Ancestry

Like so many that returned, our dad never really spoke about his war service or his decision to enlist. His twin brother Harold served in World War II as well – a fact I only discovered recently – Dad never mentioned it. Their older brother Jack was in the RAAF; he was a tail-gunner on a Lockheed Hudson, killed when his plane was shot down over Koepang on March 23rd, 1942. Jack’s portrait took pride of place on our mantlepiece at home and yet his story was never really explained but when I learned the exact date of his death and found the dates Dad and his twin brother signed up - less than two months later - I began to suspect what their motives might have been.

Their father William had been a soldier too - a Lighthorseman in WW1. ‘He was in the 10th Light Horse,’ Dad said - but that was all – no details whatsoever. Perhaps Grandpa never spoke about his war service either?

Despite this lack of first or even second hand information I have always been fascinated – some might say obsessed - by the subject of Australians at War. That my direct ancestors served has been one of the driving forces behind my interest and subsequent research.

I was contacted recently by my sister’s sister-in-law Vicki, who has been working on our family tree. Knowing my interest in Military History she has been kind enough to forward her findings about my extended family –specifically referencing their Military Service. As it turns out, there are a great many cousins, both direct and removed, who have served. As I read through Vicki’s list and noted the fates of these men, so many of whom died so young and on foreign fields, I realised how lucky those that returned must have felt to survive. A perfectly legitimate reason to not want to talk about it I’d say!

Still, I’m glad to learn about these things even though I can only imagine what it might have been like to be there.

Perhaps the most surprising of Vicki’s discoveries concerns our Great Grandfather - he served in the Light Horse too. Dad certainly never mentioned that! He was William Maddern’s father-in-law, William Anson Cross. He served in the Australian Remount Unit, responsible for the training and rehabilitation of the famous ‘walers’ ridden by the Lighthorsemen. The men in the Remount Unit were considered the best horsemen in Australia and could enlist a little older than the upper limit for the Light Horse; William Cross was in his fifties. Their commanding officer was none other than Andrew ‘Banjo’ Patterson!

Banjo Paterson inspecting a sulking horse

Image: Australian War Memorial

Banjo Paterson

Image: Unknown