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Stoker Jack Bray our first local casualty
Stoker John James Bray was born on May 5, 1891, at Eaglehawk to John Bellew and Alice Bray nee Harvey.
Before enlisting he was employed as a blacksmith and lived in Clark Street, "Harvey Town", Eaglehawk.
He was one of 35 men who drowned when the submarine AE1 was lost on September 14, 1914, in St George's Channel, off New Guinea.
Jack Bray was of Cornish descent and was typically slight of build and short of stature, ideal for his role on a submarine.
He had been employed for some years at the Austral Drill Company's foundry, Eaglehawk, and joined the Australian Navy on May 7, 1912, two days after his 21st birthday.
Jack was one of the men sent to Britain by Senator Pearce, Minister for Defence, to undergo instruction in submarine work to enable them to man the Australian naval vessels.
For a time, he served on H.M.S. Australia, subsequently being transferred to submarine AE1.
Jack was on leave when war broke out and he was hurriedly summoned to Sydney.
His widowed mother had a letter from him just 10 days before the tragedy saying that they were having some fun, and that all was well.
Jack was a regular correspondent and in another missive dated July 27, 1914, wrote of the war scare in Austria and of his hopes of getting a medal before leaving the service.
The Bray family was well known throughout the Bendigo district.
Sampson Rodda Bray, an uncle, was one of the victims of the Mount Lyell disaster.
The 1912 disaster refers to a fire which broke out on October 12, 1912, at the Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Company operation on the West Coast of Tasmania. As a result of the fire, initially 42 lives were lost.
Jack’s father, John, had died in 1913, leaving a widow, Alice, three sons and two daughters.
The youngest son, David, was only six, and Jack, the eldest child, was already at sea.
Stoker John James Bray is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, United Kingdom, and in the Bita Pata War Cemetery near Rabaul, New Guinea.
Loss of submarine AE1
The Australian submarine AE1 disappeared while cruising in the vicinity of Simpsonhafen.
AE1 (By Del. McCay, in The Sun, Sydney)
She faced no battle flame, she heard no German gun,
The ship without a name, the luckless AE1;
Yet where the sailors' lives, no less for Empire lost,
And mothers, sweethearts, wives, must, pay the bitter cost.
Australia's warships sweep the broad Pacific main,
But one from out the deep will never rise again;
Yet we shall not forget, through all the years that run,
The fate that she has met – Good-bye to AE1.
Pent in their iron cell, they sank beneath the wave,
Untouched by shot or shell, they drifted to the grave.
Until their painful breath at last began to fail,
Upon their way to death let pity draw the veil.
They could not strike one blow, but out of sound and sight
Of comrade or of foe, they passed to endless night;
Deep down on ocean's floor, far from the wind and sun,
They rest for evermore—Good-bye to AE 1.
A harder fate was theirs than men's who fight and die,
But still Australia cares, and will not pass them by;
When Honor's lists are read, their names will surely be
Among the gallant dead, who fought to keep us free.
Their winding sheet is still, their sepulcher is wide,
The sea birds scream and wheel where silently they died;
Theirs is a monument of history, begun
When down to death they went – Good-bye to AE1.
THE LATE MR JOHN J. BRAY
The following verse was sent to Mr. John J. Bray (who is reported to be lost) as a momento of a torpedo disaster in England, off Plymouth:
The Sailor's Grave
The moon shines down on a nameless grave,
Where buried in waters deep
A gallant sailor – a British tar –
Lies taking his last long sleep.
But the Angel above who looks after Jack
With a spirit of gentle love.
Will take up the soul of our true brave,
And bear him to realms above.
Accompanied by her sister AE2, under the command of Lieutenant Commander H G. Stoker, RN, AE1 reached Sydney from England on May 24, 1914, manned by Royal Navy officers and with a mixed crew of sailors drawn from the Royal Navy and RAN.
At the outbreak of World War I, AE1 joined the naval forces assigned to the capture of the German Pacific colonies.
With AE2, she took part in the operations leading to the occupation of German New Guinea, including the surrender of Rabaul on September 13, 1914.
The loss of AE1 with her entire complement of three officers and 32 sailors was the RAN’s first major tragedy and it marred an otherwise successful operation to seize the German possession in New Guinea and the South Pacific.
Loss of Submarine.
MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY. Melbourne, September 21
The following messages of sympathy have been received by the Naval Board:
From the commander-in-chief in the East Indies: “The officers and men of the East Indies squadron are deeply grieved to hear of the loss of Submarine AE1, of the Commonwealth navy, and tender their heartfelt sympathy."
From the Commander-in-Chief, China Station: “Please express my profound regret, and that of all the officers and men of the China Station, at the sad loss of submarine AEI. You all have our deepest sympathy."
The following cable message from the Governor of New Zealand, reached the Prime Minister: “On behalf of myself and the government and people of New Zealand, I desire to express our deepest sympathy with Australia in the loss of submarine AE1."
From the senior naval officer of New Zealand: “The officers and men of the New Zealand division are deeply grieved to hear of the sad disaster of the submarine. Please accept our sincere sympathy."
The following reply was sent by the Minister for Defence, and the Commonwealth Naval Board: “On behalf of the relatives and the Royal Australian navy we are deeply grateful for your message of sympathy.”
Melbourne, September 22. The following cable message has been received by the acting Minister for External Affairs (Mr Mahon) from the High Commissioner (Sir George Reid): “The loss of the submarine AEl has caused widespread sorrow and sympathy in the United Kingdom. May I express my own deep regret that the brave ones have passed away and my keenest sympathy for those who are mourning their loss”.
Among the specially trained Australians lost on the submarine AEI. was Mr John James Bray, the son of a Bendigo widow. He was sent to England by Senator Pearce to undergo instruction in submarine work. Bray was on leave when war broke out and he was hurriedly summoned to Sydney. His mother had a letter from him 10 days ago saying that they were having some fun, and that all was well, Bray's family suffered also in the Mount Lyell disaster, where another son* was lost.
*Note: should read uncle.
NAVY BOARD'S REGRETS.
DEATH PROBABLY SUDDEN
Supplementing the statement by the Minister for Defence, the following has been issued by the Naval Board:
“It is with the deepest regret that we have to report the loss at sea, with all hands, of the Australian Submarine AE1.
"She was last seen on September 14, returning from patrol duty.
"The weather was fine, the sea smooth, and no enemy was in the vicinity.
"It was thought that she might have sighted an enemy, and given chase, but the result of a thorough search has now caused this hope to be abandoned.
“The water in the vicinity of the place in which she was last seen is very deep, and there is no hope of locating the wreck if she has sunk there.
"We may be thankful that the water is deep, as the hull of the vessel would be unable to withstand the pressure, and death would be mercifully sudden."
Source: Bev Hanson
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