Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

I never knew my Great Uncle Howard in person as he died before I was born but the stories told by my grandmother, Jean Waters of Albert Park, of her beloved brother kept his memory alive and we felt we knew him, or at least his character.

Great Uncle Howard served in Borneo and on return to Australia he was a patient at the Daw Park Repatriation Hospital and had malaria and was extremely ill. He was discharged home to Calca and upon returning to the family property found that his cousins had all died in the war. He was left alone to run the family property and the ensuing grief and the trauma of war were too much for him to bear. My grandmother inherited the family property and was devastated by her brother's passing. She never returned to Calca due to her grief for the loss of her beloved brother.

The days they spent riding their horses, playing with each other and their friends and cousins were happy days for the Howell children. Howard was a boarder at Prince Alfred College and was a well educated young man who joined the army by enlisting at Wayville and went off to do his duty for King and Country as so many young men did in both WW1 and WW2. He was a keen cricketer and sportsman. Unfortunately he never had the opportunity to marry and have children of his own. He was loved dearly by his two nephews Bob and Graham, and his niece Beverley (my mother). We are all so proud of Great Uncle Howard's bravery and his service to our country. Never forgotten and much loved.