Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

In 2012 I mentioned to a friend that my paternal grandfather had disappeared around the time of my father's birth in 1907 and no one had heard of him since. There was no death record in the Uk where he was born, and no trace of him at all. My friend suggested I Google his name, which I did "Benjamin James Cross" and within a few seconds the 98 year mystery was solved! My grandfather had disappeared to Australia, we still know not when, but had joined the Australian Army and his whole 1st WW record was visible on-line.
I knew it was him, and no-one else of the same name, as he provided his mother's name as his next of kin, an address I knew well as one one of the family addresses from the past. (Incidentally it is Harrow Road, not Hanon Road which is a mis reading of the copperplate writing of the time.)
What surprised me a little more is that when he enlisted he said that he was single - this was not true. He was actually married to my grandmother Alice Abigail Cross nee Fenn b 10 January 1881. Presumably he did this in order to keep more of his pay - it would have been docked if it was known he had a wife, and even more if he had children. He had two sons, William John Cross my uncle, and Arthur Edward Cross b 15 February 1907. Neither ever knew their father, and hs wife never knew if she was a widow or not.
So, thanks to the online material my family and I know 100% more about my grandfather than we knew previously.
However, there is a lot to discover, and possibly shocks to come. I am still unaware of what Benjamin James Cross did from the moment he disembarked back to Ausralia. I may have Australian relatives I know nothing about, and you may have English relatives I.e his English family, that you are equally ignorant about.
I was thrilled that my grandfather survived the war, and was really pleased he chose to join the hospital, helping others in their greatest time of need. However this means that there is no memorial with his name on it, no poppy at the Tower of London, no reading of his name, no public remembrance. He is one of the forgotten. So, thank you, RSL for this wonderful opportunity to add my knowledge to help build up his story.
As I write this it is almost exactly 100 years ago to the day since he joined up. What an appropriate time to discover this site.