19 October 1914, Port Melbourne Pier. Men of the 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade board the HMAT Benalla (right) for service overseas. Amongst them was a young Christmas Hills farmer Private John Valentine Wilson, son of David and Elizabeth Wilson.
Just eight months later on 3 June 1915 Private Wilson aged 25 was killed in action in Gallipoli. Like many of the men who lost their lives in the Dardanelles little is known of the circumstances surrounding his death. His file simply says ‘Killed in action. Body found and buried by Captain Goodfellow and Major Waterhouse’.
Private Wilson’s sister Mabel wrote to District Headquarters requesting guidance to resolve her brother affairs in accordance with his wishes.
Photo: War Memorials in Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea Collection 2017
Photographer: Kev Howlett
This story first appeared in Nillumbik Chronicles #7 15 August 2017 Facebook Page of Shire of Nillumbik Arts and Culture. This also appears in “Fine Spirit and Pluck: World War One Stories from Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea” published by Yarra Plenty Regional Library, August 2016
