Living History

Two proud daughters

My Dad, Robert served in WWI in the 5th Pioneer Battalion, he joined in 1915 and was discharged in 1919. Saw action in Belgium and the Somme, and was wounded there. His brother, Fred also joined the 5th Poineers, but he was killed in 1917. Dad put his age up, he was only 16 when he went overseas.

He also joined the Mailitia in 1939, and was discharged to join the Australian Imperial Force in 1940 in WWII. He was in the Railway Construction Unit. He left for the Middle East in 1940. The photos were taken on the wharf when he was leaving, by the Sydney Morning Herald. Then the photo of Dad holding me was in the Readers Digest book ‘Australians At War’. He came back and was sent to New Guinea. My brother Fred G. also joined up, he was in the 2/1st Battalion, was sent to Syria, then brought back to go to New Guinea. He was one of the first to go over the Owen Stanley Range, he was also badly wounded on the Kokoda Track. They both came home in 1945. Dad died in 1980, and my brother Fred in 1989. Very proud of them, always was, and always will be, especially my Dad - he loved Anzac Day - said it was his ‘day’.

June, Beverly Hills, New South Wales

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