Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Richard Edmond Courtney CB, VD (8 September 1870 – 21 October 1919) was an Australian soldier during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Courtney's Post, now the site of a

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula, is named in his honour.

Early life

Courtney was born in Castlemaine, Victoria and educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. On 20 March 1888, he entered residence at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) as a first-year Arts student, and enrolled at Melbourne Law School a year later. He graduated BA (1893), LLB (1897), and qualified as a solicitor.

First World War

He was raised in a military family, and joined the volunteer forces at an early age. For many years he was Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Victorian Rifles, and was given command of the 46th Battalion in 1911, and later the 51st Battalion. At the outbreak of the First World War, Courtney was put in charge of the 14th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the Gallipoli Campaign. Courtney was Gallipoli for a period of only six weeks, but was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

in November 1915, and gazetted a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in the same month for "distinguished service in the field".New Camp Commandant
, ''The Camp Chronicle'' estern Australia 8 June 1916, p. 7. Invalided first to Malta and then to England, on recovery he was placed in command of the Australian and New Zealand Base Depot at Weymouth. He returned to Australia, arriving in March 1916 and his appointment with the AIF was terminated on 22 May 1916. He was then appointed acting Camp Commandant for Western Australia 10 June, a post he held until 15 February 1919. In November 1918 he had used his powers as Acting -Commandant of the 5th Military District under the War Precautions Act 1914, to prohibit the sale or distribution of liquour between 9am and 9pm across the city of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Later life

Following the Armistice he became Chief Clerk of the Victorian Branch Repatriation Department. He died of a brain haemorrhage in 1919, in Melbourne, and was buried with military honours in the Coburg Cemetery.Deaths
, ''The Argus'' elbourne 23 Oct. 1919, p. 1. His life and achievements are featured in Chapter 5 of the book ''The Courtneys, a Victorian Military Family'', by Ron Austin (McCrae, Vic. : Slouch Hat Publications, 2009).

References

* * * *Austin, Ronald J, ''"The Courtneys, A Victorian Military Family".'' Slouch Hat Publications, McCrae, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Richard Edmond 1870 births 1919 deaths People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Lawyers from Melbourne Australian colonels Australian military personnel of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from Melbourne