Morris Hawkins collection

Morris Hawkins was born in 1884 at Pine Hill, Queensland, the son of Morris Hawkins (1840-1916), a station manager in Central Queensland, and Mary Elizabeth, nee Ellis. The couple had twelve children, with three of the sons serving during the First World War. Thomas James Hawkins (1891-1990) travelled to England to join King Edward's Horse, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, composed of four squadrons of colonial volunteers resident in London. Charles Joseph Cornish Hawkins (1897-1950) served with the 4th Machine Gun Battalion, and Morris Hawkins served with the 47th Infantry Battalion. Morris enlisted on the 16 June 1916 age 32 years, at the time, managing the family property, Mowbray Station, in Bogantungan, Queensland. He was assigned as a private to the 47th Infantry Battalion, training at Fraser's Paddock Camp, Enoggera, Brisbane. While there he was chosen to attend a Corporal School before becoming seriously ill with influenza. He was convalescent for three months and was sent to the coastal town of Southport to recuperate. He embarked for overseas service on the ship HMAT Demosthenes A64 from Sydney, New South Wales, on the 22nd December 1916 and trained at Codford Camp, Wiltshire, England. As a crack shot with a rifle he was appointed to the Musketry School at Tidworth to be trained as an instructor and was appointed Acting Lance Corporal on the 29th May 1917. In July 1917 he joined his unit serving in France and Belgium and was promoted to Lance Corporal in December of that year. On the 5th April 1918 he was reported missing in action and was later listed as prisoner of war. He was held in a German prisoner of war camp in Valenciennes in Northern France, enduring horrendous conditions. After the armistice he made his way to England, arriving at the end of November 1918. After visiting friends and relatives in Great Britain he travelled extensively in Canada and America. He returned to Australia on the S.S. Ventura, arriving on the 29 April 1919. His two brothers also survived the war. Morris eventually settled on Mowbray Station and in 1921 married Aube Kathleen Jessie Donaldson who lived on an adjoining property. The couple had four children. Morris Hawkins died 6th January 1970.