MCDONALD, Walter Campbell
| Service Number: | 3439 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 December 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 55th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Morpeth, New South Wales Australia, 16 June 1880 |
| Home Town: | Tomago, Port Stephens Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Dairy farmer |
| Died: | Waratah, New South Wales, Australia, 1 October 1940, aged 60 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Sandgate General Cemetery, Newcastle, NSW GENERAL-29. 31. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Dec 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3439, 55th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jan 1917: | Involvement Private, 3439, 55th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Jan 1917: | Embarked Private, 3439, 55th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Sydney | |
| 31 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3439, 55th Infantry Battalion, 2nd MD |
Help us honour Walter Campbell McDonald's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
Gary Mitchell, Sandgate Cemetery
Not forgotten. Served during The Great War, soon to rest peacefully at Sandgate Cemetery.
Private Walter Campbell McDonald, 55th Battalion (Reg No-3439), dairy farmer and boilermaker's labourer from Ash Island, New South Wales and 5 Turton Road, Waratah, N.S.W., was laid to rest at Sandgate Cemetery, age 60. GENERAL-29. 31.
Born at Morpeth, New South Wales on the 16th June 1880 to Joseph and Isabella McDonald; husband of Jessie Frances McDonald nee Dodd (married 1913, West Maitland, N.S.W., died ?) of 82 Surry Street, Darlinghurst, New South Wales and Hexham, N.S.W. and East Greta, N.S.W. and West Maitland, N.S.W., Walter enlisted December 1916 at Newcastle, N.S.W.
Admitted to hospital 19.4.1917 (mumps), 3.1.1918 (sprained left ankle, mild), 22.4.1918 (boils), Walter returned home September 1919, being discharged on the 31st October 1919.
Mr McDonald’s name has been inscribed on the Morpeth Soldiers' Memorial (photo, unveiled on the 26th November 1921, 71 names now inscribed, photo courtesy of David Harrower). A member of the West Maitland Manchester Unity Oddfellows, Hunter River District, Lodge No. 10. Unsure if Roll of Honour exists.
I located Walter (also known as Mick the Pig) resting in an unmarked grave, so Anzac Day 2020 I placed a cross adorned with poppies on the gravesite, taken a photo of the grave and uploaded the photo onto the Northern Cemetery website as a permanent record of his service.
An application for a Commonwealth War Graves Plaque, curbing and marble chip submitted July 2020, and this was accepted August 2020.
Many thanks to Doug and Margaret (1st Great Uncle) Mavay for contacting me to say that Walter has not been forgotten, and for providing the wording for the inscription to be etched on the Plaque.
I will post photos when official commemoration has been completed.
Lest We Never Forget.
Click images to start slideshow.