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Showing posts from April, 2018

Private Walter Lindley: A Soldier, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Brother-in-Law

The life of Private Walter Lindley was cut short when it abruptly ended in the killing fields of Flanders amidst the ‘Third Battle of Ypres’, now acknowledged as ’Passchendaele’, in 1917. [1] The same year World War One broke out, 1914, he married, his first daughter was born, and his brother died on the Western Front. He was one of more than 330,000 volunteers who served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) overseas resulting in over 61,000 deaths. [2] Amongst other reasons, he likely volunteered for the patriotic cause. Some photos and postcards survived and in addition to his war records, they underpinned his life in the AIF. Walter was born between 1892-1894 in Balby, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England to John Lindley and Adelaide Lewis. [3] When he was about seven years, his father died. [4] In 1910, he enlisted in the British Navy and about three years later he did a runner in Sydney. [5] The next year, Sarah Lovett became his wife, in Port Melbourne. [6] Then within six