TARRANT, Eric Garwood Eames
| Service Number: | 51190 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 January 1918, Newcastle |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Moree, New South Wales, Australia, 17 September 1900 |
| Home Town: | Wyong, Wyong Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Drover - later Trade Union Official |
| Died: | Natural causes, Fennell Bay, New South Wales, Australia, 21 May 1984, aged 83 years |
| Cemetery: |
Beresfield Crematorium, NSW Cremated |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Jan 1918: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 51190, Newcastle | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jun 1918: | Involvement Private, 51190, 1st to 15th (NSW) Reinforcements, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Field Marshal embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 19 Jun 1918: | Embarked Private, 51190, 1st to 15th (NSW) Reinforcements, SS Field Marshal, Sydney | |
| 4 Feb 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 51190, 2nd Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Eric Garwood Eames Tarrant enlisted in early 1918 under the alias 'Robert James Stewart' because he was under age and impersonated a friend who was over the military enlistment age to ensure his acceptance.
The sixth eldest of nine children of James Tarrant, a railway employee, and his wife Louisa Jane Fisher, Eric Tarrant was born at Moree, New South Wales in September 1900. Three of his elder brothers, Richard, John and Harry had all enlisted in the early stages of World War 1 and were on active service at the time he joined in January 1918 at 17 years and four months.
Despite using an alias, he listed 'Mrs Tarrant of Wyong' (his mother) as his postal address.
After embarking at Sydney he arrived in England in late August 1918 and proceeded to undertake further training. Although allocated to reinforcements, periods of illness restricted his transfer to the front leading up to the Armistice on 11 November 1918.
He returned to Australia in late 1919 and work on the railways as a fettler and later as a railway ganger. He also became heavily involved in the union movement, holding the position of President of the Railway Services Association, subsequently known as the National Union of Railwaymen. Eric Tarrant held strong views opposing potential communist inflences on the Australian union and labour movements as well as being an advocate for better quality education and education facilities.
Eric Tarrant married twice - Ethel Florence Lillian Churchill (1902-1929) at Murrumburrah in 1921 with whom he had three children, and Lillian Dulcie Schumack (1906-2003) in 1938.
Eric Garwood Eames Tarrant died at Fennell Bay on Lake Macquarie, New South Wales in 1984 and was cremated.
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