Home at last: 1410 Pte Robert Patrick James Lomasney: 29th Battalion, 1st AIF.

Although I had in my possession the page from the family bible listing all my father's uncles, aunties and his siblings, it was only my immediate uncles and aunties that held any interest for me. My father never spoke about his uncles and aunties and the surname first caused some interest when I saw the name, LOMASNEY RPJ listed with the soldiers of the 29th Battalion, 1st AIF on the Wall of Remembrance at the Australian War Memorial. Who was he? Years later, and then only through my son Stephen's research into the family history, was I made aware of Robert Patrick James.

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He was born at Langley, Victoria, on 5 December 1884, the ninth child, and sixth son, of Patrick and Ellen (nee Barry) Lomasney who had both migrated from Ireland in the early 1860s, had met and subsequently married at Malmsbury, Victoria. Robert, although he was known as Bob but for reverence we refer to him as Robert, never married and at one stage moved from Victoria to the West Coast of Tasmania to join his brother Lawrence who was with a mining company at Zeehan. The call to arms was heard by Robert in 1915 and on 2 August 1915 he enlisted in the 1st AIF at Melbourne. After a brief training period he was allocated to the 1st Reinforcements of the 29th Battalion. He departed from Australia on the troopship "Ascanius" and arrived at Suez on 7 December 1915. Five weeks later he was taken on the strength of the 29th Battalion from the Reinforcements. On 16 June 1916 he sailed from Alexandria, with the Battalion, and arrived at Marseilles one week later.

Robert was wounded in action on 21 July 1916 and was evacuated to England for hospitalisation and treatment. He subsequently rejoined his Battalion on 9 February 1917. Sadly, Robert was killed in action on 28 September, 1917, and has been interred in Plot 1, Row F, Grave 5, Birr Cross Roads Cemetery, Villebeke, Belgium. In perusing his army records, it was noted that Robert had nominated his sister Bridget, who lived at Melbourne, as his next-of-kin. Items that had been recovered were eventually despatched to Australia and forwarded on to Bridget. However, the Deceased Soldiers Act 1918 stipulated that medals, etc. were to be forwarded to, in descending order, the surviving widow, eldest son, eldest daughter, father, mother, eldest brother, eldest sister, eldest half-brother, eldest half-sister. Nominated next-of-kin were not considered, despite this being the wish, no doubt, of the deceased soldier. Being single and with both of his parents dead, the Army considered Robert's eldest bother, Edward, to be the rightful recipient of Robert's three medals, Memorial Plaque, Scroll and King's message.

It seems a bit inhuman for the government to take this action, completely ignoring the wishes of the deceased. The case of Robert is an example. His elder brother, Edward, left Victoria in 1893 and joined the gold rush to Kalgoorlie. Robert would only have been eight years of age. Edward remained in Kalgoorlie and died there sometime in the early 1950s. It is doubtful if they had ever met or communicated after Edward left for the west. The Lomasney family have never been great communicators with one another, so, that is a reasonable assumption. Records from Central Army Records Office and Australian Archives show that Edward received the medals and plaque as he had signed receipt of them. Edward never married. Although having closer ties with his siblings in the eastern area of Australia, all of Robert's memorabilia of his service in World War One were in Western Australia. And there it would appear the story comes to an ends, but, not so.

Stephen's comprehensive family research unearthed a photograph of Robert in his uniform prior to leaving Australia. This was in the possession of his sister Bridget's family in Melbourne. I have a print of the photo which has been framed and placed on the wall in the passage-way at my home, along with other family photos. A Remembrance Day poppy sits in the top right hand corner of the flame. Stephen has posted the family history on the Internet and over the years it has brought response from Lomasneys in Ireland and America. It is not a big family group and we estimate there is probably less than 200 people by the name worldwide. I suppose it could be said that, symbolically, everything culminated on ANZAC Day 2002, eighty four and a half years after Robert's death.

On opening his e-mail on that day, Stephen found a letter from Mark Collar, a school teacher at Great Yarmouth, England, informing that he had recently acquired the memorial plaque of Robert Patrick James Lomasney. Mark is an avid user of the Internet and is also a collector of military memorabilia. The plaque had been posted on the Internet by a dealer in Perth, Western Australia, and Mark had put in a bid and secured it. The dealer had reported that he had recently acquired the plaque at a swap-meet in Perth. On receipt of the plaque, Mark surfed the Internet to see if Robert appeared anywhere and, sure enough, he did. Hence the communication to Stephen for more information. The receipt of Mark's e-mail was somewhat indescribable. Being a collector myself, and Stephen having produced such a comprehensive history of the family, it was like a lottery win. Mark Collar turned out to be a true collector and with a great humanitarian nature. In communications with Stephen, he considered that the plaque should come back to the family and promptly forwarded it to Stephen. My wife, Angela, was en-route to England at the same time and I got a message to her requesting her to draw a cheque on her London bank account immediately on arrival to reimburse Mark all his costs. I have estimated that the plaque arrived in Australia about the same time that Mark received his cheque. A true deal of trust on his part. And there it would appear the story comes to an end, but not so.

Of course, the big task facing us is to try and locate the other associated bits and pieces and we are planning our attack on this challenge. On receipt of the plaque, I telephoned Mark Collar to thank him for his most kind gesture and tell him how elated we were. Mark's response was unusual to say the least. Having obtained the plaque and successfully located Robert's family, he considered the importance of it being with the family surpassed its need to be in his possession. After despatching the plaque to Australia, he sought for a replacement through the Internet. Such a plaque surfaced in a town about 40 kilometres from where he lived. In contacting the person who had advertised the plaque he agreed to purchase it. The vendor then asked if Mark was interested in a scroll which seemed to go with it. Of course, the reply was, "Yes". "And would you be interested in the King's Message that seems to go with it?" "Yes." "There are also some letters advising which medals the soldier was awarded for his World War I service. Are they of any interest?" "Yes." "I also have the medals if your are interested." "Yes." Everything was in mint condition. The medals had not been mounted nor even unwrapped. Mark's reward for his kindness to the Lomasney Family surpassed expectation. We are as pleased as he is.

It is quite amazing the things that occur in the collecting world. We are most grateful to Mark and I think it is summed up beautifully with the brief note enclosed with the plaque,

   Here is Robert's plaque--
   home at last! God bless you
   Mark."

The Lomasney family in Canberra would love to be contacted by anybody who might know the whereabouts of Private Lomasney's medals and other memorabilia, and in particular any surviving family that might be WA who would like to get in touch.