DUNSTAN, Wallace Roy
| Service Number: | 10238 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 10th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Tumbarumba, New South Wales, Australia, 8 January 1895 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm hand |
| Died: | Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia, 8 December 1963, aged 68 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Wangaratta Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: | Corryong and District Avenue of Honour Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Jun 1916: | Involvement Driver, 10238, 10th Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jun 1916: | Embarked Driver, 10238, 10th Field Company Engineers, HMAT Runic, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Learmonth
Wallace Roy Dunstan was born on 8th January 1895 in Tumbarumba, NSW, to Francis Henry Murphy and Elizabeth Rebecca Dunstan.
On 14th March 1916, he enlisted at Tallangatta, Victoria. At the time, he was a single, 21-year-old farmhand from Corryong, Victoria. He was allocated Regimental Number 10238 and posted to the 10th Field Company, Engineers. Wallace named his sister, Elizabeth Smith, of Corryong, as his next of kin. After initial training, he embarked on HMAT A54 Runic at Melbourne, Victoria, on 20th June 1916.
On 14th August 1918, Wallace was wounded in action, receiving a gunshot wound to the right thigh. He was evacuated to England and admitted to the Beaufort War Hospital at Bristol. After a month, he was transferred to the No. 4 Convalscant Depot at Hurdcott in Wiltshire. His service records indicate that he did not rejoin the 10th Engineers but was still in England when the Armistice took effect.
Wallace had two other stints in medical care. The first was in the 3rd New Zealand Field Ambulance for four days in June 1917 with influenza, while the second was for 18 days in June 1918 at the 39th General Hospital, Le Havre, suffering from a venereal disease.
On 19th February 1919, he returned to Australia aboard the SS Orca, with the rank of Driver. He was discharged on 15th May 1919, being awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service during the war.
Wallace Roy married Mary Earl in 1920. The couple settled in Corryong, where Wallace gained employment as a labourer. By 1937, the Dunstan family (at least one child, Roy Stephen, had been born in Corryong in 1929) had moved to South Wangaratta, where Wallace was farming. He passed away on 8th December 1963 at Wangaratta, Victoria and was buried in Wangaratta, Victoria.