Cedric Ernest Howell appears on the Heidelberg War Memorial as the most highly decorated serviceman from the district, and proved one of the most difficult to track down. The effort was, however, worth while, with Howell rising from a humble Private in the Infantry to a near-national hero in just under four years! There is […]
Author: ozsportshistory
Brian Membrey ; Local historian for Darebin area and sports of all sorts
World War 1 Casualty : George Pinnock Merz (Ivanhoe)
Our feature image shows the ill-fated Cauldron GIII aircraft piloted by Lieutenant George Pinnock Benz taking off from Nasiriyah for the return flight to Basra. Lieutenant Reilly’s aircraft can just be seen in the background. Nearby Northcote boasts William George Vincent Williams as the first serviceman to be killed in the war, but to Ivanhoe […]
World War 1 Casualties : Adrian, Henry and John Connor
Very little is known of George Connor, listed as being resident at an unknown address in Heidelberg and the father of three sons killed in the conflict – the brothers all lived with their mother in Geelong and their parents appear to have been estranged. Adrian and John Connor embarked together with the 58th Infantry […]
World War 1 Casualties : The Shire of Heidelberg
World War 1 : The Shire of Heidelberg The original scope of the project was to research the areas covered by the Yarra Plenty Regional Library, i.e. the existing municipalities of Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea. This proved somewhat difficult in assess just where some of the outlying settlements would have fitted into today’s topology, hence a later decision was to instead take Dr. […]
The Shire of Heidelberg : Boer War Volunteers
Given the total number of Victorians that volunteered and were accepted for the Boer War was only around 3,600, the enlistments from Heidelberg Shire were not great (volunteering and being accepted were two different things – most of the contingents raised had far more men offer their services than could actually be fitted into the restricted number of places available. There […]
The Shires of Whittlesea and Epping : Boer War Volunteers
Given the total number of Victorians that volunteered and were accepted for the Boer War was only around 3,600, the enlistments from the-then Epping and Whittlesea Shires was not great (volunteering and being accepted were two different things – most of the contingents raised had far more men offer their services than could actually be fitted into the restricted numbers available. There is far less […]
World War 1 Casualty : Alexander Woods (aka Gingles (Whittlesea and Scrubby Creek)
The death of an Alexander Gingles was noted in the Preston Leader on 2 February, 1918 in an article relating to the return of another serviceman from Whittlesea. He remained a mystery as there is no record of a serviceman of this name listed in any World War One archives, but his true identity was […]
World War 1 : Casualty : Eric William McLelland (Epping)
Eric McClelland‘s attestation suggests no other address for his parents “both solely supported by me” than c/- Shire Hall, Epping. The image shows McClelland’s butcher’s shop and house, High Street, Epping, pictured circa 1900. Family members not identified. They would have needed little introduction to the area, having been established and in the butchery business […]
World War 1 Casualty : Albert Henry Reid (Hazel Glen, Doreen)
Albert Henry Reid was 47 years of age when he was killed in action in France in April, 1916 – he is the only casualty noted to date from the Shires of Whittlesea, Epping or Heidelberg to date noted as having earlier served in the Boer War. After volunteering in 1900, he served as a […]
World War 1 Casualty : David Edward Lohman (aka Lowman)
Lohman is a rather strange case, being included on the Whittlesea Memorial list of volunteers (although as Loman), but not on the list of those who gave their lives in the conflict. The omission was remarkable, especially given his father, 253, Alfred John Lowman was also shown as volunteering at 44 years of age and […]