The City of Greater Bendigo has created a website for next year's Anzac Day centenary celebrations. Today we continue a series showcasing the website...
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Private Walter George Donaldson
Private Walter George Donaldson was born on July 15, 1890, at Raywood to William and Margaret Donaldson, nee Johnson.
He enlisted on May 3, 1916, aged 26, a baker of "Hope Vale", Raywood, next of kin mother Mrs Margaret Donaldson, Raywood, and embarked on August 1, 1916, with the 60th Infantry Battalion – 2 to 5 Reinforcements per HMAT Orsova A67.
Private Donaldson died on April 29, 1918, in south Melbourne from pneumonic influenza a short time after returning from active duty.
– The Bendigonian, Thursday, May 16, 1918
A Raywood welcome
Thursday, May 9. RAYWOOD – A welcome home was given in the Raywood Town Hall on Wednesday night to Private Walter Donaldson and Corporal George Ross, who recently returned from active service in France and Belgium.
They were each presented with a gold medal, suitably inscribed, on behalf of the residents of Raywood district.
Mr Clement made the presentation, and Miss Blanche McPhee, "Queen of Raywood", pinned the medals on the breasts of the young soldiers, amidst applause.
The recipients returned thanks for the valuable gifts and kind remarks.
Light refreshments were handed round by members of the returned soldiers' committee, and dancing was indulged in.
Source: Mrs Bev Hanson
Private George Hudson Gatenby
Private George Hudson Gatenby, service No. 2157, was killed in action on July 29, 1916, in France, aged 28, and is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
A labourer living in Wickepin, WA, he had enlisted on July 24, 1915, and embarked on October 1, 1915, from Fremantle, WA. per HMAT Hororata A20.
– The Bendigonian, Thursday, October 4
Article: The late Private G. H. Gatenby
Mrs Gatenby, of No. 8 Yuille Street, Brighton Beach, late of Moon Street, Sailors Gully, Eaglehawk, has received the following letter from General Sir W. Birdwood concerning her second son, Private George Hudson Gatenby, who was killed in action by a shell at Pozieres on July 28, 1916.
The late Private G.H. Gatenby was a despatch runner, and enlisted in WA. He was a native of Sailors Gully, Eaglehawk, and a general favourite with all.
lst Anzac Corps, France, 13th April.
Dear Mrs Gatenby,
Since receiving your letter I have been endeavouring to obtain any possible details regarding your son, who was in our 28th Battalion, and I so much regret there is but very little that I can tell you.
It must, I know, be very difficult for those at a distance to realise how impossible it is to get the particulars which are naturally so eagerly sought for by the parents of our gallant boys, but this is really the case concerning those who have fallen in the severe fighting and heavy shelling, especially when it has been necessary to temporarily give up the ground over which the fighting has taken place.
All that I have been able to find out regarding your boy is that he was killed by a shell in the fighting at Pozieres on July 28 last when taking up a position with others of his battalion.
Death was, I understand, instantaneous, so I am thankful to think that he had no suffering.
I regret to say that it was not possible to recover his body with those of others who fell with him, and they would have been buried by the Germans later.
His colonel tells me that his kit was sent with many others to the base, and I hope you will receive it in due course, though it must necessarily take some time in reaching you.
I do indeed sympathise with you so much in your loss of a son, who, from your letter, must have been such a real good boy, and while I know that no words of mine can be of any help in alleviating your grief, I do trust that it may be some small consolation to you to realise how gallantly he died, fighting as a brave soldier, for his King and country and for all that we hold dear.
With kind regards and again my deepest sympathy,
yours sincerely,
W. Birdwood,
Australian Imperial Force
Source: Mrs Bev Hanson
Private Vernon Gwillim Coady
Private Vernon Gwillim Coady, Service Number 3051. Unit: 8 Battalion. Killed in action on July 25, 1916, in France, aged 23.
Vernon was born in 1893 at Eaglehawk to James and Annie Coady, nee Gwillim.
He enlisted on July 13, 1915, and embarked from Port Melbourne on November 11, 1915, per HMAT Commonwealth A73.
– Bendigo Advertiser, Wednesday, August 30
Article: Private Vernon Coady
The news that Private Vernon Coady had been killed in action in France on July 25 was yesterday received from the Defence Department by the Rev. J. Polkinghorne, of Eaglehawk, who was requested to convey the sad intelligence to the bereaved relatives.
The Reverend Mr. Polkinghorne ascertained that the deceased soldier's mother (Mrs Coady) was living with her daughter, Mrs W. Coakes, in Derby Street, Sunshine.
The father had died early last May. Private Coady was employed in the Bendigo office of the Water Commission.
The deceased soldier, who was about 23 years of age, was formerly a member of the Eaglehawk West Methodist Sunday School.
– Bendigo Advertiser, Monday, September 4, 1916
Read more on the Bendigo Anzac Centenary website at www.anzaccentenarybendigo.com.au