Virtual
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Australia

From Australian Remembrance Army

Private Florian Deschamp 6317, an Australian World War One veteran whose grave in Lutwyche Cemetery is now marked with a plaque to honour his service for Australia.

The plaque of Private Florian Deschamp 6317 was unveiled in Lutwyche Cemetery on 20 September 2025, along with a further 161 plaques on the previously unmarked graves of Australian World War One veterans:
https://www.australianremembrancearmy.com/20-09-25...

Florian Deschamp was born in Lilydale, Victoria to Swiss parents Augustus Deschamp (1839-1900) and Anna Marguerite (nee Wuillemin) (1826-1920) in 1866.

In October 1916 at the age of 30, Florian enlisted in the 1st AIF in Melbourne. He proceeded to France in May 1917.
On 21 December 1917 a letter from Private Florian Deschamp to his mother was published in the newspaper ‘The Lilydale Express’ where the family lived in Victoria. “Letter from the Front. We are now billeted in a farmhouse for two days, having returned from the fighting area. I was nine days in the trenches; the fighting was mostly artillery, though there was some hand-to-hand infantry fighting. In coming out of the trenches, we were served with a good hot meat stew and plenty of well-cooked vegetables, both for dinner and tea. We also had a warm bath on coming out of the firing line, although we had to march four miles to get that; then each man was given a splendid wool shirt, singlet, underpants, and socks. The weather is turning fairly cold. In a few days from now I will have had my twelve months as a soldier. This night we are having a concert in the barn. I have just received a parcel from you and am lucky in saying it has arrived safely, as your other things have done. The farm house here is built of mud, plastered walls and thatched roof; while the farm buildings are of brick, with tiled roofs. They have big dogs that work the tread mill, the wheel being about 11 feet high. The last visible crops are being gathers (beets) and the big manure pits are being emptied onto the fields again. Hoping friends are well and with my best wishes to them all. FD.”

In July 1918 he was wounded in action (gassed) and rejoined the battalion two months later. Twelve months later, in July 1919, he returned to Australia.
When Florian’s mother died in 1920, her obituary said she lived alone, doing her own work in the house and garden after Florian went to war. She knitted a complete set of woollen articles and sent these to every soldier from the town. Her great joy was to receive letters and cards from the soldiers thanking her for the gifts. She was overjoyed to see the soldiers return home and her own son was one of the last.

In the 1936 electoral role for Victoria, Florian is listed as an artist living with his brother who was an analytical chemist. By 1958 he had moved to Queensland and was living at Red Hill.

Private Florian Deschamp died 22 July 1960, and was interred in Anzac Portion 9 at Lutwyche Cemetery Brisbane.

Lest We Forget