Badans, Walter John

Walter John Badans was born to parents Edward Badans and Mary Jane Knight on 7 July 1895 at Jamberoo.

At the height of World War I, on 1 June 1916, Walter joined the Australian Imperial Force in the 13th Battalion, and on 7 October 1916 embarked on the S.S. Ceramic, headed for Plymouth in England. Walter arrived there on 21 November 1916.

Walter sent a series of postcards during his time at war, which hve been included in the image gallery below.

The first postcard from Walter must have been sent sometime around 23 November 1916, soon after arriving in England and before departing for France on 8 February 1917.

The second postcard was sent at the same time as the first card and is addressed to Walter’s brothers and sisters – Daisy (1890), Jessie (1893), William 'Roy' (1897), Annie (1900), Mary 'Ellen' (1903) and Edward 'Bruce' (1911).

The next card was sent on 7 February 1917, the day before Walter proceeded to France to face the enemy.

On 10 June 1917, while serving in France, Walter received a gunshot wound to his right leg. He returned on the H.S. Jan Breydel on 15 June 1917 and was admitted to the War Hospital on Warren Road, Guildford, on 16 June 1917. It was some time after this that the next card was sent.

While still in England, recuperating from the gunshot wound to his leg, Walter wrote a postcard to his sister Jessie on 10 August 1917.

Walter left Plymouth, England on the 19 June 1919 on the vessel Militades.

Walter married Margaret Guthrie of Sydney and they farmed with Walter’s brother Roy for a short while, and then moved to 'Range Farm', where they continued farming for a few years prior to moving to Wollongong. Here they remained for the rest of their lives.

Walter and Margaret had one son, Russell.

Kiama Library acknowledges Dorothy O’Keefe, niece of Walter Badans, for making this information available relating to her uncle.

Dorothy remembers Walter returning from the war a sick man. He had been gassed and wounded. He resumed work on a dairy farm in a small way in Jamberoo.

In an extract from Dorothy’s book, 'Gone but not forgotten', she says: 'He was a skilled boxer and won medals for this sport during the war. Walter was also an extremely fast runner and it certainly paid off , when he was held prisoner by the Germans, he managed to escape and under gun fire zig-zagged as he ran, therefore being a very difficult target. What a brave man he must have been.'