War Memorial Dural
Hornsby Shire Library & Information Service
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Dural Memorial Hall, 604 Old Northern Road, Dural, was opened on 4 November 1925.
Inside the hall is a roll of the men who served during the First World War. The men listed below are those who gave their lives in this service.
Name List
Bragg, Edmund Allen
Rank: Private
Regiment: 4th Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 29
Place of Enlistment: Dural
Date of Death: 19 May 1915
Place of Death: Gallipoli
Battle: Gallipoli
Memorial/Cemetery: 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery, Gallipoli.
Relationships: Son of William J and Agnes P Bragg, of Dural (later Maroota). Brother of Ellen Agnes Franks, nee Bragg.
Other: Killed in action.
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Breckell, Charles Harold
Rank: Private
Regiment: C Company, 19th Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 23
Place of Enlistment: Dural
Date of Death: 14 November 1916
Place of Death: Flers, France
Battle: The Somme
Memorial/Cemetery: Warlencourt British Cemetery, France
Relationships: Son of John Adam and Sarah Breckell of 127 Robson Street, Everton, Liverpool, England.
Other: Charles Breckell worked at the Government Demonstration Orchard at Dural. He spent much of May to October 1916 in hospital, suffering from a gunshot wound to his hand and then eyesight problems. In November he was reported missing after an attack on German lines. His death was confirmed in July 1917.
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Archibald, Godfrey Fuller
Rank: Sergeant
Regiment: 4th Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 20
Place of Enlistment: Parramatta
Date of Death: 27 May 1915
Place of Death: Gallipoli
Battle: Gallipoli
Memorial/Cemetery: 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery, Gallipoli
Relationships: Son of Edward and Sara Ann Fuller of Galston Road, Dural.
Other: Killed in action.
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Gilligan, Alphonsus
Rank: Trooper
Regiment: 11th Australian Light Horse
Age: 34
Place of Enlistment: Galston
Date of Death: 29 October 1918
Place of Death: Damascus, Syria.
Battle:
Memorial/Cemetery: Damascus Commonwealth War Cemetery.
Relationships: Son of William and Margaret Gilligan, of Galston.
Other: Died of “Clinical Malaria Pneumonia” at French Hospital, Damascus, after suffering various illnesses during the year he served on the Palestine Front.
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Keller, George
Rank: Private
Regiment: 1st Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 21
Place of Enlistment: Sydney
Date of Death: 22-25 July 1916
Place of Death: France
Battle: Somme
Memorial/Cemetery: Gordon Dump Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boiselle, France.
Relationships: Son of Joseph and Elizabeth Keller, of 333A Norwood Rd., Herne Hill, London, England.
Other: Killed in action. In the records, George Keller is described as a farmer, native of Watford, Herefordshire, England. There is no mention of Dural, but presumably he owned or worked on a farm in the district.
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Kent, James Edward
Rank: Private
Regiment: 1st Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 27
Place of Enlistment: Sydney
Date of Death: 5-8 May 1917
Place of Death: France
Battle: Second Battle of Bullecourt
Memorial/Cemetery: Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France
Relationships: He was the son of Joseph and Ada Elizabeth Kent of Walworth, London. He was born in Rotherhithe, London, but grew up in Barnes, Surrey. He was married to Rose Emerson Kent of 268 Salisbury Rd., Richmond, Surrey. Her name is written in as next of kin on his attestation paper at a later date. His service record also mentions stepchildren Charles, Benjamin, Alma, and Joseph Hughes, and a brother, Joseph A Kent.
Other: The identification of this soldier with the “J Kent” on the memorial is tentative. His service record describes him as an “orchard hand” which fits the district.
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Motter, Elmer Eugene
Rank: Private
Regiment: 33rd Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 39
Place of Enlistment: Glenhaven
Date of Death: 2 September 1918
Place of Death: France
Battle: Mont St Quentin
Memorial/Cemetery: Daours Communal Cemetery Extension, France
Relationships: Son of Ellen and the late George Motter; husband of Elizabeth Motter, of Glenhaven.
Other: Recorded as “H Motter” on the memorial. Died of shrapnel wound to buttock sustained in action on 31 August 1918.
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Reed, George Robert
Rank: Private
Regiment: 18th Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 35
Place of Enlistment: Dural
Date of Death: 15 April 1918
Place of Death: Hangard Wood, France
Battle: German Spring Offensive
Memorial/Cemetery: Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France
Relationships: Husband of Clara Ellen Reed of Dural (later Mrs Shields of Waterloo).
Other: Recorded as “Reid” on the war memorial. George Reed was a London-born orchardist. He was hit by machine gun bullets in head and chest at 3 am on 15 April 1918, probably during reconnaissance, and died instantly.
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Williams, Harold Edwin
Rank: Lance Corporal
Regiment: 2nd Australian Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron
Age: 27
Place of Enlistment: Kulmura, NSW
Date of Death: 5 November 1917
Place of Death: Palestine
Battle:
Memorial/Cemetery: Beersheba War Cemetery
Relationships: Son of William E and Martha Williams, of May Cottage, Dural.
Other: Harold Williams was killed about 9 miles north of Beersheba, where the 2nd Light Horse and the Imperial Camel Corps were attacking a Turkish redoubt guarding a well. He was manning his machine gun when he received a rifle bullet in the head and died instantly. He was buried where he fell.
The following men had a connection to Dural but are not commemorated in the Dural Memorial Hall:
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Hunt, John Morris
Rank: Private
Regiment: 19th Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 24
Place of Enlistment: Sydney
Date of Death: 25 July 1918
Place of Death: Villers-Bretonneux, France
Battle:
Memorial/Cemetery: Crucifix Corner Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, France
Relationships: Son of John Charles and Annie Maria Hunt, of “Currawong”, Harold Street, Parramatta. John Charles Hunt, who owned an orchard in Dural, was the President of Hornsby Shire’s first elected Council in 1906. John Morris Hunt was born in Dural.
Other: John Hunt died after being shot in the mouth by an enemy machine gun when on a wiring party at night in no man’s land.
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Stacey, Ernest George Hewlett
Rank: Private
Regiment: 19th Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 21
Place of Enlistment: Sydney
Date of Death: 15 June 1916
Place of Death: Plymouth.
Battle:
Memorial/Cemetery: Weston Mill Cemetery, Plymouth, Devonshire, England
Relationships: Son of Ernest Lloyd Stacey of Dolobran, Abergele, North Wales.
Other: A labourer at San Remo Orchard, Dural, he died of cerebral spinal fever after disembarking at Plymouth.
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Spencer, Francis Eadson
Rank: Private
Regiment: 34th Battalion, Australian Infantry
Age: 19
Place of Enlistment: West Maitland
Date of Death: 1 March 1917
Place of Death: France
Battle:
Memorial/Cemetery: Cité Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres, France
Relationships: Son of Samuel Francis Spencer and Harriet Mary Spencer, of Rose Cottage, Middle Dural.
Other: Killed in action.
