Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Ted was born on 18 Sep 1884 at Hamley Bridge (SA) to William George Turner and Catherine (Katherine) Turner (nee Abbott).  He was the second eldest of 6 children in the family, 4 boys and 2 girls.  His father was a carpenter/builder in the Adelaide Plains area, between Gawler and Hamley Bridge, where he also had a small holding.

Ted went to school at Sturt Street, Adelaide, leaving at grade 7. On completion of schooling he took employ with his father and also worked on the family farm. On 27 Feb 1913 he married Louisa Jane Brown in Adelaide.The couple had two children, both boys, prior to Ted’s joining the Army. On enlistment in the Army on 28 Jul 1917 he gave his address as Portland (SA), his occupation as farmer and next of kin as his wife.

Ted reported to Mitcham for processing on 30 Jul 1917 and was then sent to 2nd Depot Battalion (Bn) for training; during his training he was allocated to 25th Reinforcements/ 10th Bn on 15 Aug 1917.

At the completion of training on 27 Oct 1917 he entrained for Melbourne for embarkation. Three days later he embarked at Melbourne aboard HMAT “Aeneas” bound for UK, disembarking at Devonport (UK) on 27 Dec 1917 and moving to Southern Veny (UK) for further training. On 8 Feb 1918 he was admitted to hospital with Rheumatism, where he remained until 15 Feb 1918.

On 1 Apr 1918 he embarked from South Hampton for France, disembarking at Calais. A week later he was taken on strength by his unit (10th Bn).

The 10th Bn was among the first infantry units raised for the AIF during WW1; the Bn was recruited in South Australia. It was the first ashore at Gallipoli on 25 Apr 1915. In Mar 1916 the Bn arrived on the Western Front

In Mar and Apr 1918 the 10th Bn helped halt the German Spring Offensive and was then involved in the operations leading up to the Allied counter-offensive. It was during these actions, known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres, that Ted joined his unit. Fourteen days after being taken on strength by his unit he was killed in action on 24 Apr 1918. He was buried at Meteren Military Cemetery in France, which is located 17.5 Km south west of Ieper (Belgium), alongside 38 others from 10th Bn.

Meteren Military Cemetery now contains 768 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War; 180 of the burials are unidentified

Then began the usual hiatus of notifying next of kin: On 5 Jan 1922 his wife received the Memorial Scroll and three copies of photos of her husband’s grave. Two years later (9 Jun 1924) she finally received his medals, but only after they had been returned from the address previously recorded. The passage of information was not helped by the fact that Ted’s wife had changed location several times, without notifying authorities, and also remarried after his death.