Walter Francis Jones

Walter Francis Jones was born on 13th April 1884 in Cudgewa, Victoria, to William David Jones and Mary, nee Eade. 

Walter married Mary Emily Elizabeth Post on 15th August 1907. The couple initially lived in Walwa, where their first two children, William and Ruth, were born. Sometime before 1911, the Jones family moved to the suburb of Carlton. The next two children, Ernest and Leslie, were born here. Their fifth child, Aileen, was born in Wangaratta in 1914, but had died by the age of two. Walter found out about her death while he was in England with the 1st AIF.

On 23rd March 1915, he enlisted at Melbourne, Victoria. At the time, he was a married, 30-year-old miner from Drouin, Victoria. He was allocated Regimental Number 652 and placed in C Company of the 24th Battalion. Walter gave his next of kin as his wife, Mary Jones. After initial training, he embarked on HMAT A14 Euripides at Melbourne, Victoria, on 8th May 1915.

During April of 1916, he was transferred to the 59th Battalion. Walter’s Service Record states that he was promoted to Company Quarter Master Sergeant on 13th June, but one month later, he requested that he revert back to the rank of Private.  Later in October 1916, he was wounded in action, but it wasn’t serious enough to warrant time in hospital. However, he did have some hospital visits the following year, suffering from bronchitis and also mumps.

On 9th March 1919, he returned to Australia aboard HMS Kashmir, with the rank of Private. He was discharged as medically unfit on 20th July 1919, being awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service during the war.

After the war, the family lived in Wangaratta, where Mary and the children had been while Walter was away overseas. Four more children, Dulcie, Albert, Ada and Melva, would be added to the family. By 1931, the family had moved to Walhalla in Gippsland.

He passed away on 22nd May 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria and was buried in Burwood Cemetery, Victoria.