RETALLACK, Stanley James
| Service Number: | 4432 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Walkers Flat, South Australia, 24 November 1897 |
| Home Town: | Wickepin, Wickepin, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Perth State School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 25 August 1918, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Heath Cemetery, Picardie Plot 7 Row E Grave 10 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Wickepin District Roll of Honor, Wickepin District Roll of Honour WWI, Wickepin Fallen Soldiers Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 4432, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 4432, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Fremantle | |
| 25 Aug 1918: | Involvement Corporal, 4432, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4432 awm_unit: 11 Battalion awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1918-08-25 |
A Life Cut Short
Stanley James was Thomas and Cecillia (Cissie) Retallack’s older of two sons born at Walker’s Flat in South Australia on the 24th November 1897. Thomas had been a farmer at Narrogin when he first arrived in Western Australia in 1902 but then became a builder and contractor. Cissie found life in the country challenging so moved to Perth in the belief this would provide a better education for the boys, Stan (7) and Claud (4). She eventually refused to return to Wickepin, living a separate life and having another child, a half-brother to the 10-year-old Stanley. The boys later returned to Wickepin where they worked with their father and were active in playing local sport. While the area was opening up to settlers, fresh water from Birdwhistle Soak petered out in 1912 but fortuitously, Stanley’s father struck fresh water at about 20 metres on his land and generously shared this well with others.
Just after his 19th birthday Stan enlisted in the 11th Infantry Brigade. Brief reports were published in October 1916 of Stan being wounded, then in April of his being gassed. While his father was applying for the dissolution of his marriage to Cissie in April of 1918, Stan was suffering from his second bout of gassing.
Corporal Stanley Retallack died in action aged just 20, a month after his parents divorced. He is buried at Heath Cemetery, Harbonniers, Departement de La Somme in France.
Wickepin Argus (WA : 1910 - 1934), Saturday 5 October 1918, page 3 Definite news of the deaths of Stan Retallack and Ted Pennington, of Gillimanning, both well-known in the Wickepin district, has been received from the military authorities Much regret is felt at the sad news
West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Tuesday 26 August 1919, page 1 RETALLACK.-In loving memory of my dear son Corporal S. J. Retallack, 11th Battalion, killed in action on August 25, 1918, in France, after 3 years' service.
With the famous 11th
And their banners brown and blue,
He fought and died as he had lived,
Kind-hearted, brave and true.
No one knows how much we miss him,
Friends may think the wound has healed;
But they little know the sorrow
Deep within our hearts concealed.
Inserted by his loving mother.
Tribute written by Kaye Lee, grand-daughter of Florrie Cummings (nee Retallack)
Submitted 16 April 2020 by Kaye Lee
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