Two studio portraits of 2917 Private (Pte) John Nicholas Crowley, 34th Battalion, (left); and his ...

Two studio portraits of 2917 Private (Pte) John Nicholas Crowley, 34th Battalion, (left); and his son Pte Reginald Baden Crowley, 56th Battalion (later 34th Battalion) (right); both of West Wyalong, NSW. The two portraits have been mounted on board , with the backgrounds masked by paint, suitable for reproduction in a newspaper. John Crowley was a journalist and editor of the Wyalong Star newspaper, as well as having been a Justice of the Peace, Coroner of Wyalong District, and rifle shooting champion of the Southern District of New South Wales. He enlisted on 16 November 1916, and embarked from Sydney on HMAT Beltana on 25 November 1916 with the 6th Reinforcements. He was killed in action on 12 October 1917 when he was hit by a shell on Passchendaele Ridge. He was 52 years old; he had under-stated his age on enlistment. Pte Reginald Crowley, one of three brothers who served in France, was a student before enlisting on 22 May 1916. He embarked from Sydney on HMAT Ceramic on 7 October 1916 with the 6th Reinforcements, 56th Battalion, and was transferred to the 34th Battalion, his father's battalion, on 13 April 1917. He was killed in action on 4 April 1918, being shot with a revolver at close range by a German officer while attacking at Hangard Wood, near Villers-Bretonneux. At the time of his death he was 18 years old, having over-stated his age on enlistment.