Group portrait of members of the band of the 13th Battalion. This was the third band formed on ...

Group portrait of members of the band of the 13th Battalion. This was the third band formed on active service since 1914 and was the only band in the 4th Australian Division in France at the time of its formation on 12 September 1916. Fifty four members passed through the band in all up to February 1918 owing to sick evacuations and other reasons. Instruments were dumped several times in order to carry out other work allotted to them and during operations at Polygon Wood on 26 September 1917 and at Zonnebeke between 14 and 21 October 1917, the Band went into action as ammunition carriers for the 4th Australian machine Gun Company. In spite of irregular practice and the difficulty of bandsmen on Active Service, the Band improved and was always in great demand playing at hospitals, YMCA sports, Pierrot shows, Corps Schools etc irrespective of unit. Original instruments presented in October 1914 by Miss Harris of Sydney, NSW saw so much service that they had to be replaced gradually and those in use in 1918 were all new Class A Beesons. The original bass drum narrowly missed being left behind at Gallipoli on the night of evacuation. Identified in the back row from left to right: 6756 Private (Pte) Harold Keith Honeysett; 6792 Pte Claud Harold Phillips; 375 Corporal (Cpl) Albert Beckett Fordham; 3810 Pte Edward Alexander James; 1370 Joseph Glaszion; 5172 Pte Leslie James Sedgman; and 6032 Pte Tom Heels.
Second row from left to right: 1432 Pte George Kenneth Gregory, MM; 3935 Albert Victor Taylor; 5078 Pte Edgar Ebenezer Redding; 6724 Pte George Henry Crittenden; 5550 Pte Richard Athol Luscombe; 2668 Cpl Horae Earle Penton; and 7357 Pte Samuel Freeman.
Third row from left to right: 1495 Pte John Beech; 1711 Pte Richmond Edward Dunn; 4863 Pte Reuben Alfred Polglase; 1474 Warrant Officer Percy Edmund Copp, Conductor; Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Gray Marks, MC, Commanding Officer; 2067 Pte Cecil Hector Lionel Hawkins; 4299 Pte Clement Hoppie Shaddock; and 6532 Pte Edward Hooker.
Front row from left to right: 18433 Pte Alan Marmaduke Cansdell; 1844 Pte George Harris; 5089A Pte John Robert Stevenson; 3817 Pte George Frederick Cramp; 1817 Pte Albert Piggott; 1850 Pte Alexander Bathurst Watts; and 6457 Pte William Thomas Amor. [See also images H15990 and E01726.]