Remembering the Litchfield brothers

Joy Litchfield grew up seeing the impact of war.

Her father, Aubrey Daniel Litchfield, and three of his brothers – Ernest, Cecil and Lester – had all served during the First World War.

All four survived the war, but were badly wounded.

The eldest, Ernest, was wounded in the head during the Gallipoli landings and lost an arm after being wounded at Lone Pine; the second eldest, Cecil, was wounded near Villers-Bretonneux and lost a leg; the third brother, Lester, was gassed on the Western Front and suffered from headaches for the rest of his life. Joy’s father, Aubrey, was shot through the wrist and arm; his wristwatch saving his life.

His son, Joy’s brother, Aubrey Desmond Litchfield, would later serve as a rear gunner during the Second World War.

Like many veterans, Joy’s father and his brothers never spoke about the war.

“I learned a little bit as I went along, but they didn't talk about it, did they?” she said.

“They didn't care to reminisce very much about it, and I can understand why because they all went through such trauma.

“They were all good Christian army people – all four of them – and they wanted to go and do their bit for Australia and to do their bit for the war.

“I have a photograph here… in the dining room… of the four brothers … and it’s an absolutely wonderful photo.

“My grandmother, Sarah Litchfield, must have had that taken… and the four brothers were beautifully photographed in their uniforms. Uncle Cecil, the one who lost his leg, is sitting down, and you can see he’s got a walking stick. The other brother, Uncle Ern, is half sitting down, and if you look hard, you can tell that he's lost his arm.”

Ernest was the first of the Litchfield brothers to enlist. He enlisted on 17 August 1914 at the age of 21, just weeks after the outbreak of war. He served on Gallipoli with the 3rd Battalion, and became vice president of the Limbless Soldiers Association in Sydney after the war. He died in June 1959, aged 65.

“Uncle Ern was a lieutenant in the army,” Joy said.

“He was in the landing of Gallipoli and … he was wounded in the head, and sent back to the hospital ship for treatment …

“He was patched up, and sent back, when he was sent forward at Lone Pine…

“He was leading his men at Lone Pine and shrapnel got him in the arm.

“Once again, he had to be sent back to the hospital ship, but because he was a lieutenant, he gave way to all these other men who had been wounded, and of course by that time, gangrene had set in, and he lost the arm. They had to amputate and he had to learn to write with his other hand.

“He joined State Rail after the war, and he worked for the New South Wales Railways in the parcels division, right up until he died.”

Cecil was the second brother to enlist. He enlisted in West Maitland in November 1915, at the age of 20, having listed his occupation as ‘labourer’. He embarked for overseas service in March 1916 and was serving as a private with the 31st Battalion when he was wounded in action in France in October 1917. He died in September 1991, aged 96.

“Uncle Cecil was a little bit older than my father, and I got to know Uncle Cecil very well,” Joy said.

“He was a lovely man, and he and his wife lived further up, in the same street almost, as Dad's grocery shop, which is where we used to live.

“He was wounded in the leg quite badly during the war, and had to teach himself how to walk with an artificial limb.

“He eventually ended up in the Collaroy War Veterans' home, and my mother and I, we drove over there to see him.

“He was in there at the time recuperating, and he sat on the edge of the bed, telling us that when the First World War ended, he didn't come home straightaway.

“He stayed in England, and he taught himself how to go up and down the English double-decker buses.

“He had a mate over there, who had also lost a leg in the war, and the two of them used to go up and down the steps of these double-decker buses together, teaching themselves to get stronger in the leg.

“It was nearly 12 months before he came home, but all his life he had trouble.

“My aunty used to say to us that he had what they called ‘nerve storms’.

“He'd get one of these nerve storms in the middle of the night, and he'd almost be able to lift himself up off the bed.”

Joy’s father, Aubrey Daniel Litchfield, was the third brother to enlist. He enlisted at West Maitland on 3 January 1916, aged 18. He went on to serve with the 35th Battalion in France and was wounded in action in February 1917. He became a corner grocer after the war and died in Sydney in September 1988, aged 91.

“Dad was badly wounded in the wrist,” Joy said.

“He was a runner and he was running up to the tent to get the message from the major when shrapnel got him in the wrist.

“It went right through his wrist, and they think the watch probably saved him … because it saved it from going any further and into his groin.

“It affected his hand for the rest of his life and I don't know how he managed to do what he did …

“He lived till the age of 91, and he still had the grocery shop on the corner of Illawarra Road and Terry Street, Marrickville.

“He was a very good corner grocer, and he managed very well.”

Joy’s Uncle Lester was the last of the four Litchfield brothers to enlist. He enlisted in June 1916, listing his occupation as farmer, and his age as 18. In reality, he was only 17. He served with a Vickers machine gun battalion in France and volunteered again during the Second World War, serving with the 103rd anti-tank regiment in the Citizens Military Force from October 1939 to November 1942, and the AIF from November 1942 to October 1945, in the Northern Territory, Lae and New Guinea.

“Uncle Lester was gassed on the Western Front and he had bad headaches for the rest of his life,” Joy said.

“My dear aunty, their one and only sister, Ethel Litchfield … She lived with us for about five years, and I can remember when Uncle Lester was in Concord hospital, we went to see him…

“He wasn’t too good when we left, and we learnt later that he’d passed away. I think it was due to these bad headaches he got.

“I know my Aunty Ethel was very worried about him, but we had to go; we weren’t allowed to stay any longer.”

Joy’s brother, Aubrey Desmond Litchfield, would also enlist during the Second World War.

“My brother was four years older than I was,” she said.

“He was born Aubrey Desmond Litchfield, and he was named after my father, but everybody referred to him, all his life, as simply Des. 

“He'd been to high school and passed fairly well and wanted to go to the Sydney University, but he went straight into the air force instead.

“I can remember he used to come home with the air force papers as well as the Sydney University papers.

“My mother was horrified when he came home with the air force papers and she said, ‘Des, What have you got these for, aren't you going to go to Sydney University?’

“He said later on … all he wanted to do was to get into the air force … so he joined up straightaway … at age 18.

“I've got a photograph of us on my dining table … and because he was in training, he had the white around the edge of the forage cap…

“My mother had us go to the Monte Luke studios and have our photographs taken… They were well known in Sydney at the time … and there I am in the photograph with long double plaits, doubled over ... on either side … I was 14, and it's a lovely photograph of both of us.

“He really wanted to get away and join the air force as so many of them did back then.

“He was really keen to fly, but he was he was not a real tall man, so they never accepted him as a pilot. He wasn't long enough in the legs, but they made him a wireless operator/air gunner so instead of wearing the full wing on his chest, he wore a half wing with the AG embroidered in the corner.

“He was attached to the Americans and they brought the wonderful Liberator planes over from America and taught the Australians how to fly them.

“He was 21 and he was flying over the northern part of New Guinea, trying to prevent the Japanese from coming down to Australia.”

After the war, Des studied dentistry at the University of Sydney and became a dental surgeon. He rejoined the Royal Australian Air Force in the 1950s, serving as a dental officer in Australia, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. He retired as a wing commander in the late 1970s and died in July 2021, aged 97.

Joy, now 93, still misses him every day.

“He was 97 when he passed away on the 9th of July, just a few months ago,” she said.

“He passed away just after his birthday, and just a few days before mine.”

Today, Joy is a Friend of the Australian War Memorial in memory of her family members who served.

“I’m very proud, very proud indeed, of my father and his three brothers who served in the First World War, and I'm very proud of my dear brother who served in the Second World War, and that's why I joined the Memorial,” she said.

“I think it’s absolutely wonderful … and I thought to myself, that's a good idea, I'd like to do that in memory of my father and his brothers and in memory of my dear brother Des.

“He had a wonderful life, and I do miss him so very much.”