Private Joseph Munday
RSL (Port Pirie Sub Branch) Inc.Joseph Munday was born on the 26th January 1891 in Wandearah East, South Australia, one of eight children to William and Emma Munday (nee Fidge).
Joseph was a farm labourer when he enlisted from Port Pirie on the 12th April 1916, embarking from Melbourne as a Private with the 10th Battalion, 18th Reinforcements aboard ‘A37’ S.S. Barambah.
He proceeded overseas to France in September 1916 and two months later was struck down by trench feet, a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions. On Joseph’s service record it was stated as ‘Frozen Feet’ and ‘Frost Bite Feet’.
After being invalided to England and spending 8 months in hospital, Joseph re-joined his battalion but was wounded in action in Boulogne, France on the 2nd October 1917 by a shrapnel wound to his left leg. He re-joined his unit 6 weeks later only to be wounded in action a second time by gunshots to his arms and legs.
He was taken prisoner by the Germans on the 1st March 1918. About 4,000 Australian service men and merchant navy men were captured as prisoners of war (POWs) by German or Ottoman forces during the war.
Joseph was interned in Limburg POW Camp, Germany and returned to England on the 9th December 1918 and finally to Australia on the 16th March 1919.
Joseph married Jessie Alfrieda Mueller on the 3rd October 1925 and raised 2 children. He passed away in Adelaide, South Australia on the 12th November 1964.
Joseph is commemorated on the Wandearah Memorial dedicated to service personnel from the Broughton Plains region, the Crystal Brook District WW1 Roll of Honour and the Prisoner of War Memorial in Ballarat, Victoria.
- South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau Record https://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/sarcib/SRG76_1_5456.pdf
