A century on from the end of World War I we acknowledge their service …
Lest we forget.
Trooper Arthur James Doyle
Born: December 1886 near Ballarat. Died: 21 October 1938 Prospect, SA.
Enlisted: 2 August 1915 aged 28
Served: Egypt
Arthur was the second of the Doyle brothers to enlist. As a young man, he worked for a time on a farm, but was passionate about cycling and eventually found a job in a bicycle shop in Violet Town, where his mother Georgina was station and postmistress for a time.
He took part in the Melbourne to Warrnambool bike race, later moving to South Australia.
Arthur was a 28 year old packer when he enlisted and in January 1916, Arthur was hospitalised at Suez Egypt with bronchitis, which turned out to be tubercular pleurisy.
He was invalided back to Australia for discharge as medically unfit.
He arrived back in Australia on the hospital ship “HMHT Karoola” on 21 February 1916 and was discharged from the Army in Adelaide on 11 March 1917.
Arthur had served in the Army for a total of one year and 222 days, of which 118 were spent on active service overseas.
He was not able to be present at Pakenham Upper in July 1918 when the community presented certificates to those Diggers who had already returned home.
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
