THE WA Genealogy Society (WAGS) are hoping the public will help them to identify all the 700 or so men in the WA-raised 11th Battalion, whose group image was captured in an iconic WW1 photo.
The photo was taken on the levels of the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) near Mena camp, Egypt, on January 10, 1915.
Many people will have seen it at some stage. It is a very memorable photo that captures the innocence and enthusiasm of the young West Australian men.
Sadly however many of them did not live for much longer as, not long after the photo was taken, the 11th Battalion sailed for the horrors of Gallipoli and into the pages of Australian history.
The picture and information about this ANZAC centenary project and how to identify your relative, is available online here.
The photo is divided into grids and images can be magnified. Faces are mostly quite visible.
There is also a list of names of men on the embarkation roll of the original 11th Battalion, and the towns where they said they came from. Most are likely to be in the photo.
I have extracted names of local men from the list and they appear below. Hopefully, there may be descendents of these men still in our area who might be able to identify their ancestor in this iconic photo, if they have not already done so.
It would be great if all our local men could have their name put to their faces.
Donnybrook: Bovell, Vernon Llewellyn; Clifford, Albert George; Davis, Henry; Fowler George Charles; Furnival, James Rickey; Geilman, John; Rudd, Thomas Adamthwaite; Rudd, John Ellwood; Thompson, Lawrence Samuel; Wood, Alfred John; Young, Albert Charles.
Balingup: Fullarton, Allan.
Kirup: Barton, Harold Eric Getting; Beattie, Robert; Buck, Harold Noel; Christie, Herbert; Cooper, George Ashley; Corin, William Leonard; Cunning, John; Deegan, John; Mayne, William Henry; Pearce, Charles Thomas; Savage, Alfred Fordham; Shields, William; Williams, Arthur James.
Dardanup: Johnston, Claude Barclay.
Bridgetown: Clarke, William; Cumming, James; Hilliar, Henry; Scott, Frederick James.
Barrabup: Pickles, Alfred Herbert.
Capel: Cowan, William Allan; Maslin, Thomas James; Rose, William Clifton.
Nannup: Bruce, Henry Homewood.
