Personal story of Great War’s dreadful cost
When Pte David John Morgan died on the battlefields of Europe in 1918 he left behind an embittered father, a heart-broken mother and a devastated fiancée, as Darryl Johnston writes.

Ready for action: Pte David Morgan before setting off to war.

Last visit: Thomas and Gwendoline Morgan, Pte Morgan’s parents, visit his grave site in a British cemetery in France.

Pte David John Morgan was the son of Thomas and Gwendoline Morgan from Hurstville in Sydney. His sweetheart, the daughter of Charles and Martha Bessell of Carlton, was my great aunt Nessie Margarette Bessell.

I came across David and Nessie’s tragic story years ago while visiting the Gallipoli Street home of elderly relatives with my parents. A large photograph of a young man who had died in the Great War hung on the dining room wall in an elaborate old frame. The picture left a tremendous impression on me and I determined to learn more about Pte Morgan and his links with our family.

After many years and many long conversations with my grandmother, who spoke of David with great affection, I gradually pieced the story together. The trail took me to the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives in Canberra, as well as to David’s extended family and descendants in Sydney.

David and Nessie planned to marry in 1916, but Thomas refused to allow the couple to wed because of religious differences. Apparently planning to defy his father – he promised Nessie that he would return with enough money for them to marry and buy a home – David enlisted at Kogarah in September 1916. Pte Morgan sailed for England aboard the TSS Afric with the AIF’s 60th Battalion on November 3, 1916.

Despite their disagreement, Thomas called on his strong faith to protect his son and gave David a pocket-sized Bible to carry into battle. Nessie gave her fiancé a tiny self-portrait photo from her locket, which David slipped into the pages of his father’s gift.

Disembarking at Plymouth on January 9, 1917, David and his mates spent several weeks training on the Salisbury Plains before deploying to France in March, where David joined the 5th Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples on the French coast.

He was in action within three days and spent most of the year on the Somme, describing his experiences to Nessie and his family in long letters and postcards.

The Germans launched a new offensive along the Hindenburg Line in March 1918. With the Allies constantly pounded by heavy artillery, the men of the 60th Bn prepared to launch a counter attack on the morning of April 27. Standing ready with his mates in a trench, David received a serious wound to his head. Despite the best efforts of the 4th Casualty Clearing Station near Pernois, he died the following morning.

David was buried at the Pernois British Cemetery near Amiens, his grave marked by a small cross bearing a plate with his details. The Hurstville Propeller newspaper reported his loss on its front page, including his name in a long list of other local boys killed in action, wounded, missing or gassed. David was posthumously awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

David’s family was devastated. Thomas became angry and bitter, demanding details of David’s death from Army officials and insisting on the return of all his possessions, including his watch and the loose change he carried in his pocket. He also took the 15 pounds David had willed to Nessie; money the young soldier had promised to save for their marriage. In return, Thomas gave Nessie the Bible David was carrying when he died.

Thomas and Gwendoline journeyed to their son’s final resting-place in 1923. The original cross had been replaced by a white marble headstone with a small tribute from his family: “We have lost, heaven has gained, one of the best the world contained.”

Taking the opportunity to visit the graves of other Hurstville boys with the help of the London YMCA, Gwendoline wrote to a friend that she wished she could tell all the mothers how well the graves of their boys were cared for.

Thomas became so frail that he could no longer work after his return from France, and the family moved to Willoughby to live with relatives. Gwendoline died in April 1937, followed two years later by Thomas, who left his estate to the local church and a Bible to each family member. They are buried together at Woronora Cemetery in Sutherland, under a headstone that reads: “In loving memory of Private David John Morgan of the 60th Battalion who died from wounds received in action in France 28th April 1918 aged 23 years, third eldest son of Thomas and Gwendoline Morgan. He laid down his life like a hero in response to his country’s call. Australia is proud of her hero, who was only a private, that’s all. Greater love hath no man than this.”

Although the heartbroken Nessie eventually married, she never really recovered from her loss. Meeting some of David’s relatives many years later in a Hurstville shop, she still introduced herself as David’s friend. They said the sadness was etched on her face.


The Bible and Nessie’s album of letters and embroidered postcards eventually came into my grandmother’s possession. Sadly, she burnt the album before she died; most probably to honour her pledge to Nessie that she would keep the contents of David’s letters secret forever.

David’s medals were also lost over time, but his Bible has survived and is now in my family. A tiny photo fell from its delicate pages recently: a locket-sized picture of a young Nessie—obviously the one she gave to David the day he boarded the Afric. I shivered at the time. Hidden in the Bible, the photo had survived the war and the past 90 years.

A friend of mine placed an Australian flag and a poppy on David’s grave a few years ago. It’s something I’m determined to do myself one day to pay tribute to the sacrifice he made. The photo of Pte David Morgan’s sweetheart, Nessie Bessell, will make the journey with me..