Died: 11th September 1914. Killed in Action on Bita Paka Road near Kabakaul, New Guinea.
Studio portrait of Captain (Capt) Brian Colden Antill Pockley, Australian Army Medical
Corps (AAMC), Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF). Capt Pockley was killed
in action on Bita Paka Road near Kabakaul, 11 September 1914; the first Australian
Officer to be killed in the First World War. After they encountered German soldiers
on Bita Paka Road, Able Seaman William Williams was shot in the stomach and Pockley had given
his red cross armband to another naval serviceman, Stoker Kember, to carry Williams to the rear.
This was done to protect the transporting of the wounded Williams; Pockley was shot shortly
after. Pockley and Williams were taken back to HMAS Berrima, one of the ships that had carried
the Australian force to Rabaul and they both died on board that afternoon. Six Australians were
killed and four wounded in the battle of Bita Paka. "Pockley's action in giving up his red cross
badge, and thus protecting another man's life at the price of his own, was consonant with the
best traditions of the Australian army, and afforded a noble foundation for those of Australian
Army Medical Corps in the war,
(S. S. Mackenzie in the Official History, The Australians at Rabaul)
Lieutenant: 5017 John Graham Antill POCKLEY. 33rd Battalion AIF.
Francis and Helen Pockley were married in 1885 at St-Leonards, N.S.W. Marriage Cert:3521/1885
and had 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. Phyllis M Antill Pockley born 1886 at St-Leonards,
N.S.W. Birth Cert:1264/1886. Francis G Antill Pockley born 1888 at St-Leonards, N.S.W.
Birth Cert:13117/1888. Brian Colden Antill Pockley born 1890 at St-Leonards, N.S.W. Birth Cert:
32196/1890 and died in 1914 at New Guinea. John Graham Antill Pockley born 1891 at St-Leonards, N.S.W. Birth Cert:32695/1891
and died in 1918 in France. Helen Dorothy Antill Pockley born 1895 at St-Leonards, N.S.W.
Birth Cert:26616/1895 and died in 1964 at Mossvale, N.S.W. Death Cert:11419/1964.
(Australian National Archives)
Under Construction 07/07/2008
Web Counter