Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sydney was my 2nd cousin once removed. His father William Lake was sent from Sydney to Hobart in 1884 to establish a Mission in the town of Hobart, Tasmania, where Sydney was born. Sydney grew up in a loving, caring environment and did well at school. When he completed school he went to University Business College. He was a talented sportsman and loved music, writing, drawing and poetry. In 1904 his University Lacross Team were the Southern Tasmania Premiers (photo). He was also a member of the Derwent Rowing Club (photo)
My grandfather spoke very highly of his cousin William and his family and travelled from Sydney, NSW to attend his funeral when he passed away suddenly in Hobart in 1916, after serving the city for 32 years.
No one can say for sure but it appears that Sydney decided to join the war effort to be alongside his younger brother Walter Lake, who was just 18 when he enlisted. Both men served as stretcher bearers, Walter in France and Sydney in Egypt.
Sydney was better with a pen than a gun, with an upbringing of service, hence he volunteered for the Medical Corps having no previous medical experience. Walter ,on the other hand, had been a Sea Cadet and perhaps caught up in the early War hype of adventure, but also with a desire to serve.
At the time of Enlistment, Sydney was living in Melbourne, working for an Advertising Company, and was not married. Another brother Charles with wife Ethel were witnesses to Sydney’s Last Will & Testament before he embarked.
By 1916, Sydney’s mother Florence was a widow with two sons on the front line. Walter was wounded in France on 17/11/1916 and Sydney was killed in action in Egypt on 1/11/1917. As a result of his injury, Walter was relegated to hospital duties at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and returned home in 1919. Sydney was buried the next day at The Commonwealth War Graves in Beersheba, Palestine.
I visited Hobart Cemetery in 2010. This dear son & brother was remembered on his parents headstone as having died in action and buried in Beersheba, Palestine.
There is no boundary of time that heals the loss felt by a family of a person killed in action. The sadness is generational and Sydney is remembered by us for his gentle nature, the life he missed and for his family and relatives that endured the pain of a life taken too soon..