hollow log 53hollow.one-name.net/news53.pdfbill’s story begins page 10 john hallo (1833-1916) on...
TRANSCRIPT
The Hollow Log 1
THE HOLLOW LOG Issue 53, December 2018 The Hollow Family Researchers’ Newsletter ISSN 1445-8772
Inside This Issue
Hollow Spotting These spottings add some colour to this issue
Page 2
The Hallo Family The Hallo family have a strong presence in Australia. They came from St Just and Mousehole and are part of the larger Hollow family.
Page 3
The Wallis Influence Family names are not uncommon in genealogy. What is striking about this family is that a name has been carried through both female and male lines for five generations.
Page 8
The Story of William Alfred Hollow (1909 – 1983)
Growing up in a family that handed down almost no folklore or family history, I realized I didn’t really know my father or his ‘story’. My father was a man who carried scars and even wounds throughout his life. Those scars and wounds came from childhood, young adult-hood, and a military career that technically ended (but never really finished) with a stretch of over 1,400 days as a prisoner of war under the Nazi regime in Hohenfels, Bavaria. This short biography is my attempt to learn about my father’s life, and perhaps understand something of the wounds and scars that damaged his life.
Robert Hollow, 2018
Page 10
This photo was taken at Norseman Western Australia c1929. The happy young miner on the left is Bill Hollow (1909-1983). His family were miners from St Ives who migrated to New Zealand and then to Australia.
Bill’s story begins page 10
John Hallo (1833-1916) on left and Thomas Hallo (1836-1916) on right were mining brothers from St Just. They were part of a family whose surname was incorrectly recorded in the parish records as Hallo instead of Hollow and they decided to stick with Hallo.
Their story on page 3
This photo is of John Stevens Hollow (1843-1925) and his wife Mary Wallis (1845-1908) was taken outside their home at Bowling Green Terrace in St Ives circa 1901. The diminutive Mary must have been the dynamic Mary as her surname, Wallis, has been carried down each generation since amongst her descendants.
The story begins page 8
Three Stories of the Cornish Diaspora
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The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 2
Hollow Spotting Two new Hollows
It is great to welcome two new Hollows to the World. This is
Zoe and
Rebekah
Hollow, the
daughters of
two
Londoners,
David and
Lizzie Hollow.
Zoe arrived in
June 2015 and
she is making
welcome
Rebekah who
was born in
May this year.
Obituaries
HOLLOW,
Anthony James
(Tony)
12.11.1945 -
10.5.2018 Best
friend and much
loved husband,
father, father-in-
law and Pa He is
survived by wife
Ellen, sons
Aaron and
Nathan his
daughters in law
Sarah and Nicole and the grandchildren Patrick 8 yr Lily 6yr
Logan 6yr and Lawson 4 yr. Tony passed away in Melbourne.
HOLLOW, Joan Emily Née Sirrell Suddenly in Leeds
General Infirmary on Thursday 25th October, Joan aged 91
years. Wife of the late John, mother to Carolyn and the late
Janet, grandma to Janet and her two great grandsons.
Published in The Yorkshire Post on Nov. 23, 2018
Return to the old country
There were two Aussie Hollows in Cornwall earlier this year.
Brothers Robert and Steve Hollow explored the haunts of
their Hollow ancestors. The pic shows the boys at the
Trevega mine in Towednack, birthplace of their gg
grandfather Thomas Hollow (1856-1909). Towednack is west
of St Ives.
The boys were made welcome in Cornwall by their fifth
cousin, Charlotte Murt whose family were long time residents
of Towednack. Robert told the story of his first visit to
Trevaga in Hollow Log 45.
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The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 3
The Hallo Family Holla to Hallo
The change in surname from Holla to Hollow has been well
documented in the Hollow Log previously. The oldest
records, back to early 1500s, use the name Holla and over
the centuries a gradual change occurred until the surname
Holla ceased being used in the mid 1800s.
The earliest record using the surname Hallo is the baptism of
Johan Hallo in 1683 at Quethiock, not a parish that any
Holla was known to frequent. The next was Grace Hallo in
1704 at Paul. The entry reads “Grace the daughter of James Hallo
(nation- Gall--) was Baptized May 7th 1704”. The “nation- Gall—“
reference suggests James may have been from Gaul ie France.
Unfortunately that is
the only child of James
Hallo found so far in
the Paul records.
In the mid 1700s the
surname Hallo was
used, somewhat
inconsistently, especially
in the parish of St Just
in Penwith. In the St
Just birth registers a
family may have births
recorded as Holla,
Hollow and Hallo. The
name Hallo continued
to be used in some
families. In the panel on
the right is a descendant
chart of John Holla born c1705 at Madron (Penzance) but
who moved to St Just around 1734. The lines highlighted in
Yellow are John’s descendants who used the name Hallo.
Don’t try to read it though. In a readable form the chart runs
to seven A4 pages, I have had to reduce it drastically. I
include it just to show that the name was taken up in some
Holla/Hollow families but not others and that in some
families it remained in use for generations.
My research has shown that the name HALLO remained in
the parish of St Just alone until well into the 1800s. It
disappears in some branches because of a generation in a line
that produced only daughters. In others because families
moved to other parishes or overseas. The name HALLOW
appears in many other parishes, most frequently Ludgvan,
but it doesn’t morph into HALLO.
So we are left with the surname
Hallo having its origin in St Just
in Penwith. What may have
commenced in the St Just parish
registers as a variation in the way
Holla or Hollow was recorded
became the name that some
families identified with.
Note: The parish of St Just
included quite a large area
around St Just (see map). There
are many villages in the parish.
The baptism records show the
Hallo family lived in the villages
of
Trewellard
and
Carnyorth.
In 1846 a
new parish
of Pendeen
was
created.
The
Pendeen
parish
church was
closer to
the Hallo
residences
so some
baptisms,
marriages,
burials were registered there.
Some of this family also had
their children baptised in the
local Methodist chapels.
The mass of yellow in the centre
of the chart in the panel at right
began with one Thomas Hallo
(1811-1884). He married Mary
Trezize in St Just and they had
five children one of whom died
as an infant. Thomas Hallo was
a blacksmith; most of his male
relatives were miners.
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The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 4
In 1844 Mary died leaving Thomas with four children under
ten years old. Thomas married again in 1845 to Eliza
Trawavas Badcock. They married at the church in Paul,
Eliza was from the village of Mousehole, pronounced
Mouzel, nearby. In 1841 Thomas was living in Trewellard. In
the 1851 census he was living at nearby Carnyorth with his
family and another son, born to his new wife Eliza.
By the 1861 census he and his family had moved to
Mousehole. He was still a blacksmith and remained living in
Mousehole, apart from a short time in Australia, until his
death in 1884.
Thomas’ descendants have consistently remained with the
surname Hallo. The great bulk of Hallo families around
today can be traced back to him. The panel to the left is the
descendant chart of the first two generations of Thomas’
family.
The Hallos in Australia.
In researching the Hallo family in Australia I have been
helped by a booklet, “Hallo
Ancestors” written by Howard
Richard Hallo (1905-1999),
published in 1984. Howard was
researching family history before
the explosion of genealogical
resources in libraries and of course
now online. Howard struggled
with the mix of Holla, Hollow
and Hallo in records. In a trip to
Cornwall in 1980 Howard ignored
records that were not Hallo or
Hallow, much to his distress later when he later realised the
name Hollow was also part of the story. He also
concentrated on records from Mousehole not realising at the
time that the Hallo family were first in the parish of St Just in
Penwith. He overcame not being able to develop family trees
back in Cornwall by writing detailed notes on Cornish
history. He also includes descriptions of close relations and
family life interspersed with poetry from various poets. The
book also has a lot of detail of the lives of the Hallo family in
Australia.
The First Hallos in Australia
Howard was not able to find records of the voyage of the
first Hallo to Australia. Through the family memories and
stories Howard records that his grandfather Thomas Hallo
(1836-1916) and his brother William (1838-1967) came to
Australia in 1853. This was very much the goldrush period
here in Victoria. We know that both Thomas and William
were married in Fryerstown, near Castlemaine a gold mining
area about 71 miles north-west of Melbourne. William
Descendants of Thomas Hallo and Mary Trezize
This is a stripped back descendant chart to aid keeping track of the various people mentioned in this story. If you wish to learn further details of a person, find them on the website at http://hollow.one-name.net/ Thomas Hallo, b. 1811, d. 1884 +Mary Trezize, b. 1811, m. 1832, d. 1844 ├── John Hallo, b. 1833, d. 1916 │ +Elizabeth Honor Richards Tregenza, b. 1834, m. 1854, d. 1917 │ ├── Honor Ann Hallo, b. 1856, d. 1873 │ ├── Christiana Hallo, b. 1857, d. 1956 │ │ +Ralph Goldsworthy, b. 1858, m. 1879, d. 1930 │ │ ├── Mary Annie Goldsworthy, b. 1881, d. 1884 │ │ ├── Ralph Goldsworthy, b. 1885, d. 1950 │ │ ├── John Hallo Goldsworthy, b. 1887, d. 1953 │ │ ├── William Tregenza Goldsworthy, b. 1889 │ │ ├── Annie Vinard Goldsworthy, b. 1891 │ │ ├── Clement Stanley Goldsworthy, b. 1893, d. 1939 │ │ └── Elizabeth Honor Richards Goldsworthy, b. 1894, d. 1895 │ ├── Thomas Hallo, b. 1858, d. 1950 │ │ +Agnes Alice Morris, b. 1864, m. 1892, d. 1943 │ │ ├── Roy Tregenza Hallo, b. 1893, d. 1954 │ │ └── Kenneth Loudon Hallo, b. 1895, d. 1982 │ └── William Hallo, b. 1866, d. 1924 │ +Ann Bartle, b. 1868, m. 1892, d. 1948 │ ├── Ruby L Hallo, b. 1893 │ ├── William Clement Hallo, b. 1894, d. 1989 │ └── Myrtle A Hallo, b. circa 1898 ├── Mary Holla, b. 1835, d. 1840 ├── Thomas Hallo, b. 1836, d. 1916 │ +Eliza Morley Hooper, b. 1846, m. 1865, d. 1919 │ ├── Eliza Mary Hallo, b. 1865, d. 1865 │ ├── Thomas Richard Trezise Hallo, b. 1866, d. 1904 │ │ +Emma Forrest Crossett, b. circa 1866, m. 1894, d. 1944 │ │ └── Vera Amy Maude Hallo, b. 1894, d. 1976 │ ├── William James Hallo, b. 1869, d. 1946 │ │ +Rachel Solomons, b. circa 1867, m. 1899, d. 1929 │ │ ├── Robert Thomas Hallo, b. 1902, d. 1957 │ │ └── William Louis Hallo, b. 1902, d. 1966 │ ├── Benjamin Hallo, b. 1871, d. 1960 │ ├── Florence Tabitha Hallo, b. 1873, d. 1964 │ │ +Vincent Sarah, m. 1897 │ │ ├── Cyril Rupert Vincent Sarah, b. 1901 │ │ └── Thomas Keith Gladstone Sarah, b. 1912 │ ├── Norman Henry Hallo, b. 1876, d. 1964 │ │ +Sophia Alice Victoria Benzley, b. 1874, m. 1898, d. 1956 │ │ ├── Hilda Ethel Vera Vic Hallo, b. 1898, d. 1979 │ │ ├── Norman Hallo, b. 1901, d. 1979 │ │ ├── Olive Blanche Hallo, b. 1903 │ │ ├── Howard Richard Hallo, b. 1905, d. 1999 │ │ ├── Thelma May Hallo, b. circa 1910 │ │ ├── Leonard Vincent Hallo, b. 1911, d. 1999 │ │ ├── Beryl Eunice Hallo, b. 1913, d. 1966 │ │ └── Constance Ruth Hallo, b. 1916 │ ├── John Herbert Percival Hallo, b. 1878, d. 1949 │ │ +Olive Jemima Haslam, b. circa 1880, m. 1907, d. 1932 │ │ ├── John William Hallo, b. 1907, d. 1996 │ │ ├── Benjamin Thomas Hallo, b. 1909 │ │ ├── Percival Felstead Hallo, b. 1911, d. circa 1986 │ │ ├── Olive Constance Hallo, b. circa 1912 │ │ └── Mabel Irving Hallo, b. 1914, d. 1967 │ ├── Eliza Louise Hallo, b. 1881, d. 1974 │ │ +Henry Llewellyn Roberts, m. 1905, d. 1945 │ │ └── Phyllis Morley Roberts, b. 1908 │ ├── Albert Leslie Hallo, b. 1883, d. 1954 │ ├── Amy Elizabeth Alice Hallo, b. 1885, d. 1962
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 5
married Mary Jane Martin in 1862. Thomas was married in
1863 to Eliza Morley Hooper.
Their sister Mary may have come out with them. She is found
in marriage records in South Australia. In 1857 she married a
James Seymour at Burra, a copper mining area north of
Adelaide. This fact raises the possibility that the Hallo
siblings may have come to South Australia first and settled in
Burra.
A New Discovery!
Like Howard I began searching Victorian shipping records
and like Howard could not find the Hallo brothers. I had
calculated the sibling’s ages in 1853. Thomas, William, and
Mary would have been 17, 14 and 13 years old respectively.
What puzzled me was that children of that age would have to
be accompanied by adults to come to Australia at that time.
That, plus the fact that Mary had married in Burra in 1857
prompted me to look at South Australian shipping records.
These are more easily available now than when Howard was
researching in the 1980s.
I searched for Hallo without success but what I had also
noticed was that sometimes Hallo was recorded as Halls or
even Hall. I looked for the surname Halls first and to my
delight I found a ship arriving at Port Adelaide, South
Australia with a family listed as Halls. The ship was the
“David Malcolm” and the family was Thomas Halls (aged
43) and Eliza Halls (29) with children Thomas (18), William
(16), Mary (1?) and Benjamin (8). This is our Hallo family
but the year was 1855 not 1853 as Howard thought. Eliza was
Thomas’ second wife; she was the mother of Benjamin and
stepmother to Thomas, William and Mary. This changes the
story dramatically. The whole family came to Australia.
This is why the young Hallo children were able to migrate.
Their parents, Thomas and Eliza and son Benjamin are
recorded in the 1861 census in Mousehole Cornwall so they
have returned to Cornwall from Australia before the April
1861. The three older siblings remained in Australia.
It would appear that the family made for the copper mining
area of Burra is 156 km (97 miles) north of Adelaide. Burra
had a very Cornish population; it even had a suburb called
Redruth. With Victoria experiencing multiple gold discoveries
since 1851 many miners left Burra for the gold in Victoria. So
it would seem that Thomas and William decided to try their
luck at the gold diggings and finished up in Fryerstown 115
km (71 ml) NW of Melbourne near Castlemaine.
The fourth sibling, John (1833-1916), who had stayed behind
in Cornwall later came to Australia. He arrived in 1865 with
his wife and three children, landing at Port Adelaide, South
Australia and then going to the copper mining town of Burra.
His sister Mary still lived there with her husband and family.
The Family Stories
John Hallo (1833-1916)
John Hallo was the first born child of Thomas Hallo and
Mary Trezize. The couple were living at Trewellard when
John was born and then moved to Carnyorth. In 1851 John
was working as a tin miner. On 16th December 1854 he
married Elizabeth Honora Richards Tregenza in the parish
church of Paul. She was from the nearby village of
Mousehole.
She and John had three children, Honor Ann (1856),
Christiana (1857) and Thomas (1858). In 1861 the family
lived in Carnyorth, John was a tin miner. In 1865 they left
this life and travelled to Australia on the maiden voyage of
the ship Peeress. The ship arrived with 332 passengers; there
had been three births and two deaths on the voyage. The
emigrants aboard the ship were government sponsored under
a scheme to provide the colony of South Australia with
families and workers to support the growth of the colony.
John Hallo was one of 36 miners who were to go to the
copper mines of Wallaroo and Burra. John’s sister Mary lived
│ │ +Reginald Horace Rupert Elvage, b. 1883, m. 1909, d. 1949 │ │ └── Margaret Hallo Elvage, b. 1920 │ ├── Ethel Beatrice Hallo, b. 1888, d. 1967 │ └── Agnes Emma Gertrude Hallo, b. 1890, d. 1962 ├── William Trezize Hallo, b. 1838, d. 1867 │ +Mary Jane Martin, b. 1846, m. 1863, d. 1912 └── Mary Hallo, b. 1839, d. 1897 +James Seymour, b. circa 1936, m. 1857, d. 1912 ├── Mary Jane Seymour, b. 1858 ├── James Seymour, b. 1860, d. 1861 ├── Agnes Jane Seymour, b. 1863 ├── Hannah Harris (Annie) Seymour, b. 1865, d. 1954 ├── William Hallo Seymour, b. 1867, d. 1943 ├── Edith Seymour, b. 1870 ├── Alice Maude Seymour, b. 1871, d. 1958 ├── Laura Louisa Seymour, b. 1874, d. 1940 ├── Matilda Beatrice Seymour, b. 1876, d. 1915 ├── Ellen Ethel Rosetta Seymour, b. 1879 └── Olive May Seymour, b. 1882, d. 1965 +Eliza Trewavas Badcock, b. 1825, m. 1845, d. 1903 └── Benjamin Trewavas Hallo, b. 1846, d. 1881 +Mary Emma Hockin, b. circa 1851, m. 1871, d. 1918 ├── Howard Hallo, b. 1872, d. 1872 └── Benjamin Walter Hallo, b. 1875, d. 1931
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The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 6
with her family at Burra and he soon joined her in Burra. In
1866 another son was born to the family, William.
In 1867 John and family moved to the goldfields at
Fryerstown in Victoria where his brothers Thomas and
William were miners. John remained in Fryerstown for ten
years before returning to South Australia to another copper
mining town Kadina. Kadina is 160 kilometres northwest of
Adelaide with the towns Wallaroo and Moonta it is known as
the Copper Triangle or Little Cornwall.
By 1881 John had moved again, this time to Woodside, 37
kilometres east of Adelaide. He continued to work as a miner
here until in 1886 he was caught in an earth fall at work
which resulted in a leg having to be amputated. After
recovery he worked at the Water Works Department in
Adelaide but in 1890 returned to Woodside to run a general
store and newsagency with his wife Elizabeth. .
The photos (previous page) of John and Elizabeth were taken
at the time of their 60th Wedding anniversary in 1914. Both
were still running their store at that time. John was to pass
away in December 1916, three months later his wife also
passed away.
John and Elizabeth’s daughter Honor Ann died aged 18 at
Fryerstown in 1973. Their other children seemed to remain
with them; each had a presence in Woodside but did move in
different directions after they were married.
Christiana married Ralph Goldsworthy and had a family of
seven finally settling in Broken Hill, New South Wales, a
silver-lead-zinc mining town. Thomas married and settled in
Port Augusta, South Australia where he worked for a farmer’s
Union and was active in community affairs. William married
in Woodside, moved to Broken Hill and eventually to
Western Australia
Thomas Hallo (1836-1916)
Thomas was the second of Thomas Hallo and Mary
Trezize’s sons. Having discovered that he and younger
brother William arrived with
their family in South
Australia in 1855 and
travelled to Burra. They then
left Burra for Fryerstown in
Victoria. We know both
were in Fryerstown in the
early 1860s as they both
married there. Thomas
married Eliza Morley
Hooper in 1865 and the
couple had twelve children. .
Howard Hallo found papers
showing Thomas and
William owned shares in “The Hand of Friendship” mine in
Fryerstown. He believed they had shares in another too.
Local directories show that Thomas was a miner in 1888. The
last of Thomas and Eliza’s children was born in 1890. But by
1893 the directories show the family were living in the
Melbourne suburb of North Carlton. He and Eliza lived for
many years at 566 Canning Street in North Carlton, close to
where I live as it happens. The house still stands and is a
Victorian style terrace that would have been built around that
time, the 1890s. Perhaps Thomas and Eliza were its first
occupants.
It is a large House and would have to have been to
accommodate their family. Some of the children were still
young. The older children started to get married, the first,
Thomas Richard Trezize Hallo in 1894.
Howard has this to say about his grandfather
“Aided by the remembered testimonies from my father, I would describe
Grandpa as not tall but strong wiry erect and fearless with a perpetual
twinkle in his eye. As behoves a true Celt he was quick and impulsive
in his thoughts and actions. ... Thomas was a splendid boxer.”
Howard’s recollections of his grandmother and the house
included this.
“The only vision I have of her now is of a hospitable lady dressed in
rustling black, an attire which seemed in keeping with her dining room -
dark, heavy looking furniture and drapes with sideboard and
mantelpiece groaning with the weight of a multiplicity of china, glassware
and massive ornaments. The walls covered with family portraits.”
Howard Hallo’s parents, Norman Henry Hallo and Sophia
Victoria Benzley married in 1898. His grandparents died in
1916 and 1919, he would have been fourteen when his
grandmother passed away.
Eleven of the children survived to adulthood. None of them
appear to have become miners. Thomas Richard Trezize.
Hallo the oldest son became a civil servant working at the
Melbourne G.P.O. He was to die in 1904, just eight years
566 Canning St. North Carlton.
The house is the white house on the near end of the row of four double story terraces
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The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 7
after being married. The following obituary in a Melbourne
paper gives a glimpse of the esteem in which he was held.
The remains of the late Mr. T. R. T. Hallo wore interred in the
Melbourne General Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon. About 300
postmen, comrades of the deceased, marched in uniform through the city.
The deceased was widely known throughout the postal service. He was a
zealous advocate of unionism, and had occupied the position of president
of the Commonwealth Letter Carriers' Association, divisional
representative of the general division, president of clause 19 committee
and director of the Civil Service Store. He was of genial temperament
and much esteemed by his acquaintances.
The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) Thursday 15 September 1904
Thomas R.T Hallo died of Bright’s Disease, a kidney disease.
He and his wife Emma had just one child.
Howard gives pen portraits of his father, Norman Henry
Hallo, and a couple of uncles. Of his father he says – “similar
in build to Thomas, absolutely fearless, independent, self confident,
impulsive and perhaps impetuous at times. He was an idealist in theory
but not always in practice. As a father he had the ability and willingness
to impart good advice with clarity on practically any subject. Restless,
always looking for new fields of endeavour to satisfy his fertile
imagination. Like his father, he was a good boxer.”
Howard’s father was part of Hallo Bros Printing in 1898,
then Hallo and Co. Advertising Agents in 1907 and in 1915
Hallo and Co., Commercial Artists. His mother was also
active commercially. Directories list her at various times, as a
confectioner, ladies draper and with tea rooms. Directories
also show that he lived at addresses in at least eleven inner
Melbourne suburbs over his married life. Howard did say he
was a restless man.
His uncle Percy (John Herbert Percival) is described as tall,
dark handsome with flashing eyes. Very witty, the kids thought he could
be a movie star. Percy had a farm in Gippsland east of
Melbourne
Another Uncle, William is described as a person of great
charm and a very generous host. He was a director of a large
Victorian company, Paterson Laing and Bruce, who were
textile, clothing and footwear importers and wholesalers.
Another uncle, Benjamin, was a restless type and left
Melbourne. Howard did not know what had become of him
but I did find his death in 1960 in Queensland. The other
uncle, Albert Leslie remained unmarried.
Howard says little of his aunties, three of them married, none
to men associated with mining. It seems the family made a
complete break from mining when they left Fryerstown.
William Hallo (1838-1867)
William worked in partnership with his brother Thomas in
Fryerstown. He married Mary Jane Martin in Fryerstown in
1863 but in 1967 William died of peritonitis. The couple did
not have any children. 1867 was the year the oldest brother,
John, brought his family to Fryerstown from Burra. The
move may have been prompted by William’s death. John may
have filled William’s position in partnership with brother
Thomas.
Mary Hallo (1839-1897)
Mary was the one sibling who remained in Burra for most of
her life. She married James Seymour there in 1857 and
together they had twelve children, all born in Burra. The
family did move from Burra to another mining town, Broken
Hill about 1890. Mary passed away in Broken Hill in 1897.
Benjamin Trewavas Hallo (1846-1881)
Benjamin was the son of Thomas and his second wife Eliza
Trevawas Badcock. He returned to Cornwall with his
parents at sometime before April 1861 when the census was
taken. His parents were living back at Mousehole then but he
was a boarder at a Wesleyan school in Taunton, Somerset.
At the time of the next census in 1871 he was living back
with his parents in Mousehole and working as a draper. He
married later in 1871 to Mary Emma Hockin and they had
two children, Howard, who died soon after his birth, and
Benjamin Walter. Howard Richard Hallo was very excited
when he found this Howard’s birth in the Paul parish records
on his trip to Cornwall only to be disappointed when he
found the child’s burial recorded in the same parish records.
He didn’t ever find out whether he was named after this
Howard. Benjamin was a name that was carried on in the
Australian Hallos
At the 1881 census Mary and son Benjamin Walter were
living with Mary’s mother in Mousehole. I was unable to find
Benjamin senior on this census.
Benjamin senior died in Leeds, Yorkshire on 25th December
1881 aged 36. Whether he was working there or not is
unknown at this point. His wife and son continued to live in
Mousehole for some years. Benjamin junior did not marry.
The descendants of these people are scattered throughout
Australia. I haven’t had much success in getting to know
them. I hope this article will be the catalyst for others to
continue to document the Hallo story.
Odd Spot
When searching for Hallo online I found a number of Hallo
families with origins other that Cornwall. There were Hallos
who originated in France, Germany, Hungary and the Syrian
Republic or Lebanon.
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The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 8
The Wallis Influence Forenames often pass from generation to generation. In this
Hollow family the name Wallis has been passed down over
five generations and on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
In the Descendant chart opposite those carrying the name are
shown in yellow. It is too small to read the details; I just want
to show the extended use of the name Wallis.
The progenitors of the family are John Stevens Hollow
(1843-1925) and Mary Wallis (1845-1908), pictured on the
front
cover.
This
photo
and the
head
shot
adjacent
have
recently
been
rediscov
ered in
Montana
, USA.
Mary’s
tiny stature masked an influential presence. She had five
children, three of whom had Wallis as a second name. This
has become a tradition in this family which has continued on
both sides of the Atlantic for the next four generations.
Three of her boys made their way to the US and Canada early
in the 1900s. One stayed, the others returned to the UK.
Mary died in 1908, at that point she had two grandchildren.
The eldest son was
Thomas Edward Hollow
(1879-1933) and his names
where very much in the
tradition of the times.
Thomas was his
grandfather’s name on his
father’s side; Edward was
his grandfather’s name on
his mother’s side.
Thomas Edward Hollow
was a Carpenter by trade.
He married Grace Stevens
Pemberthy Luke in 1903. In March 1905 he, along with his
brother John, travelled to Canada aboard the ship Bavarian.
They landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia; their destination was
Winnipeg according to the ship’s manifest.
Thomas then
entered the
U.S. via
Vermont in
September
1905. Thomas
is believed to
have returned
from this trip
to England
then returned
again to
Canada,
presumably
with his wife
and daughter,
and took up
residence in
Toronto. He
worked as a
foreman in
charge of a large construction in the city.
By 1911 the family were back living at 17 Bowling Terrace, St
Ives at the time of the census and he was described as a
master builder. During WWI he joined the fledgling Royal
Air Force. After the war he returned to his building business
and built many fine buildings in St Ives. His son-in-law,
Edwin Bottrell Quick (1904-1978) described him as a first-
class craftsman and draftsman. He had one daughter, Minnie
Wallis Hollow (1903-1983) who was a teacher. She was the
wife of Edwin Bottrell Quick
John and Mary Hollow’s only daughter was Mary (Minnie)
Wallis Hollow (1881-1896) Minnie died of consumption
(TB) at the age of fifteen.
The next son John Stevens Hollow (1883-1959) was named
after his father. John Stevens Hollow junior travelled to
Canada with his brother Thomas in March 1905 on the ship
Bavarian. He was described on the manifest as an electrician.
He spent a number of years in Canada and during WWI
joined the Canadian Army. He fought at Vimy Ridge. During
his service he was wounded and gassed. The battle of Vimy
Ridge was Canada’s most celebrated military victory but
10,500 of the Canadian Army were killed and wounded in the
battle which lasted four days.
After the war he returned to St Ives and worked a plumber
with the St Ives Corporation Gas department.
In 1919 he married his brother Nicholas Wallis Hollow’s,
widow, Kate Hocking. Kate had two children to her first
husband. John became their step-father as well their uncle.
Kate was to pass away herself in 1923. In 1925 John married
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 9
Edith Pellow and presumably together they raised the two
boys.
Nicholas Wallis Hollow (1886-1916) Nicholas Wallis
Hollow was known as Wallis, also trained as a carpenter but
became a painter and decorator. He married Catherine (Kate)
Hocking (1886-1923) in 1907 and they had two sons William
Wallis Hollow born 1908 and John Denis Hollow b. 1913.
Wallis died of lead poisoning in 1916; their sons were 8 and 5
respectively. Lead poisoning was an occupational hazard for
painters in those times. His widow Kate with two young
children married Wallis’ brother John in 1919 after he came
back from WWI. Four years into the marriage Kate also died.
This was certainly a troubled time for the family. Nicholas’
children William and John had lost their father, their mother
all within before the
eldest William was 13.
Their mother Kate
would have spent the
war years without a
husband. Their uncle
became their father
after the war but then
Kate died. Two years
later they had a step-
mother. The boy’s
grandfather John Stevens Hollow senior had married again
to Margaret in Bramwell Wallis (not a close relation to Mary)
in 1915 so there could have been some extra support but
Margaret died in 1923 adding to the family difficulties.
This family have maintained the Wallis name in every
generation since. William Wallis Hollow (1908-1969)
eventually lived in Bromley, Kent (now Greater London). In
1939 he was an ironmongery salesman and eventually ran his
own ironmongery business there. He was married to Isabel
Florence Wilding in Bromley in 1935 and they had one child,
a son John Wallis Hollow (1935-2005).
John has two
daughters and a
son. His son
carries the name
Wallis and his two
children also carry
the name Wallis.
The other son of
Nicholas and
Kate, John Denis
Hollow (1913-
1955) married
Ada Isabella Moore in 1940 but they not have any children.
The fourth son in the family was James Wallis Hollow
(1886-1960).
James, a teacher, was
enroute to Mohawk,
Michigan in 1909 where he
was to join a friend, C.
Lander, according to the
shipping records. However
he eventually settled in
Helena Montana where he
married Isabelle Katherine
O’Brien.
James and Isabelle had four
children, three girls and a
boy. The eldest child, Mary
Ellen passed on the Wallis
name to one of her children.
Her two sisters did not
marry. Their only son was John Wallis Hollow (1917-1991).
John married Margaret
Rebecca Collison in 1941
and they had five children,
three boys and two girls. The
first born was Robert Wallis
Hollow and their daughter
Peggy has passed the name
Wallis to one of her children.
There seems no doubt that
the use of the name Wallis in
Helena, Montana was
connected to Mary Wallis.
John’s wife Margaret
corresponded with the family
back in Cornwall and amongst her possessions was a china
mug with Mary Wallis’ name and birth date on it. The
photos of Mary Wallis and much of the early family history
were from letters Margaret had from the family in Cornwall.
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 10
Part 1 of The Story of William Alfred Hollow (1909 – 1983) FROM PRINCESS ROYAL TO WINNING-
POST TO PRISONER OF WAR
William Alfred Hollow (1909-1983) was born at Princess Royal (a
small gold mining settlement
8km north of Norseman,
Western Australia) on 9th Dec
1909 to Thomas Hollow
(1877-1927) and Elizabeth
Mary Chandler (1888-1929).
Bill was their second child, his
brothers and sisters being
Henry (Harry) Thomas (1907-
1988), Annie Beatrice (1911-
1978), Arthur Clarence (1912-
1980), Leonard (Len) Walter
(1914-1997), Lexie May (1916-
1967) and Elsie Amy (1918-
2006). William Alfred was
possibly named after his
mother’s two oldest brothers,
William Thomas Chandler and Alfred Samuel Chandler.
Stories of the family at Princess Royal are rare, with just three details
of Bill’s childhood that are known.
The first comes from a newspaper article in the Norseman Times in
1913. “On Monday the three-year-old son of Mr T Hollow of Princess Royal
met with an extraordinary accident. There is nothing surprising in a youngster
meeting with an accident—in fact the only surprising thing about youngsters is
that they survive the hazards to which they expose themselves —but this
occurrence was remarkable for the simplicity with which it happened. The child
was running along
level ground when
he fell and broke
his
arm.”(Norseman
Times, Thurs 16
Oct 1913, page 3)
Bill is not named
in the article, but
the age of the
child indicates it
was him.
Another
newspaper
article (Norseman
Times, Thurs 22
March 1917, page
2) announces the
granting of a
miner’s
homestead lease
by the Norseman
Wardens’ Court to Mr. T. Hollow of Princess Royal. Young Bill
Hollow would have been just 7 years old at the time. The granting
of a ‘miner’s homestead lease’ allowed the grantee to mine the land
comprising their ‘homestead’. At the time of the grant, Bill’s father
Thomas was ‘right in the middle’ of raising his family, with six of his
seven children being born by the March of 1917.
The reference to the miner’s homestead lease also corroborates
another aspect of life at Princess Royal offered by Alexia
Mathieson, the daughter of Bill Hollow’s youngest sister Elsie.
Elsie told of the ‘farm’ that the family worked at Princess Royal.
This was probably a ‘subsistence farm’ (mainly supplying the family)
rather than a ‘commercial
operation’. There is clear evidence
that Bill’s father Thomas spent his
whole working life earning a living
from mining and not from farming
‘per se’. There was a ‘farm’, none-
the-less, and Bill Hollow, along
with his siblings, would have done
his fair share of toil on that farm.
The first apparent move for Bill
came in 1918 when he was about
nine. His youngest sister, Elsie, was
not born in Norseman or at
Princess Royal, but rather at
Victoria Park, Perth, on 8th March
1918. Elizabeth, their mother, was
possibly staying with her own parents, Thomas Chandler (1860-
1923) and Sarah Ellen Johnson (1860-1927), who had moved from
the Norseman area to Fitzroy St, Rivervale (inner suburb of Perth)
by 1918.As we will see later, there is evidence that at least Bill had
accompanied his mother to the metropolitan area by 1918, and
stayed on there after his mother returned to Princess Royal.
Elizabeth and her husband Thomas had permanently moved to
Ewing St, Welshpool, (Suburb of Perth) sometime around
1926/1927according to the Western Australian Electoral Roll. The
Metropolitan Cemeteries Board records also confirm Bill’s father
living at
Welshpool at the
time of his death
in 1927.
Whatever the year
of his parents’
permanent move
to the
metropolitan area,
it seems that Bill
preceded them in
1918. A personal
reference dated
28th Nov 1927
from his former
headmaster and
teacher, Mr. A.
Harvey, gives a
clue about Bill’s
move and his
education in the
metropolitan area. Note the absence of footwear amongst the team
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 11
This describes Bill attending Rivervale School in 1918 from about
the age of nine. Bill’s mother was definitely at Princess Royal on Oct
20th, 1920 when she gave birth to her youngest child, Thomas. Bill
must have lived separately from his parents, possibly from 1918 and
definitely from 1920, most likely with his maternal grandparents
Thomas and Sarah Chandler. Mr Harvey refers to Bill as “one of my
most reliable boys”. Written when he was 17 years old, the reference
summarizes what appears to have been Bill’s only formal education
over the previous ten years, “qualifying in sixth (standard) for entry to
Technical School where I understand he has done splendid work”.
According to a police reference written in 1965, Bill’s further
education continued at Perth Technical School, finishing in 1923
when he was aged 14. His former headmaster’s reference is dated
just three days after Bill’s father’s death, on 25th Nov 1927, aged
just 50. Bill was not quite 18 years old. Another reference from W.
R. Read JP is dated 29th Nov 1927. Finally a reference dated 3rd
Dec 1927from the Acting Deputy Director of Posts and Telegraphs,
Mr F.W. Milbank, refers to Bill’s employment as a temporary
telegraph messenger at
Midland Junction from Dec
1926 to Jan 1927.It seems
highly probable that this
‘flurry’ of references was
organized immediately after
Bill’s father’s death for him
to gain better employment,
possibly to support his
mother and younger siblings.
It was a little more than two
years later, when Bill had just
turned 20, that on 10th Jan
1929 his mother Elizabeth
also died, aged just 40. She left behind five children under 18 years
of age, Arthur (16), Leonard (14), Lexie (13), Elsie (10) and Thomas
(8).
Evidence of Bill’s early passion for horses and horse-racing comes
from an article that appeared in the Daily News (Perth, WA: Sat 1
Sep 1945, Page 12). It refers to Bill’s racing connections during the
late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Bill was an apprentice jockey with
Victor (Vic) Pinkus (a prominent horse trainer in Perth) in 1928,
aged 18. The personal reference of 1965 given by a police detective
describes how Bill, after serving as an apprentice jockey for 12
months, became too heavy for ‘jockeying’. Subsequently he took on
the role of foreman at the Pinkus stables in Daly St, Belmont,
Perth. Amongst the horses under his charge during this time were
‘Jemidar’(the winner of the 1929 Perth Cup), ‘Knight Commander’,
‘Green Laddie’,‘ Tetreen’ and ‘Tetraclive’.
Bill worked for Vic Pinkus from 1928 to 1935. Sometime in 1935
(aged 25) he was living back in the Goldfields of Western Australia
at Kalgoorlie. By 1936 Bill was able to make a personal investment
in racing bloodstock by purchasing the race horse ‘Stormlooee’ from
J. L. Moon (Kalgoorlie Miner: Fri 14 Feb 1936 p8). ‘Stormlooee’ went
on to win the Trial Stakes at Boulder (The Daily News, Sat 5 Dec 1936
p6) and the Northam Plate (second division) that same year (The
West Australian Mon 29 Jun 1936).
Amongst Bill’s papers’ is a copy of a personalized Christmas card
with the printed return address as “The Foundry Hotel”
(Kalgoorlie), dated ‘Christmas 1936’. Perhaps this personalized,
commercially printed Christmas card indicates reasonably secure
financial circumstances for Bill at the time. A newspaper article
(Western Argus, Kalgoorlie, WA : Tue 7 Jul 1936 p32) confirms Bill as
resident in Kalgoorlie, employed as a horse trainer, and also the
owner of the horse ‘Stormlooee’, which was being trained by R.
(Dick) Langdon. By Dec1936 there is a possible sign that Bill had
fallen on harder times when the Kalgoorlie Miner printed the
following in the ‘for sale’ column.“CHESTNUT Gelding Stormlooee in
sound racing condition. Apply, W. Hollow, c/o Foundry Hotel.” (Kalgoorlie
Miner WA :Tue 8 Dec 1936 p.6).
In Jan 1937 the “Kalgoorlie Miner” (Fri 15 Jan 1937: p.8) reported on
the successful sale of ‘Stormlooee’. “The West Australian” (Sat 13 Feb
1937: p12) reports on ‘Stormlooee’s performances in Albany, with
the mention that the horse’s owner is R. Langdon, and that it is
now “leased to Mr. E. P. Dillon”. For whatever reason, Bill Hollow
had managed to divest himself of his reasonably successful galloper.
The 1937 West Australian Electoral Roll also records Bill as living at
the Foundry Hotel in
Kalgoorlie. A
subsequent employment
reference, written in 1937
by Percy J. Guilders, the
manager of the Broken
Hill Hotel in Boulder
(near Kalgoorlie),
vouches for Bill’s
employment with him for
three months, and his
ability as a bar-man. It
seems that horse-training
had to be supplemented
with other work for Bill
to make a living.
The years from 1937 to 1939 are very vague with regard to Bill’s
abodes and activities. The next trace of Bill’s life begins with his
military service record. William Alfred Hollow signed up in the 2nd
Australian Infantry Force at Subiaco on 23rd Oct 1939 when he was
aged 29.At the time he said he was living at 18 Ethel St, North
Perth, the address of his married eldest sister, Annie Beatrice Wain.
He appointed his youngest sister Elsie Amy Hollow as his next of
kin and again his occupation is listed as ‘horse trainer’.
Prime Minister Menzies announced Australia's participation in
World War II by declaring war on Germany on 3rd Sept 1939. It
took Bill just 50 days to put his life on the line with the Allied war
effort, a fact not overlooked amidst the scanty family folk lore. His
speedy enlistment accounts for his low military service number,
WX322. The final total number of enlisted West Australians was
61,575. Bill’s number indicates that only 321 West Australians
signed up ahead of him.
Bill was ‘taken on strength’ for the 2/11th Battalion within the 6th
Division of the 2nd AIF. Military service began with the rest of the
2/11thin the Northam military camp, around 100km North East of
Perth, on Nov 8th 1939.
“Northam was a good camp but short lived. The battalion was there only three
weeks before it was ordered to join the other battalions of the 18th Brigade in
New South Wales. Watt, Mary R., (1996). The 'stunned' and the 'stymied' :
The P.O.W. experience in the history of the 2/11th Infantry Battalion, 1939-
1945 p.11-12
Southern Wester Australia showing the places Bill Hollow lived in red.
Note the distances between them
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 12
The 2/11thBattalion was about to
‘go East’ to the Greta Army
Camp, New South Wales (50km
from Newcastle). “A and B
Companies (where Bill had been
assigned), under the command of
Major Anderson, embarked in the
Duntroon, and sailed from
Fremantle on 7th Dec.” Olson, W.,
(2011). Battalion Into Battle. 1st ed.
Hilton, Western Australia: p.9.
The A and B Companies joined C
and D Companies (who had
embarked on-board Katoomba from Fremantle 30th Nov 1939) at
Greta Army Camp on Dec 15th1939. Once at Greta, Bill came
down with Rubella and was admitted to hospital in Newcastle on
22nd Dec 1939. “Apart from these minor irritations the business of
the camp at Greta ran smoothly
until just before Christmas when
half of the men developed
German measles and were
quarantined till Christmas Day.”
(Olson, 2011, p.12, 13) I’m not sure
if the irony occurred to Bill, but
after signing up to fight the
Germans in Europe he was ‘struck
down’ and admitted to Newcastle
Hospital in New South Wales for
four days with German Measles.
He was discharged on 26th
Dec1939, thus missing his first
‘military Christmas’ with his
mates. Perhaps this was a portent
of his next five Christmases which
he ‘missed’ due to major
disruptions in his life yet to come.
Or maybe, given the short supplies that afflicted the Greta Camp, he
was actually better off in hospital during the festivities.
January saw the visit
of a ‘celebrity’ to the
Greta Camp when
Lieutenant General
Blamey (ultimately
the commander of
the AIF) addressed
the 2/11thtroops on
6thJan 1940. A move
to a new camp
eventuated when “on
13 Jan 1940,
Ingleburn (45 km
south-west of
Sydney) became
home to the
2/11thBattalion,
when all units of the
18th Brigade began
training there. The camp, they reckoned, was good enough in itself,
but there were drawbacks. It was dusty, hot and infested with flies
and mosquitoes and there was a
five mile walk to the nearest hotel
at Liverpool.”(Watt, 1996, p.13)
Bill was “appointed Group III
specialist” as a ‘storeman’ on 20th
Jan 1940 at Ingleburn. He was
also promoted to the rank of
Lance Corporal that same day.
Appropriate equipment was slow
coming to the 2/11th, and after
only being reasonably equipped
for a short time they had to begin
handing back their equipment on
12th March in anticipation of return to Western Australia, and
subsequent shipping out to the Middle East.
The main body of men left Ingleburn on 16th March 1940, and
sailed from Sydney, again on-board
Duntroon, that same evening.
Arriving at Fremantle on 25th
March the 2/11th commenced six
days of pre-embarkation leave.“This
final leave period for the men was
one of intense anticipation or
disquiet depending on their personal
circumstances. Each took his own
memories with him into war and
eventually, for most, into the
prisoner of war camps and, for the
lucky ones, back home again.”(Watt,
1996, p.15)
The battalion re-assembled at the
Claremont Show Grounds
(requisitioned as the Claremont
Army Camp) to start on
administrative work for the move
overseas. (Olson, 2011, p.15) On April 17th the battalion marched
through Perth for their official ‘farewell’. The streets were described
as ‘not just
crowded but
packed’ as the
band played the
battalion’s tune
“Sussex by the
Sea”. (Olson,
2011,
p.16).Finally, on
20th April 1940,
the battalion
proceeded to
Fremantle and
embarked on
the transport
Y3, HMT
Nevasa. The
strength of the
2/11th that day
was 39 officers and 816 other ranks. Nevasa anchored in Gage
Roads (off Fremantle), waiting for convoy US2 to give them safe
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53
passage to the Middle East. It was at this time that Bill Hollow’s
rank of Lance Corporal was confirmed on board Nevasa.
The on-board conditions for the officers were good, but the ‘troops’
were subject to most unpleasant circumstances. The convoy went to
sea from 1500 hours, 22nd April, and the conditions on board
Nevesa only got worse. “A shortage of upper deck spa
exercise to forty-five minutes a day, which meant that for much of
the journey the men were confined to their mess-decks. Poor
ventilation and seasickness only added to the discomfort.”
2011, p.18)
Colombo, Sri Lanka, was the first port
of call on May 3rd where the bulk of the
troops were permitted to go ashore.
The convoy set sail again on May 5th,
arriving at Aden (then a British Colony
on the eastern approaches to the Red
Sea) at dawn on May 12th. The convoy
was ordered to sail on at noon for fear
that Italy was about to enter the war.
The escort was reinforced in the Red
Sea to protect against possible Italian
belligerence, but the Italians remained
out of the War until June 10th, and
there was no trouble right through to
the Suez Canal. The Nevasa docked at
Kantara, Egypt, on 19th May where the
troops were immediately landed, fed a
hot meal and boarded onto a train for
Gaza.
Bill’s new home with all the 2/11th was
a campsite called Kilo89, three miles north east of Gaza.
of training and physical exercise began the day after their arrival,
although there was some limited leave to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
An extended break came on Sept 8th when the 2/11
week’s ‘holiday’ on the seaside at Hadera in northern Pal
They returned to Kilo89 on Sept 15th to resume training and to vote
in the Australian Federal Elections of 1940. October proved to be
the usual run of guard duties, further training, brigade exercises and
leave to Cairo, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The first sign that engagement with the enemy was not far away
occurred when, on Nov 1st, steel helmets were issued for the first
time. The bulk of the battalion left Gaza on Nov 11th. Taken
across the Suez Canal by ferry, they
travelled by train via Alexandria to a
new campsite at Burg-El-Arab (40 miles
from Alexandria). Just as the train was
leaving Alexandria the battalion’s first
‘action’ took place when the Italian Air
Force arrived. The spectacle included
search lights, bursting anti-aircraft shells
and the flash of exploding bombs.
(Olson, 2011, p.17) By the evening of the
12th Nov the battalion had reached
Burg-El-Arab and was organizing itself
into fighting companies. The rest of
Nov and early Dec was spent in mock
battles and attacks with other battalions
of the 16th and 17th Divisions.
============================================================================================
passage to the Middle East. It was at this time that Bill Hollow’s
evasa.
board conditions for the officers were good, but the ‘troops’
circumstances. The convoy went to
April, and the conditions on board
only got worse. “A shortage of upper deck space limited
five minutes a day, which meant that for much of
decks. Poor
ventilation and seasickness only added to the discomfort.” (Olson,
hree miles north east of Gaza. A program
of training and physical exercise began the day after their arrival,
although there was some limited leave to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
An extended break came on Sept 8th when the 2/11th was given a
week’s ‘holiday’ on the seaside at Hadera in northern Palestine.
to resume training and to vote
in the Australian Federal Elections of 1940. October proved to be
the usual run of guard duties, further training, brigade exercises and
The first sign that engagement with the enemy was not far away
occurred when, on Nov 1st, steel helmets were issued for the first
time. The bulk of the battalion left Gaza on Nov 11th. Taken
The successes against the Italians in the Western Desert Campaign
by the Indian and British forces had led to a belief that the Italians
in Libya were a spent force. It was now expected that the Italians
were about to abandon the fortress/harbour town of Bardia, Libya.
On Dec 19th the 2/11th’s commander, Lt. Col. Thomas
received orders to move his men to attack Bardia. The move to
Alexandria for shipping to Bardia proved farcical as no ship had
been arranged. A frustrating return to Burg
was all that could be done.
To settle his troops Louch decided to give his men an early
Christmas dinner on Dec 21st. Once again, however, Bill displayed
Australian Infantry Training Battalion which was then located at
Beit Jirja, Palestine on 7th Jan. His next move was with t
Australian Infantry Training Battalion to a staging camp on 6th Feb,
also at Beit Jirja. He finally re-joined his 2/11
14th and ‘taken on strength’ on Jan 16th, 1941. ‘Non
urethritis’ had cost Bill 27 days, and yet ano
Christmas. But Bill had missed much more than a month with his
comrades and another Christmas dinner.
Col. Louch had again received orders on 28
2/11th to move to the front at Bardia. This time they were to be
transported by the New Zealand Transport Section that was at hand.
The bulk of the battalion moved during the early morning hours of
============================================================================================
Page 13
The successes against the Italians in the Western Desert Campaign
by the Indian and British forces had led to a belief that the Italians
in Libya were a spent force. It was now expected that the Italians
bout to abandon the fortress/harbour town of Bardia, Libya.
On Dec 19th the 2/11th’s commander, Lt. Col. Thomas Louch,
received orders to move his men to attack Bardia. The move to
Alexandria for shipping to Bardia proved farcical as no ship had
frustrating return to Burg-el-Arab for the 2/11th
decided to give his men an early
Christmas dinner on Dec 21st. Once again, however, Bill displayed
his ‘Christmas bad luck’.
On 19th Dec he was
evacuated from Burg-el-
Arab to the 8th British
General Hospital at
Alexandria, due to a
‘dermatological
condition’, possibly
picked up whilst on leave
in Alexandria or Tel Aviv.
Further to this, he was
transferred to a hospital
ship on 2nd Jan, and
finally to the 8th
Australian Special
Hospital back on the
Gaza Ridge, on 5th Jan
1941.
On discharge Bill was
transferred to 19th
Australian Infantry Training Battalion which was then located at
Beit Jirja, Palestine on 7th Jan. His next move was with the 19th
Australian Infantry Training Battalion to a staging camp on 6th Feb,
joined his 2/11th Battalion on Jan
on Jan 16th, 1941. ‘Non-specific
urethritis’ had cost Bill 27 days, and yet another celebration of
Christmas. But Bill had missed much more than a month with his
comrades and another Christmas dinner.
had again received orders on 28th Dec 1940 for the
to move to the front at Bardia. This time they were to be
orted by the New Zealand Transport Section that was at hand.
The bulk of the battalion moved during the early morning hours of
New Year’s Eve. The subsequent
Battle of Bardia was fought
between 3rd and 5th Jan, 1941,
involving mostly the Australian 6th
Division, of which the 2/11th was a
part, excepting L Cpl William
Hollow. This was the first battle
of WWII in which an Australian
Army formation took part, and Bill
missed it in hospital. It was also
the first battle of the War to be
commanded by an Australian
general (Major-General Iven
Giffard Mackay), and the first to
be planned by an Australian staff.
Australian losses totalled 130 dead
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 14
and 326 wounded. Maybe Bill was fortunate to have fallen ill and
missed this historic battle.
Perhaps Bill found it hard to tell stories about what he did in the
War because of his less than noble debilitating medical condition
which caused him to ‘miss’ the first battle and the first victory for
Australian troops. Or maybe his eventual post-war reluctances and
problems stemmed from the sequence of events that were about to
follow the successes in the Western Desert, beginning with the
humiliating defeats in Greece and then in Crete.
Following the Battle of Bardia, Louth received orders on Jan 6th for
the 2/11th Battalion to move towards Tobruk, the stronghold of the
Italian colony of Libya. The actual attack was set for 21st Jan, and
this time Bill did take part, having re-joined his unit on Jan 16th.
The Italians surrendered Tobruk on Jan 22nd and the
Commonwealth troops began to push further west. The 2/11th
Battalion took control of the ‘Tobruk to Derna Road’ and swiftly
overran Fort Rudero, south east of Derna, entering Derna itself on
30th Jan. Bill’s battalion contributed further to the Western Desert
Campaign when Benghazi was over-run without mishap,
surrendering on Feb 7th.
Feb 8th saw the 2/11th moving to Tocra before their return to
Egypt, a staging post before the move to the Balkans. When Italy
occupied Albania in April 1939, Great Britain and France
guaranteed assistance to Greece and Romania should they be
attacked. (Olson, 2011, p.98) On 28th Oct the Italian Army invaded
Greece, and it was time for Churchill to make good the promise.
As the Australians prepared to leave Tocra there was one final
‘highlight’ when, on Feb 26th 1941, Prime Minister Menzies
inspected the troops. We can’t be sure whether Menzies impressed
Bill Hollow, but many soldiers admired the P.M. for risking his
safety to get a firsthand view of the battlegrounds of the Australian
troops. We do know that Bill had an image of Winston Churchill
as the ‘British Bulldog’ tattooed on his arm during the War, perhaps
a sign of his respect for all the ‘strong men’ of the Allied Powers.
The men of the 2/11th Battalion found the long four week return
journey from Tocra to El Amiriya something of an anticlimax. Then
there was the bad state of all the staging camps. On 13th March, a
Khamsin (an oppressive hot, dry and dusty wind) started to blow,
reducing the speed of the convoy to about five miles an hour and
causing untold misery with
choking dust for days on end.
Reaching Mersa Matruh on 16th
March, the 2/11th was re-
equipped during their ten day
stay. On March 27th the
vehicles proceeded to Alexandria
where they were loaded on
shipping, whilst the personnel
boarded trains for Amiriya.
Amiriya was a horrible camp,
from all accounts, except for its
proximity to Cairo and daily
leave with shopping, eating,
drinking, baths, haircuts,
massages and shaving. (Olson,
2011, p.105)
From 6thMarch convoys of
troops had been embarking from Alexandria for the front in Greece.
On April 10th the 2/11th boarded an overcrowded Dutch vessel,
the Pennland, as part of the last convoy to sail. They were to be
unloaded at Piraeus, but bombing by the Luftwaffe caused their
destination to be changed to Phaleron Bay on the afternoon of April
12th. Due to unfavourable tides there were difficulties
disembarking, but by April 13th the entire 2/11th was able to gather
at Daphni. By the time the 2/11th had arrived, however, the Allied
troops preceding them were already all but ‘on the run’. The 2/11th
entrained to Larissa where they arrived April 14th. They took up a
position on the road west of Kalabakato enable the withdrawal of
the British Armoured division and the Greek troops who were
retreating before the advancing Germans. Then the 2/11th likewise
withdrew back towards the south. Having missed some of the early
lessons in Libya on how to win against the enemy, Bill Hollow was
now experiencing a bitter instruction in how to ‘fall back’, retreat
and admit defeat. By 18thApril the retreat had taken the 2/11th
through Trikkala on their way back to Larissa, their route under
constant attack by the Luftwaffe. A company commander described
the dire conditions thus, “This was really a terrible day. From dawn till
dusk we took it from the German aircraft. The convoys became scattered as
truck after truck became knocked, and at one stretch of the road the problem
was getting around the burning vehicles.” (Watt, 1996, p.38)
Near Domikos a German aircraft scored a direct hit on the
Australian commander’s car, killing the driver and seriously
wounding Col. Louch. The command of the 2/11th was taken over
by Maj. R.L. Sandover. The 2/11th then joined up with the
Australian 19th Brigade to defend the line of road at Brallos. Ever
moving southwards, finally the evacuation plans were received on
23rd April. The 2/11th was to defend the road to Megara to expedite
the retreating convoys. “Operation Demon”, the evacuation of
Greece, began on the night of 24/25th April, culminating in the
German entry into Athens three days later. In full retreat, the 2/11th
embarked on the Thurland Castle from Megara at 3am on 26 April
1941. Lt. Shanahan recounted his version of the retreat thus: “We
were taken out to the Thurland Castle in calques. We were able to take only
those things that could be carried on the back, and were warned that we would
have to clamber up the side of the ship, on rope ladders. The evacuation was, at
the time, a thing greeted with mixed feelings….. The rapid German victory in
Greece, coupled with the fact that we knew the new German general, Rommel,
had reached the Egyptian border, made a bad dent in morale. On the other
hand, of course, we were damned grateful that we were being taken off Greece.”
(Watt, 1996, p.41)
By the morning of 28th April the 2/11th
was well on its way to Crete. In the entire
operation 50,672 troops were evacuated,
about 80 per cent of the original forces that
were landed. There were 983 deaths due to
the sinking by the Luftwaffe of the Dutch
SS Slamat, HMS Diamond and HMS
Wryneck. The Ulster Prince and SS
Pennland (the 2/11th’s original transport)
were also sunk. Several other ships were
damaged.
In the Western Desert campaign the 2/11th
Battalion had covered itself in glory, but
the Greek campaign had been an
unmitigated disaster. Instead of the Italians
of the Western Desert, they had to contend
with the superbly trained troops and military air power of the
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The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 15
Germans. They had escaped from a debacle of such magnitude that
it now followed them to Crete. (Olson, 2011, p.41)
Once on Crete, and after a lengthy wait, all that was offered to the
men was the meagre fare of hot tea, bully beef and a biscuit. Glad to
settle down in relative safety and wait, most slept amongst the olive
trees around Souda Bay. They had no greatcoats or blankets, and
few had any mess-gear. Some had kept their rifles and others had
Bren guns. But the service troops, the cooks, clerks, storemen and
drivers (Bill being a storeman) had little between them. Crete, they
thought, was to be a staging post on the way back to Alexandria. All
heavy weapons, trucks and anti-tank gear had been destroyed in
Greece during the retreat. The 2/11th believed they were just
"waiting", as Pvt. Bert Skillen put it, "for the navy to get the rest of the
boys off out of Greece”. Then they fully expected to be on their way to
Egypt and a chance to put Rommel in his place. (Watt, 1996, p.43)
The early days on Crete were characterized by rumours and theories.
The “bookies” were offering “odds on” for further deployment to
Cairo, whilst Alexandria was being offered at “10 to 1”. Scarred by
the debacle of “Operation Lustre” in Greece, the pessimists thought
that the call would be to defend Crete. They would prove to be
right. The growing unwanted attention of the Luftwaffe with
sporadic bombing gave a strong clue, and the die was cast when on
April 30th‘intelligence’ was received that an enemy attack on Crete
was being executed. Some 5,000 to 6,000 air-borne troops were to
invade on 20th May. This news sparked feverish reorganizing of the
troops into composite fighting
units, perhaps prompting the
relinquishing for Bill Hollow
of Group III (storeman) on
5thMay and his regrading as
Group III (Clerk) on 6th May.
Col. Sandover's 2/11th joined
the 2/1st, 2/7th and the 2/8th
Battalions, three Greek
regiments and a battery of the
2/3rd Regiment under the
command of Col. Ian
Campbell in the defence of
the strategic airstrip at Retimo.
May 4th saw the 2/11th moved
to a position in the hills near
Neo Khorian. The Allied
troops were preparing to go
into battle with few arms and
‘kits’ that were falling apart.
Perhaps Bill Hollow was happy to have been ‘relieved’ of his
‘storeman’s’ position, but we can only speculate what additional
pressures were brought to bear on a new ‘company clerk’.
The tedium of waiting ended abruptly at 10 a.m., 20th May, when the
first of the two groups of German troop carriers were sighted.
Performing reconnaissance, both groups flew low to their intended
destinations and could easily be seen by the watchers in the olive
groves. At 4 p.m. the bombing and strafing of the Retimo airfield
began. (Watt, 1996, p.52) Little damage was suffered on both sides in
this initial attack. The appearance of the German paratroopers in the
first hour of the battle was another matter. The unloading from the
troop carriers of wave after wave of heavily armed men at three to
four hundred feet above the hidden Allied troops was a chaotic
affair for the Germans who became easy targets for the Australians:
“For about 20 minutes men were strafed from the air by bombers and fighter
aircraft. The next thing ... the air was filled with descending paratroopers ... and
all hell broke loose ... we had plenty of captured weapons - nine planes had
crashed and the enemy had obviously suffered severely ... and we were able to
prevent the paratroopers from finding any containers [their supply packs]”(Watt,
1996, p.53).
The invasion by the German paratroopers on the Retimo force had
all the hall-marks of a horror film. Some planes were shot down
before the troopers had a chance to jump; others had drifted out to
sea and drowned, weighted down by their equipment and silk
parachutes. Of the 8,100 German Fallschirmjäger who jumped that
day, 3,764 were killed, with another 1,600 wounded. Despite their
losses, the Germans had landed enough paratroopers to take the hill
above the Retimo airfield that the 2/1st Battalion had been
defending.
Cpt. Pat Shanahan summed up the first phase of the German
invasion as follows: The Battalion really collected a lot of scalps that day.
There were bodies everywhere, on the ground, hanging out of trees, hooked into
vine rows. I spoke to sailor Brown of A Company, ...he said he reckoned the
ghosts would be haunting him that night. (Watt, 1996, p.54)
We don’t know whether the ghosts were haunting Company Clerk,
L Cpl. Bill Hollow that night, but there certainly would be plenty of
nights in his life for the
‘spectres of war dead’ to
tear at the fabric of his
mental health. No doubt
he collected his share of
‘booty’ from the dead
German paratroopers or
from the store containers
that failed to be collected
by those who had made it
alive onto the ‘terra firma’
of Crete. These German
supplies were a welcome
relief to scarcity that had
been experienced by the
2/11th and other Allied
troops.
During the night of the
20th May the surviving
German Fallschirmjäger
engaged with the Allied troops, and at this stage the score was more
or less even. The Operational Commander of the German force,
Gen. Sturm, had been captured, and provided information on the
invasion plans. Engendering some optimism was the news that no
further paratroopers would be landed.
The 2/1st and 2/11th battalions attacked the Germans at dawn on
21st May, forcing them away from the airfield and towards the olive
oil factory at Stavromenos. The Australians continued to deny the
airfield to the enemy, but with increasing loss of life and casualties
each day. During a push on 22nd May, Sandover's 2/11th was
trying to remove the Germans from the village of Perivolia, but with
no success. The constant strafing from the endless procession of
low-sweeping planes caused heavy casualties and made life a misery.
============================================================================================
The Hollow Log Issue 53 Page 16
A three hour truce was negotiated with the enemy to care for the
wounded and bury the dead. The German’s benefited the most,
with their wounded having access to the Australian Medical Officers
and their supplies. Following the truce, the 2/11th attacked and
drove the Germans eastward out of the olive oil factory where they
had established a base, and then forward towards Perivolia. The
Allied soldiers moved right through the enemy's lines, drawing fire
from their hiding places in the houses beyond. Now at the mercy of
the Luftwaffe, and with the German paratroopers on both flanks,
they took cover. With no place to withdraw to, both sides were
pinned down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Both
knew that whoever got the first reinforcements would win.
On the night of the 28th May practically the whole 2/11th battalion
joined in a final stand against the enemy that was to be the most
costly failure of all. The losses were heavy, and the idea of capturing
Perivolia was abandoned. ‘Hanging on’ was now the only objective.
Allied signallers now patrolled the beach all night, flashing the letter
"A" for assistance every 20 minutes. Chillingly, there was no
response.
The German final assault came that evening of 29th May at 6 p.m.
Sandover's men stubbornly resisted and tried to regroup in the face
of heavy gunfire, smoke and dust. It all ended when news was
received that Col. Campbell had surrendered and that Col.
Sandover and his 2/11th should do the same. But Sandover had
one last card to play. Campbell surrendered his battalion ‘holus-
bolus’, whereas the ‘scrapper’ Sandover thought to give his men a
fighting chance. Anyone who wished to should leave immediately
and ‘make for the hills’ to seek surreptitious routes back to Egypt.
We do not know whether Bill Hollow ‘made for the hills’ or not.
Neither do we know the exact nature of the horrific images that Bill
took with him from Crete that were to playback in his ‘post-war life’.
What is sure is that he did not leave Crete unscathed.
For most of the 2/11th Battalion, and for WX322 William Alfred
Hollow, their war was over. On 4th June Bill was reported ‘missing
in action’ and on 8th June his status was reported as ‘captured’. The
ten days between the surrender (May 29th) and Bill’s reported
capture (June 8th) may indicate that he did attempt to evade the
Germans, but failed to flee to Egypt. The news of Bill’s fate was
confirmed on 28th Oct 1941 when he was officially posted as a
Prisoner of War. From a muster of 35 officers and 610 men, the
total loss suffered by the 2/11th Battalion in these 10 days was 53
killed, 126 wounded and 423 taken prisoner. The remainder had
been evacuated by submarine or escaped to Egypt on fishing vessels
or landing craft.
As the Germans rounded up those who had not managed to escape,
they marched their prisoners to Souda Bay. To try and prevent
escape, their captives kept the P.O.W.s on a starvation diet until they
could get them out of Crete to a staging camp in Salonika in Greece.
Souda Bay was a grim sight: the harbour was filled with wrecked and
burning ships; the town was reduced to rubble, and lying where they
had been shot were bodies of the Allied troops. For Bill Hollow,
now a prisoner of war, all that was left was to slouch his shoulders,
try to forget the inglorious defeats in Greece and Crete, and to put
aside fears of an unknown future in a ‘stalag’ deep within Germany.
Part II of the William Alfred Hollow Story will follow him from
Crete to Stalag 383 to England and back to Australia where he
established his family, worked as a postman and finally to his death
in 1983.
Robert Hollow
H E L L O T H E R E
This issue is very large, let’s call it holiday reading. I have tried to
get the file size as small as possible.
I have a number of people to thank for the photos that have been
used this issue. Ellen Hollow, Lizzie Hollow, Matt Hollow Peggy
Hollow-Phelps. If any family member would like a better copy of
any of the images please contact me. I have had to reduce many
drastically to keep the file a manageable size. Equally if the file is
still too big contact me and I can send it in smaller parts.
Robert Hollow has researched and written his father’s story. I
think you will find he has kept bring the WWII story back to a
personal level. Thanks for sharing the story with us Robert.
I am also indebted to Steve Hallo who alerted me to the late
Howard Richard Hallo’s book, “Hallo Ancestors” which provided
me with both stimulus and information. The book was self
published. In Australia copies are available in the National
Library, Canberra and the State Library of Victoria. There three
other large libraries that have copie.
T H E H O L L O W W E B S I T E
http://hollow.one-name.net/ The new website updated regularly
and many images have been added. Please contact me if you have
images or information that I might use.
C O N T A C T
Colin Hollow edits the Hollow Log, comments and contributions
are always welcome.
Write to 2 Keeley Lane, Princes Hill, 3054, Victoria, Australia. Or
e-mail: [email protected]
Hollow and variants Holla, Hollah, Hollaw and Hollowe are
registered with The Guild of One-Name Studies.
The Guild member is Colin Hollow (Mem.No. 3056).
©No material in this newsletter to be produced without
permission.