Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Morton was the son of Peter Jensen HOLM & Mary Jane THOMAS and was born on the 2nd of January 1886 in Orange, NSW.

His parents were married on the 12th of August 1882 in Orange, NSW.

His father was the son of Jens Andersen HOLM & Ellen Margrethe WIBE and was born on the 14th of December 1845 in Nexo, Bornholm, Denmark.
His mother was the daughter of Henry THOMAS & Elizabeth Ann ANDREW and was born on the 4th of June 1894 in Orange, NSW.

Morton was the eldest child born into this family of 7 children.

His father was a brewer in Orange and the family lived at 91 Moulder Street, Orange.

Morton was educated in Orange and served with the cadets.
After completing his schooling he gained employment with Bonnor and Co in Orange and later Gifford and Jones’s general store in Orange.

He then moved to Sydney and conducted a drapery business in Sydney for a number of years and became a master draper.

By 1908 he was managing the main general store business in the thriving coal town of Cessnock.

Morton married Leanorah Gertrude WINKLEMAN on the 21st of January 1914 in the Methodist Church, Hamilton, NSW. Leanorah was 8 months pregnant at the time of their marriage.
Leanorah was the daughter of Henry Louis Christoph WINKLEMAN & Lydia Caroline WESTENDORF and was born on the 6th of September 1893 in Walla, Walla, NSW.

They made their home on the corner of Anglo Road & Beamish Street in Campsie and welcomed their first child; Phyllis Muriel Leonore, on the 7th of February 1914 and Morton ran a drapery business from their home.

Sadly, Leanorah died of accidental burns on the 27th of October 1916 in the Western Suburbs Hospital in Croydon, NSW.
Her dress had caught alight while she was lighting the copper fire at the rear of their home in the open air.

Morton buried her in the St Thomas Church of England Cemetery in Enfield, Sydney.

After the death of his wife, Morton and little Phyllis moved back to Orange and lived with his parents.

His mother then died of Pneumonia & Typhoid Fever on the 11th of January 1917 in the Orange District Hospital. It is not known who raised Phyllis.

At the age of 32, Morton enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 7th of November 1917 in the East Sydney Recruiting Depot at 167 William Street, Darlinghurst. He was allotted the service number 7074 and posted to B Company, 1st Infantry Depot Battalion in Liverpool. He was transferred to the 18th Battalion, 21st Reinforcements and embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A38 Ulysses on the 19th of December 1917.

Morton served in France and after nearly 2 years overseas he embarked from England on board HMAT Miltiades on the 19th of June 1919, disembarking in Sydney on the 8th of August 1918.

Morton was discharged from the AIF on the 31st of August 1919.

By 1922 he was employed by Hoye & Company, Cutters & Fitters in Gurwood Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW.

Morton then moved to Elderslie (Victoria), which was a soldier's settlement near Langkoop.
He conducted a store and the post office and established a petrol and oil Depot.
He took part in all activities of the place and was a prominent worker for the Elderslie Racing club, of which he was secretary for a period, as well as a member of the committee.

In November 1933 he was admitted into the Naracoorte Hospital suffering from Appendicitis and he remained in the hospital for the next 13 months.

Morton died on the 11th of December 1934 in the Naracoorte Hospital and was buried in the Naracoorte Cemetery; Old Section, Plot 697.

His funeral was held the following day and was conducted by Messrs. Platt Bros., of Naracoorte.
Over thirty returned soldiers from the various sub-branches of the R.S. and S.I League from Apsley, Langkoop and Naracoorte paid the last tribute to a departed comrade.
His coffin was covered with the flag of the Naracoorte Sub-Branch of the R.S and S.I League and numerous floral tributes from far and near.

The pall-bearers were Messrs. N. F. Wastell (Naracoorte), Millard (Elderslie), J Taylor and D Pahl (Apsley).
An impressive service was conducted at the graveside by the Rev. F. C. Vickerman.

Phyllis was living in Sydney when her father died.

Military

At the age of 32, Morton enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 7th of November 1917 in the East Sydney Recruiting Depot at 167 William Street, Darlinghurst. He was allotted the service number 7074 and posted to B Company, 1st Infantry Depot Battalion in Liverpool.
He listed his father, of 91 Moulder Street, Orange, NSW, as his next of kin.

On the 13th of November he was transferred to the 18th Battalion, 21st Reinforcements.

Morton embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A38 Ulysses on the 19th of December 1917. Morton spent Christmas 1917 at sea and then on the 4th of January he was promoted to acting Corporal.
They disembarked in Suez on the 16th of January 1918, where they spent a week in camp and had a good look over Suez.

They were then entrained in open trucks for Port Said which was about 80 miles along the Canal.
They called Ismalia, where most of the reinforcements for Mesopotamia came from and they could see a very large camp from their train.

About 4.30pm they arrived at Port Said, alongside the boat, HMT Leasowe Castle, which they were to embark on.
From the wharf they could see hundreds of large steamers waiting a chance to get out with an escort and amongst them were some fine destroyers and battleships.

Leave was not permitted at Port Said and they boarded the ship straight away and remained there till the 22nd of January, when they made out to sea under escort of two Japanese destroyers, for where, they did not know.
After five days sailing they arrived at Taranto in Italy and disembarked on the 2nd of February. During their trip across a submarine made an attack, but was cut off and settled by one of their escorts at 3 o'clock in the morning.
At the time they were all asleep and ignorant of the affair till much later.

They camped for four days at Cinimo, just inside the entrance at Taranto and they found the camp to be much better than Suez.
None of the boys would ever forget Suez as for they were almost starved during their short stay there.

They saw very little of the Taranto Township, but a great deal of the surrounding parts when they entrained from Taranto on the 5th of February.
The country was devoid of wild timber, but beautiful fruit trees and the cultivation in the fields was a great sight, not a foot of land was wasted.
All the fences were constructed of white stone, same as the buildings and there were no bricks to be seen.

They continued through Brindisi and followed the coast line some considerable distance and then branched off to a town called Falnza, where they had a break of a few days and were given tea at the camp there.
They entrained again at night and continued on to Genoa, where the people gave them a very hearty reception along the railway lines. During the journey their bill of fare was bully beef, biscuits, bread, jam and tea once a day.

Morton and his fellow soldiers were fairly comfortable as regards to the train journey as they had only four men in a compartment, so they slept pretty well with two blankets and a great coat.
They continued through Genoa for Marseilles and to complete their “tour” through France, which they had completed in a few days, they called at Lyon where they were given refreshments.

Crossing the Alps in Italy was a most beautiful trip for them in the train of 37 carriages and an electric engine. The country was not so interesting as far as scenery was concerned as Italy was more like Australia, but there were, of course, a great number of vineyards.
They passed through Paris at night and did not see the city at all.
Then they called at another small place about 80 miles from the coast early in the morning of the 12th of February where they had breakfast and prepared to detrain at Cherbourg. They detrained at Cherbourg about 4.30pm where it was raining heavily and then went into barracks for their tea.

At 8.30pm they boarded a fast steamer and set sail for Southampton. Warships and searchlight could be seen everywhere on the English Channel and they made the crossing by midnight.
They remained on board all night and disembarked the following morning at 8am and after spending nearly 5 hours on the wharf they marched out to entrain for Fovant Camp.

Morton reverted back to the rank of Private and whilst at Fovant they did not see much of England.
The weather there was fine, but very chilly with a real Canobalas breeze blowing continually, but at least the beds where good and a fire in the hut at night time warmed them up.

They spent their first 3 weeks here in isolation and then received a few days leave before serious training was to start.
After 3 months of training Morton proceeded to France on the 13th of May 1918 and was taken on strength with the 18th Battalion one week later in the Ville-sur-Ancre sector.

By the 1st of June they moved into the Morlancourt sector in support of the 19th Battalion with working parties and a week later they moved into Reserve Position.
They then moved into the Camon area and underwent training before moving to Blangy-Tronville and then to Viller-Brettoneux by the end of June.

They spent all of July in and out of the front line and then prepared for their next Battle, Amiens.
They participated in the Battles that pushed the German Army ever closer to defeat: Amiens on the 8th of August and then the legendary attack on Mont St Quentin on the 31st of August.

They then moved onto Frise and Villers-Faucon for training in September and they then enforced the Beaurevoir Line around Montbrehain on the 3rd of October.
On the 1st of November they moved to the Aerodrome ground near Vignacourt for further training and whilst here on the 11th they received the news of the Armistice and the Australian, French and British flags were hoisted on the little church.

By Christmas 1918 they had moved onto Walcourt and then on the 11th of January 1919 Morton was promoted to Temporary Corporal.
He then gained 2 weeks leave in France on the 5th of December and when he returned to his Battalion they were located at Montigny-le-Tilleul in Belgium.
They spent March here attending lectures on land settlements in Australia, general repatriation and holding sports events.

Morton and the remainder of his Battalion was due to embark for England from Le Havre as part of Quota 38 on the 25th of April, however, as it was the 4th Anniversary of ANZAC Day, this was postponed until the 26th.
They embussed at Harfleur for Le Havre and by 6.30pm they had embarked on board SS Prince Arthur.
They disembarked at Southampton at 3am on the 27th, entrained to Warminster and then marched into No.4 Camp in Sutton Veny.

Morton embarked from England on board HMAT Miltiades on the 19th of June 1919, disembarking in Sydney on the 8th of August 1918.

Morton was discharged from the AIF on the 31st of August 1919 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.