Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Ernest Elston was born in Camperdown, Victoria on 10 May 1868 to William Leo A. Elston, a Manager with National Bank of Australasia and his wife, Eleanor Maria (nee Wigg). (Source: VIC BDM: ELSTON William Ernest (Father's name) William Leo (Mother's maiden name) Eleanor Maria (Wigg) Reg. year1868 Reg. no7916; day and month - from Service Record).

William Ernest Elston was the Manager of Grenada Station, a sheep station at Cloncurry at the time he enlisted in the Third Queensland Contingent; this was a position he was to hold for many years. (Source: 1915 'ROLL OF HONOUR.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 31 May, p. 10.).

William, along with other soldiers in the Third Queensland Contingent to South Africa, left Brisbane on the 1 March 1900 aboard the "Duke of Portland", arriving at Cape Town on the 2 April 1900. The were to see a lot of action, including at Mafeking and at Elands River. "He was one of the little band of 300 Australians who, with about 200 Rhodesians, withstood a force of Boers nearly eight
times their number at Elands River." (Source: "FALLEN AND WOUNDED." The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924) 12 May 1915, p 2).

Like several others from the Third Queensland Contingent (both officers and rank and file), William Ernest Elston did another tour of duty in the Anglo-South Africa (Boer) War. He re-enlisted and was part of the Sixth Queensland Imperial Bushmen - and was commissioned as Lieutenant William Ernest ELSTON.

Civic 'duty' continued upon his return home and in 1904 his name is listed in the newspapers as being included in the list of new Justices of the Peace commissioned in Brisbane. (Source: "NEW JUSTICES OF THE PEACE." The North Queensland Register (Townsville, Qld. : 1892 - 1905) 18 April 1904: 29.).

The call to duty was again strong when War broke out in 1914 - William Ernest Elston was by this time living in Western Australia at Hettie Siding via Wongan Hills, when he determined to fight for his country. He applied for Commission on 8 October 1914. In several newspaper articles after he went missing at Gallipoli, it was mentioned that several of the former Third Queensland Contingent who had been present at the Battle of Elands in South Africa in 1900, met up again on the troopship Ceramic on the way over to Egypt.

As it turned out, William and a party of other men in his battalion, had been captured by the Turks not long after landing at Gallipoli, near Gaba Tepe (NAA: Record 3541804). He was not officially reported a Prisoner of War until 5 July 1915, when the American Embassy in Constantinople advised the Australian Army (NAA: Record 3541804). He was kept prisoner of war at Affion Kara Hissar. He was released in November 1918 when he was repatriated to Alexandria and then returned to Australia aboard H. T. Port Darwin. He had been promoted to Captain on 15 August 1918.

William and Rose Linton Gustavson lived together as a married couple from at least 1914 when he first listed her as his wife on his application for Commission in the AIF. They did not officially wed until 1936 (in South Australia) when both were in their 60's. This is perhaps because Rose’s first husband, Gustav Gustavson (she had married him in 1890 in Queensland) had by 1933 passed away. By all accounts in the newspapers, Gustav Gustavson, a labourer, was a nice person when sober, but terribly brutish when drunk.

Groom Given Name(s): William Ernest
Groom Last Name: ELSTON
Bride Given Name(s): Rose Linton
Bride Last Name: GUSTAVSON
Marriage Date: 1936, February 19
Marriage Place: Registry Office Adelaide
Groom Age: 67
Groom Approx. Birth Year: 1869
Groom Marital Status: S
Groom Father: William Lea Alfred ELSTON
Bride Age: 64
Bride Approx. Birth Year: 1872
Bride Marital Status: W
Bride Father Name: Robert POPPERWELL
District: Adelaide
Symbol:
Book/Page: 365/594

William Ernest Elston passed away in 1955, in Perth, Western Australia.

(Source: WA BDM)
Name: William Ernest Elston
Birth Year: abt 1868
Age: 87
Death Place: Western Australia
Father's name: William L A
Mother's name: Eleanor M
Registration Year: 1955
Registration Place: Perth, Western Australia
Registration Number: 1192