SPENCE, Walter James
| Service Number: | 2248 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 1st Signal Squadron |
| Born: | Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, 20 November 1886 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Mandurah, Western Australia, Australia, 1 July 1972, aged 85 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia Fremantle Crematorium Garden of Remembrance F-0019 |
| Memorials: | Fremantle Scots Church Honour Roll, Norseman District Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2248, 10th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 2248, 10th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 2248, 10th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Ulysses, Fremantle | |
| 26 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 3rd Light Horse Regiment | |
| 1 Oct 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 1st Signal Squadron, 6.6.16 to 5th Double Squadron. 2.11.16 to 4th Australian Camel Regiment. 6.10.17 qualified on the 22 Signals course | |
| 21 Jul 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sapper, 2248, 1st Signal Squadron, Returned to Australia on HT Dorset on 29.4.1919 - invalid with debility. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Helen Harmer
Walter James Spence was born in Fremantle on the 20.11.1886 and was Presbyterian. He had been an apprenticed farrier. His home address was in Norseman, where he was working as a Telephone linesman and he gave his mother as next of kin. He enlisted on the 3.1.16 at Blackboy Hill, aged 30 years. He was described as being 5 feet 8 3/8 inches tall, with a chest measurement of 35 - 36¾ inches, fair complexion, grey eyes and dark hair. Walter was allocated Service Number 2248 and the rank of Private. He was appointed to the 10th Light Horse Regiment.
Walter embarked at Fremantle on HMAT Ulysses A38 on the 1.4.16. on the 26.4.16 transferred to 3rd Light Horse Reserve Regiment, then on the 6.7.16 to 5th Double Squadron. He served in Egypt at Abbassia and Moascar. On the 2.11.16 he transferred to the 4th Australian Camel Regiment. On the 26.12.16 he was sent to hospital in Cairo with influenza, returning to duty on the 5.2.17. On the 8.2.17, he transferred to 18th Company of ICC, then returned to hospital on the 28.4.17 with dysentery, rejoining his unit on the 5.5.17. Two days later, he transferred to the 4th Battalion. On the 6.10 17, he qualified on the 22 Signals Course. He was appointed to 1st Sig Squadron as a Sapper on the 1.10.18.
Walter returned to Australia on HT Dorset on the 29.4.1919 as an invalid with debility. He disembarked on the 4.6.19 and was discharged on the 21.7.1919. He married Irene Thomas.
After the war, he settled in the Fremantle area and worked as a telephone linesman. When he died on the 1.7.1972 aged 86, his home was in Mandurah. He is remembered in the Fremantle Garden of Remembrance Crematorium F, site 0019.
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