Their bodies are buried in peace; but their names liveth for evermore.
Their Duty Done
A tribute to the men and women of the East Gippsland Region who Died
as a result of their participation in World War One : 1914 - 1919
1581 Private John Thomas Chettle – Fernbank
Killed in Action 7 August 1915
….. the first son of the family to enlist
John Thomas, known as Thomas, Chettle was born in Bairnsdale in 1892 to
William and Ellen Chettle. At the time the family were living at Munro and
the children went to school at Fernbank. Thomas was a labourer when he
enlisted on 28 November 1914 and was assigned to the 14
th
Battalion; he was
22 years old. His older brother, William enlisted a month later and returned
home in 1919. Thomas left Melbourne on the Runic on 19 February 1915.
It is not known when he went to Gallipoli but presumably he trained for
a short time in Egypt before being sent there. He was declared killed in
action on 7 August 1915 at a board of enquiry in Alexandria in October 1915.
His body was not recovered and he is remembered at the Lone Pine
memorial and the Fernbank honour board. Unfortunately Thomas Chettle is
remembered as Thomas Chuttle on the Bairnsdale Honour roll.
