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
Major Erle Finlayson Denton Fethers - Bairnsdale
Killed in Action 25 April 1915
….. shot by a sniper
Erle Fethers was not born in Bairnsdale but moved to the town when
employed as an accountant at the National Bank. He was a career soldier
having started as a bugler in the Victorian Scottish Regiment, Melbourne
and, being selected to train in India with British troops, he had risen to the
rank of Captain.
Working in Bairnsdale when war broke out he was invited by Colonel
Wanliss to join the 5
th
Battalion. He enlisted in August and was among the
first to sail from Australia in command of A company of that Battalion. Once
in Egypt he was promoted to Major. Fethers was well loved by his men and
led his company 200 yards beyond the crest of Lone Pine when he was shot
through the neck by a sniper.
In a letter to his mother Major Flockart described him as one of the
best and that he had died just mid-day on that day. He was eventually
buried at Lone Pine Cemetery. He was 28 years old.
Captain Fethers (seated second from the right in the second row) with other officers at the Sphinx near
the Pyramids in Egypt. AWM AO3182
