John William Hinson was born in Hartford Yorkshire in 1877 to parents James Grumball (1826-1890) and Susannah Hinson (nee Marsh) (1842-1889). He was one of five children.

In 1910 John William married May Eugenie Williamson (1877-1918) in York. They had two daughters: Winifred Doreen (1911-1998) and Rita Thelma (1913-1994).

The family was living in 53 Vincent St in 1914 and John was working as a labourer.

John William enlisted on the 11th January 1915. By this time the family were living in Chatsworth Rd, Mt Lawley.

He joined the 3rd 16th Reinforcements. He left Fremantle on the 22nd February 1915, but by the time he reached Lemnos, Mudros in Greece he was sent to hospital on two occasions. In August he was at the No 2 Australian General Hospital with rheumatism. On his Army file there is a mention in his medical notes that ‘he had rheumatism three years ago as a result of a shipwreck’.

On the 6th April 1916 he was discharged and returned to Australia with debility and rheumatism.

He returned to York in 1917 with his family. On the 18th May 1918, May died and John married Bertha Louise James in York in November the same year. They had two more children. She died in 1926. He married again in 1927 and had more children.

He did not return to live in the Mount Lawley area but died in Fremantle on the May 14th 1954.

Private Donald Gordon Melville Huggins was born on the 11th March 1885 at Tweed River, NSW to Charles Cottle Beresford Huggins (1854-1928) and Helen De Lyle (nee Munro) (1855-1942). He had one sibling,Cecil Murray Huggins (1888-1967).

Donald married Elizabeth (nee Oliver) (1883- 1942) in 1916 in Perth. He was working at No 1 Mill, Jarradale as a clerk. Elizabeth was living at the house in 22 Chatsworth Rd in 1915 and was employed as a dress maker.

Donald enlisted on the 25th March 1916 at the age of 30. He left Fremantle in August 1916 and at the end of September 1916, he went overseas to France with the 13th Training Battalion.

He was wounded in the field on the 19th February 1917 with gunshot wounds to right buttock, left thigh, back and right foot. Treated first by the field Ambulance, then later was sent to England on the HS Cambria.

He returned to Australia in August 1917 for a change with ‘ gunshot wounds to buttocks and a right foot drop’.

Donald and Elizabeth had had a son born in 1919, Lawrence Munro Huggins (1919-1998). At this time Donald at the no 1 Mill, Jarrahdale and was again working as a timber clerk. The house in Chatsworth Rd was still listed to Elizabeth until 1922 when it became vacant. The family moved from one mill site to another in the southwest.

Donald died on the 1st April 1960. Donald had a brother, Cecil Murray Huggins SN 7303, who enlisted in June 1917. He lived at Lake Grace in the southwest.

Picture courtesy of birtwistlewiki.com.au

Sidney Johnston was born in Woolwich London on 13th May 1891 to parents Thomas and Annie Johnston. He was one of seven siblings, including an older brother Robert Leslie Johnston (1891), also known as Leslie who also enlisted in WWI.

Sidney enlisted at the age of nearly 27, working as a farmer on 15th March 1916. He joined the 63rd Depot in April as a Gunner in June and disembarked from Melbourne on the A38 Ulysses in September, arriving in England in December 1916. In March 1917 he joined the 12th Army Field Artillery Brigade in the field in France.

At the end of October 1917, he took leave to England where he got married on the 5th November to Elsie Annie Elford (born 1895). He returned to the war a few days later. After another leave to England in 1918, he was granted an extended leave again in the beginning of February 1919, back to France and approved for return to Australia in April 1919. On his return to Australia, he was discharged from the Army in August 1919.

In 1920 onwards Sidney is listed as being a pastoralist at Hamelin Pool in the northwest coast.

Sidney enlisted in WWii as a Driver W32174, enlisting April 1941 until 1944.

Sidney died on the 26th September 1964.

Albert Leslie “Les” Tate, born on the 6th April 1891, at Footscray, Victoria to parents Arthur E Tate (1861-1895) and Alice Maria (nee Willows) (1864-1929) and was one of seven siblings born in Victoria. His mother remarried Walter Scott Rumbold (1868-1924) in Perth 1898 and had four more children.

In 1912 the four Tate men were living and farming in Nangeenan (near Merredin, WA) and Les was still there up until he moved to 30 Chatsworth Rd, Mt Lawley to enlist at the end of 1914.

He joined the 10th Light House Regiment, transferring to the 4th Light Horse Brigade as Trooper. He sailed for Suez in May 1915 but was returned shortly after because he was ‘unfit’ in July 1915.

He re-joined with another SN 1074 in January 1916 joining again the Light Horse Regiment as a Driver and returning to Egypt in September 1916. He was appointed Lance/Corporal in July 1917 and taken on in the Australian Mounted Division Train in Sinai (transport in Palestine using rail to transport wagons over desert).

He had influenza in January 1919 and was returned to Australia due to debility and discharged in May 1919. In September 1920 he married Elizabeth Barker (1895-1990) and had two children.

He did not return to the Mount Lawley area to live after his marriage.

Albert Leslie also enlisted in WWII W 237041.

Albert Leslie died on the 25th May 1957 and is buried at Karrakatta.

Alberts brother, Norman Willows Tate (1889-1917), also served in WWI, SN 901, enlisted in November 1916, but his mother Alice is listed as living in Como at that stage. Norman was killed in action in France.

Gustav Henry Brown was born in 1894 in Albany to parents John Alexander Brown (1869-1904) and Ethel Elizabeth Brown (nee Hoffman) (1873-1964). He had one sister. His mother remarried in 1909 to William Gilbert Needham.

Gustav enlisted the 20th March 1916. He worked as a salesman. His mother and her second husband (the Needhams) were living in Mary St, Cottesloe, so Gustav may well have been boarding at Chatsworth St.

Gustav left Fremantle, Australia in June 1917, arriving in England two months later.

He joined the 3rd Training Battalion and went overseas to France in December and in January 1918, he joined the 11th Infantry Battalion in the field.

In February 1918 he was hospitalised with bronchitis for a while, then wounded in action in the field on the 3rd June 1918. He returned to Australia in July 1919 and discharged for the Army in August 1919.

His NAA record is not available except by request.

When he returned to Australia his mother was living at 70 Chatsworth Rd, then 9 Park Rd, Mt Lawley.

Gustav married Lily Sarah Jane Jenkin (1899-1988) in Katanning, WA in 1926. In 1929, they had a son Robert James Brown (1929-1996) and they were living in Gnowangerup, WA. In April 1934 Lily divorced Gustav with full custody of their child on the grounds of desertion. She had not seen him for two years.

Gustav died on the 6th November 1966 and is buried at Karrakatta Cemetery Perth.