Allan Stewart Bailey

Allan (Tod) Stewart  Bailey was born in 1892 in Corryong, Victoria, to William and Catherine Allen (nee Fraser). He was the second-youngest of 12 children. Allan and his siblings attended Colac Colac State School No. 2962. In 1903, there were three Bailey children and 19 others on the school roll.

On 6th August 1915, he enlisted at Melbourne, Victoria. At the time, he was a single, 22-year-old labourer from Corryong, Victoria. He was allocated Regimental Number 2578 and placed in the 6th Reinforcements for the 22nd Battalion. Allan gave his next of kin as father, William Bailey. After initial training, he embarked on HMAT A38 Ulysses at Melbourne, Victoria, on 27th October 1915.

While undergoing training in Egypt, Allan was transferred to the 7th Battalion on 24th February 1916. The Battalion disembarked at Marseilles in the south of France on 31 March 1916. Four months later, Allan was wounded in action and admitted to the 26th General Hospital in Etaples. The wound was severe enough for him to be transferred to England and admitted to the Chatham Military Hospital.

One of Allan’s older brothers, Stanley, would enlist eight months later on 19th April 1916. He would die in late January of 1917 from wounds received in battle.

Arriving back in France in late March of 1917, he was struck down with mumps. This sent him back to the hospital. Allan would not rejoin his battalion until 12th June 1917. In early 1918 and once again in early 1919, he was granted two weeks' leave, which he took in the UK in both situations. 

On 12th May 1919, he returned to Australia aboard HT Soudan, with the rank of Driver. He was discharged on 16th September 1919, being awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service during the war.

Allan married Elsie Ann Eade in 1921. The couple would settle in Corryong, where Allan would find work as a labourer. They would have two sons, Stanley and Sewart. Allan passed away on 21st December 1961 at Colac Colac, Victoria and was buried in Corryong Cemetery.