Born: 21 August 1896
Died: 19 February 1937
Known as Rex.
Wounded at Hill 60, Gallipoli.
Corporal R. H. Boyden - dangerously wounded - is a son of Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Boyden, of Mosman. He was one of the first to offer, and applied no less than 13 times before he was accepted. He was rejected previously as he was then under age. He was made corporal the second day after joining the 18th Battalion. He is now at King George's Hospital, London.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 30 September 1915.
Attempted unsuccessfully to rejoin the AIF. Joined Royal Naval Air Service college, and flew with the RNAS and RAF. After the war, served 1921-1923 with the RAAF, and flew commercially. Was killed in the Stinson airliner crash in Queensland in 1937.
TEACHER'S TRIBUTE TO VICTIM OF STINSON DISASTER
Late Captain BoydenA touching tribute to the work and character of the late Captain Rex Boyden, who lost his life in the recent Stinson plane crash, is paid by a former school teacher. The teacher writes: ...
"About 30 years ago a softly spoken lady brought three fair-haired pupils, recent arrivals from Melbourne, to be enrolled at my school. When I asked for their names I was told they were Nicholas Lancelot Boyden, Reginald Haslam Boyden, and Daisy Lilienthal Boyden. The first was known generally as Lance, the second as Rex and the third as Lil. They proved to be bright, likeable children. A few years later the Great War began, and in 1915 Rex and his elder brother (Stewart) were fighting at Gallipoli. In 1916 Lance and Stewart were in France; and a younger brother, Paul, served during 1917 and 1918 on a destroyer in the Mediterranean. The three infantrymen were all wounded. Rex, then in his 'teens, had enlisted on January 20, 1916, and sailed with the 18th Battalion, proceeding to Gallipoli. He was wounded at Hill 60 on August 22, and for three days and three nights lay, most of the time unconscious between the opposing lines, with the bullets of both armies passing over him. Finally becoming conscious, he crawled to the Australian trenches, believing that he had been in No-Man's-Land for one night only. He was taken to hospital, and after, eight weeks invalided to Australia, arriving on June 25, exactly 12 months after his embarkation.
TRIED TO RE-ENLIST.
"When he recovered, Rex tried to re-enlist, but was repected as unfit. Early in 1917, however, he worked his way to England in a cargo steamer and was able to join the Royal Naval Air Service. After training at Greenwich, he served in the North Sea and in France until the end of the war, being, present in his plane over Scapa Flow when the German Fleet was brought in. Rex returned to Australia in 1919, and resumed work witih W. D. and H. O. Wills, Ltd. Unable, however, to settle to indoor work, he again took up flying, being so employed in South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales, and Queensland, and later in New Guinea. On the death of his father in 1930, he gave up flying, and with three of his brothers tried his hand at banana growing at Coffs Harbour. But, this work proving unprofitable, he started flying again in 1935, this time with the New England Airways (now Airlines of Australia) serving as one of their senior pilots until his tragic death in the Macpherson Range on February 19 last. His favourite sport was iceskating. At this he was an expert, and he took a prominent part in many skating carnivals, arranging some particularly attractive displays. Taking Christ as his exemplar, his motto was "Sacrifice and Service." He had a high sense of responsibility, and was every inch a man, brave and dependable. He was devoted to his widowed mother, and bestowed upon her the most loving care. Like many of my old boys, Rex reached heights altogether unattainable by his old teacher, who reverently salutes him."
1937 'TEACHER'S TRIBUTE TO VICTIM OF STINSON DISASTER.', Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954), 30 June, p. 4, viewed 29 November, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54999005
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