Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

My grandfather, William Robert Ninnes, was born in Nausori, Fiji. His father, William Ninnes, was a Cornish seaman who worked in Nausori sugar mill after his marriage to a Samoan 'princess', Ta'ase Caroline Aull. The family sailed from Fiji to Australia on "S.S. Rockton" in 1898 and settled in Macnade, Queensland. He enlisted and landed at Gallipoli on the afternoon of the first ANZAC Day. His unit defended 'Quinn's Post' valiantly and he survived to return and marry in Macnade. Sadly he died of war related consequences leaving a wife, 2 sons, a daughter (my mother), Florence Mae Ninnes, and a yet to be born son. His workmates at South Johnstone Sugar Mill collected funds for his headstone in Innisfail Cemetery but his widow and children received no other financial assistance possibly because his complexion, described as 'dark', meant he would have been classed as a 'Black Digger' (although he was not indigenous to Australia). On his return William married Violet Maud Wilkinson, in February 1917, whose fiancee was killed during the war, sadly William died seven years later from war related injuries. Courtesy of Mapping our Anzacs Stories.