The discovery of Arthur Carr‘s relationship to the district was one of the more fortunate only being detected in a brief Death Notice from an aunt, Mrs. F. A. Copperthwaite (Frances Anne, nee May), who suggested he was “the eldest son of the late Mary Carr, late of Fairfield Park”. 1892 directories show Richard and Mary Carr as then residing in Westgarth Street.
After being wounded in the neck at Gallipoli in June, 1916, Carr was repatriated to England and then returned to Egypt. There followed a string of minor offences, primarily drunkenness, failing to obey orders, and being absent without leave, all of which attracted relatively minor penalties.
Despite his patchy record, he was promoted to Lance Corporal in May, 1916, just before he was taken on strength in France where he was killed on 7 August, 1916. His remains could not be located post-war and his sacrifice is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneaux Memorial at Picardie, France.
The circular was returned by his wife, Rose, of 12 Hodgson Street, Brunswick, but she was never mentioned on attestation or enlistment, in fact appearing for the first time in June, 1917, when she supplied a Statutory Declaration that Carr had deserted her many years previously and that she had never been able to trace him.
Link to the history of Albert Arthur Carr
Link to ozsportshistory.com downloads for WW1
