878
MUIRHEAD, Walter Edward
| Service Number: | 6782 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 October 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 29 November 1894 |
| Home Town: | Evandale, Norwood Payneham St Peters, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Died: | 22 November 1942, aged 47 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
West Terrace Cemetery (AIF Section) Section: LO, Road: 1S, Site No: 7 |
| Memorials: | Norwood Primary School Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Oct 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 6782, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 6782, 10th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Walter Edward Muirhead's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
Walter Edward Muirhead was born on the 29th of November 1894, in Norwood, Adelaide, South Australia. Walter was raised by his Christian parents Eliza Jane, and Samuel Edward Muirhead. He grew up on Wellington Road, Maylands, without any siblings. During Walter’s youth years, he attended Norwood primary, which is shown on the school honour board. Before the war, Walter was single and humbly worked as a driver around Adelaide for a few years, and then went on to enlist into the Australian military. He enlisted on the 12th of September 1916, at five feet, nine inches and one-hundred and forty-eight pounds at the age of twenty-one and three quarters. Soon after this, Walter embarked into war out of Adelaide, South Australia aboard the HMAT A19 Afric on the 7th of November 1916.
Walter Edward Muirhead spent the entirety of his military career serving as a private, within the 10th Battalion, 22nd Reinforcement Unit, and began his service by fighting in the first World War, and fought on the Western Front in France and Belgium. During a particular battle, Walter became critically injured and endured a severe bullet wound, was hospitalized in early 1917, and rejoined the battle on the 10th of October 1917.
In 1919, at the age of 24, Walter returned to Adelaide and took up painting instead of driving whilst remaining enlisted despite taking a military break. The same year, Walter married Annie Elizabeth Bartliff, a 21-year-old labourer who worked around Adelaide who met Walter on a job in where they both worked. The marriage took place in a Christian church, on the 14th of August 1919.
A year after the marriage, on the 23rd of July 1920, Walter was Discharged from the A.I.F and retired from the army at the age of 24. Walter Edward Muirhead completed his military career as a private, with a British War Medal, and a Medal of Victory. 22 years later, Walter passed away at the age of 47, due to unknown natural causes, and was buried at the West Terrace AIF Cemetery in Section: LO, Road: 1S, Site No: 7.
Click images to start slideshow.