machine guns was terrific. No one can realise what the noise is like unless they are close by.

— Langford Wellman Colley-Priest, [9]

Death

Colley-Priest went swimming on either 11 or 12 February 1928, at Balmoral Beach, Sydney and was reported as missing on 13 February. On 14 February, a search team comprising the Balmoral local police and the New South Wales Water police were unable to find any signs of Colley-Priest.[10] After the police search, a man observed a floating body in the distance and alerted the police to its presence. However, as the police approached the body a "huge object heaved out of the sea, grabbed the body, and disappeared."[10] Newspapers at the time suggested suicide and that the body had been eaten by a shark.[10][11] On 27 February, an arm washed up on the beach near Dobroyd Point and was assumed to be Colley-Priest's. A suitcase with his clothes and a note stating "Colley-Priest gone mad" were found on Balmoral Wharf.[12] Members of the Mosman and water police retrieved a portion of a shirt believed to have been worn by Colley-Priest.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Honours and Awards — Langford William Colley-Priest". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Enlistment paper. National Archive of Australia: p. 1. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  3. ^ "NSW BDM index search". NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  4. ^ a b Enlistment paper. National Archive of Australia: p. 14. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Langford Wellman Colley-Priest". First World War Embarkation Rolls. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Australians Honoured". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 28 December 1917. p. 7. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  7. ^ Enlistment paper. National Archive of Australia: p. 37. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  8. ^ Colley-Priest, L. W., The 8th Australian Field Ambulance on active service : a brief account of its history and services from 4 August 1915 to 5 March 1919 (Sydney: D.S. Ford, 1919). Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  9. ^ Diary Transcription. State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  10. ^ a b c "Eaten by Shark?". The Evening News. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 16 February 1928. p. 13. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Missing Man". The Sydney Morning Herald. NSW: National Library of Australia. 15 February 1928. p. 19. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  12. ^ "HUMAN ARM FOUND". The Week. Vol. CV, no. 2, 723. Queensland, Australia. 2 March 1928. p. 25. Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Grim Relic on Beach". The Northern Star. Lismore, NSW: National Library of Australia. 27 February 1928. p. 5. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
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