ANZAC Connections: Centenary digitisation project
The Australian War Memorial is undertaking a project to create a comprehensive digital archive of the ANZACs and their deeds, utilising collections selected from our extensive archives, and reflecting the experiences of Australian servicemen, nurses, and civilians during the First World War. This project will digitally preserve the Memorial’s collections and provide access through the Memorial’s website.
As part of this project the Memorial is seeking contact with relatives of the persons listed below. If you have any further information about these people, or their descendants, the Memorial would love to talk to you. Please email Published.Collections@awm.gov.au.
Lieutenant Clarence Herbert Dakin (1894–1917)
Clarence Herbert Dakin was born c. 1894 in North Sydney, to Herbert and Ida Constance Dakin, and worked as an orchardist. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 26 March 1915 and was assigned to the 20th Battalion. He was later transferred to the 5th Machine Gun Company and promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Dakin was killed in action on 15 April 1917, and is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
Collection relating to the First World War service of 1187 Lieutenant Clarence Herbert Dakin, 5th Machine Gun Company, France. Collection consists of five detailed diaries covering service in Gallipoli and France. The last entry in the diary is dated three days before Dakin was killed in action on 15 April 1917 in France. Collection number: 3DRL/2272.
Captain Ronald Lennox Henderson (d. 1917)
Ronald Lennox Henderson was born on 12 April 1879 to Ronald Campbell and Mary Katherine Henderson, in Toowoomba, Queensland. He received his Bachelor of Medicine from Edinburgh University in 1903. He married Clare Richardson in 1905, they had twins, Mary Kathleen and Stanley Lennox Henderson on 2 September 1909. After Clare’s death in 1913, Ronald married her sister Augusta Lillian Richardson on 28 July 1915. Henderson, a doctor, embarked for overseas service on 31 July 1915, attached to the 1st Australian General Hospital. He was later transferred to the Australian Army Medical Corps, attached to the 2nd Battalion. He was awarded the Military Cross on 18 June 1917. Robert Lennox Henderson died of wounds on 31 July 1917, and is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, England.
Letters home. Covering service as a doctor in Egypt and in France. Letter of congratulations from Birdwood on Henderson's MC. Page from London Gazette formalizing Henderson's award.Collection number: 2DRL/0605
Sister Evelyn Davies (1884–1965)
Evelyn Davies was born in Healesville, Victoria, one of six children of George Meddins and Alice Davies. The Davies family lived on the property “Fron”, on Fernshaw Road, Healesville, until the 1960s. Evelyn Davies trained as a nurse at the Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, and enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on 10 May 1915, embarking for overseas service on 18 May 1915. After returning to Australia in 1919, Evelyn Davies moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, where she continued to nurse. Evelyn Davies died in 1965 in New Zealand, aged 79.
Diary, letter, cards and correspondence relating to Sister Davies' service in Egypt, India, England and France. Extensive collection. Collection number: 3DRL/3398(B).
Collection items: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A05374/ and https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A05376/
Colonel Wilfred Wanostrocht Giblin
Wilfred Wanostrocht Giblin was born on 12 May 1872 into one of the oldest families in Tasmania. He married Gertrude Muriel Maxwell (sometimes known as Muriel) on 6 September 1899. They had four children: Thomas (married Nancy Rymill, and Anne Hamilton Ayliffe), Muriel Nancy (married Roy Winn Lethbridge), Edward Maxwell (married Nyra Ross Black), and Betty Wanostrocht (married Walter Joshua Murray Atmitage). Wilfred Giblin had served as a doctor in the Tasmanian infantry, and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 3 October 1914, at the age of 42. He returned to Australia in February 1917, and was discharged on medical grounds. He died on 10 October 1951 in Hobart.
Detailed diary maintained while CMO on GallipolI. Correspondence and messages relating to condition and size of casualty clearing stations, lack of personnel and arrangements for wounded. Also, Giblin's indifferent health and transfer to England. Collection number: 2DRL/1232.
Private David James Stone (1893–1967)
David James Mitchell Munk Stone was born in 1892 to William and Lucy Stone. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 4 August 1915, and was assigned to the 9th Battalion, and later the 49th Battalion, where he remained for the rest of the war. He married Sarah Alice Crozier on 22 February 1922, in Ballina, New South Wales. David James Mitchell Munk Stone died on 6 December 1967 in Ballina, New South Wales. His wife Sarah Alice Stone died on 22 February 1996, in Ballina.
Collection relating to the First World War service of 3506 Private David James Stone, 9th Battalion and 49th Battalion. Collection includes one handwritten diary consisting 12 twelve pages, rewritten while Stone was in hospital recovering from surgery to remove shrapnel after being wounded. The diary records Stone's service in Egypt and his later work as a stretcher bearer in France, as well as conditions experienced on the Front such as trench foot. Collection number: PR82/034.
Within these collections, the Memorial is also looking for relatives of:
- Alice Davies (1848–1930) – Alice Davies was born in 1848 in Shropshire, England, to William and Martha (nee Liggett) Davies. The family immigrated to Australia in 1853, settling in Melbourne. She married George Meddins Davies (1837–1913), and the couple had six children, including Evelyn Davies. The family lived at “Fron”, on Fernshaw Road, Healesville.
- Rupert Davies (1882–1967) – Rupert Davies was born in 1882 to George Meddins and Alice Davies in Healesville, and is the brother of Evelyn Davies. He worked as an orchardist and labourer and lived at the family property “Fron”, on Fernshaw Road, Healesville, until his death in 1967.
- George William (b. 1877) Davies and Lottie Davies - George William Davies was born in 1877 to George Meddins and Alice Davies in Healesville, and is the brother of Evelyn Davies. He and his wife Lottie lived at 9 Kenmore Road,
- 6331 Driver Arthur Beethoven Danks (1891–1965) – Arthur Beethoven Danks was born in 1891 to William Smithers (1832–1905) and Gertrude Danks (nee Davies, 1850–1938), in Port Melbourne. He was the cousin of Evelyn Davies. Prior to enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force, he played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League. On his enlistment papers he listed his occupation as “railway fireman”. Danks was a gunner and later driver with the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column, and returned to Australia on 10 June 1919.
- Alice Maud Danks (1881–1954) - Alice Maud Danks was born on 25 September 1881 to William Smithers (1832–1905) and Gertrude Danks (nee Davies, 1850–1938), in Sandridge. She was the cousin of Evelyn Davies. She married Thoams Johnston Smith in 1913, and they had a daughter Winifred Joan Smith (1916–2009), who married Oswald Carl Hayton.
- Athalie Pizzey (nee Danks) (1879–1956) - Athalie Pizzey (nee Danks) was born in 1879 to William Smithers (1832–1905) and Gertrude Danks (nee Davies, 1850–1938) in Carlton. In 1905 she married Frank Pizzey (1875–1949). They had four children: Athalie Florence Pizzey (1906 –1995) who married John Benson (1901–1970), George William Pizzey (1908–1965), Frank Haydon Pizzey (1912–2000), and John Marshall Pizzey (1920–1942).
- Elizabeth Hunt (nee Davies) (b. 1845) - Elizabeth Hunt (nee Davies) was born 16 April 1845 in Shropshire, England to William and Martha (nee Liggett) Davies. She was the sister of Alice Davies, and aunt of Evelyn Davies. The family immigrated to Australia in 1853, settling in Melbourne. In 1866 she married George Henry Hunt (1845–1918) in Parramatta. George Hunt was the Inspector of Schools. Elizabeth and George Hunt had 11 children: Harold Wesley George (1867–1903), Edwin Watkin (1869–1945), Alice Mabel (1871–1871), Theodore William (1873–1939), Ernest (1875–1875), Charles Thomas (1876–1968), Gervase Morley (1878–1957), Stanley Richard (1882– 1882), Daisy Elizabeth (1883–1960), John Darvall (1885–1958), and Violet Victoria (1887–1978).
- Sister Ida Mockridge (1884–1963) - Ida May Mockridge was born in 1884 in Geelong, to Robert Bond and Marjorie Mockridge (nee Stangs). She enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on 4 August 1915. After returning to Australia in 1919, she continued to work as a nurse in Victoria. Ida Mockridge never married, and died on 11 September 1963. She is buried in Altona Cemetery.