Frank Massie, his map of
the Charge at Beersheba
and the Bednall Papers
by Michael Kelly with Karleen Reilly
“F.R. Massie prepared the map three days immediately after the charge on October 31, while we were waiting in Beersheba for reinforcements of men and horses … Massie died in Damascus, in September 1919, nearly a year later, but when he was dying he sent for me and gave me his folded sketch map. He died less than an hour after, but I took it that he wanted the map published.” Capt Aubrey C. L. Abbott, 12th Light Horse Regiment
Frank Raymond Massie was born in 1885 in Lilydale, Victoria to Frank and Mary Massie, the second of eight children born to the couple.
In 1907 he married Jean Rebecca Johnstone, and a son, Frank Henry Massie, was born the following year. When the First World War began, Massie was a station manager on a property known as “Ytham”, at Illabo, New South Wales.
He enlisted for service with the Light Horse Reserve at Holsworthy Camp in November 1914. When the 12th Light Horse Regiment was formed in March 1915, Massie was transferred to the unit and promoted from trooper to squadron quartermaster sergeant.
After several months of training, he embarked with his regiment from Sydney on the 13th of June aboard the transport ship Suevic. The 12th Light Horse remained in Egypt, training and patrolling in the Suez Canal Zone, until August.
After the Australians on Gallipoli suffered heavy casualties during the August offensive, the 4th Light Horse Brigade, including the 12th Light Horse Regiment, were sent to Gallipoli as reinforcements.
Unbeknownst to the men, the 4th Light Horse Brigade was to be broken up and distributed to the other light horse brigades. As a result, Massie and his squadron were transferred to the 7th Light Horse Regiment. He and his comrades were involved in defensive duties for the remainder of the campaign.
After the end of the Gallipoli campaign, the Australians returned to Egypt and the 12th Light Horse Regiment was brought back together at Heliopolis in February. Though the Sinai–Palestine campaign began in April, the regiment was mainly involved in flank protection and security duties.
On the 1st of January 1917 Massie was commissioned with the rank of second lieutenant and was sent to a school of instruction at Zeitoun. He was promoted to lieutenant in early April and returned to his regiment later in the month to take up duties as the adjutant before attending an instructional course and a topographical course.
While he was away from the field, on the 8th of March, his brother, Lieutenant Hugh Massie, died in France as a prisoner of the Germans.
After Massie returned to his regiment, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force once again went on the offensive and, in an attempt to outflank Gaza, an attack was launched on Beersheba on the 31st of October. Late in the day, with the situation deteriorating, the 4th Light Horse Regiment and 12th Light Horse Regiment, including Massie, attacked Beersheba at the gallop and captured the town.
In the days following the action, Massie, a meticulous recorder of events and detail in the regimental war diary, produced a sketch map of the Australian formations as they were formed for the attack on the town. Massie’s good work was noticed, and he was seconded to the 4th Light Horse Brigade’s Headquarters in February 1918.
Sections of the Bednall Papers reproduced here take over the story:
“After we were back in Australia, I had the map framed and at the urgent request of Hugh Wright, who was the then Librarian of the Mitchell Library, passed it over and it was hung in their big upstairs gallery. I obtained a photostat and have now examined it closely.
Massie’s explanatory notes were about 22 alphabetical references, and I am enclosing a copy as they give details of practically every action taken by the regiment during the charge. You will see that I am the only officer named by him.
I think this is because we were the only troop that got though the grouped trenches without encountering barbed wire, and so we were well ahead of all the others. I can give further details later but our fast going was really due to my mare, a most intelligent animal, insisting following a small track, which must have been used by the Turkish patrols going out and returning and refused to leave it. So the charge was led by a beautiful bay mare and one troop of the 12th and was very definitely the first Australians in the town. Actually, I did not see any of our officers until after dark and Massie’s notes show where they all were …”
– Captain Aubrey Abbott, 12th Light Horse
“Our fast going was really due to my mare, a most intelligent animal, insisting following a small track, which must have been used by the Turkish patrols going out and returning and refused to leave it. So the charge was led by a beautiful bay mare and one troop of the 12th.”
– Captain Aubrey Abbott, 12th Light Horse
Below: Frank Massie’s sketch map, showing the start positions of the whole Brigade as they commenced the charge. The original map is held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney. Captain Aubrey Abbott told his son-in-law Colin Bednall in a letter:
“When he was dying he sent for me and gave me his folded sketch map. He died less than an hour after, but I took it that he wanted the map published. After we were back in Australia, I had the map framed and at the urgent request of Hugh Wright, who was the then Librarian of the Mitchell Library, passed it over and it was hung in their big upstairs gallery”.
On the 1st of May, Massie was instrumental in organising and leading elements of the 4th Light Horse Brigade as they withdrew from positions near Es–Salt. Although often under heavy fire, he was able to commit troops to the places they were most needed, and his actions assisted the brigade in being able to withdraw in good order. Shortly afterwards, his name was promulgated in Sir Edmund Allenby’s despatches for his bravery and leadership during the action.
The end of the month saw the 4th Light Horse Brigade in defensive positions at Musallabeh. With soaring temperatures and an infestation of flies, scorpions, spiders and snakes, many men became ill, including Massie. He returned to headquarters in June, but his health was still not good, and in August he was sent to a rest camp for a week.
Throughout early September, Massie was kept busy as the 4th Light Horse Brigade was in constant motion. On the 1st of October, elements of the brigade were the first to enter Damascus.
On entering the town, Massie told his batman he was not feeling well and took himself to hospital. He was suffering malignant tertian malaria, and though he tried to rally, he developed pneumonia and his health deteriorated. He did not recover and died on the 15th of October. He was laid to rest in the Damascus British War Cemetery the following day. He was 31 years old.
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Sources
AWM RoH database
AWM Embarkation Roll
1st Battalion War Diary: August 1914 – June 1915
NAA B2455 Service Record
Family information
Ancestry
The Bednall Papers held by National Library (ID Number: PR86/300)
Special thanks:
Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section
Australian War Memorial, Canberra