In the early twentieth century, Seventeen Mile Rocks was a small, tight-knit farming community on the outskirts of Brisbane. When World War I broke out, five young men from this neighbourhood answered the call. Four came home. One did not.
Their story is part of our local history and it deserves to be told.
The Sorensen Brothers
Herbert and William Sorensen were the sons of Niels and Marie Christina Sorensen. Herbert, born in Childers in 1896, was among the first to enlist, embarking on the Kyarra on 3 January 1916. He served for nearly four years before being discharged in October 1919. His younger brother William, born at Oxley in 1898, followed him into service, departing on the Seang Choon in September 1916 and returning to Australia in August 1919. Both brothers survived the war, and William lived well into his eighties.
The Crookston Brothers
Alexander and Douglas Crookston were also brothers, sons of George and Agnes Crookston who had settled in the district. Alexander, born in Queensland in 1891, embarked on the Itonus in August 1916 and was discharged in April 1919. Douglas, two years his junior, departed two months later aboard the Marathon, returning home in December 1918. Like the Sorensens, both brothers made it back, a fortunate outcome in a war that claimed so many.
The One Who Did Not Return
Leslie Sinnamon was born on 11 June 1898, right here at Seventeen Mile Rocks. He grew up at Rosemount, the family property on Portion 313, the land where Sinnamon Village stands today. His parents, George and Isabella Sinnamon, raised five children there: Marion, Percy, Edith, Isabel, and Leslie. He was seventeen years old when he embarked on the Aeneas on 20 December 1915. He never came home. On 29 August 1916, Leslie was killed in action on the Somme, France, one of the tens of thousands lost in that devastating campaign. He was eighteen years old. His name is etched in stone at our Centenary Memorial Gardens, ensuring his sacrifice is never forgotten.
Remembered
These five men, two sets of brothers and a boy who never got to grow old, came from the same small stretch of river country. Their stories are preserved through the work of local historians, including Meg Gordon’s When River was Roadway, and through records held by the Australian War Memorial. Their embarkation rolls can be accessed at awm.gov.au.
Lest we forget.
