MALSEED, John Wallace
| Service Numbers: | 7042, V351858 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 May 1916, Bendigo, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Volunteer Defence Corps (VIC) |
| Born: | Myamyn, Victoria, Australia, 23 October 1894 |
| Home Town: | Myamyn, Glenelg, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | State School Teacher |
| Died: | Natural Causes, South Portland, Victoria, Australia, 9 September 1982, aged 87 years |
| Cemetery: |
Portland South Cemetery, Victoria, Australia RC-C541 |
| Memorials: | Heywood War Memorial, Myamyn & District Honor Roll, Myamyn School No 1692 Honor Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 1 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 7042, 14th Infantry Battalion, Bendigo, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Dec 1916: | Involvement Private, 7042, 14th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Dec 1916: | Embarked Private, 7042, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Melbourne |
World War 2 Service
| 17 May 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, V351858, Volunteer Defence Corps (VIC), Condah, Vic. |
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Help us honour John Wallace Malseed's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Thomas MALSEED and Isabella MALSEED nee COWAN, Pine Grove, Myamyn, Victoria.
Husband of Cecilia Rose MALSEED nee WILKES, Pine Grove, Myamyn, Victoria.
Tony Wright (associate editor and special writer for The Age and grandson) recalled: At 21, he (John Wallace Malseed) sailed to England and went to the Western Front as part of the 14th Battalion. He was wounded by gunshot in the Battle of Polygon Wood near Ypres, Belgium in September 1917, and again near Villers-Bretonneux in France in late March 1918, leaving him to carry shrapnel in his back for the rest of his long life. Recovering in a hospital in Birmingham, England, he fell in love with his nurse, Cecilia Wilks. On the occasion of his second wounding, as he arrived at the hospital where Cecilia worked, one of the nurses said to Cecilia: “There’s a tall dark Australian at the lodge gate”, Cecilia always remembered : “My heart turned over.” They married, and she became my grandmother.
They discovered after the war there was a line drawn through Condah that didn't limit itself to colour. My grandfather was Presbyterian; Cecilia was Irish Catholic. Sectarianism ran deep, even in close families. My grandfather's family was shocked to find a Catholic in it.
When it came time for J. W. Malseed to inherit his father's farm, the will went mysteriously "missing", and the property was put up for intestate auction. It was prime land, but no neighbour – many of them my grandfather's war mates who had no taste left for unfairness – took his hands out of his pockets at the auction. My grandfather got the farm without another bid coming forth.”
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