Feature Article 2

By Claire Norton
To me was given the extreme honour of being actually the first man
to set foot on this peninsula, to lead a portion of men up the hill in
that now historic charge.
These written words were spoken to thousands of people from the
town of Maryborough, before dawn on the 24th of April.
As the townsfolk listened, they gazed upon an illuminated statue of
Major Duncan Chapman, allegedly the first man to step onto the
shores of Gallipoli.
Major Chapman, a Maryborough man himself, fought alongside the
ANZACs in the First World War in 1915.
Records from the Australia War Memorial stated that he later died
after fighting in France in 1916 and was buried in Pozieres.
Duncan Chapman is on the Roll of Honour and has a plaque
dedicated to him in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
For his efforts, the Duncan Chapman committee memorialised him
in Queens Park, Maryborough.
As Nancy Bates (who is the president of the memorial committee)
gazes upon the life-like bronze statue, she feels a sense of pride and
amazement.
The committee could not get the grant to build the statue in time
and so Ms Bates said that they decided to appeal to the whole
community.
She said that everyone in the town got on board and that the
Duncan Chapman statue belongs to the people of Maryborough.
Everything started falling into place, she says,
We had everyone. We had lots of generous business people. Lots of
families got together to donate and we also had school children
bringing in $5 and a number of schools had free dress days for
Duncan. Yeah, the statue belongs to the people of Maryborough.
In the short three months that followed, the committee raised the
$60, 000 that was needed and the statue arrived a week before it
was to be unveiled.

John Chapman is the great-nephew of Duncan chapman and he is

astounded by the way the community pulled together.
He said he thought it was all the more impressive that the statue
was completely community funded.
They are looking for government support for the very impressive
stage two that theyre planning, which will be quite an attraction, I
think for visitors to the region, he says.
With the accommodation of the Military Museum and what they
intend to do around Duncans statue, will really be something for
military history buffs.
A report written by Tourism Queensland indicates that there has
been a decrease in tourism in the Fraser Coast Region.
Nancy Bates says that the memorial will bring in more tourism for
the area.
Were planning on incorporating the memorials from Hervey Bay
and Toogoom in order to become a regional trail where people can
see the military history, she says.
The statue itself did bring the community together, so hopefully it
will bring in some tourism as well.
Mr Chapman said that the memorial of his great-uncle was an
honour and it also brought his family together.
Oh, it was a fantastic honour for the family and for all people who
fought in WWI. I think it is a great memorial and wider than that, for
people who lost their lives in wars anywhere, but a great moment
for the family, he says.
There were 16 descendants of the Chapman family in attendance
and we had a marvellous catch up dinner on the Friday night. Thats
because many of us had never met each other so that was another
advantage of the whole situation.
Even though historians have found considerable evidence, there is
still some debate whether or not Duncan Chapman was in fact not
the first man to walk the shores of Gallipoli.
The Sydney Morning Herald said that instead it was Sergeant Joseph
Stratford whose family found proof in the form of letters written by
the Red Cross.

Sergeant Stratfords family told the Sydney Morning Herald that as

far as they were concerned, their uncle Joe was the first to land.
However, Ms Bates still strongly believes that it indeed was Major
Chapman.
She says that the official historian Professor Charles Bean said no
other evidence could be found of another boat putting men ashore
before the Anzac came under fire.
We put together detailed documentation that puts aside any
doubts, she says.
We have three written accounts from men who were in that boat
stating firmly that Major Chapman was the first to step ashore.
Duncan himself wrote two letters stating he was the first ashore.
The one stating he had been given the extreme honour was
apparently unknown to Professor Bean when he made his decision;
so were the statements of two other soldiers who were in the first
boat.
Bob Evans is the president of the Maryborough RSL says that all of
the accounts were remarkably consistent.
He said that another letter from a soldier in the first boat had come
to light only a week before the statue was unveiled.
It didnt mention who stepped ashore first but in all other aspects
it corroborated the statements of three men and Duncan himself,
he says.
Nancy Bates is now more determined than ever to tell the story of
Major Duncan has now started working on stage two of the Memorial
Project.
Were putting up the cliffs of Gallipoli in front of Duncan. He is
gazing upwards at the moment and so we have to put the cliffs
there for him to look at. Because that was the moment where they
suddenly realised that instead of rolling sands hills that they
expected, theyd actually been put ashore at the base of towering
cliffs.
Stage two will be an ambitious project that will create a
representation of the ridges of Gallipoli in front of Major Chapman.
Behind him will be the three 9th Battalion rowboats and beyond the
cliffs will be a trench leading to the Cenotaph.
In the galleries between the ridges will be the story of Gallipoli.

Finally, along the trench will be information about the Western Front
and a memorial to Pozieres.
Mr Chapman says that there is a great potential for tourism with the
next stages of the project.
I have seen the concept drawings for the second stage and it looks
very impressive. However, it will cost a lot more than the statue of
course, he says.
Bob Evans says that the only place to spend ANZAC day is in
Maryborough.
He says that the first ANZAC to step ashore at Gallipoli came from
Maryborough.
I dont know why we dont make more of it, he says.
The memorial service was a powerful moment and what followed
was a world-class tribute to the ANZACs.
With the second stage for the memorial underway, people will know
the role that the Maryborough ANZANCs played in WWI, for
generations to come.

Nancy Bates with the Duncan Chapman Memorial Statue and beside
the statue is the Duncan Chapman Flag, which he carried onto the
shores of Gallipoli.

The Duncan Chapman

Memorial Statue in
Maryborough

Major Duncan Chapman

(Sourced by Nancy Bates)

SOURCE LIST:
Primary Sources:
Nancy Bates, the president of the Duncan Chapman Memorial
Committee
Phone: 4129 7447
Email: nancy.bates1@bigpond.com
John Chapman, the great-nephew of Duncan Chapman
Phone: 0408 986 751
Email: john.chapman@daff.qld.gov.au
Bob Evans, the Maryborough RSL president
Phone: 4122 2321
Secondary Sources:

Awm.gov.au,. (2015). Roll of Honour: Duncan Chapman | Australian War

Memorial. Retrieved 28 May 2015, from
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1675290/

Barlass, T. (2014). Mystery of Gallipoli's first man ashore solved. The

Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 May 2015, from
http://www.smh.com.au/national/mystery-of-gallipolis-first-man-ashoresolved-20140228-33qxp.html
Teq.queensland.com,. (2015). Retrieved 28 May 2015, from
http://teq.queensland.com/~/media/C44E026AA7D94C1886C131027D
D826ED.ashx