Darcy James Appleyard

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At the time World War One began, 20 year old Darcy was working on the family farm in Binginwarri, South Gippsland, with his parents.

The sixth son of George and Jane Appleyard, by August, 1915, four of his brothers had already joined the army with Gordon in Turkey, Charles and Allan in the Western Front and Richard in the Middle East.   Now aged 21, and legally old enough to join the war efforts, Darcy would make the decision to follow his brothers into the theatre of war.
The local paper, the Gippsland Standard proudly reported the enlistments, feeding the hope and pride of the families writing, “our boys have responded well to the call of ‘King and Country’.  In fact, we have very few of eligible age remaining in the district.”
Enlisting on August 12, 1915, it would be almost 6 months later when Darcy would embark on the HMAT Warilda on February 8, 1916, disembarking in Marseilles, France, in March before joining the 9th Reinforcement of the 23rd Battalion in May.
Transferred to the Somme in July 1916, Darcy would play a part in the Battles of Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, battles which would hit the battalion hard with almost 90% casualties.  It was during this time that Darcy would be evacuated with a shrapnel wound to his left arm.  Injured on July 28, Darcy would be sent to the Casualty 

Clearing Station on the 29th before being evacuated on the 30th, reaching the Number 6 Convalescent Depot in Boulogne on August 9.
His parents, Jane and George received a telegram from the Victoria Barracks advising them of Darcy being wounded on August 22 but with no further detail, however, by this time, Darcy had already re-joined the Battalion.  Over the next 12 months, Darcy would follow the German troops to the Hindeburg line and fight in the Second Battle of Bullecourt.
Conditions around the Western Front were harsh, even without the threat of being killed by the enemy, and the soldiers found themselves sharing their lodgings with rodents, seemingly the only living thing that could thrive in war.

“Great, sleek, corpse-fed rats ran in squads between our legs and over our feet as we stood. Their obscene squeaking could be heard at all times. Some men conceived an unmeasured hatred of these loathsome things, and were always trying to slaughter them. I wondered, as I stood, did they picture themselves as those scattered corpses- a prey to these. Imagination is decidedly not good for a soldier.“ (1) 

In addition to the gunfire and bombing, illness was a major issue for the soldiers and in July 1918, Darcy would be transferred to the Army hospital with diarrhoea.  He would remain here for two weeks.  During this time, the 23rd Battalion would be removed from the front line with the 3rd Battalion relieving them.
Darcy would go to England in September, returning to France in October around the time his Battalion was withdrawn from the front line on the orders of Billy Hughes, the Australian Prime Minister.  Armistice would be declared on November 11 and Darcy would take no further part in fighting.

With the 23rd Battalion disbanded in Belgium on April 30, 1919, Darcy would finally leave the horrors of Europe on the 29th May, on the Rio Negro, arriving home on July 19, aged 25.

Darcy would remain on the family farm until his father George died in 1921, and, two years later he would marry his wife Amy, starting a new life in Culcairn, New South Wales which would see him become the proud father of two boys, Percy and Keith.

Sadly, Amy would pass away in 1939 but Darcy would remain in Culcairn with his sons until his own passing 30 years later in 1971, aged 77.




Darcy James Appleyard

Born: 1894, Alberton, Victoria, Australia
Died:  Jan 5 1971, Culcairn NSW

Relationship to Peter Appleyard: Grandson
Image:  Darcy Appleyard

Quote (1):   Mitchell, G D 1937, Backs to the wall, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, N.S.W.

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