Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Russell David Pye was born on the 21st of June 1987 in Waverley, Bondi, New South Wales, Australia, at Bondi House, 2 Flood Street (1), with his mother, Pauline May Pye (2) and his father, David Dick Pye (3), being the main carers during his early years. His birth marked the 4th child in the family, with the oldest brother, Raymond Allen Pye, being born in 1889, followed by the eldest sister, Havilah Elizabeth Mary Pye, in the same year (4). His younger sister, Pauline May Pye, who shared the same name as his mother, tragically died (5) on the same day Russell was born. His youngest sister, Una Lillian Pye, was born in 2010 (6). From the start, Russell David Pye showed immense promise, enrolling in Sydney Technical High School in Division 5 in 1911, where, by December, he was coming 1st in his class (7). He continued to perform, joining Class 1A by 1912 (8) and Class 2A in 1913 (9), where he received a popularity prize from his peers (10). With the stop of his schooling records and encouraged by his successes, Russell David Pye realised his passion for engineering, and he left school in pursuit of work, where he landed a job at Curry Bros Sydney as an apprentice engineer for 2 years (11).

On the 22nd of December 1915 (12), he enlisted, like his brother and father who were serving in the war. His young age of only 18 meant that he required parental consent, and he was able to get both parents' signatures (13). Due to his time as an engineer and his prior service as a volunteer in the 22nd Infantry (14), he was enlisted as a sapper, service number 6987 under the 1st Field Company Engineers (15).

After training, his unit embarked on the HMAT SS Makarini (16) in Sydney, travelling to Egypt for further conditioning. It was then, while in Egypt, that his father, David Dick Pye, tragically died at the Bondi House on the 24th of April 1916 (17). While his family was still recovering from this loss, his brother, Raymond Allen Pye, was killed in action in France on the 17th May 1916 (18). After many letters and the help of both Colonel J.A.Dick and Senator Pearce (19), he was approved to be discharged for family reasons. On the 21st September 1916, he embarked on the HMAT A41 Bakara (20), being sent from England back to Australia on “2nd M.D. escort duty”. He was discharged on the 9th of November 1916.

After his discharge, there is very little known about Russell David Pye and his life. There were no official records on his marriage, though it is known that he was a respected and loved father, being described as such in a death notice published in the Sydney Morning Herald “Dear husband of Elsie, loved father of David and Arthur”, (24), indicating he was married and had at least 2 children, Arthur Russell Pye and David. In 1930, he sold his boatbuilding business to a Japanese boatbuilder, Nozaki Tsunejiro (25), and in 1931, he held a public auction selling motor garages and workshops at Pye’s Motor Garage (26). He died from natural causes on the 29th of September, 1973, at the age of 76 (27), with his body being donated to a university for research purposes (28).

(1) Anonymous: Virtual War Memorial | Russell David Pye

(2) Anonymous: Honour Board Project, Word Document 2

(3) Ibid (2)

(4) Ibid (2)

(5) Ibid (2)

(6) Ibid (2)

(7) Anonymous: STHS 1911 Division V First Year December.JPG

(8) Anonymous: STHS 1912 Class 1A Pye Russell.JPG

(9) Anonymous: STHS 1913 Class 2A Term 1 Pye Russell.JPG

(10) Anonymous: STHS Speech Day 1913.tiff

(11) Ibid (2)

(12) Ibid (1)

(13) NAA: B2455, PYE RUSSELL DAVID, Page 11

(14) Ibid (13), page 1

(15) Ibid (1)

(16) Ibid (1), Service History

(17) Ibid (2)

(18) Ibid (2)

(19) Ibid (13), page 34, 43

(20) Ibid (13), page 8

(21) Ibid (1)

(22) Ibid (13), page 8

(23) Ibid (13), page 35

(24) Sydney Morning Herald - Death Notice: Pye, Russell David

(25) Ibid (2)

(26) Ibid (3)

(27) Ibid (1)

(28) Ibid (2)