ADAMS, Douglas Bernard Matthew

(Serg) Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams

Sergeant Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams 1857, a Clerk civil servant from Alberton near Port Adelaide, South Australia, prior to enlistment 10 December 1914, he embarked with the 10th Battalion, 4th Reinforcement from Adelaide  aboard HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on 1 April 1915.

Regimental number	1857
Date of birth	1896
Place of birth	Alberton near Port Adelaide, South Australia
School	Port Adelaide Public School and Prince Alfred College, South Australia
Religion	Church of England
Occupation	Clerk civil servant
Address	Hargrave Street, Largs Bay, South Australia
Marital status	Single
Age at embarkation	18
Next of kin	Father, H Adams, Hargrave Street, Largs Bay, South Australia
Previous military service	Served in the Cadets.
Enlistment date	10-Dec-14
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll	10-Dec-14
Place of enlistment	Adelaide, South Australia
Rank on enlistment	Private
Unit name	10th Battalion, 4th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number	23/27/2
Embarkation details	Unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on 1 April 1915
Rank from Nominal Roll	Sergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll	10th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour Circular	'An upright, sterling character.'
Fate	Died of wounds 7 July 1915
Place of death or wounding	Gallipoli, Turkey
Date of death	7-Jul-15
Age at death	18.9
Age at death from cemetery records	18
Place of burial	Beach Cemetery (Plot II, Row E, Grave 1), Gallipoli, Turkey
Panel number, Roll of Honour,	58
Australian War Memorial	War service: Egypt, Gallipoli
Other details	Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

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Last Post Ceremony - Story Delivered 7 July 2013

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Andrew Smith, the story for this day was on (1857) Sergeant Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams, 10 Battalion, First World War.

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Sergeant Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams.

Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams was born in 1897 at Alberton, Port Adelaide, South Australia, to Harry and Elsie Adams. He was educated at Port Adelaide Primary School and then won a scholarship to Prince Alfred College. He was noted for his fine athletic ability, and as a cadet soldier reached the rank of second lieutenant. After leaving school, Adams took up a position as a clerk with the South Australian Harbours Board at Outer Harbour, Port Adelaide.

He enlisted for service in the AIF at Morphettville Racecourse on 10 December 1914, aged 18, and was posted with the rank of private to the 4th Reinforcements, 10th Battalion. Promoted to sergeant in March 1915, he embarked from Adelaide on 1 April aboard HMAT A17 Port Lincoln and reached Gallipoli on 5 June, where he was taken on the strength of the battalion. At the time he arrived, the 10th Battalion was occupying trenches on the southern end of the ANZAC line around Silt Spur. Adams would have been involved in manning front line positions, working in carrying parties and many other duties undertaken by the battalion, both in the line and in support trenches. On 7 July, the 10th Battalion was resting behind the lines near Tasmania Post when they came under Turkish artillery fire. Adams was struck in the head by shrapnel, suffering a compound fracture of the skull. He was transferred to No. 1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, where he died a little while later, and was laid to rest in Beach Cemetery.

Corporal Reuben Weatherall, in a moving letter to his own mother, recalled, "Sergeant Douglas Adams was one of my best friends, and his death affected me so much that I have not had the heart to write to his parents." He went on to say, "I heard that poor Douglas was hit, and went across to the stretcher where he was lying ... he lived for about an hour and was buried near the beach."

Weatherall survived the war, returning to Australia in May 1919. The Roll of Honour circular filled out by Adams's father, Harry, provides a glimpse of the pain the family were feeling at the loss of their boy, as well as a measure of their pride in what he had achieved in his all too brief life. Harry wrote that his son was "only an upright, sterling character".

Douglas Adams's name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around 60,000 others from the First World War, and his photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sergeant Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Please note: The film and sound collections of the Australian War Memorial includes items which may contain: historically or culturally sensitive images and terms, confronting depictions of the consequences of warfare, and/or, human suffering or death. This material does not reflect the viewpoint of the Memorial, but rather is representative of the social attitudes and circumstances of the period or place in which it was created and also the reality and human cost of warfare.

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ID number PAFU2013/187.01
Title The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1857) Sergeant Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams, 10 Battalion, First World War
Collection Film
Object type Last Post film
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 7 July 2013
Note Open Copying provision Copy provided for personal non-commercial use
Description

Note: There is no recording for this event
Speech text

1857 Sergeant Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams, 10th Battalion, AIF
DOW 7 July 1915
Photograph: H06022

Story delivered 7 July 2013

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‘An upright, sterling character’ Sergeant Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams, 10 Battalion, AIF
Tuesday 12 March 2013, written by Michael Kelly.

During my first visit to Gallipoli in May 1996, in Beach Cemetery I chanced upon a grave of a 10th Battalion digger who had been a sergeant when he died of wounds at the age of 18 in early July 1915. The epitaph on the grave, “A bright young life sacrificed on the altar of duty. So dearly loved”, struck a chord with me, as I was only a few years older than he had been. I promised myself then never to forget him and to visit again when I could. The opportunity to return arose in May 2012, when I travelled to Gallipoli as part of a joint Australian War Memorial and Imperial War Museums study tour. The afternoon we arrived on Gallipoli, sixteen years to the day after my last visit, I was determined to find him and again pay my respects. Initially we stopped at Ari Burnu and visited the cemetery there before making our way south along the beach, then up into Beach Cemetery. It didn’t take long to find his resting place underneath the outstretched branches of the Judas tree at the bottom left of the cemetery as you look out to sea. The young man in question was Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams, born in 1897 at Alberton, Port Adelaide, South Australia, to Harry and Elsie Adams. Records reveal that he was educated at Port Adelaide primary school and then won a scholarship to Prince Alfred College. He was noted for his fine athletic ability, and as a cadet soldier reached the rank of second lieutenant. After his schooling Adams took up a position as a clerk with the South Australian Harbours Board, working from Outer Harbour, Port Adelaide. (At this point, I wondered if he had spent part of his weekends at Alberton or other grounds around Adelaide, watching the Port Adelaide Magpies terrorise the rest of the competition in the South Australian Football League. The Port Adelaide team were undefeated Premiers in 1914.) He enlisted for service in the AIF at Morphettville Racecourse on 10 December 1914, aged 18, and was posted with the rank of private to 4th Reinforcements, 10th Battalion. Promoted to sergeant in March, he embarked from Adelaide on 1 April aboard HMAT A17 Port Lincoln and reached Gallipoli on 5 June, where he was taken on strength of the battalion. At the time he arrived, the Battalion was holding the line on the southern end of the Anzac line around Silt Spur and he would have been involved in manning front line positions as well as taking part in carrying parties and other duties undertaken by the battalion both in the line and in support trenches. On 7 July, the 10th Battalion were resting behind the lines near Tasmania Post, when they came under Turkish artillery fire. Adams was struck in the head by shrapnel, suffering a compound fracture of the skull. He was transferred to 1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, where he died a little while later, and was laid to rest in Beach Cemetery.

Corporal Reuben Weatherall, in a moving letter to his mother tells of the terrible pain he felt at the death of his mate and how he couldn’t face writing to Adams’s parents to let them know how their boy had died. Weatherall survived the war and returned to Australia in May 1919. The Roll of Honour circular filled out by Adams’s father, Harry, provides a glimpse of the pain the family were feeling at the loss of their boy, as well as their pride in what he had achieved in his all too brief life. This is especially evident in the circular’s biographical section, in which Harry stated that his son was “only an upright, sterling character”. In the aftermath of the First World War, the South Australian Harbours Board erected a memorial at Birkenhead to honour their fallen workers.

Like so many companies and organisations who had lost their workers and colleagues, this was one of the ways in which a working community could remember their fallen and also give the families a lasting place to commemorate their loved ones. For my own part, I do not know when next I’ll have the opportunity to return to Gallipoli, but when I do, I will be sure to visit Sergeant Douglas Adams. If I can, I will lay a sprig of wattle on his grave to fulfil a part of his great mate Reuben Weatherall’s wish.

http://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2013/03/12/an-upright-sterling-character/?query=alberton+south+australia

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From Alberton To Gallipoli: An Upright Sterling Character
Written by Mark Giles - April 24, 2015 Port Adelaide Footbal Club

1914 was arguably the Port Adelaide Football Club's most successful year, going through the season undefeated as league premiers and champions of Australia.

The club's best and Fairest player, Jack Ashley won Port's fourth Magarey Medal in the league and Pat Crowley won the reserves Magarey Medal.

It was also the start of the First World War and many of the club's senior and seconds players enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.

One of those young men, who has remained virtually unknown in the club's history books, is Douglas Adams.

Douglas Bernard Matthew Adams was born on 12 September 1896 at Alberton.

Growing up in the area he attended the Port Adelaide public school and later won a scholarship to enter Prince Alfred College.

In his early teenage years he was active in a variety of pastimes including the Semaphore Troop Scouts where he quickly gained promotion to become a 2nd Lieutenant and later joined the Senior Military Cadets where he rose to the same rank.

Playing cricket for the Semaphore Baptist Club and football for the Senior Military Cadets team of which he was captain in 1913, he was later selected to represent the Port Adelaide and Suburban Association against the Wentworth junior club touring from Western Australia.

Completing the civil service examination and gaining a position at the Harbor’s board office at Outer Harbor as a clerk, it was in the following year - 1914 - he started training with the Port Adelaide 'B' team, playing in a trial match against the senior side.

He played his first B-grade game in Round 4 against West Adelaide, kicked a goal and was named in the best players, he eventually finished the season having played eight matches and kicking seven goals.

In early October, Adams played with the senior Port Adelaide side - full of the players who earlier won the Championship of Australia over Carlton - in a match against Semaphore Centrals to aid the Port Adelaide Patriotic Fund.

At the end of the season he won the W.B. Carr Medal for best all-round player in the Association competition.

Adams enlisted for the A.I.F. at Morphettville on 10 December 1914 and was assigned to the 4th reinforcements of the 10th battalion “D” company. There,  he was promoted to sergeant.

Along with other local men who had joined the A.I.F., he was given a farewell at the Foresters Hall, Alberton.

After completing training, he embarked aboard the H.M.A.T. Pt Lincoln on 1 April 1915.

He arrived at Gallipoli in early June and occupied trenches on the front line where both sides were dug into a stalemate.

The battalion then took a defensive stance along the perimeter of Anzac Cove.

On July 7, the 10th battalion was relieved by the 9th for a day or two’s rest out of the trenches behind enemy lines on the side of a hill, when they came under artillery fire.

During that attack, a shell burst near where Douglas was resting, striking him in the head and fracturing his skull.

Stretchered to the No. 1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, Adams died about an hour later; later buried at the beach cemetery at Anzac Cove.

In 1929, on the Roll of Honour circulars form for the Australian War Memorial completed by his father, Harry Adams, he simply wrote “Only an upright, sterling character."

Mark Giles - April 24, 2015 Port Adelaide Footbal Club