Project blog

On August 10 the John Laffin Memorial Lecture day was held at the recently renovated Hyde Park Memorial

Mendinghem Military Cemetery, 2012. Image: Wernervc — Wikimedia Commons

In June 1917 P.G Taylor received devastating news. In 1960 he made a pilgrimage back to a place long buried in his memories.

Left;The London Gazette Ay 11, 1917 www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30064/supplement/4592 The Gazette retrieved online 24/04/17. Right; Military Cross. Source: Wikimedia commons

On the 24th of July 1917, 2/Lt. P.G. Taylor was awarded the Military Cross and promoted to Captain. Unfortunately, he received terrible news in the following days which overshadowed this prestigious honour. Today many of Bill Taylor’s belongings are kept at the Australian War Memorial.

The Australian 53rd Battalion suffered over 75% casualties in 24hrs at Fromelles. Several men from Mosman did not return. They were among the thousands ‘missing’ in the Great War.
One mother died in 1919, it is said of a broken heart. The other spent a lifetime grieving unable to come to terms with her loss. In 2010, the mystery that had haunted one family for generations was finally resolved…

Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery