On This Remembrance Day We Salute The Debney family

It would have been difficult enough for any parent that one child enlisted in war, but imagine the feelings of Douglas and Frances (nee Myles) Debney when all three of their sons signed up to serve. Having himself trained in the Light Horse militia in the early part of the 20th Century, and having seen his older brother go off to the Boer War, Douglas Debney Snr fully understood his sons’ patriotic spirit and a thirst for adventure and agreed to their enlistment.
Corporal Harry Stanley Debney QX2390 and brother, Private Douglas Ross Debney QX 2389, enlisted in Miowera on 24/05/1940 and both in the 2/15th Battalion 9th Division. Initially, Harry had been turned down due to a hernia, however after it was repaired, he successfully enlisted. Due to an intermittent heartbeat, Douglas had also previously been knocked back twice. On his third attempt, and under his threat to go to New Zealand to enlist if he failed again, the medical officer signed him off but with the comment, “no need to be so bloody arrogant about it.”

The brothers’ first campaign was Tobruk. Despite many near misses and daily dodging of the 5.30pm German artillery bombardment, both Harry and Doug survived five long months in the heat, dust, sand storms, unbearable fleas, regular night patrols into “no man’s land” and rations sometimes as low as a pint of brackish water a day to drink and wash, two hard biscuits and 1/2 tin of bully beef captured from the Italian food dumps and which the Aussies swore was horse meat.

The second campaign in which the brothers were involved was the Battle of El Alamein. There were two battles; the first in July 1942 which was inconclusive but halted further progress of the Germans into Egypt and towards the Suez Canal. The second offensive on 01/09/1942 and code named “Operation Bulimba”, was a frontal infantry assault on entrenched German positions. As such, casualties were expected to be high, so orders were given that no two brothers were to take part in this action together. Whether through bond, a sense of commitment to each other, or honour, neither Doug nor Harry would back down. Both went into battle that dawn.

During “Operation Bulimba”, Doug was the section’s Tommy gunner. As their division approached the German line, he fired off his 50 round circular magazine across the top of the sandbags of the enemy’s trenches. The Germans replied with mortars and as the incoming mortar rounds exploded, many of his section died. Sadly, Corporal Harry Debney was one of these casualties. He is buried in the El Alamein War Cemetery and is honoured on Proserpine’s cenotaph and the Wall of Remembrance at Cannonvale. He was only 24 years old.
Doug was also seriously wounded when a close blast delivered its searing payload of shrapnel into both arms, shattering his left elbow and badly wounding his right shoulder and bicep. Bleeding profusely and just maintaining consciousness, his determination turned towards avoiding capture meaning certain death. In the desert environment, injuries as bad as his would be considered beyond treatment by even the most compassionate of enemies. Incapable of dressing his wounds, a couple of medics assisted him off the battle field and tried to stop the bleeding. Unable to help further, Doug told them to leave. Staggering back towards his lines, he was eventually picked up by stretcher bearers. He had lost so much blood that the medics gave him little chance of survival. Despite that he pulled through.
“Operation Bulimba” was the costliest single action for the 2/15th Battalion with approximately 45% casualties - dead and wounded.
On medical grounds, Private Douglas Debney was discharged on 06/08/1943. Upon his return home, he worked on the family cane farm at Cannon Valley despite being offered a full TPI pension. In 1956, he married Margaret Rose and they had two children, Howard and Lenise. In 1976, they sold the farm and moved to Sydney. Their farmhouse still stands today where the Butterfly Effect Nursery is situated on Shute Harbour Road.  

Douglas Debney died in Sydney on 30/11/2001 aged 89 years. His funeral took place at the RSL War Veterans Chapel in Collaroy.

Postscript: About six weeks after “Operation Bulimba” older brother, George Frederick Leonard Debney, Warrant Officer Class QX4606 went through the battle area and found a bloodstained Irish linen handkerchief with the initials DRD. He recognised it as a gift to Doug from an aunt. Nearby was an empty tommy gun 50 round magazine with a shrapnel hole. Douglas Debney had come close to death on the same battlefield on which his brother had been killed.
Lest we Forget

Story courtesy of Proserpine Historical Museum and Howard and Grahame Debney. Photos courtesy Debney family.

Corporal Harry Debney (KIA)
Private Douglas Debney

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