On 12 December 1916, brothers Laurient (Laurie) and Felix Kempster sailed to war out of Sydney on the troopship Medic. They left behind their parents, Leonard and Rosina, and seven younger siblings. Laurie, aged 20, had been a junior clerk with the Sandgate Town Council since 1914, and Felix, aged 18, had been working on a cattle station near Roma. Being fine horsemen, both joined the 11th Light Horse Regiment.
Their parents did not have long to wait before they had news of the boys. In a letter to their mother in early 1917, Felix reported on a boxing tournament held on the troopship that resulted in his being declared the ship’s lightweight champion. Apart from the revelation of details that most mothers would quail at (Felix: “a few hard hits to the head and body”; Laurie: “both hands and leg bandaged up”), this letter provided those at home with an insight into shipboard existence: the monotony, the camaraderie, the excitement, the wagering.
By February, they had arrived safely in Egypt and were “now settled down in the desert”. Laurie wrote home about sandstorms, the bully beef and biscuit diet, the cold and their excitement at seeing “quite a lot of aeroplanes”, while Felix reported that they “have pretty good fun one way and another”. Even so, they were “looking forward to the time when we shall be sent out to the firing line”, which happened soon enough, both serving in Egypt and Palestine, both receiving field promotions and both being awarded medals for bravery: Laurie the Meritorious Service Medal and Felix the Military Medal.
A Safe Return: Life in Sandgate After the Great War
In 1919, Leonard reported that Laurie was on his way home and that Felix, having been on leave in England, was going to California as part of an AIF detachment sent to study agriculture under a government-sponsored scheme for returned soldiers. He returned to Queensland in 1920 and went into farming.
Laurie rejoined the Sandgate Town Council as Assistant Town Clerk and, in 1924, successfully applied for the position of Town Clerk. He later served with the Brisbane City Council as Deputy Town Clerk. In 1921, he married Sandgate girl, Evelyn Driver, and they had a son in 1923.
The Kempster family was very fortunate in having sent two sons to war and having them both return unscathed. We are likewise fortunate to be able to know, thanks to their letters to their parents, something of the life of two young Sandgate World War I soldiers, and to appreciate them as people and not just names on a war memorial.
[With thanks to the Sandgate Historical Museum (opening hours: Sunday and Wednesday, 9am to 1.30pm. Adults $5, Children $3, Membership $20/$30). Photograph: Sandgate Museum]
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