The tragic story of Australia’s ‘forgotten soldier’ ​​and one man’s fight to know him

Discarded wartime service medals found in the street led to the discovery of the unmarked grave of a First World War soldier who had been lost and forgotten for almost a century.

The remarkable piecing together of William McEwan’s tragic story has also sparked a fight to give him and hundreds of other forgotten Australian war heroes the official posthumous recognition their sacrifice deserved.

‘Our William was an ordinary man from an ordinary family who, like many Australians, went and “did his bit” but sadly returned physically and mentally broken, Melbourne military history enthusiast Peter Zabrdac told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It is disgusting that his grave was never properly marked and was forgotten for 99 years. I am determined to get him the military headstone monument he deserves.’

Mr Zabrdac’s father found William’s discarded medals on Fitzroy Street in Melbourne’s city center in the early 1970s.

Although they fascinated Mr. Zabrdac, who was in primary school at the time, he forgot about them until he found the military insignia among his father’s belongings earlier this year.

Mr Zabrdac, now 59 and a semi-retired company director, did some research that led to William obtaining the entire 79-page “beautifully handwritten” army file from the National Archives in Canberra.

‘The more I read his file, the more human he became,’ Mr. Zabrdac said.

The unmarked and long-lost grave of World War I Sapper William McEwan, who was seriously wounded while fighting for Australia

William McEwan was so badly wounded during the First World War battle for the French town of Pozieres in 1916 that the army wrote to his mother that he was unlikely to survive

William was only 163 cm tall, which prevented him from enlisting in Gallipoli.

Following this disastrous campaign and other conflicts, the Australian army was forced to lower the minimum height limit to replenish its numbers, meaning William could be drafted and was sent to fight in France.

During the hellish four-month battle for the French village of Pozieres in 1916, in which the Germans unleashed their entire arsenal, including phosphorus shells and poison gas, William took part in 23,000 Australian casualties, of whom 6800 were killed or mortally wounded.

William was shot in both his lungs and arms and suffered shrapnel wounds in his back.

“He was not expected to survive and his poor mother was informed of this by the army,” Mr. Zabrdac said.

‘Only God knows how he lives.’

William was evacuated to England, where he recuperated for 18 months before being discharged in 1917 as unfit for further service.

Returning to live in Melbourne, William married but Dr.In 1923, he committed suicide secretly and publicly.

An obituary from the now defunct Melbourne newspaper The Argus stated that William walked into a bar in Brunswick, near Fitzroy, where he lived, and told the bartender to offer him “a pint of poison” and give him a “bob” (previously 12 pence). decimal currency).

One of William’s medals was found discarded in Fitzroy Street in the early 1970s

When this ‘unusual request’ was refused, William ordered a beer instead, drank it but then went out into the street and ‘drank some poison and staggered into the hotel garden where he died’.

‘He had been suffering from chest complaints since his return from the war,’ the Argus reported.

Mr Zabrdac said that with the help of Faith Jones of the Virtual War Memorial group and Lois Comeadow of Brighton Cemeteries, he was able to not only track down a living relative of William, but also locate the war hero’s grave.

But Mr Zabrdac was shocked and horrified to find William lying unnamed at Brighton Cemetery in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South.

‘“Our William was an ordinary man from an ordinary family and, like many Australians, he went and ‘did his bit’ but unfortunately came back physically and mentally broken,” Mr Zabrdac said.

‘It is disgusting that his grave was never properly marked and forgotten for 99 years, and I am determined to give him the military headstone memorial he deserves.

William’s extraordinary obituary in 1923 was contained in the army file of the now defunct Melbourne newspaper The Argus.

Mr. Zabrdac was informed that the Department of Veterans Affairs would designate William only suitable for a war grave and would provide a ceremonially carved headstone worth approximately $7,000 if it was proven that he died from battlefield injuries.

“All we have so far is the landlady’s statement taken by the police, in which she stated that she was ‘in terrible pain with breathing problems,'” Mr. Zabrdac said, preparing a presentation.

Mr. Zabrdac noted that families of U.S. veterans have always been given a special place to honor their deceased loved ones.

‘The Americans have the Arlington Military Cemetery (in Washington) for their returning soldiers, but we don’t do anything in Australia and that’s a shame,’ he said.

‘There are many Diggers in a similar situation all over Australia, lying in forgotten and unmarked graves.’

Peter Zabrdac (pictured left) attends the flag raising ceremony at William’s grave with Victoria RSL State Committee member Ange Kenos

Mr Zabrdac attended the flag raising ceremony at William’s grave last Friday, which was also attended by ADF members and representatives of the Victoria RSL.

He said the heartfelt ceremony was just the beginning of the effort to honor William, with everyone in attendance vowing not to rest until they secured a headstone or memorial plaque for the previously unknown soldier.

Mr Zabrdac also plans to give William’s medals to the only surviving relative he has managed to track down, Wendy Newman, who lives in Queensland.

Between 1997 and 2021, there were 1,677 confirmed suicides by serving and former serving members of the ADF; This is 20 times the number killed in armed conflict during the period.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been contacted for comment.