Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur David Lattimore
Enlisted 10 February 1916 – 19th Infantry Battalion – No 5845

Arthur was 22 when he enlisted at Lismore and was assigned initially to the 45th Battalion of the 4th Division and sent to Dubbo. He had been apprenticed to his father as a coach painter but had spent two years in a part time army cadet unit. He had only married Gertrude Nell the year before and would not see her again for well over three years.
By April 1916 he had been transferred to the 19th Battalion of the 2nd Division at Liverpool as part of the 16th Reinforcement of that Battalion.
Standing very short at just under 5 foot 4 inches, he was even shorter than his cousin Fin McPhee. He had brown eyes and hair with a fair complexion. His unit left Sydney on 7 October 1916 on the troopship Ceramic bound for Plymouth in southern England where he arrived on 21 November.
After training in England, Arthur arrived in France on 21 June 1917. The 19th Battalion had already fought in major battles including Pozieres and the Second Battle of Bullecourt and had suffered high casualties. Arthur and his fellow reinforcements joined in time for the action at Menin Road and other engagements in southern Belgium.
The Battalion was heavily involved in stopping the German offensives in 1918, including at the Battle of Amiens and the attacks on Mount St Quentin and Beaurevoir.
The 19th Battalion suffered so many casualties that it was disbanded in October 1918 to reinforce other Battalions. Arthur, by now promoted to Corporal, was transferred to the 18th Battalion but saw no further action as the war ended a month later.
He was one of the few soldiers who escaped major injury or worse, being lucky enough to serve for a short time as a batman to a Major Boyden. He returned to Sydney in August 1919.
Three months after he returned home his father David Lattimore placed a public notice in the Lismore Northern Star as follows:
“I wish to inform the Public of Ballina and surrounding district I have disposed of my coachbuilding and blacksmithing business to Mr Bert Hembrow of Murwillumbah, and trust the same liberal support will be accorded him that has been accorded me during my 30 years in business amongst you.
I may just mention while passing there are very few in business in Ballina today that were in business when I started here, and I believe I am the only one here who carried on continuously without a break for 30 years.
I have not made a fortune, just a competency, but I feel conscious I have dealt out a fair deal, and every man got a decent job at a reasonable price.
With the proceeds of the sale of my business, with other assistance, I have purchased the Fruit and Confectionery Business from Mr C Koorey for my son Arthur, who is no stranger amongst you.
Born and reared in Ballina. Did his bit with thousands of his fellow Australians for two years in France and Belgium, two years of the darkest days the Empire has ever experienced. I feel it my duty as his father to try and establish him in civil life again.
And I think it is the duty of all to support these returned men of ours, and I feel sure that, if I know anything of the temper of the Richmond River people, any returned man who conducts himself and his business near the mark will get the solid support of the people.
They have done their part in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Again thanking you for your loyal support in the past and soliciting your future support for Arthur, who takes over the business before mentioned on the 1st January 1920.”
Arthur later rejoined the Army and served in World War Two as a Lieutenant. He married again at the end of that war and lived until He survived that war and lived until 1979 when he was 85.

Glendon O'Connor 2015