Doing our bit, Mosman 1914-1918 -- Joseph Edward Crew †

confirmed

Born: 29 February 1884

Died: 20 October 1917

Jospeh Edward Crew was a professional soldier serving with the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery at South Head immediately prior to enlisting in the AIF. It is likely that he had at some time served with the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery at Georges Heights. His father had also been a professional soldier in the Artillery.

He was in command of the 102nd Battery, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade when he was killed on 20 October 1917 at Westhoek Ridge, Belgium, by a direct hit on his dugout.

He married Norah May Nugent at Mosman in 1904. He eventually moved to Kensington, where he was residing at the time of his enlistment in the AIF. His parents lived at 129 Raglan Street, Mosman.

The following obituary was published in November 1917:

A valued officer of the Commonwealth Permanent Military Forces, Staff-Captain and Adjutant J. E. Crew, has just given his life in the cause of liberty and justice. Captain Crew was the first senior non-commissioned officer of the R.A.G.A. in New South Wales to obtain permission to proceed on active service with the A.I.F. He was stationed at South Head at the time. He went to the front as warrant-officer of a divisional ammunition park (in England), was then transferred to the trench mortar batteries as lieutenant, and in January of the present year was promoted to be an artillery staff-captain and adjutant. Captain Crew's record of service with the R.A.G.A. shows that he had completed 16 years service, and previous to this had completed about four years with the Royal Marines. During his career as a soldier of the Permanent Military Forces he held the position of instructor to the Citizen Forces Garrison Artillery in Tasmania, and also as instructor in gunnery, wireless and visual signalling, electricity, and topography. His widow, who lives with her four children at 'Iolanthe,' Milroy-avenue, Kensington, has received news that Captain Crew was killed in action on October 20. [The Sun (Sydney), 23 November 1917, p3]

His name was added to the Mosman War Memorial in 2008 following approaches by his descendents. Until then, he was one of the many hundreds with connections with Mosman who served but whose names, for one reason or another, were not submitted or for some other reason were not included on the war memorial. [JSB]