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| A float in the Armistice Day Parade, Flinders Street Townsville, 1918. Photo courtesy City Libraries Townsville Local History Collection |
This week Trisha Fielding shares her research on decorated Townsville soldier, Pat Andrews, whose post-war contribution to Townsville's parks and gardens can still be seen today. Pat's story, along with others, is now on display as part of the project's exhibition component, at James Cook University Library and City Libraries Flinders Street. Don't miss it!
Percival Pacific Andrews
Born: Mutarnee, 1892
Died: Townsville, 1962
Service: Driver with the 17th Company Australian Army Service Corps, awarded the Meritorius Service Medal in 1918
Percival Pacific Andrews (known as Pat) was the son of early selectors in the Mutarnee area, and the family home was located at what is now called Crystal Creek. When the family moved to Townsville, Pat attended South Townsville State School, and he later became a locomotive driver.
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| Portrait of Percival Pacific Andrews in uniform. Photo courtesy of David Ball |
Pat enlisted with the First AIF in Roma, on 25 January 1915. In Brisbane in June he embarked for the Middle East with the 17th Coy Australian Army Service Corps as a driver, aboard HMAT
Ascanius. Pat saw active service on Gallipoli, and in France and Belgium. In June 1918, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for gallant conduct and devotion to duty in the field during a period of severe bombing and attack in October 1917. The
London Gazette recorded:
“HIS MAJESTY THE KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the Award of the Meritorious Service Medal to the undermentioned, Sergeant P.P. Andrews, in recognition of valuable services rendered with the Forces in France during the present war.”
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| Wedding photo of Percival Pacific Andrews and Gwendoline Bowring. Photo courtesy of Natalie Embregts and David Ball |
In 1919 Pat married Englishwoman Gwendoline Bowring at Salisbury, England. Upon returning to Australia, Pat and Gwendoline took up a solider settlement sheep selection at Boulia, Queensland. Extended drought during the early 1920s forced the family off their land, and by 1928 they were in Townsville.
That year Pat was employed as a gardener with the Townsville City Council, where he would go on to work for the next 30 years.
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| Percival Pacific Andrews on his sheep selection 'Pacific Downs', Boulia. Photo courtesy of David Ball |
In 1936 Pat was appointed Curator of the Botanical Gardens (now known as Queens Gardens). Pat and Gwendoline lived on site with their seven children in a five-roomed cottage that had been built in the gardens in 1935. Pat soon made his own mark on the gardens, and just a year after taking over as curator, he introduced roses to the Botanical Gardens on the site of two disused tennis courts adjacent to the curator’s residence. Extensive preparations were made, with 24 garden beds excavated to a depth of 3ft and the soil replaced with black soil, leaf-mould and manure. Over 260 plants were put in, covering 20-odd varieties, and trellises were erected to carry the climbing varieties. The rose garden started by Pat Andrews remained an attractive feature of Queens Gardens for many decades.
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| Percival Pacific (Pat) Andrews is pictured in the centre of this photo with family members, outside the curator’s cottage in the Townsville Botanical Gardens, North Ward. Photo courtesy of Natalie Embregts |
A keen sportsman, Pat was involved in cricket and football in Townsville, with the clubs Western Districts, and Souths, respectively; and was a foundation member of the North Ward Bowling Club. He was actively involved in the Townsville RSL and performed ceremonial roles in ANZAC Day marches.
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| Percival Pacific Andrews leading the Anzac Day Parade, c.1943. Photo courtesy of David Ball |
A new overpass at Cluden was recently named in honour of Percival Pacific Andrews, in recognition of his service to Australia as an ANZAC, along with his contribution to the Townsville community as Curator of the Botanical Gardens.
Trisha Fielding
Sources:
National Archives of Australia: Andrews Percival Pacific [service record]
London Gazette [Supplement], 17 June 1918, p. 7178
Townsville Daily Bulletin [Townsville Eye supplement], 14 May 2016
Author's personal communication with descendants: Natalie Embregts and David Ball
Acknowledgements: This project has been funded by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs through the Armistice Centenary Grants Program in the federal electorate of Herbert. It has also received support from JCU Library Special Collections, Townsville City Council City Libraries, and the Museum of Tropical Queensland. Additional support from the Army Museum North Queensland, Townsville RSL Library, Townsville Museum and Historical Society, 1RAR Museum, and the Maritime Museum of Townsville, is also gratefully acknowledged.
For more on the project team, check out
From Swords to Ploughshares - Introducing the Research Team
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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