Honour roll location: Pillar 8C

 

Joseph Stuart. Image courtesy of the East Loddon Historical Society, Norma Thomas Collection.

Joseph Moore Stuart was born in Wedderburn on the 23rd of July 1893.  was the fifth of eleven children to parents John Alexander Stuart and Isabella (nee Leech).

He grew up in Serpentine as a farmer and served three years with the 17th Light Horse on home soil prior to his enlistment.

Joseph Stuart. Image courtesy of the East Loddon Historical Society, Norma Thomas Collection.

Taller than average

Joseph signed up on the 14th of June, 1916. His service number was 6591.  He was taller than the average male at the time, measuring 5’8 and weighed 155 lbs. He was allocated to the 5th Battalion of the AIF and left Australia on the HMAT A71 Nestor on the 2nd of October 1916.

Studio portrait of 6591 Private (Pte) Joseph Moore Stuart, Darge Photography

Plagued by illness on the battlefield

Like so many other soldiers at war, Joseph became ill and needed to be hospitalised numerous times, despite not suffering from any war-inflicted injuries. He had trench fever in 1917 and in 1918 he had influenza. Trench fever was a serious disease transmitted by body lice. He was also treated for headaches and malaria.

Joseph served in England and France. He was also promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal and this was his rank when he returned home on the 27th July, 1919.

A postcard from Joseph to his mother prior to him returning home to Australia. Image courtesy of the East Loddon Historical Society, Norma Thomas Collection.
A postcard from Joseph to his mother prior to him returning home to Australia. Image courtesy of the East Loddon Historical Society, Norma Thomas Collection.

Wedding, then tragedy

After he came back from the war he got married to Ivy Myrtle Gladman of Serpentine in 1922. Joseph sadly died the same year he was married.

Ivy went on to marry Joseph’s brother, William Frederick Stuart, in 1929. Ivy was the sister to Charles Frederick Gladman who was killed in action in Belgium on the 20th of September, 1917.

Joseph Stuart and Ivy Myrtle Gladman on their wedding day in 1922. Image courtesy of the East Loddon Historical Society, Norma Thomas Collection.

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