Middle Park WW1 Volunteers

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These outlines (see pdf link below) draw primarily on the information provided by the First AIF Project. Through Professor Tom Frame the MPHG has gained permission to use this material.

 

Some local volunteers fought in New Britain during the latter part of 1914 with the Australian Navy and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF). After training in Egypt the 1st and 2nd Divisions fought at Gallipoli from April to December 1915. Back in Egypt the veterans of the Gallipoli campaign and the new volunteers were reorganised to form the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Divisions, which by mid-1916 were shipped to France for the campaigns on the Western Front. For these units Egypt has not been included under the heading of 'War service' to differentiate between those who were in Egypt primarily for training and those who, like the Light Horse, campaigned in Egypt and the Middle East. Later recruits were sent directly to England to form the 3rd Division. Some locals served with the small Australian Flying Corps and others in the Royal Australian Navy. So far Mary Lillian Helen Nuzum is the only identified  local who served overseas with the Australian Army Nursing Service. 

 

'Effective abroad (still overseas)' applies to the date the original records of 'Fate' were  compiled, probably late 1919. Exact information on 'Fate' can be found in the full service records. Information about those killed and wounded (when, where and sometimes how) can also be found in the full service records, along with information about illnesses. The standard service medals were: the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Where shown in the sources, only other individual awards are listed in these outlines.  Some information about family members can also be found in the full service records, such as parental approval for under twenty-one volunteers and war pension entitlements.

 

This list represents those volunteers from the area covered by the Middle Park History Group and therefore includes those from Albert Park between Mills Street and Kerferd Road. Because very few of the army service records give the address of the volunteer, the 'Next of Kin' has been used to determine their relationship to the area. The full service record can be accessed by clicking on the URL link. We have also included all those who have given “Middle Park” as their place of birth, even if subsequent research has not been able to verify this or a known address is elsewhere in Melbourne. We have tried to verify our information by looking in the Sands & McDougall directory and the South Melbourne rate books for the location of a parent, usually the father, at the time of their birth. This information is given in the address field with the name of the parent, usually the father, and the relevant dates the parent lived at that address. 

 

There are gaps in the records and some errors. The MPHG is anxious to hear from people who can provide further information on the listed volunteers, and, of course, to hear of others who as yet have not been identified and placed on this list. For further information please email Member Ed Boyle.