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Australia

Walter, or Wally as he was known, was born in the Macleay River district near Grafton in 1870. He was the third son and seventh child of Alexander Reid Oakes and his wife Clare Eva nee Lambert. He was from the first a prominent sportsman who was involved in rowing, football, cricket, boxing and riding. He liked to take part in amateur theatricals and sometimes performed at the social evenings held by the Grafton Rowing Club where he stroked the fours crew. He was a very good swimmer too and on Good Friday 4 Apr 1890, he saved a boy from drowning at Yamba. The boy’s father, Mr ABC Smith, presented him with a gold Maltese Cross in token of his gratitude. In 1908, the cross was reported stolen in Sydney.

Little else is known of his early life but in 1888 he seems to have worked as a clerk for Messrs Foote and Donaldson who were solicitors. Later, he was employed as a teller and ledger keeper by the English, Scottish and Australian (ES&A) Bank in Grafton. He resigned from the bank in December 1894. Earlier that year, he had been involved as a witness in the theft of 1,000 pounds from the bank for which another teller stood trial. The experience may have convinced him that another career would be preferable.

When the Boer War broke out, Wally, Regimental Number 440, joined the 1st NSW Mounted Rifles on 22 Dec 1899 and was allocated to B Squadron. With four other local men, Wally was farewelled by a very large and enthusiastic crowd that same afternoon from the wharf in Grafton when they left for Sydney. On his arrival there, they assembled at Randwick and he, along with the other volunteers, was tested in riding and shooting as well as being medically examined. Wally passed all tests with flying colours and was enrolled in the regiment, being paid two shillings and three pence per day with rations and tent.

The regiment already had two squadrons in South Africa and so Wally's B Squadron was one of three more squadrons embarked at Sydney on the transport Southern Cross on 17 Jan 1900 and disembarked at Cape Town, South Africa, a month later. The three squadrons consisted of 20 officers and 385 other ranks, and 404 horses. It served in South Africa for just over a year, during which time it operated in the Orange Free State, the Transvaal and in western parts of the Cape Colony.

The regiment served with General Hamilton's force, participating in the general advance to Pretoria, moving from Bloemfontein to Kroonstadt and took part in the capture of Pretoria in June 1900. Wally wrote to the proprietor of the Grafton Argus on 18 June from Pretoria about its capture and their doings in general. Apart from the fighting around Pretoria, which he thought was ‘one of the toughest battles of the campaign’, he thought the cost of living was exorbitantly high, the weather appallingly cold and the rations dreadful. One wonders why he went back for seconds. His squadron started out with 125 men and finished 45 days later with 20 after fighting 28 engagements and marching 400 miles.

The regiment spent its last months in South Africa operating in the Cape Colony from 20 December 1900 to March 1901. At the end of March, the regiment embarked at Cape Town and returned to Australia, travelling via Fremantle and arriving at Sydney on 19 April. The troops disembarked on 1 May. Wally was discharged almost immediately and went home to Grafton. On 3 Jun 1901, he was presented with a commemorative souvenir by a Citizen’s committee.

Now either he was a very fast worker or he had left his girl friend, Clara McMahon, to go off to the war because later in 1901, they were married in Grafton. It was in fact Clara’s second marriage and at the time, she held the licence for the Market Hotel in Grafton. Later on, before May 1902, she took over the licence of the Commercial Hotel.

Just before the war, Wally was working for the Public Works Department in New South Wales on the railway extension project which took the line to Tumbarumba, southwest of Canberra, though it was a sheep paddock at the time. When the war broke out, Wally was living at 318 Liverpool St Sydney with his wife but he enlisted very early on 27 Aug 1914 for the duration and the standard four months afterwards. He completed his medical examination at Kensington and was allocated to C Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Infantry Brigade. However, later on he was transferred to A Company and went to war in that unit.

The 4th Battalion was raised in Sydney in late August 1914 so Wally would have been one of their earliest recruits. The new soldiers and a few old ones trained initially at Randwick in Sydney. No one expected proper accommodation apparently and a tent was considered suitable for the nation’s finest. Except that many of them were not, if the commander of the 1st Brigade is to be believed. He reported that the first crop consisted of ‘the worst type of man…. All the wastrels of the city’ and in addition, many of the keen country volunteers missed out even though they had in some cases resigned their jobs and in addition had to find their own board and lodging in the meantime, waiting for more places to become available. Over time, the wastrels and worst types deserted in droves and were otherwise discharged. The whole process seems to have been chaotic with little attempt to identify the men properly nor even make sure that the man medically examined was the same one who turned up in camp. There were many cases of men arriving who had conditions that no medical officer could have missed and whose services had to be dispensed with.

The GOC also had complaints about locating the brigade in Sydney on a tramline and close to its notorious fleshpots whose temptations proved too much for some of the men. Drunkenness and VD, desertion and discharge were rife in consequence. The nation’s finest should have been housed securely away from these temptations. The GOC was not confident that such a change would end all his troubles though. He pointed out many difficulties that were to restrict his progress, from poor pay arrangements to inadequate or non-existent logistics and on to insufficient clerical staff and an overabundance of paperwork which sometimes could not be done because many of the required forms were not held in stock. The GOC noted that while AIF orders asked for nominal rolls in duplicate and allowed some columns to be blank, the district HQ wanted four copies and all columns filled in. In addition, some forms were too large to be filled in on a typewriter and so had to be hand written and each one signed by the CO of the relevant battalion. Some 14 nominal rolls per company were needed which made a total of 480 per battalion which, given the lack of trained clerical staff, was a nearly impossible task. Inexperienced officers and men struggled to get themselves dressed and equipped and in consequence, the timetable for mobilization was hopelessly hopeful.

But it was soon determined that Australian troops would be shipped to Egypt for training prior to moving to France and the western front. But when Turkey entered the war on 29 Oct 1914 and posed a threat to the Suez Canal, their role changed to include protection of that very important waterway.

In the meantime, the first convoy was being organised which would take Australian troops to Egypt. At 1100 on 19 Oct, the men of the 4th Battalion joined thousands of others in boarding transports which would join the convoy. They were conveyed by tram and ferry to Sydney Harbour where they boarded the HMAT Euripides A14 which was anchored in Farm Cove, because docking at an actual wharf was deemed too expensive. The weather was very poor, rain and a strong southerly making conditions uncomfortable. The officers though were very pleased with the smoothness of the operation for apparently the men and animals all behaved very well indeed and had it not been for the crowds of well-wishers who flocked around the men, it would have had the feel of a very special Army operation, apparently. That same day, Wally was promoted to Sergeant, still in A Coy, probably in recognition of his previous experience. They sailed at 0600 the following morning into heavy rain, strong southeasterly wind and an angry sea. The men spent the day getting themselves organised and being seasick for many of them had never set foot on a ship before. Slowly, they recovered and settled down but it was not until 21 Oct at 1000 that they were paraded and inspected. They did this every morning and evening for the remainder of the voyage. Very early in the voyage, venereal diseases were prominent among the medical cases and gambling was such a problem that a special force of detectives was employed to keep an eye on suspects. One particularly dismal fact became distressingly obvious fairly quickly. When the men went to boat drill stations to practise abandoning ship should that become necessary, it was found that they were 700 places short in the ship’s boats. There is no mention of how seats would be allocated should the need arise though.

They arrived at Albany, the convoy’s collection point, on 26 Oct where the ship anchored. No leave was given to the men though as their stay was to be short. Here many of the recruits came down with influenza, 160 on 29 Oct alone. Having so many men in close proximity, for many the first time in their lives, gave the ideal breeding ground for such diseases. And the VD cases had risen to 26. By the next day, there were 32. It plagued the AIF for the remainder of the war.

At 0600 on 1 Nov 1914, the convoy sailed off into a calm sea and fine day and though they received news that Turkey had thrown in her lot with the Central Powers and was now officially an enemy state, the tranquility of their voyage was not disturbed. The news that HMAS Sydney had sunk the German cruiser Emden caused much more excitement. Their journey continued calmly though and the men did as much light training as the limited space would allow. But several men died of influenza and pneumonia and were buried at sea. They arrived at Colombo at 1900 on 15 Nov and anchored outside the breakwater. They spent two days in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, and sailed off again at 1900 on 17 Nov. On 21 Nov, the whole fleet apparently stopped to allow the rescue of two men who had fallen overboard from HMS Shropshire when it was rammed by the HMAT Ascannius A11. Luckily, both men were recovered. The remainder of the voyage was uneventful and they arrived in Aden at 0700 on 25 Nov.

They remained there only for 24 hours and so at 0700 on 26 Nov, they departed for Suez where they arrived at 1400 on 1 Dec. Here too they had but a short stay, departing again at 2330 that night. The next day at 1400, they arrived at Port Said for an even briefer visit and left at 2000 that evening. After sailing through the Suez Canal that night, they reached Alexandria at 1100 the next morning. During 4 and 5 Dec, the battalion disembarked from the Euripides and were conveyed by train to Cairo from where they marched to Mena Camp.

For the next eight days, the men settled into the camp, acclimatised themselves to the local conditions and got organised to start their training. The camp was situated a little to the northwest of the great pyramids and so not far from the Nile River.

On 14 Dec 1915, the battalion began its training in earnest. Naturally, being the army, they marched endlessly over the hot and dusty plains around their camp but there was much technical training too in the use of weapons, field craft, first aid and many other skills that the soldier of the time needed. Firing their rifles was not one of them just yet though and their musketry training did not start until 4 Jan 1915.

Wally had the misfortune to injure his foot on 20 Dec and was sent off to the 1st Australian Filed Ambulance which was acting as the Divisional Hospital in Mena Camp. He spend two days in the hospital recovering and was discharged back to duty on 22 Dec, in nice time for Christmas. Unfortunately, we have no information on how they celebrated Christmas but on 1 Jan 1915, the battalion instituted a four-company structure by amalgamating four of their eight companies with four others. It was considered that the lessons of the war in Europe thus far indicated that larger units were necessary in view of the losses now expected. Through January and February, the men continued their training and were allowed occasional leave. However, the GOC 1st Infantry Brigade, of which the 4th Battalion was part, thought the men were ‘behaving too freely’ in Cairo and so posted a picquet there to deter miscreants. A lot of their training concerned night operations, marches, dawn attacks and defence exercises. Some lessons at least were being gleaned from the torture on the western front. Local lessons were harder to learn. Marching through the desert sand was problematical at best and even the brigade commander thought it must have been tough going when he discovered that his men took 29 minutes to cover a mile, half to normally expected pace. By 12 Jan though, the GOC was convinced that his men had reached a very high standard of training to the point where he believed that they could be ready to march into the field at 24 hours notice.

On 22 Feb 1915, the brigade was informed that they were definitely to move to Europe in a fortnight’s time. Needless to say, that did not happen for more than twelve months and only after their baptism of fire at Gallipoli. But they were to remain in Egypt for some time yet, plagued by flies and dust storms and even the occasional fall of rain. Dust storms caused the cancellation of exercises as well as making living conditions very difficult indeed. Into March, the training regime continued, especially the night operations.

In early April, the higher commanders were instructed to prepare for the support of the naval operations in the Dardanelles. It seems that by 3 Apr, the brigade HQ was aware of the likely role they would have and had begun operational planning while at the same time, the troops were moving out of Mena Camp to Alexandria. The 4th Battalion left from Cairo Main Station at 0530 on 4 Apr, having entrained at 0250. They reached Alexandria at 1055. They marched to the docks and boarded the SS Lake Michigan which left port at 1700 the next afternoon. On 7 Apr, they arrived off Lemnos at 1900 and an hour later they were anchored in Mudros Bay. The GOC was a member of the party that boarded the HMS Queen Elizabeth at 0800 on 12 Apr to reconnoitre the west coast of Gallipoli, possibly displaying a large sign in Turkish saying ‘We’re coming soon.’ They came back again the next day aboard HMS Queen, with an even larger sign. While all this advertising of their intentions was going on, the troops had been practising disembarking from ships and into the small boats in which they would be taken ashore.

The original date for the landing was 22 Apr but due to bad weather, it was postponed several times and finally, 25 Apr was selected. On 23 Apr, the GOC transferred to the Lake Michigan for the assault. By the next morning, the wind was rising but at least it was not raining. By midday, the wind had dropped to a dead calm. The Lake Michigan anchored a little way north of Lemnos around 1600 but by 2300, it left its anchorage and steamed towards Anzac Cove. By early the next morning, it was in position about a mile north of Gaba Tepe where it was greeted by a Turkish shell at 0450. It was not till 0645 that the first troops left the ship in their small boats and headed towards the shore. It took all morning for the 4th Battalion to be ferried to shore but by 1305, all the men were landed. Not until 1655 were they ordered to move forward in support of the 8th Battalion on the right of the newly won position. By 1845, the battalion was entrenched in the northeast corner of the lodgement where they resisted Turkish attacks through the night. All the companies were in the line and they sustained some 60 casualties that night.

Monday dawned a calm, clear day, ideal for landing the remaining men and stores on the beach. The men were hard at work improving their hastily scraped trenches, deepening them and connecting a proper trench system to the rear. As they worked, the enemy snipers made their presence felt using their superior position in the field from which they could see much of the Australian line. Other men brought forward ammunition and rations and much needed water. Around 1630, they moved forward but were met by a hail of shrapnel which drove them back to the precarious safety of their rudimentary trenches. A little later, they tried again and this time a party of their men, about 200 strong and under the direct command of the CO, Lt Col Onslow Thompson, was isolated and forced to withdraw. During this action, the CO was killed and by this time, the battalion had suffered about 150 casualties. Eventually, the survivors withdrew to their original positions to reorganise, still harassed by snipers. During the night, they were constantly under sniper fire but their own artillery had begun firing on the right of their position and naval gun fire, their targets sometimes illuminated by searchlights, helped to subdue the Turkish fire. The men had little rest though as they tried to improve the protection offered by their trenches. The diary writer noted in the margin, ‘All available time occupied in improving trenches.’ Tuesday, 27 Apr, started off fine but by 1630, rain fell in heavy squalls. The snipers were at work all through the day and the battalion suffered some more casualties. The brigade commander was also killed by a sniper and loses among the brigade’s officers were especially high. Around 2000, the Turks opened a heavy artillery bombardment as a prelude to an attack but although they came on using British bugle calls to create confusion, they were driven off with the help of the field artillery situated on their right flank.

After that incident, things quietened down and work continued until about 0400 the next morning when daylight brought out the Turkish snipers. The day opened bright and sunny but by 1800 heavy rain fell, lasting till 0400 the following morning. During the day, they had around 20 casualties from snipers, mostly shot in the head. The naval fire helped to keep the Turks under cover though. The morning of 29 Apr was fairly quiet and they received word that they would be relieved by the 3rd Battalion at 0900 the following morning. The men continued to dig their way to some sort of safety with whatever tools they had and desperation made them work very hard indeed. The 3rd Battalion arrived on time and the 4th worked their way back towards the beach to find some sort of sheltered rest area. There they reorganised but at 1930 that evening, they were ordered to reinforce the Royal Marine Light Infantry Brigade in the centre of the position. Their route was obstructed by snipers and artillery and only 42 men actually went into the forward trenches. In the six days of April since they landed, the battalion lost 28 men killed, 95 wounded and another 67 were missing, many of whom were lost among the gullies and hills above their eventual positions.

All through 1 May, they were sniped and bombarded by Turkish artillery as they worked on their improvements to their defences during the long, fine, clear day. Major AJ Bennett was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and gazetted to command the battalion. Sometimes their work was so apparent to the enemy that it drew heavy fire and had to be stopped until nightfall.

The succeeding days were calm and bright too and work went on. The Turks were quieter now although their snipers were still active. The Australians used up all the sand bags they had and were looking for more to consolidate their positions. The men of the battalion noted that the enemy had started to use hand grenades but initially without much success. The only thing that seemed in their favour was the weather which continued fine and calm. The work went on as did the sniping which caused a number of casualties. On 3 May, Wally was admitted briefly to No 1 Australian Field Ambulance but we are not told why. Evidently, he was not there long and was soon back with his unit. Thirty-nine reinforcements joined them on 7 May but they were still losing men to enemy fire.

Battalion Routine Order No 1 was issued on 8 May. It was about general housekeeping and administration (get your properly completed, triplicated returns in on time, or else) both of which wended their boring way through the trenches and among the casualties just as though they were in peacetime camps. They developed the practice of sending 25% of the men back to the beaches to rest each day but at night, work went on consolidating their defences. Snipers were very active and killed two men on 10 May and wounded two more. The next day saw another four men killed and three wounded. It rained briefly on the morning of 12 May but cleared up quickly. They tried to get some overhead cover in place during the day and lost two more men killed and two wounded. Enemy shelling stopped work intermittently and of course the sniping was a constant threat. Each day, 25% of the men went back to the beach area to rest while the remainder worked on their trenches. Each day brought its list of killed and wounded, mostly victims of snipers who had many good positions from which to see the Australians and fire on them. The Turks too were digging new entrenchments, quite vigourously the war diary reports.

Work and snipers were their lot until the early morning of 19 May when the Turks attacked at about 0330. They moved forward towards the front of D Coy but when fired on, turned to their right and moved across the front of Wally’s company, A Coy. The Turks came on a little on the left but by 0930, they retired. Both side suffered casualties but the attacking troops suffered most. The defending Australians, still being very inexperienced troops, exposed themselves overmuch in their zeal to defend their positions and so had more casualties than they should have. After they retired, the Turks opened up a heavy artillery fire on the battalion’s positions, particularly on those of D Coy. The battalion lost 14 killed and 31 wounded before midday and during that night, they lost one more killed and seven wounded.

At 1730, 20 May, the Turks requested a ceasefire to allow them to bury their dead but this was refused although the Australians had the good grace to tell the Turks if they wanted a truce, there was a ‘right way to do it.’ Things went quickly back to normal, work and sniping. And of course more casualties.

Eventually, on 24 May, the Turks asked nicely enough and a truce was arranged to bury the dead. From 0700 until 1630, both sided retrieved their fallen and buried them. The Australians, fearing duplicity, stood to arms at 1615, just in case but the truce reached its full term without incident. Soon after though, the war was on again in earnest. More work and sniping, for both sides. By this time, their position had been christened McLaurin’s Hill, after the commander of the 1st Brigade killed by a Turkish sniper, facing Lone Pine where the Turks were digging very strong defences. On 27 May, the Turks attacked again but were driven off successfully by the battalion’s defensive fire. They suspected that the Turks had begun tunneling towards their lines and so began their own tunnels from the Johnson’s Jolly area. Men were dying each day, four on 28 May, and more were being wounded but there was no progress and the heights above the Australians looked even more impregnable as each day passed. The next day, they started their fourth tunnel and the Turks kept digging too though exactly what they were doing was not known.

On 29 May, an especially troubling discovery was made. Twenty-six reinforcements reached them that morning but eight of them had not so much as fired a rifle in their lives before. So much for their Egyptian training. Untrained men in such a situation were a double-barreled problem; they were no use to anyone and a danger to themselves and those around them. On 31 May, another 110 reinforcements arrived but apparently they could fire a rifle, as could the 17 men who returned from hospital. The day was also notable as the first one since the landing on which they sustained no casualties. Their trenches were getting deep enough to provide real shelter from snipers and some protection from the Turkish shrapnel.

On 1 Jun 1915, the CO of the battalion was becoming distressed as his men were throwing ration tins over the parapet when they had finished their dubious contents. So in Battalion Routine Order No 23 of 1 Jun, he instructed them to desist. He clearly did not want his battlefield to become an untidy rubbish tip. And breakfast was to be completed by 0715 and everything tidied up nicely by 0730 to allow the day’s fighting to be held on a nicely cleaned and neatened battlefield. He even ordered that brushes were ‘to be freely placed on the parapets and frequently renewed.’ I am sure the men were greatly comforted by this care and concern that their sense of the aesthetic should not be offended.

On the whole, June passed quietly, by Gallipoli standards, and no territorial changes were made either way. In reading the battalion routine orders day by day, one has the feeling that they were settling in for the long haul. Housekeeping was high on the agenda as were training and discipline. On 19 Jun, a Field General Court Martial sentenced a man to six months imprisonment with hard labour for being asleep on sentinel duty. This was considered a major crime, perhaps warranting the death penalty, because it imperiled the whole of the Anzac position. The war diary itself speaks mostly of ‘trench garrison duty’, the unspoken connotation being that they were there merely to hold the ground they had captured. Only one offensive action is noted; the battalion cooperated in an attack on Quinn’s Post. Beyond that, they were only holding their positions, as far as the front line men saw it at least.

June moved inconspicuously into July but little changed. Trench garrison duty went on although a warning of an imminent Turkish attack was received on 21 Jul, nothing eventuated and the tedium of trench life continued. We hear little of casualties at this stage but they were being inflicted still although at a much reduced rate from those of the early days. About this time, it was A Coy’s turn to have some rest in the rear area and they withdrew to Shrapnel Gully to a spot at least out of direct observation by the enemy. They were to spend three weeks there before trudging back to the lines.

July petered out quietly and August was in no hurry to charge in. Trench garrison duty continued for the 4th Battalion until 5 Aug when they were relieved by the 8th Battalion and tramped back to Shrapnel Gully for a very well earned rest. But it lasted only a day for the next afternoon at 1515, the battalion was moving forward again preparatory to an attack on the enemy line now known to us as the Battle of Lone Pine. To the soldiers though, it was Lonesome Pine they were attacking. At 1730, A, C and D Coys jumped the bags and charged the Turk trenches. The attack was eventually successful but not before the battalion, and indeed all the attacking units, suffered many casualties. One of those who did not make it to the Turkish lines was Wally.

For most of the men who became casualties, we know almost nothing of their circumstances but Wally is a very prominent exception. We have his story straight from his own lips, or rather pen. From hospital, he wrote a letter about the battle of Lone Pine and his experience to his sister who allowed it to be printed in the Daily Advertiser in Wagga Wagga:

‘On the 6th inst. we were ordered to make a bayonet charge on the Turkish trenches which were 100 yards or more in front of us. Our guns bombarded the trenches for about an hour first, and as soon as the guns stopped (at 5.30 pm) we had to rush the trenches. I was in the first line out of the trenches but with dozens of others, fell before going many yards and never reached the Turkish trenches although we did take them and held them but we paid dearly for the 100 yards of ground captured. ……………… they say that our battalion was relieved after holding the trenches for 70 hours (they were relieved on the night of 9 Aug) and out of 800 men, they could only muster 153 men and two officers. I heard that out of A Company (my company) which was about 200 strong, only 20 odd men were left, one officer and no non-commissioned officers.

After I was hit, I made my way back to our trenches and had my wound dressed by the ambulance men (at the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station) then made my way down to the beach to get a boat to be taken off to the hospital ship, but the beach was strewn with wounded and dying and I laid (sic) there until one or two o’clock in the morning and then a punt load was rowed over to the hospital ship. After bumping against her for an hour or two, we were taken aboard. Blood had been trickling down my back all night long as I lay down and as my clothes were not removed until night, they were all stuck to me, and it gave me (illegible) tearing my shirt off. I would have given a sovereign for a cup of tea as I had nothing from 12 o’clock the morning of the attack. We only carried two biscuits a man, and unfortunately the pocket my biscuits were in was cut off when they were dressing my wound.

We dropped a lot of wounded at Mudros Island and took the serious cases on to Alexandria and then on to here (No 3 Auxiliary Hospital, Heliopolis). The padre on board told me on Thursday that 43 had been buried at sea coming over and I know that some more died after that. There were an awful lot of amputations on board the boat, five arms and one leg being taken off men just near me.'

As he had gone forward, Wally had been shot through the right arm, the right humerus near shoulder joint being shattered by a bullet. He was very lucky though for had the bullet struck him a few inches to his left, he would have been in a very bad way indeed. As it was, he was able to make his way back under his own steam to find help. He also escaped the ferocious hand to hand fighting that ensued once the battalion reached the Turks. Lone Pine was a very nasty fight in anyone’s language.

Wally’s letter went on to describe his recovery.

'Cairo is hot but not as bad as I expected, as there is always a breeze. We were first sent to No 1 Hospital (admitted 13 Aug 1915) which is a tremendous building, formerly an hotel, said to have cost one and a half million to build. There must be 1000 bedrooms in it, lovely airy rooms, walls 20 feet high and every convenience but after a few days, all who could walk were sent over here (No 3 Auxiliary Hospital – admitted 16 Aug). It is a sports club and they have put a roof of matting over the ground and I suppose about 1000 wounded are here. It never rains here so that we only require a roof for shade. It was grand to be able to get into a bed again and to be able to take ones boots off. I slept right through the first two days and nights only being awakened for meals. I was 14 weeks in the trenches, sleeping fully dressed all the time, but it’s lovely now without the vermin.

I am getting on well. My arm is starting to set now and the wound has dried up. Fortunately it was a rifle bullet and only made a small wound. Some of the wounds from shells and bombs are awful. It took us a week to get here and my arm was not put properly in splints until I arrived here so I suffered a lot in consequence.”

On 20 Aug, Clara received a telegram from the Army to tell her that Wally had been wounded. He remained in No 3 Auxiliary Hospital and on 12 Sep was finally x-rayed which showed a badly damaged humerus. All movement involved in elevating the right arm was greatly weakened. After further tests, it was recommended that he should be sent back to Australia for treatment which could not be given in Egypt. On 15 Sep 15, he was transferred to No 3 Auxiliary Convalescent Depot where he was again examined and the recommendation confirmed. On 26 Oct, Clara was advised that he would be returning home and about that time, he was transferred to the Australian Army Camp at Suez. On 29 Oct, he boarded the Hospital Ship Kanowna for the journey home. It docked in Sydney on 22 Nov and Wally was admitted to No 4 Army General Hospital. Again, his case was reviewed and a recommendation made that he should be fit for further service after a month of treatment. He was reviewed on 2 Dec and again on 5 Jan 1916 and on each occasion, the same optimistic evaluation was forthcoming – a month of treatment and you’ll be as right as rain. In between times, Wally was able to return to Wagga to visit some friends. In early February, he was granted leave till 8 Mar on which date, he reported to the Army Depot at Liverpool. On 10 Apr, it appears that his old ankle injury, sustained in Mena Camp while marching, flared up again and he was treated for it. It was noted that he was in constant pain and unable to march. His next medical board convened on 12 Apr and recommended that he be discharged because of a permanent injury to the ankle so that he could not march. The board’s opinion was that his earning capacity was unimpaired, thereby saving the poor taxpayers the expense of a pension. This recommendation was accepted and Wally was discharged on 1 May 1916 in Sydney.

He was later awarded the 1914/15 Star, the Victory Medal and British War Medal for his service.

It seems he settled back into civilian life in Sydney. We find him in May 1921 when he had to identify the body of his sister, Emily Lambert Oakes, who had been killed when she was hit by a train at Cabramatta on 13 May. After that, he and Clara disappear until we find Wally in 1930, living in Coonabarabran and working as a librarian. He was for many years the secretary of the Coonabarabran Returned Soldiers’ League. There is no sign of Clara though and it appears that either she had died or they were separated. I can find no evidence either way though. It being Clara’s second marriage, her maiden name is unknown which makes tracing her very difficult. We know that Wally stayed in Coonabarabran for the rest of his life and when he died there on 11 Apr 1940, he was buried in the local cemetery. The Richmond River Herald noted his passing and gave some details of his life in their obituary of 19 Apr 1940. However, where one might expect to read that he was survived by his wife or that she had predeceased him, she is mentioned only is as much as that they had been married. No children are mentioned and I can find no records of their ever having had any. My supposition is that they separated before 1930.

We cannot be certain of course but it does not sound like Wally had a happy life after the war. What its impact was on him we cannot know but he was among the lucky ones to come back reasonably fit. He spent over three months on Anzac but did not serve on the western front and so although his experience of the war was truly horrible, it did not extend to the wholesale terror and crushing futility that men endured on that front. Nevertheless, he certainly suffered cruelly while he served his country with devotion and bravery in two wars. He is also one of the few whose story we can still hear in his own words. For his service and his suffering, he is worthy of our gratitude and deserves our remembrance as a man of strong community spirit and selfless generosity.