WINNETT, Walter James
| Service Number: | 60556 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 May 1918, Quirindi, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Kyabram, Victoria, Australia, 25 September 1899 |
| Home Town: | Quirindi, Liverpool Plains, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Natural causes, New South Wales, Australia, 19 May 2000, aged 100 years |
| Cemetery: |
Holbrook Cemetery, New South Wales |
| Memorials: | Willow Tree and District Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 17 May 1918: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 60556, Quirindi, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 1918: | Involvement Private, 60556, 16th to 27th Reinforcements (NSW), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Bakara embarkation_ship_number: A41 public_note: '' | |
| 4 Sep 1918: | Embarked Private, 60556, 16th to 27th Reinforcements (NSW), HMAT Bakara, Sydney | |
| 2 Dec 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 60556, 2nd Infantry Battalion |
The reason my great uncle survived the Spansih Flu
I forgot to say that he also told me that he sneaked up on deck and slept in one of the life boats on the ship home. Hence this is the reason he didn't get the Spanish Flu as his mates were all huddled down in the hold of the ship and coughing everywhere. So as you probably know something like 80 % of the men died on the ships coming home.
Submitted 13 June 2022 by Alistair Rigney
The real war
Walter was one of my grandfather's elder brothers. When they got to Flanders they slept in barns on wooden flours with straw, then very quickly the war was over.
He never spoke much about the war but he did tell me that most of his mates died from the Spanish flu on the ship home. That was the real war to him. Walter lived to 101 in Holbrook. He was an amazing man as was my grandfather William Alva Winnett who lived to 85 also in Holbrook.
Submitted 12 October 2016 by Alistair Rigney
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