7. Ozanne of Collie

OZANNE of Collie

Saluting their Service - Grahame Old

WW1 – 1507 Company Sergeant Major Eugene (Jim) Charles Arthur OZANNE

This is the story of an ordinary man who went away to war, one who loved his country, his town and above all his family. He was known simply as; OZANNE of Collie.

Born in Melbourne on the 18th August 1882, Ozanne spent his boyhood and youth in the Preston area where his mother and father lived for many years. It is not known when he moved to Collie but he was listed on the 1912 Electoral Roll as a miner in Collie residing in Coombe St. In 1911 he was involved in the Collie Burn mine strike, an 18 week strike – the longest in WA’s history up to that time, saw picket lines, assaults, firearms, explosions, court cases, miners fined for striking and the union sued for damages. At the heart of the dispute was the issue of the solidarity of the miners against the ‘blacklegs’. Ozanne was known to be prominent throughout the dispute and was accused of aggressive behaviour.

Ozanne was quoted as “a man of magnificent physique, prominent in all manly sports he was very popular among his peers”. In a daring act he was known to have descended into a mine shaft to extinguish a fire. He was also involved in the attempted rescue of a young boy who tragically drowned in 1911. He was a boxer, a member of the Collie Fire Brigade and the most prominent member of the Wallsend tug-of-war team. He was a member of the Collie brass band and the Lodge. Ozanne also had a soft side, a well-known singer he performed regularly at the Coliseum in Collie.

In December 1912 Ozanne married Elizabeth Mcausland Johnstone Stewart, only daughter of Mr and Mrs W Stewart of Collie. Elizabeth was known to Ozanne simply as ‘Cissie’. They lived in River Avenue (lot 360) Collie and had three children, Marcel (named after Ozanne’s father) and twins Eugene and William John. The twins were born after Ozanne embarked for WW1 service.

The War                                              

When war broke out Ozanne was among the first in Collie to enlist, presenting himself at Blackboy Hill for training on the 13 October 1914. On the 22nd February 1915 he embarked from Fremantle for Egypt with the 16th Infantry battalion 2nd reinforcements. Although known as a bit of a ‘rough diamond’ who did not take to kindly to military discipline he came into his own when he arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsula. He was soon recognised as a fine leader of men and promoted to temporary Pioneer sergeant in July 1915. He was then appointed Acting Company Sergeant Major, 16th Battalion, November 1915, in the field Gallipoli. Sadly Ozanne was killed accidentally on the 19 November 1915. He is buried in the 7th Field Ambulance cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. The following newspaper article best describes his war service;                                                                                                                            

(Southern Times, Bunbury, WA – October 26, 1916)

The following account (reprinted from the “Sunday Times”) of the death of Sgt - Jim Ozanne, will be read with interest by the residents of Collie with whom Jim was universally popular.

The story is told by Senator McDougall, who stated:

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‍“Ozanne joined in October, 1915. Being imbedded with the usual, independent and ‘devil-may-care’ -spirit, of most Westralian’s, he made no headway at all in the ranks under the usual disciplinary methods adopted universally in training camps."

He experienced rather a rotten time in Egypt, and always seemed to be up against his junior officer in immediate control of him, or else the aforesaid officer was up against Ozanne. Unfavourable reports concerning him were conveyed to the colonel in command of the battalion, with the result that when reinforcements were sent to the Peninsula Ozanne was left behind- much to his chagrin and disappointment. However reinforcements were urgently and immediately required, and Ozanne, in company with others was soon sent over. “As soon as he got over Ozanne dived straight into the rush and turmoil of the fight. He was here, there, and everywhere and soon was promoted to the position of Sergeant."

“In the big push on Gallipoli, on August 16 he surprised his officers by his dash, his courage, and his deeds. In the words of the colonel, he covered himself with glory. His bravery so impressed the colonel that he was to be recommended for distinction, but alas that was not to be.

“In the spare hours in the trenches Ozanne busied himself making a little cross to mark the resting place of a brave young lieutenant who had succumbed to the bullet of a Turkish sniper. During the afternoon spell, Ozanne went down to fix the cross on the officer’s grave. While engaged in fixing the mark of esteem for his superior officer, a British regiment was practicing bomb throwing from a catapult. One bomb misfired and dropped 80 yards short of the Turkish lines, and within a yard of Ozanne of Collie, and one of the bravest soldiers was, in the words of his colonel, ‘blown to pieces’.

“Not long before this sad and fatal accident in the Peninsula a little incident occurred between Ozanne and the colonel (with whom the Australian had become a great favourite) which has most interest. The colonel one mail day asked him “Any news from home?” Ozanne of Collie replied, “Yes sir, -and proudly drew from his pocket a carefully fully-wrapped photo, of his lovely twin babies, who had been born to him since his departure from Australia.  “When the little twinnies grow up, they will be able to point with pride and love to the deeds of their father”

Sgt Ozanne was well known at Collie. He was a brother of a Federal MHR, now in the trenches himself….. (Ozanne’s brother Alfred Thomas OZANNE (10758) also served during WW1 as a Company Quartermaster Sergeant. Alfred Ozanne was the MLA for Corio in Victoria).

The Family Man

Although seen as a hard man, Ozanne indeed had a soft side, on the 25 April 1915, at Heliopolis Egypt; he wrote a note to his son Marcel, on the back of one of his photographs. He sent it to his beloved wife, Cissie, asking her, in the event of his being killed, to give the photograph and note to his son when he was of an age to understand it. The note read;

“To my little son Marcel, if we never meet again always remember that your father tried to do his duty, and I hope you will follow in his footsteps. Be a good boy to your mother and when you are a man stand by her, for she also has to suffer in this our country’s call for help. God bless and keep you. Your loving Father”.

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The death of Ozanne played heavily on the people of Collie. His wife wrote the following memoriam;                                                                                                                      

In sad and loving memory of my dearly loved husband, Sergeant Major Eugene (Jim) Ozanne, also our dear Daddy, who was killed in action in the Dardanelles on Nov 19 1915 aged 33 years.

For liberty, love and honour, he rests in a heroes grave

In dreams I see his dear sweet face, and kiss his dear cold brow

And whisper as I loved him then, I love you dearly now

In a soldiers grave he is sleeping, my loved one, the dearest & best

In my heart I will miss you for ever, though I know dear you are only at rest”

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Inserted by his ever-loving wife Cissie, also his dear little sons, Marcel, Willie, Eugene.

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The Collie Bandmaster

Having received a letter from Major Eliazar Lazar Margolin, 16th Battalion, describing the circumstances surrounding the death of Ozanne, the bandmaster of the Collie Brass Band, Mr Syd Annesley, composed a march called “The Sergeant” which he dedicated to Ozanne of Collie.

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Ozanne of Collie an ordinary man in extraordinary times

"Though in a foreign land you lie, our love for you will never die"

Remembered forever at the Collie Cardiff RSL Sub Branch

                                                     ‘Lest We Forget’

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