Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Walter was the son of Walter Brougham HARMAN & Alice Ellen MULLER and was born on the 6th of March 1895 in Glenelg, SA.
He was baptised on the 19th of May in St Bartholomew’s Church, Norwood.

His parents were married on the 6th of September 1890 in Kensington, SA.

His father was the son of Henry Brougham HARMAN & Emily Eliza MOREY and was born on the 23rd of June 1861 in Adelaide and was baptised on the 8th of September.
His mother was the daughter of Johann Adam MULLER & Hellen Diana DUNGLISON and was born on the 19th of June 1857 in Adelaide, SA.

Walter was the third child born into the family of 6 children.

His father was a commercial traveller and they lived Broadway Street, Glenelg.

Walter attended his first day of school on the 6th of August 1900 at the Glenelg Public School and a few years later they moved to Buckingham Street, Gilberton before moving to Partridge Street, Glenelg.

Walter was 13 years old when his father was found unwell in Hurtle Square, Adelaide and was taken to the Adelaide Hospital on the 3rd of January 1908.
Unfortunately he died soon after he was admitted and they buried him in the West Terrace Cemetery the following day; Road 1 South, Path 33, Aspect E, Site Number 20.

After the death of his father the family moved to 46 Pier Street, New Glenelg and Walter attended the Senior Cadets (75b).
On completing school Walter gained employment as a clerk and joined the 75th Infantry.

In 1916 the family moved to 48 Davenport Terrace, Wayville “Broughamdene” and Walter transferred to the 78th Infantry CMF (East Adelaide).

At the age of 22, Walter enlisted into the AIF on the 5th of February 1917 in Adelaide and allotted the service number 38601 and posted to B Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp.
He was then posted to the Field Artillery on the 1st of March before being transferred to the Field Artillery Reinforcements in Maribyrnong, VIC, on the 11th of April.

On the 22nd of October he was posted to the Field Artillery Brigade, 32nd Reinforcements.

He embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT Indarra on the 26th of November 1917 disembarked in Suez on the 27th of December.
He then embarked from Alexandria on board HMT Abbessiah and disembarked in Taranto, Italy.
He then entrained for Cherbourg, France and embarked for England.

Walter suffered from the Measles and then Pleurisy before being invalided back to Australia on the 29th of August.
Walter was discharged, medically unfit, from the AIF on the 6th of December 1918.

He then gained employment as a travelling commission agent for a firm of boot manufacturers in Melbourne and lived with his mother, who had moved to Hyde Park.

Walter married Gladys Purdue VAUGHAN on the 17th of April 1926 in St Peters Anglican Church, Glenelg, SA.
Gladys was the daughter of Thomas Valentine VAUGHAN & Mary Elizabeth MCGARVIE and was born in 1891 in Colac, VIC.

By the mid 1930’s they had moved to 77 Yacca Road, Seacliff and Walter was a Motor Car Salesman.

They welcomed little Keith St John into the family on the 16th of July 1935.

With the outbreak of WW2, aged 44, Walter enlisted into the 2nd AIF on the 7th of June 1940 in Adelaide and allotted the service number SX5307.
On the 17th of June he was posted to the newly raised 2/2 AFW (Army Field Workshop), 5th Recovery Section at Woodside Camp.

Walter entrained to Melbourne on the 14th of September and embarked the following day on board M.V New Holland for El Kantara, Egypt.
He fought in the Battle of Tobruk in January 1941 and was later detached to 1 Ordnance Workshop Company and then 2 Lines of Communication, Recovery Section.

He served in New Guinea, Borneo and for Labuan before being detached to 6 Advanced 2 Echelon BCOF (British Commonwealth Occupational Force) in January 1946.

He then served in Kure, Japan until his unit was demobilized at the end of January 1947.
Walter embarked from Kure on the 15th of February on board HMAS Manoora, disembarked in Sydney on the 28th of February and returned to Adelaide on the 10th of March.

Walter was discharged from service on the 16th of May 1947 and by 1950 they had moved to Carey Street Magill.

Later in life they moved to 14 Edwards Street, Park Holme.

Gladys died on the 2nd of June 1981 and was cremated in the Centennial Park Cemetery 2 days later.

In early April 1986 Walters friend, Max Helps, helped him apply for his service medals as Walter was in the Daw Park Repatriation Hospital, recovering from an operation.

Walter died on the 27th of April 1986 in the Daw Park Repat Hospital and was cremated and interred in the West Terrace Cemetery; Road 1 South, Path 33, Aspect E, Site Number 20, with his parents.