Serving with the Australian Imperial Force, he worked on the front line near Wire Gully, where the unit was short of rations, and sickness, flies, lice and mosquitos were rife.
He contracted typhoid fever and on October 25, 1915 he died of heart failure — three months short of his 15th birthday.
He is considered the youngest to have died on active service during World War I.
This story was shared by Moama RSL sub-branch president Ken Jones to a crowd of more than 100 at a sombre Anzac Day service held at Moama cenotaph.
Guest speaker Leading Seaman Melanie Zerafa of the Royal Australian Navy recently returned from service in the Middle East and spoke about the co-operation of air, land and sea services during the Gallipoli campaign.
“Controlling the sea over the course of the entire campaign, the Navy allowed the Anzacs to use the sea for their own purposes, while preventing the Turkish from doing the same,” she said.
“Gallipoli was much more than a land campaign on a small peninsula. A better perspective asks to us contemplate operations in the entire eastern Mediterranean.
“The lasting legacy of Gallipoli should not be seen in terms of awful trench war or in terms of strategic disappointment, rather we should recognise the lessons learned at Gallipoli.
“At the time of evacuation from Gallipoli, Admiral John G Brobeck, the naval commander, said ‘We are far from being beaten and in fact we’ve learned a great deal and will know what to do in the future’.
“The successful amphibious assault which brought victory to the Allies in 1945 established the proof of these words.”
She said Anzac Day was not about glorifying war, but hoping for peace.
“Today we are thankful to the Australians who fought and died for peace and justice,” she said.
As a child, Leading Seaman Zerafa holidayed regularly in Echuca-Moama with her family.
While recently deployed to the United Arab Emirates, she was happily surprised to receive a care package from the 1st Echuca Scout Group, which had been shipped by the Moama RSL sub-branch.
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