Mabel Green

  Noted events in her life were:

• note. ²³⁰ AT HOME with eight children aged under 16, a Pittsworth mother is desperate for news of her wounded husband from Europe's battlefields. But the technology of the First World War era restricted Mabel Boyes' efforts to brief telegrams, which could take months to reach their foreign destination.

Fred Boyes was already a returned Boer War veteran when he enlisted in the 42nd Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force in 1915. He was 40-years-old, living east of Pittsworth at Greenhills railway siding with his family of 10. His grandson Arnold Boyes, who lives in Toowoomba with wife Norma, and fellow Toowoomba resident Delma Mason, have compiled photos and information on Fred Boyes' life.

Fred was born in Yorkshire in England and moved with his brother to Australia in 1890. He moved to the Darling Downs where he met Mabel Green, who was born in Pittsworth. Fred served in the Boer War in South Africa for nearly a year-and-a-half before returning to the Downs.
He and Mabel were the first couple to marry at the newly constructed Briggs St Methodist Church in Pittsworth in 1901.

Fred was a railway man, which was why his family lived in a small cottage at the Greenhills siding.

After enlisting in the army in 1915, Fred embarked a ship bound for England in June 1916.

He left Southampton for France in November and served in Europe until February 1917, when he was severely injured by a gunshot wound. Records contradicted which part of his body was wounded, with left shoulder, right shoulder and right thigh all mentioned in correspondence. One common point between the records was the injury was severe.

A telegram to his wife dated March 2, 1917, broke the news. "She (Mabel) gets a message to say he is wounded and she has got no idea what has happened to him," Ms Mason said. "She has all of these kids. "I suppose that was the story for so many women."

Mabel's response was not lodged until May 9, which suggested the initial message may have taken two months to arrive. However, the military's response to Mabel's inquiry was quick. A telegram dated May 11 advised Fred was "convalescent" having been admitted to the Edmonton Military Hospital in London.
Mabel's next telegram was to the point. "Please assist if Sergeant F Boyes is coming home," it read.

Again, a lengthy delay meant a response was not sent until September 5. It advised Fred was on a ship home. He was discharged from service on October 31, 1917.

Arnold was 14-years-old when his grandfather Fred died on March 28, 1943. He said he didn't understand the gravity of his grandfather's military service at the time. "We were only kids," Arnold said. "It didn't register."

Four of Fred's five sons served in the Second World War.

Ms Mason was saddened when thinking of the effects military service had on the soldiers and their families. "I'm just sort of in awe of how they were so willing to go," she said.

Mabel married Frederick (Fred) Boyes, son of Thomas Scruton Boyes and Mary Carr, on 30 Dec 1901 in Queensland Australia.²³⁰ (Frederick (Fred) Boyes was born on 8 Feb 1875 in North Skirlaugh, East Riding, Yorkshire England and died on 28 Mar 1943 in Pittsworth, Toowoomba, Queensland Australia ²³⁰.)