Clyde 3978 Victoria

Stan Allars Story 1896-1917

	Training	Wounding and Death	The Allars after the War
		Dead Man's Penny	More Photos

His family background
Nobody could say that young Stan (14) was anything but your average teenager when he arrived in Clyde around 1910 from St Kilda. Being one of seven children was nothing unusual. The only possible distinguishing feature was that the blue-grey eyed, dark haired lad grew to be taller than most young men in the district. His older brother Sydney was an inch shorter than William Stanley Allars (almost 178cm).

The boys, Syd and Stan, worked on their father's dairy farm at “Clydesdale” at the corner of Muddy Gates Lane & Pound Rd., Clyde. Daily trips, carting milk to the Clyde railway station for transport to a suburban milk factory brought them in contact with the other dairy farmers, blacksmiths, railway station personnel, Maurice and Ethel Forrest, the Clyde storekeepers.

Allars Family c 1906 Photo taken before they came to Clyde
Stanley(12), Alfred(37), Roseina(14), Constance(7)
Sydney(13) Emily(44), Dorothea(4)
(Two children had died in infancy- Ages above are approximate)

Being on the ‘border’ between Clyde and Cardinia the Allars family were known by both communities. Mr. Alfred Allars was on the committee for the new Cardinia School No 3689 while his youngest daughter Dorothea (9) was enrolled in 1911, the first year of the school. Stan’s older sister, Roseina was the first bride at the Cardinia Presbyterian Church in September 1916. Her husband Edwin Wenn was from early settler families of the previous century
In coming to Clyde in 1911 Alfred Charles Allars and his English born wife Emily Ann could never have guessed the dramatic change of events, 3 years later that would change their family for ever – the outbreak of World War 1.

The 1914 assassination of an unheard of duke in unknown Yugoslavia brought pain and suffering to peaceful Clyde.

Alfred & Emily(nee Osment) Allars

Sydney Allars 1916

William Stanley Allars 1916

Training in Australia and Britain
The war escalated involving Australia supporting Britain. Everyone knew about the 1915 diggers in Gallipoli and Australian troops in the Middle East doing their part to break enemy strongholds.

Nineteen months after the war began, January 1916, two Allars brothers enlisted for service overseas. Both young men with were assigned to the 39th battalion-Stan (19 years, 9 months) and Sydney (22 years 5 months).

Within less than 4 weeks they left the farm and began their training in Ballarat.
Influenza and tonsillitis were a problem to Stan in April a month before they were due to sail in May 1916 for training in Britain. He would never see Clyde again. In March he witnessed the wedding of his brother Sydney but missed the marriage of his older sister to Edwin Wenn in September of that year

In Britain, Stanley was hospitalised with pneumonia during the training but recovered enough to travel to France in late November 1916.

While in England he sent the following letter to his cousin Lily Allars.

July 1916.
To my dear little cousin Lily Allars,
with remembrance from Stanley.
A little hand bag that I bought while we were
lying in the bay of Port Vicen
(not sure on that spelling).
We are now both safe and well on
Salisbury Plains, England.
It is a lovely place over here.
Everyone comes out and waves and cheers
at us where ever we go. They think an awful lot
of the Australians.
It cheers them up to know there are thousands
of us coming over to help them.
Well goodbye
Love to all at home
Your Cousin Stanley

Wounding and death
Ahead of them was the terrible northern winter of 1916-17 (December and January). Imagine how that would have been for Australian men who had never seen snow in their lives. In Ploegsteert Wood, Belgium, both young men were wounded on April 30th, 1917. Stanley died on Wednesday 2 May 1917 at the 53rd Casualty Clearance Station at Bailleul. Syd was evacuated out to England the next day, Thursday.

News of his death came to Clyde
A letter, dated 12th of May informing of his wounding was sent to his family. Stan’s death was announced in The Argus, Monday 28 May 1917, three weeks afterwards. We can assume that his family were notified before the newspaper announcement.
He was only 21.

His personal effects were returned to his family,- some letters, post cards, pocket book, wrist watch and strap, watch guard, book of postage stamps, 2 religious books, metal disc, cigarette case, fountain pen, prayer book, wallet, money, money belt, comb, small mirror, French book, ring, photos, cards, letters.

Ploegsteert Wood, Belgium, 1917
(The British troops referred to this place as Plug Street)

Belgium in Europe

Ploegsteert, Belgium satellite photo

William Stanley Allars was the second Clyde soldier to die in battle. One can imagine the shock that reverberated around the two country towns of Clyde and Cardinia when the news came through so soon after the death of Thomas Williams in April. Two other Clyde families received similar tragic news in the next 18 months – the Thomas and Churchill families.

The Allars after the War
Sadly, his mother, Emily Allars died eight months later, aged 56 in January, 1918 without ever seeing either of her sons again as Sydney returned to Australia a year later in February 1919. His father Alfred Charles Allars left the Clyde farm and wandered about, spent some time in Wangarratta and died in 1943 in Murrumbeena, aged 74.

Sydney Allars returned to the Clyde area by accepting a Soldier Settlement farm in Manks Road, Tooradin. He made the most of the poor soil by growing potatoes, crops and raising pigs. This generation of Allars were actively involved in the Tooradin North area until 1930. Again the Allars had another community first with their third daughter, Doris, being the first baby born in the Kooweerup hospital in June 1923.

The names of Sydney George and William Stanley Allars
are on the Honour Roll Board 1914-1918 War,
in the Cardinia Primary School, Ballarto Road, Cardinia.

Stan is not forgotten
"Ninety-six years later, Stan is still remembered by his family who still grieve for this lost young man each year on Anzac Day. There is a service held in France at Villier Bretonnoeaux for all those young men who died on the Western front and one member of the family attends each year wearing Stan’s medals, visits his grave to leave a poppy and rosemary of remembrance..
For other members of the family he is forever in the hearts of relatives at Anzac services all around Australia on Anzac Day.
Stan’s parents, Alf and Emily Allars, of course could not lay their son to rest, he was buried with due reverence by the army chaplain, but they had the knowledge that he had made the supreme sacrifice for King and country. The Commonwealth Graves are kept in wonderful condition and are part of the life and people in Northern France."
(Coastal Rag- Agnes Waters, Qld)

Dead Man’s Penny
As the next of kin, a grateful British Government sent his parents a Memorial Death Plaque, commonly called the ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ by the troops. The history of the Dead Man’s Penny began in 1916 with the realisation by the British Government that some form of an official token of gratitude should be given to the fallen service men and women’s bereaved next of kin.

The enormous casualty figures not anticipated at the start of WWI back in 1914 prompted this gesture of recognition. In 1917, the government announced a competition to design a suitable plaque with a prize of 250 pounds. There were 800 entries from all over the Empire, the Dominions, and even from the troops on the Western Front. Mr E Carter Preston of Liverpool, England, the eventual winner. The selected design was a 12-centimetre disk cast in bronze gunmetal, which incorporated the following; an image of Britannia and a lion, two dolphins representing Britain’s sea power and the emblem of Imperial Germany’s eagle being torn to pieces by another lion. Britannia is holding an oak spray with leaves and acorns. Beneath this was a rectangular tablet where the deceased individual’s name was cast into the plaque. No rank was given as it was intended to show equality in their sacrifice. On the outer edge of the disk, the words, ‘He died for freedom and honour’.

A scroll, 27 x 17 centimetres made of slightly darkened parchment headed by the Royal Coat of Arms accompanied the plaque with a carefully chosen passage written in old English script,
‘He whom this scroll commemorates was numbered among those who, at the call of King and Country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced anger, and generally passed out of sight of men by the path of duty and sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others may live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that his name be not forgotten.’
Beneath this passage, written in the same style, was the name, and rank and service details of the deceased.

To accompany the scroll, again in old English script, a personal message from King George V.’"I join with my grateful people in sending you this memorial of a brave life given for others in the Great War.’ George R I.

The plaques were packaged in stiff cardboard wrapping folded like an envelope and sent to the next of kin. Production of the plaques and scrolls, which was supposed to be financed by German reparation money, began in 1919 with approximately 1,150,000 issued. They commemorated those who fell between 4 August 1914 and 10 January 1920 for home, Western Europe and the Dominions whilst the final date for the other theatres of war or for those died of attributable causes was 30 April 1920.

Unfortunately, the production and delivery of the plaques was not a complete success and the scheme ended before all the families or next of kin of the deceased received the official recognition they should have. There were some relatives who returned the pennies to the Australian Government in protest as they felt it was insulting and it did not replace their loved one’s life. Of course, nothing can replace a life lost but for those ‘Dead Man’s Pennies’ that are in private or public collections, museums and national archives, they are a constant reminder of the ultimate price paid by the men and women of the armed services during the Great War of 1914-1918. Many Pennies are still held in trust by the descendants of families who will never forget their lost loved one.
From the "Coastal Rag", Agnes Waters, Qld

"Dead Man's Penny" memorial plaque for William Stanley Allars and his war medals.

Scroll of Honour given to families who suffered the death of a son in battle.

Stanley Allars 1916

France-Graves of Australian soldiers
Bailleul Communal Cemetery

2010 Stanley's nephews at his grave
Ross Wenn and Nathan Wenn

Stanley's Grave in France

Editor's Note: Ploegsteert Wood, in December 1914, was the site for the famous Christmas Truce when both German and British troops stopped the battle to sing Christmas carols and play soccer together

Sources

1	The AIF Project	Basic summary of each soldier's WW 1 military record
2	Military Record Search	Individual military records
3	Army - World War 1: 1914-18	Army personnel military records
4	Virtual War Memorial Australia	Basic individual military history with details added in by volunteers
5	Monuments and Memorials	Plaques, memorials to individual military personnel in Australia
6	Victorian War Heritage Inventory	Find a name on a Roll of Honor
7	TROVE digitised newspaper accounts	Newspaper accounts of events, news items, adverisements, family news
8	Victorian. Registry Office, Family History	Family history search
9	Ryerson Index of Newspaper Death notices	Death notices in Australian newspapers
10	Public Records Office, Victoria	Family history section: Wills, Travel- interstate and international
11	Casey Cardinia Commemoriates Our War Year	Local historian, Heather Arnold, explores military history & stories
12	Ancestry.com (subscription account)	Electoral Rolls, Military History, Births Death Marriages, Travel & Immigration
13	Cranbourne RSL Archives
14	Cranbourne Shire Rate Books 1863-1947
15	Schools' Register of Clyde children 1910-1980
16	Cemetery Records - Deceased Search online
17	Relevant Historical Societies
18	Family History Researchers	Elaine Wenn, Lois Davis - Allars family historians.
19	Newspaper Artiicle	"Coastal Rag" The newspaper for Agnes Waters, Queensland
20	Gallipoli Story"Sands of Gallipoli"	www.sandsofgallipoli.com.au,
21	Family Records	Letters & documents from Allars Family Historians - Lois Davis, Elaine Wenn
22	Photos	Photos: All photos used with Allars Family permission

Note: Internet site addresses frequently change