54623
DYKE, Walter
| Service Number: | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 October 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | London, 25 April 1870 |
| Home Town: | Alberton, Port Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Died: | Chronic Myocardial Degeneration, Kent Town, South Australia, 26 December 1958, aged 88 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cheltenham Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Oct 1915: | Enlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 2022, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 2022, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Corporal, 2022, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 2022, 32nd Infantry Battalion |
Lance- Corporal Walter DYKE
2022 - 32nd battalion, Australian Infantry Force, World War I
The 32nd Battalion (Infantry) was one of four Battalions in the 8th Brigade, 5th Australian Division. Commander- in-Chief was Major General Sir J. T. T. HOBBS.
Walter embarked at Adelaide for overseas service with the 3rd Reinforcements of the 32nd Battalion on 7 February 1916 per the “H. T. MILTIADES”
They disembarked at Suez on 11 March 1916.
They re-embarked at Alexandria on 17 June 1916 for France.
Disembarked at Marseilles, France on 23 June 1916
They were deployed into action in the Fromelles region in mid July. On 19 July the 8th Brigade was moved up to the front and on 20 July 1916, Walter DYKE was reported as Missing in Action
He was subsequently reported to be a Prisoner of War in Germany and had been wounded in action.
Walter DYKE was interned at Kreigsgefangenenlazarett, in Ohrdruf, Germany. There was a prisoner of War hospital there.
As part of his time as a prisoner of War he served on Work Gangs in Germany. And he was at Plaue, Germany in December 1917 when he received a copy of a book “In Green Pastures” in a prisoner of War parcel donated by William WHEEN, Vicarage Drive, Eastbourne, England. Plaue is about 10 miles west of Brandenburg (West of Berlin).
Following the cessation of hostilities he was expatriated to England on 18 November 1918.
He embarked for the return journey to Australia on 18 January 1919 and disembarked at Adelaide on 1 March 1919.
He was discharged from the Australian Army on 24 April 1919.
Gallipoli Medal | 1914/15 Star | British War Medal | Victory Medal
Walter had only spent one day in the front lines before he was wounded and taken prisoner. For his service he was warded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His discharge from the army on the 24 April 1919 was one day before his 49th Birthday.
He had been away from his family for 3½ years.
Submitted 15 April 2015 by Martin Hall
Click images to start slideshow.