A century on from the end of World War I we acknowledge their service …
Lest we forget.
Trooper Douglas Bruce Black
Born: 20 July 1898 Mooroolbark. Died whilst on active service: 12 December 1918 – Cairo, Egypt
Enlisted: 25 June 1918 aged 19
Served: Australia and Egypt
The last of Thomas and Margaret Black’s sons to enlist was Douglas (also known as Bruce). He was nearly 20 when he enlisted in June 1918, when news that his brother Donald had been wounded reached Pakenham. His parents though, had no objection to Bruce enlisting.
Another son, Thomas, had remained behind to manage the family’s extensive orchards – all 22 of them!
The Armistice was actually declared while Bruce was en-route to Europe. Unfortunately, he came down with influenza on the voyage and hospitalized in Eygpt dangerously ill. Bruce subsequently died of meningitis on 12 December 1918, and was buried in the Cairo Military Cemetery.
The Black family placed in-memoriam notices for both Bruce and his brother Robert in The Argus on Christmas Day 1918. It must have been a very difficult Christmas for the family. Bruce was the last of the Pakenham Diggers to die whilst on active service.
This is an extract from Patrick Ferry’s book A Century After The Guns Fell Silent – Remembering the Pakenham District’s WWI Diggers 1914-18.
For more details on this and other profiles in the book, head to the website www.pakenhamww1.com
