Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

UNIT NUMBER 431 Norman Terry, born in St Kilda, Victoria on January 10 1890, was a son of Marmaduke and Cathie Terry. Sadly for Norman, he was only five when his mother passed away and big changes were soon afoot for his family. Leaving Victoria behind, Marmaduke packed up his little family of four small children and came to restart life in Perth. But it was not to stay a little family for long. In 1900 Marmaduke married Filumena Bussell and Norman had a new stepmother. It was not too long before his seven new brothers and sisters arrived to keep them all company. 1910 was the year that the family relocated from Perth to Margaret River when Norman bought the old Bussell homestead, Wallcliffe House for Filumena. The house was always full of people and quite the social hub of the district. Growing up and working on the farm, Norman was in one of the first intakes of men to enlist in 1914 as evidenced by his unit number. He travelled to Perth to the Helena Vale Army Barracks to sign his papers on September 22. Having been an army volunteer before the war, Norman would have settled in well to the training regime which lasted for three months, part of which would have been overseen by a local Margaret River man and family friend, Lance Andrews, who was already a sergeant at the camp. Travelling by train together, they arrived in Victoria before boarding HMAT A40 “Ceramic” and sailing to Alexandria. Assigned to the 16th Battalion, this was in turn in the 4th Brigade, which was joined with the New Zealand Army Corps thus creating the ANZAC force. Fighting through from the beginning of the landings at Gallipoli, Norman was wounded slightly in the head on May 5 1915. Dysentery was a problem for the troops and after months of difficulties, Norman was transferred to the No 1 General Hospital. Sent back to fight in the trenches, ear problems put him on the hospital ship “Huntsgreen” but he was transferred to England until September 1915. Back in action in January 1916, the battalion was in Egypt but about to be sent on to France. Fighting through the Battle of the Verdun and then on to the Battle of the Somme, enduring artillery barrages, massed infantry charges and some hand to hand fighting as well as the appalling conditions of life in the trenches, Norman was wounded again – shell shocked - in mid August and promoted to Corporal shortly after. The Battles of Passchendaele and Messine followed. By June 7-13 1917 Norman was employed as a scout. In charge of a section of scouts, it was the job of these men to be fully acquainted with the layout of the land in front of Allied lines and all of the approaches to it. During the advance, Norman was to go out and reconnoiter the ground in front. This he did repeatedly during the week, often taking officers out with him to also reconnoiter the lie of the land. During the night of 11-12 June, Norman was again out in front of newly gained ground. As the troops dug in, Norman and his scouts again advanced again and as he explored, he provided cover for the troops behind. For these gallant actions, Norman was awarded the Military Medal on June 23 1917. A month later, Norman was sent to the No 5 Officers Cadet Unit in England for officer training. Five months later he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant before being posted to General Infantry Reinforcements before being sent back to France. In January 1918 Norman was sent on a Vickers Machine Gun Course, receiving a very satisfactory report. June was the Battle of Hamel in which the Americans joined the Aussies and by September Norman had well earned leave for a week before he was sent off on an Intelligence Course, again receiving his commanders’ praise for his efforts. Norman’s war finally came to a close when he was repatriated t Australia aboard the “Leicestershire” arriving home on December 9 1918. He received an honorable discharge on March 16 1919 and resumed life back in Margaret River. Trying and failing at an enterprise, sleeper cutting with his brother Don, Norman went back to farming and married Kathleen Burnett in 1922. They farmed and ran a business here before moving to Perth. He enlisted for WW2 1941-47, had three children, and passed away in Perth in 1954. 1914/15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal Military Medal