Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Raymond (Ray) Colbert’s parents, Amelia and Tom lived on Section 36, about seven miles north of Seringa on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia where Ray was born on May 22nd, 1892. As a youngster, Ray walked into the Sheringa School with his siblings, Myrtle and Jack – a long trek by today’s standards, but there was no spare horse to ride. By 1900 the family moved to Section 98, two or three miles closer to Seringa to a property they called ‘Myrtle Vale’ (perhaps after their first child, Myrtle) but to this day it is still known as ‘Colbert’s’. A younger brother, Cecil was then able to accompany his older siblings in the walk to school.
By the time Ray was ten his father had purchased more sections of land in the Hundred of Kiana, encompassing Mount Hope so Ray and probably his brother Jack helped their father to clear the land for farming. While this was happening, Ray’s mother, Amelia was left at home for several years on her own to care for the remaining children. These were hard times, involving yoking and unyoking the bullock teams, wielding the driving whips (often up to 20 feet in length) and clearing the land of sheoaks and mallee scrub from the limestone ground. At times the roller being pulled behind the bullocks became stuck and young Ray had to clear the snag. Painfully, in one incident, his father started up the team before Ray was clear, resulting in the roller travelling over his foot. Not the sort of injury a young lad with a love of dancing appreciated.
Ray did have a sense of ‘fun’ as he was remembered for attending a dance at Kapinnie with other young men. They decided to ‘adjust’ a quietly waiting harnessed horse such that it was patiently waiting on one side of the fence, but the lads had manoeuvred the buggy to the other side of the fence. Ray was also a fit young man, often winning Sheffield races and was heavily involved in local sports, including cricket.
By the time Ray was in his mid-20’s, his family had moved to Adelaide where his much-loved mother died in the Adelaide Hospital on July 3rd 1918. Ray was already working for other farmers at Mount Shank in the South East, then when war broke out, he enlisted on February 16th 1916. He was drafted to the 27th Battalion as Service Number 4688, heading to Egypt two months later on the ship ‘Aneus’. Being a fiery young man, he did challenge authority as his promotion, demotion, promotion record indicates. Unfortunately, soon after enlisting, Ray contracted measles in 1916 and was hospitalised in France. This was then followed by mumps in 1917 and another round of hospitalisation. During his service, Ray fought in Belgium and in the battles at Ypres and Paschendale.
Within a year Ray sustained a severe gunshot wound to his leg in Ypres, France and was invalided to England where he met his 19-year-old English Rose, Gwendoline Woods, in London’s Hyde Park Gardens. Gwen had grown up in the picturesque County of Devonshire, as a Naval family child. She had served as an apprentice dressmaker, gaining her full accreditation after four years. The two were soon engaged and leaving the cold English winter on the ‘Magnetic’, arriving in Freemantle in the heat of Australia’s summer of 1920. Gwen’s winter’s coat, hat and gloves were totally inappropriate! A further boat trip to Adelaide to meet her Australian relatives preceded their wedding at St Paul’s Retreat in Glen Osmond on January 28th 1920.
Ray eventually received his War medals, the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
English traditions were abandoned as the young couple then travelled to the remote West Coast of South Australia to make a home and raise a family on un-cleared farmland with no modern facilities, electricity or near neighbours. Ray was one of the so-called soldier-settlers created post war, taking up land at Karcultaby, Yaninee and then later becoming a store keeper at Talia. It was a challenging life for Gwen and their children, Raymond (Ray), Earle George (George), Bryan, Denis, Gwendoline (Gwen) and Eric Cecil (Cecil). The family firstly lived in a tin shed before moving to ‘Marvella’ a stone house in the sandhills facing Mount Drummond. With each move taking several days, Gwen drove the horse and buggy with a young baby beside her while Ray had the wagon carrying household goods and with a house cow trailing behind. Gwen never had the money to return to England to see her relatives and endured a harsh life on the various farms where Ray worked. In total contrast to the life she had known in England, Gwen spent much of her life picking rocks from the paddocks to try and clear the soil for crops to be planted and sheep to graze, in mostly drought-ridden, baked land. This was interspersed with sewing clothes for the children from making over old clothes. Of course, the Drought and Depression made conditions financially difficult so bartering or plain meals were common but supplemented by home grown vegetables, fruit, pickles, jams and much creativity. But there was still room for dances and cricket and of course country suppers and the traditional ‘tin-kettling’ of other newlyweds! Ray was renowned for his accordion playing.
It was Gwen who provided the outward love and laughter in the home. Ray was considered very hard on his sons throughout their young lives and found it difficult to show affection to his children but was more comfortable with his grandchildren. With hindsight, access to Army records and understanding of the effects of warfare on soldiers, it is possible to put Ray’s behaviour into context.
By ’42 Gwen and Ray moved to Minnipa, following several bad seasons at Karcultaby. Their son, Earle George (George) left home early, enlisting in the CMF at 18, then the AIF to serve in WWII. Like Ray, George also was injured but then he contracted TB while in New Guinea. George met and married a beautiful Nursing Sister with the two having two young children. Sadly, George died, aged just 29. Ray and particularly Gwen relished their time with these grand children and others as they arrived.
Post war, Ray and Gwen purchased the general store at Talia, a busy township, particularly during the shearing season when the Talia Station would shear in excess of 8,000 sheep which required a gang of shearers and a full time cook. Ray still found time to play cricket, in one instance riding his push bike seventeen miles to Port Kenny to play. He also enjoyed tennis, proving to be an astute player with his wide variety of cunning shots. Of course, he and Gwen established their own garden of vegetables and fruits, plus his signature water melons. The two also had a small holding of about 80 acres which they leased, with Ray continuing to blade shear these sheep.
Finally, Gwen and Ray moved to retire at Yeelanna where they celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. They continued to have a productive garden, with Ray also daily cutting the wood for their wood stove. Despite not having a Driver’s License, for 90-year-old Ray this just meant keeping to the back roads when shopping or carting wood. By this stage Gwen had the luxury of electricity for washing and ironing, although the ivy covered ‘long drop’ was still an outside building.
While living there, Gwen finally had a visit from her sister, Kate, whom she had not seen since leaving England. Ray eventually became ill, experiencing memory loss, and was transferred from Cummins Hospital to Adelaide to reside in the Merle Martin Nursing Home at Taperoo where he died on the 10th February, 1858, aged almost 96. Gwen lived with various family members until she eventually moved into an Old Folks Home in Port Lincoln where, aged 91 she died on November 16th 1988. Both she and Ray are buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery with their sons, Raymond Jack and George.
Ray, or Gaga to his grandchildren, is remembered as a hard worker who loved his sport, gardening, fishing, music and dancing. All useful but rewarding pursuits.
Tribute provided by Kaye Lee with extensive information from Ray’s granddaughter, Wendy Duthy (nee Colbert).