Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur John James Retallack
William and Lilly Retallack had ten children, with two sets of twins, Arthur and Albert being the fourth and fifth, but first sons, born on the 24th May 1915 at Manoora Forster, SA. Sadly, the subsequent set of twins, Noel and Norman died in early childhood aged 4 and 2 years respectively. Their eighth child, Eric also died.
While Arthur and Alfred were the sporting boys in the family, their older sisters, Olive and Myrtle were winning awards for their school work and garment making. Arthur eventually followed in their footsteps gained a school award for his general exercise book aged 12 and for his agricultural notebook two years later.
From an early age, Arthur and Alf excelled in both football and tennis. As under 16s they represented Bordertown in football and continued to compete in the United Churches’ Easter Tournament, where Arthur had the edge over Alf in the Handicap singles but also played strongly in the mixed and single competitions. They also successfully paired together for doubles.
The 19-year-old, Arthur was a ready worker in the local community in the days where a constant supply of wood was required by the local Tatiara Memorial Hospital. Despite the shade temperature being over the old 100 degrees and obviously uncomfortable working conditions, Arthur and his father, William, contributed to an estimated quantity of over 60 tons of firewood being felled and sawn to stove-lengths, and about 35 tons carted and stacked in the Hospital grounds. The following is a description of the work by a representative of The Chronicle who was involved: —"At the start, half of the volunteers decided that green wood burned better than dry, although it was much harder to cut and saw. In a most commendable spirit of self-sacrifice, they worked all day in the fierce heat of a patch of shady scrub, while the lazier ones went out into the cool sun and felled and cut dry timber, which was far softer in every way than the green timber handled by the others. As the day wore on, "Card" Baker was noted practising economy by lighting his pipe with bits of fencing wire which had been lying in the sun… Late in the afternoon a cool westerly breeze lowered the temperature to such an extent that several men knocked off work on the grounds that it was now too cool to carry on there. They departed to help fight a fire at the back of Mundalla; on the plea that they liked a hot job. Owing to the profuse perspiration induced by hard work in such a temperature, trousers, which had been very tight in the waist when work started, had slack enough in them to make a waistcoat by the time the day was over, and some men - who had been stout in the morning found they had reduced their figures to such an extent that they forecasted their own dogs would be liable to mistake them for strangers and bite them when they returned home. Only towards the close of the day did women appear on the scene—a fact for which every man present was devoutly thankful, inasmuch as they feared that if their wives saw how much wood a man could cut when he really set his mind to it, they would expect the same thing to be done at home—a possibility from which even the boldest man might shrink. No matter how much wood a man chops, a woman will always manage to burn it before another day dawns. Everyone seemed to work with a will. A few axe handles were broken, but always by hard work and never by leaning on them while yarning. The day was a wonderful example of what community effort can accomplish.’
In June 1936, the twins celebrated their 21st with a lavish celebration in the local Masonic Hall where games, music and dancing were the order of the night before the two received the traditional gold key and gifts. Their mother, Lilly made a two-tier cake with the traditional candle lighting and singing of "Auld Lang Syne".
At this stage, Arthur was producing his best football, contributing to a welcome but unexpected win against Wolseley in the September Elimination Final. The local Chronicle reported that at centre wing Arthur Retallack played a very useful game for the winners, reaped a harvest of marks in the last quarter and demonstrated the importance of a place man keeping his position. He was named as an Outstanding Player with a record of 8 Marks.
On the 7th July 1942, Arthur and Alfred enlisted to serve in WWII. Coincidentally this was the same time as Private SX20308 Herbert Arthur Nash who enlisted at Frances, Balcombe, Victoria with the 2/1 Port Operating Company. Herbert married the twins’ sister, Olive during the War at Bordertown on July 29, 1944 before finally being discharged on the 9th January 1946.
Towards the end of the war communications relaxed with the local paper recording fellow old school mate, Leading-Stoker Angus Macdonald meeting up with Alf and Arthur in an unnamed location. In typical Australian tradition, troops were updated with a key tradition; ‘Moving pictures of the 1945 Melbourne Cup were filmed and flown to Borneo in time to enable the A.I.F. lads there to witness the running of Australia's classic turf event on the Thursday following the Tuesday on which the cup was run. Among those who saw the pictures at a Borneo camp were Art and Alf Retallack, who have recorded the fact in a letter received by their parents, Mr and Mrs W. J. Retallack of Bordertown, this week.’
Arthur, like his twin brother, remained unmarried, pre-deceasing Alf by 5 years. He died in 1995, aged 80. on the 26th October 2000, aged 85 years. He is buried in the Bordertown Cemetery, as are his parents William and Lilly, Arthur, the other young twin brothers Noel and Norman and Eric.
Tribute written by Kaye Lee, Grand-daughter of Blanche Cummings (nee Retallack)