Harold Alexander Letch was the sole servicemen killed in the war to be linked to Donnybrook where he was born in 1894.
Although Donnybrook does not appear to have been included within the Shire of Whittlesea when the Great War broke out, the little hamlet does form part of today’s City of Whittlesea – even then, Letch’s inclusion is perhaps open to question, as although both he on Attestation and his father on the circular nominated Donnybrook as his place of birth, Victorian BDM suggests Kalkallo (this may simply because Donnybrook was too small to have its own local Registrar).
Letch enlisted from Moreland, although his parents shortly after moved to Hampton – he had served previously served with the Signalling Section of the 19th Engineers in the Citizen’s Forces and embarked in a specialist role with the 1 Light Horse. He was promoted to Lieutenant in December, 1916 and awarded the Military Cross (gazetted London 1 January, 1918 and in Australia 18 April) for conspicuous bravery for supervising and laying communications lines during the second battle of Gaza in April, 1917.
After being wounded in late 1917,Letch was transferred to the Australian Flying Corps for instruction in aerial observation. He was subsequently attached to A Flight of 1 Squadron and then graded as Flying Officer (Observer) in June.
His own archive shows nothing of demise other than he was killed in action about 10 miles inland and 12 miles south-east of Jaffa in Palestine, but a search of other Australian casualties (some 141) who died on 22 August, 1918 reveals the only other fatality in the Middle East was Lieutenant John Mercer Walker, a pilot with the same squadron.
Walker’s file shows him killed while flying and again 12 miles from Jaffa with his Red Cross archive confirming the pair were on patrol work when attacked by an unspecified number of German aircraft. The Australians apparently forced on German aircraft to land on a British aerodrome with its observer killed, but as Walker and Letch followed the machine down, their own ‘plane was hit by explosive bullets and burst into flames. The report suggested Walker jumped from the burning aircraft and his body when picked up was “unrecognisable”, but made no suggestion as to Letch’s fate.
A quick scan suggests 14 servicemen enlisted with their place of birth given as Donnybrook, Victoria (there was a considerably larger town of the same name in Western Australia). Of note were three brothers named LYNCH, Ernest Charles, Oswald Francis and Percy David, parents David Matthew and Lucy, nee Presnell – there was also a James Lynch, married and also shown on Attestation as born in Donnybrook, but he does not appear to be a sibling of the three known brothers.
