Stanley Price Weir
Stanley Price Weir DSO, VD, JP | |
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Born | Norwood, Province of South Australia, British Empire | 23 April 1866
Died | 14 November 1944 Brigadier General | (aged 78)
Commands held |
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Battles/wars |
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Awards |
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Spouse(s) | Rosa Wadham
(m. 1890; died 1923)Lydia Maria Schrapel
(m. 1926) |
Other work | Public Service Commissioner |
Weir returned to Australia at his own request in late 1916 at the age of 50, and in 1917 he was awarded the
Early life
Weir was born in Norwood, South Australia, on 23 April 1866,[1] a son of Alfred Weir and Susannah Mary (née Price). His father was a carpenter,[2] who had emigrated to South Australia from Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1839, two years after the colony was founded. Stanley Weir attended Moore's School, the Norwood Public School, and Pulteney Street School. In 1879, at the age of 13, he joined the Surveyor General's Department as an office assistant. He assisted the surveyor who pegged out the land at the rear of Government House, Adelaide, for the Torrens Parade Ground, and was later promoted to clerk. On 14 May 1890, he married Rosa Wadham at the Christian Chapel, Norwood. He rose through the department to be appointed Survey Storekeeper, Custodian of Plans and Custodian of Government Motor Cars, on 1 July 1911.[3] He was appointed a justice of the peace on 10 September 1914.[4]
Early military service
Weir enlisted in the part-time South Australian Volunteer Military Force in March 1885, joining the 1st Battalion, Adelaide Rifles, as a private. By 1890, he had been promoted to colour sergeant. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, Adelaide Rifles, on 19 March 1890, and was promoted to captain on 25 May 1893. When the South African War broke out he volunteered for service with the South Australian Bushmen's Corps, but mounted officers were preferred, and he was not selected.[5]
On 1 July 1903, the Adelaide Rifles became the 10th Infantry Regiment of the Commonwealth Military Forces, and Weir was appointed adjutant. He was promoted to major on 1 January 1904, and appointed as regimental second-in-command.[5] He was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1905, and the Volunteer Officers' Decoration in 1908.[4] On 22 June 1908, Weir was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed the commanding officer of the 10th Infantry Regiment. On 1 January 1912, he was transferred to the unattached list but this only lasted until 1 July, when the universal training scheme was introduced. He was soon appointed to command the 19th Infantry Brigade, and on 9 September 1913 he was promoted to colonel.[5]
World War I
On 12 August 1914, after the outbreak of the
Gallipoli
Weir assembled and trained his battalion at the Morphettville Racecourse, then embarked with them on the transport Ascanius on 20 October 1914 as the first convoy of Australian troops departed for overseas service. On arrival in Fremantle, six companies of the 11th Battalion were embarked on the transport, and Weir was appointed Officer Commanding Troops for the voyage.[7] The troops began disembarking at Alexandria on 6 December 1914, and were entrained for Cairo, where they began to set up camp at Mena.[8] The Australian Official War Historian, Charles Bean, described Weir as being "somewhat above average in years" for a battalion commander.[9] Following the Allied decision to land a force on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the 3rd Brigade was selected as the covering force for the landing at Anzac Cove. The 10th Battalion embarked for the Greek island of Lemnos in the northern Aegean Sea on 1 March 1915, and after further training on Lemnos, the battalion was one of the first two battalions ashore on the morning of 25 April 1915.[10]
During the landing, when the boats carrying the lead elements of the battalion were around 40 yards (37 m) from shore, according to Bean, Weir observed to another officer in his boat that everything was silent, but soon after
As stalemate set in, Weir continued to command his battalion throughout the early stages of the campaign until 25 August, when he was appointed acting brigadier general and placed in command of the 3rd Brigade. On 11 September, he became ill and was evacuated to Malta, where he was admitted to hospital. He was subsequently evacuated to the United Kingdom, where he convalesced until January 1916, when he was appointed commandant of the Australian reinforcement camp at Weymouth, Dorset.[14]
Western Front
Weir's health had not completely recovered by the time he embarked for
Post-war military service
After his AIF appointment was terminated, Weir resumed his service in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF). In 1917, he was awarded the
Later life
Weir had two significant advantages in his return to a civilian career. Firstly, he was repatriated well before most servicemen, and secondly, South Australia had implemented a policy of preferment of returned servicemen for government employment. These circumstances helped him gain appointment as the first South Australian Public Service Commissioner in 1916. Weir was not suited to this role, being unable to navigate the competing personal and political agendas of senior public servants and politicians, and was soon sidelined.[2] In 1925, legislative changes made it possible for the government to replace Weir, and this took place in 1930. In the last year-and-a-half before his retirement in 1931, Weir was the chairman of both the Central Board of Health and the Public Relief Board, excelling at the latter.[2]
On 8 June 1923, after many years of poor health, Weir's wife Rosa died.
Weir wrote the foreword for the history of the 10th Battalion, titled The Fighting 10th: A South Australian Centenary Souvenir of the 10th Battalion, AIF 1914–1919, which was written by a former member of the battalion, Cecil Lock, and published in 1936.[21] In 1943, Weir was badly injured in a car accident while returning from an OBI camp at Victor Harbor. It was believed that his injuries in the accident contributed to his death on 14 November 1944.[20] Weir was survived by his wife Lydia,[2] and his son Lionel and daughter Beryl from his first marriage.[4] His brother, Harrison Weir, was the State Government Printer.[20] Weir was buried in West Terrace Cemetery.[2]
Awards
Weir received the following honours and awards:
- Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1905[4]
- Volunteer Officers' Decoration on 11 April 1908[4]
- Distinguished Service Order on 1 January 1917[18]
- Mentioned in despatches on 4 January 1917[18]
- Order of St. Anne, 2nd Class, with Swords (Russian Empire) on 15 February 1917[18]
- King George V Silver Jubilee Medal[4] on 6 May 1935[4]
Promotions
Weir's military career commenced in March 1885, when he enlisted as a private. He quickly rose to the rank of colour sergeant before being commissioned in 1890. He rose from private to brigadier general over a career spanning 36 years. His officer promotion dates were:[22]
- Lieutenant on 19 March 1890
- Captain on 25 May 1893
- Major on 1 January 1904
- Lieutenant colonel on 22 June 1908
- Colonel on 9 September 1913
- Lieutenant colonel (AIF) on 17 August 1914
- Brigadier general (honorary) on 17 March 1921
Footnotes
- ^ Lock 1936, p. 145.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hicks & Raftery 1990.
- ^ Lock 1936, pp. 145–146.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Lock 1936, p. 153.
- ^ a b c Lock 1936, p. 146.
- ^ Lock 1936, pp. 146–147.
- ^ Lock 1936, p. 147.
- ^ Lock 1936, p. 37.
- ^ a b Bean 1942, p. 135.
- ^ Lock 1936, p. 148.
- ^ Bean 1942, pp. 250–252.
- ^ a b Lock 1936, pp. 148–149.
- ^ Bean 1942, pp. 262–263.
- ^ a b c Lock 1936, p. 150.
- ^ Kearney 2005, p. 154.
- ^ Stevenson 2013, p. 160.
- ^ Lock 1936, pp. 150–151.
- ^ a b c d e Australian War Memorial 2014.
- ^ Lock 1936, p. 151.
- ^ a b c The Advertiser 1944, p. 4.
- ^ Lock 1936, pp. 1–3.
- ^ Lock 1936, pp. 146–146, 153.
References
- "Brig-Gen Weir Dead". The Advertiser. Adelaide, South Australia: National Library of Australia. 15 November 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- "Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Price Weir, DSO, VD". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- OCLC 216975124.
- Hicks, Neville; Raftery, Judith (1990). "Weir, Stanley Price (1866–1944)". ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
- Kearney, Robert (2005). Silent Voices: The Story of the 10th Battalion, AIF, in Australia, Egypt, Gallipoli, France and Belgium During the Great War 1914–1918. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: New Holland. ISBN 1-74110-175-1.
- Lock, Cecil (1936). The Fighting 10th: A South Australian Centenary Souvenir of the 10th Battalion, A.I.F. 1914–19. Adelaide, South Australia: Webb & Son. OCLC 220051389.
- Stevenson, Robert C. (2013). To Win the Battle: The 1st Australian Division in the Great War, 1914–18. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-02868-5.