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Western Mail, Thursday, 1 August 1929, p. 2.
Is This a Record?
A letter in this column mentioning the 16th Battalion machine gun section reminds me that the members of that little unit put up rather a unique record of service in the Great «War. There were 16 men and an officer in the original section at Blackboy Hill. Two left the unit before it sailed from Australia.
In the landing operations Carse, the O.C., Demel, sergeant, Rowley, Burton, and George, were killed; Murray and Black wounded and remained on duty; Grieveson and R. Sykes wounded and evacuated, the latter to Australia.
The remaining six. H. J. Sykes, Hatcher, McLeod, O'Brien. Carse, and Tree saw it through. Murray was promoted Lieut. Colonel. decorated with V.C., C.M.G., D.S.O. and bar. D.C.M., Croix dc Guere, and wounded several times; Black, major, D.S.O., D.C.M.. Croix de Guere, wounded Mouquet Farm, killed at Bullecourt; Hatcher, captain, M.C., wounded several times; H. J. Sykes, captain, wounded twice; McLeod, captain, wounded Mouquet Farm, accidentally killed later; Grieveson, lieutenant; Carse, lieutenant, wounded. Tree, lieutenant; O'Brien, R.S.M. 4th M. G. Battalion, Meritorious Service MedaL wounded.
I may not have filled in all the details. Most of them were mentioned in despatches at some period of their service. Anyway I have shown one small unit of 15 individuals; 5 killed in the first few days, 2 in 1916-17; 8 commissions; ll decorations and over twenty wounds between them.
Incidentally the section won the machine gun championship of the 4th Brigade in record time for "action" of 12 4-5 seconds. Is there any other gun section, signal section, platoon, troop, or similar unit in the A.I.F. which can show a comparable record?