Rather than the infantrymen that made up the vast bulk of Darebin’s volunteers, “Ken” Christian was unusual in that he was one of just two locals from Northcote (the other William George Vincent Williams, the first Australian to be killed in World War One) to have served at sea, in his case with the British […]
Author: ozsportshistory
Brian Membrey ; Local historian for Darebin area and sports of all sorts
World War 1 Casualty : William McCarthy Braithwaite (Preston)
Our image : The Braithwaite family, Colonel William Braithwaite, (wearing cap at rear), William junior on right with extended family and motor car, a 30 h.p. Hotchkiss imported from France, circa 1911. Braithwaite senior took a keen interest in new invention of the time. the motor car, competing along with another local, the nurseryman James […]
WW1 Casualty : Maurice Vincent Barry (Northcote)
Strangely by today’s standards, not a lot of the deaths of servicemen were reported in the Family Notices section of either the Melbourne dailies or the Preston Leader. One notable exception was Maurice “Mickey” Barry, whose sorrowful mother was still placing In Memoriam notices in The Leader some ten or twelve years after her son’s […]
WW1 Casualty : Lindsay Thomas Adams (Alphington)
When he volunteered in early March, 1915 from Alphington, the 19-year-old Lindsay Thomas Adams was one of just handful from the district listed as a student, in his case, Teaching at Melbourne University after completing his Matriculation at Scotch College. His military career was also somewhat unique in that he was one who died after […]
Darebin’s Great War
Today’s City of Darebin encompasses Northcote, Preston, Thornbury, Reservoir, Fairfield and Alphington, the latter two districts added to the original City of Northcote since the Great War. Extensive research since around 2003-4 has identified around 850 servicemen (add two women) closely associated with Darebin that gave their lives in service of their country during the […]