| Regimental number | 964 |
| Place of birth | Poplar, London, England |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Occupation | Labourer |
| Address | Brisbane PO, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Marital status | Married |
| Age at embarkation | 33 |
| Next of kin | Son, W A Porter, c/o State Children Relief Depot, 5 Richmond Terrace, Domain, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Previous military service | Nil |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 25th Battalion, D Company |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/42/1 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A60 Aeneas on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 25th Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 23), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 105 |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front Embarked from Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 4 September 1915. Disembarked Alexandria from Mudros, 9 January 1916 (general Gallipoli evacuation). Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 14 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 19 March 1916. Admitted to 9th Field Ambulance, 8 July 1916 (strained muscles); transferred to 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital, 15 July 1916. Transferred to England, 16 July 1916, and admitted to 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, 17 July 1916. granted furlough, 29 August 1916; admitted to 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, France, 14 December 1916; rejoined unit, 18 December 1916. Admitted to 6th Field Ambulance, 29 March 1917 (influenza); transferred to 6th General Hospital, 7 April 1917; to 2nd Convalescent Depot, 8 April 1917; rejoined Bn, 27 August 1917. Killed in action, Belgium, 4 October 1917. Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal His former wife, since remarried, wrote to Base Records, 26 March 1919, stating that they had not formally separated or been divorced, but that 'we had just parted because he would not give up drinking. He took the 2 boys and I the girl. ' |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
