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Military Homepage Page: 1
   
   
   
PAGE TWO

 

The Short

Life and Death

of

Lieutenant

Ralph. D. Doughty. M.C.

WWI

 

As told through his
Five Military Diaries

 

 

Ralph’s five day-by-day diaries from the Great War
dated from the 5th April 1915 to the 16th March 1917
  Ralph Doughty in A.I.F uniform (studio portrait)  
Contents  
Foreword
Ralphs Early Family History
Ralphs Diary History
Ralphs Promotional Record
Awarded Military Medals
Ralphs Medical Record
Introduction
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Appearance of Ralph’s Diaries
Information on the Diaries
In the Hall of Remembrance
Ralphs Diaries  
Diary One
From the 5th April 1915 to the 15th September 1915
Locations: Egypt, Lemnos Is and the Gallipoli Peninsular		  
Diary Two
From the 16th September 1915 to the 21st November 1915
Locations: Gallipoli Peninsular		  
Diary Three
From the 22nd November 1915 to the 3rd January 1916
Locations: Gallipoli Peninsular and Lemnos Is		  
Those Heroes that Shed their Blood
Diary Four
From the 2nd March 1916 to the 11th August 1916
Locations: Egypt, France and The Western Front		  
Diary Five
From the 12th August 1916 to the 16th March 1917
Locations: The Western Front and Passchendaele		  
Epilogue
Ralphs Memorial
Ralphs Army Record
Commemorative Scroll
 
Those Heroes that Shed their Blood
"THOSE HEROES THAT SHED THEIR BLOOD
AND LOST THEIR LIVES...
YOU ARE NOW LYING IN THE SOIL OF A FRIENDLY COUNTRY.
THEREFORE REST IN PEACE.
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE JOHNNIES
AND THE MEHMETS TO US WHERE THEY LIE SIDE BY SIDE
HERE IN THIS COUNTRY OF OURS...
YOU THE MOTHERS,
WHO SENT THEIR SONS FROM FAR AWAY COUNTRIES
WIPE AWAY YOUR TEARS.
YOUR SONS ARE NOW LYING IN OUR BOSOM
AND ARE IN PEACE.
AFTER HAVING LOST THEIR LIVES ON THIS LAND THEY HAVE
BECOME OUR SONS AS WELL"
ATATURK 1934
- MUSTAFA KEMAL
 
Epilogue
Diary Five is the last known diary of Lieutenant Ralph Dorchell Doughty, and it is with the greatest honour and respect that his set of diaries are now being looked after by members of the Kivell family so that Ralphs memory will never be forgotten.
It also seems unlikely to me that Ralph would have given up writing entries in his set of diaries, having done so almost continuously since the 5th April 1915. This would have been his sixth diary, and if it existed it would have covered the remainder of March, all of April, May, June and most of July 1917. The reason for him not continuing with his diary entries is not known, maybe his commitment to busy army life did not allow Ralph to make entries in any more diaries.
I personally would like to think that if there was another diary that it is keeping Ralph company when he was laid to rest in Coxyde Military Cemetery. R.I.P
Peter Kivell.
 
Ralph’s Memorial inserted in the Taranaki Herald on the 25th July 1918
 
Ralph’s Army Record
Regimental number: 193.
Place of birth: Stratford, New Zealand.
School: Stratford Public School, New Zealand.
Age on arrival in Australia: 21.
Religion: Church of England.
Occupation: Warehouseman.
Address: 'Craignathan', Hayes Street, Neutral Bay, New South Wales.
Marital status: Single.
Age at embarkation: 23.
Height: 5' 10.5".
Weight: 154 lbs.
Next of kin: Father, W M Doughty, Broadway, Stratford, Taranaki, New Zealand.
Previous military service: Served for 5 years in 'H' Battery, New Zealand Field Artillery; left on completion of service.
Enlistment date: 24th August 1914.
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll: 28th August 1914.
Place of enlistment: Sydney, New South Wales.
Rank on enlistment: Bombardier.
Unit name: Field Artillery Brigade 1, Battery 2.
AWM Embarkation Roll number: 18th October 1914.
Embarkation details: Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board Transport A8 Argyllshire on 18th October 1914.
Rank from Nominal Roll: Lieutenant.
Unit from Nominal Roll: 3rd Field Artillery Brigade.
Promotions.  
2nd Lieutenant: Promotion date: 12th March 1916.
1st Lieutenant: Promotion date: 13th June 1916.
Fate: Died of wounds: 25th July 1917.
Age at death from cemetery records: 26.
Place of burial: Coxyde Military Cemetery, (Plot I, Row F, Grave No 20), Belgium.
Australian War Memorial: Roll of Honour, Panel number 12, Australian War Memorial.
Miscellaneous information from cemetery records.  
Parents: William Mamby and Susanna DOUGHTY, Stratford, New Zealand.
Medals: Military Cross.
  "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when acting as Forward Observing Officer. He sent back most valuable information, and was responsible for bringing artillery fire to bear on the enemy at a critical time."
Source: 11th October 1917, 'Commonwealth Gazette'.
Other details War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front, Passchendaele.
Joined Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli: 20th June 1915.
Appointed Acting Corporal: 20th June 1915.
Promoted Provisional Corporal: 20th June 1915.
Admitted to 11th Casualty Clearing Station: 20th July 1915, (pyrexia), and transferred to Hospital Ship; rejoined unit, 5th August 1915.
Disembarked Alexandria: 3rd January 1916, (general Gallipoli evacuation).
Promoted 2nd Lieutenant: 12th March 1916, Tel El Kebir.
Taken on strength, 9th Battery: 12th March 1916.
Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force: 23rd March 1916.
Disembarked Marseilles, France: 29th March 1916.
Promoted Lieutenant: 13th June 1916.
Wounded in action: 18th November 1916 (buried by shell: concussed, head and shoulder), and admitted to 38th Casualty Clearing Station; transferred to Ambulance Train No 26, 19th November 1916, and admitted to No 8 General Hospital, Rouen; transferred to England, 21st November 1916, and admitted to 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, 22nd November 1916. Discharged to No 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs, 27th December 1916.
Marched out to Reserve Brigade, Australian Artillery, Heytesbury: 21st January 1917.
Proceeded overseas to France: 31st January 1917, rejoined 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, 9th February 1917.
Awarded Military Cross.  
Wounded in action, (second occasion): 23rd July 1917, (gun shot wound, abdomen), and admitted to 91st Field Ambulance.
Died of wounds: 25th July 1917.
Medals Awarded: Military Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
From the
Australian Army Records
and the
A.I.F. Project Database.
 
Commemorative Scroll
 
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