Captain Ernest Lancelot Andrews 1876-1918
"How I long to get back to nice warm Margaret River" - Lance Andrews from the Somme to Ellen Terry, February 1917
ERNEST Lancelot Andrews was born in 1876 in Highgate, north London, the fifth of the eight children of the Reverend Andrews, vicar of St Michael's Church, and his wife Lucy.
He served with the Cape Mounted Rifles in South Africa during the Boer War, then was encouraged to move to Australia by his elder brother Cecil, who was principal of the new Teachers Training College, in Claremont, Perth.
In 1909 Lance took up a homestead farm to the south of the Margaret River township and two years later was joined by his younger brother Chris.
Their property Komani was at the intersection of the Old Caves Road and what is now Forest Grove Road.
He enlisted in the 16th Battalion of the AIF in September 1914, within weeks of war being declared.
When he left Margaret River the Farmers and Settlers Association passed a resolution: "It was unanimously decided to write to Messrs E L Andrews and N Terry, who have gone to join the Expeditionary Force, wishing them good luck, and a safe and speedy return."
They left Australia in December 1914 and trained in Egypt and then on the island of Lemnos.
Lance hoped to meet Chris there.
"At last we are under orders; we have to be ready to move off tomorrow. It seems pretty certain that we are for the Dardanelles, so perhaps I may see Chris," he wrote to Filumena Terry of Wallcliffe House.
And there, on Lemnos, the brothers met for the first time since leaving Australia.
Both landed at Gallipoli on that first day, April 25, 1915 - Lance with the AIF at Anzac Cove, and Chris with the Royal Marines at Y Beach.
Lance was severely wounded at Bloody Angle early in May and was evacuated by hospital ship to England.
While convalescing there he heard of Chris' death and requested a transfer to the marines.
In his request he mentions that his brother was a captain in the Royal Marines Light Infantry and had been killed at the Dardanelles.
Was this request so that he could see Chris' grave before returning to Australia?
In November 1915 he returned to Gallipoli with the Royal Marines and was in the final evacuation in the early hours of January 9, 1916.
It meant he was at Gallipoli on the first day and on the last day.
After Gallipoli the battalion served in Macedonia for a few months then transferred to the Somme area of France.
During the next two years, in the remorseless, pitiless, trench warfare he was twice,wounded, hospitalised in England and then returned to the Somme to endure the freezing winter of 1916-17.
It was the coldest, the most bitter winter for 40 years.
In August 1918 the allied forces began the last major offensive of the war, overwhelming the Germans and pushing them back eastwards.
During this intense fighting Lance Andrews was killed in action at le Barque, near Bapaume, less than three months before the end of the war in which he had served for four years.
He is buried in the AIF Burial Ground at Flers.
The full story of Lance Andrews, Chris Andrews and Evelyn Wilton is told in Dream of Margaret River by Penelope Ransby.
The title is taken from the longing to return home to Margaret River the author found in their letters, visit dreamofmargaretriver.com.
These profiles will form part of an exhibition at the Bramley School, Old Margaret River Settlement, for the commemoration of the Anzac centenary.
If you have any pictures, memorabilia or information regarding any of the Anzacs on the local honour roll, please contact Pauline Graves at the Margaret River and Districts Historical Society by email on pushing_60@hotmail.com.
