Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Horace was the second child born in the Silver City of Broken Hill on the 25th May 1905 to Joseph John and Sarah Jane Curtis. His siblings included Alfred James, Jessie Caroline, George Leslie and Leonard John.
As quite assertive children they became embroiled in a dispute with their neighbour over a sand and rubbish throwing incident that culminated with both sets of parents claiming to have been assaulted, with the apparent reason given that the neighbour had a German name (Baring). Assault charges by both fathers were dismissed, but Sarah was fined £1, with £3 2/ costs, and granted seven days in which to pay.
Horace was 25 when his older brother, Alfred was admitted to the Adelaide Hospital with a bullet wound to his chest. At the time, families welcomed an extra feed of meat and rabbits had become numerous on vacant allotments so were easy prey. Unknown to his family, Alfred carried a .32 rifle which he had repaired, and two cartridges. Unfortunately, on the allotment he tripped on a bush, then as he fell, the rifle discharged, striking him in the chest. Surprisingly, he walked home after throwing the rifle into a prickly pear bush, then walked home, climbing through several fences. He initially told none of the family, but with his shoulders bent and his arms hanging straight, he eventually shared his injury and was immediately taken to hospital. Fortunately policed scoured the allotment and recovered to rifle
The family moved to Adelaide with Horace living in Seaton Park and working as a bus driver. Aged 21, he was unfortunate to be fined as one of several bus drivers for having an overloaded vehicle in the Adeliade City Council precinct, with each being fined £3 11/- in March ’26. Just seven months later he was again fined for not having a taillight – costing him a further £1 5/-. His third fine of £1 10/. that year came a fortnight later for not having a registered bus. For those times, the fines would have a significant effect on family households.
With finances tight, 24-year-old Horace, then living in Cowell and working as a labourer, was again before the Courts. He admitted having stolen17 bags of wheat valued at £12 6/6, at Butler Tanks in January. He returned the bags to the owner and was considered to having a previously good record, so an appeal for leniency was made with a ‘comparatively light’ penalty of six months in gaol with hard labour. (Compared to today’s sentencing the ruling appears unduly harsh.)
Horace met his future wife Dorothy Anne (Doris) in Cowell, with the two having three sons, Andrew Donald, Dean Horace and John Albert.
Back driving lorries, six years later, Horace was prosecuted by the Hindmarsh Council for driving on the footpath at Croydon and damaging a street tree. A fine of fined £3 was issued. Just a month later Horace’s lorry backed into the front fence of a residence at Military Road, Henley Beach, knocking it down. For not reporting an accident, Horace was fined £2 with 10/ costs but told the residents that he would re-erect the fence.
With the outbreak of WWII, 35-year-old Horace, a heavy truck driver, enlisted on the 18th July ’40 and was allocated the number SX9129 in the 2/48th Battalion. By October he was involved in a Cooking and Catering Course at Keswick before having brief pre-embarkation leave. That time also created conflict and frustration when just days prior to Christmas, Horace ‘impeded the Provost Company’ when challenged to correct his army attire and give his name. It was another costly exercise which resulted in a fine of £2.
Extra training at Woodside preceded Horace embarking early in February ’41, arriving in the Middle East on the 23rd March. Intensive training followed at the Amiriya Staging Camp. Horace was to become one of the unofficial Rats of Tobruk – a title designed to destroy morale, but which had the opposite effect on the soldiers who were living in extremely challenging conditions in sandy dugouts shared with flies, fleas and rats.
Back home, Horace’s older brother, Alfred James, a fitter and turner enlisted at Port Adelaide to serve in the Navy on the 6th October ’41 becoming Petty Officer PA2399. He still bore the chest scars from his self-inflicted but accidental rifle wound.
While serving in the Middle East, almost inevitably, Horace contracted several bouts of dysentery, enteritis and fibrositis until his battalion was finally able to head home to Australia via Melbourne in February ‘43. Stomach upsets continue to be challenging as did a dislocated right knee.
Horace was finally discharged in Adelaide on the 11th September ’43 on compassionate grounds.
Returning to his home in Nelson Street, Ascot Park Horace must have felt he was back in the Middle East when thieving occurred at his home. Bedding, valued at £3, was stolen over the week-end from a bed on the front verandah of his home but it did not appear the thief was found. Several years later, Horace was employed as a taxi driver when he was involved in an accident while driving on Port Road. His taxi struck a young girl who sustained head injuries and was admitted to the Children’s Hospital, a traumatic event for both involved.
Horace lived to be 64 and died on the 20th August ’69. He now rests in the Catholic section of Centennial Park cemetery A Path At Grave 320 A. His war service is also celebrated on the Wall of Remembrance. Dorothy lived for more than three decades until she was 96. She died on the 27th August 2004 and now rests with Horace.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee daughter of Bryan Holmes, SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.