LATTA, Donald Maxwell
| Service Number: | 716 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 March 1916, Claremont, Tas. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 40th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 31 October 1896 |
| Home Town: | Launceston, Launceston, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Launceston Grammar School, The Geelong College |
| Occupation: | College Student |
| Died: | Tasmania, Australia, 8 October 1969, aged 72 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Carr Villa Memorial Park, Tasmania Cremation Memorials, Northern Wall, C1, 3 |
| Memorials: | Geelong College WW1 Roll of Honour, Newtown All Saints Church Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 716, 40th Infantry Battalion, Claremont, Tas. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 716, 40th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Hobart embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Jul 1916: | Embarked Private, 716, 40th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Hobart |
Help us honour Donald Maxwell Latta's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Born 31 October 1896, the son of George Joseph and Helen Josephine (Smith) Latta, of Bexley, High Street Launceston. Donald was educated at Launceston Grammar School and The Geelong College from 1913 to 1915. He enlisted in the AIF on 15 March 1916.
The Geelong College magazine, Pegasus in its May 1916 issue reported that Donald was involved in a railway accident: “Donald Latta are in camp at Claremont Tasmania and was in a railway accident in which seven people were killed, but though they were in the front carriage, which was smashed to matchwood, he escaped with a few cuts and bruises”.
Donald embarked for England with his battalion from Hobart on HMAT A35 Berrima on 1July 1916, attended No 4 Officers Cadet Battalion, Oxford in February 1917. He later embarked for France where he served through the campaigns being promoted to Lieutenant in the field on 28 June 1917. He attended a booping school in Lyndhurst and a musketry school in the field, then took leave to England in early March 1918.
Wounded in action on 27 July 1918, suffering a gunshot wound to the ankle, elbow, hip and thigh, he was evacuated on HS Carisbrook Castle to 3rd London General Hospital on 5 August. Donald returned to Australia, embarking on HMT Sardinia on 19 April 1919.
Donald’s older brother, Lt Charles Harold Latta of the 7th Battalion was fatally wounded in France, suffering a gunshot wound to the femur and died on 23 June 1916.
Excerpt from Geelong Collegians by James Affleck
Husband of Helen Mary LATTA nee THYNE
Donald Latta’s name appears on the Holy Trinity Anglican Church of Launceston Honour Roll.
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