Dalmore is a small town on the Great Southern Railway Line, one stop past Tooradin. This section of line from Tooradin to Koo Wee Rup opened February 1890. The Dalmore Railway Station was originally called Peer’s Lane, then Koo Wee Rup West and then renamed Dalmore in January 1909 (1). Dalmore was the name of Duncan MacGregor’s estate, which he purchased in 1875. Peer’s Lane (now Dalmore Road) was named after a local land owner Frederick Peers (1843-1896) (2). The Dalmore Post Office and Store opened in 1915; the State School, No. 4002, in 1920 (and closed in 1978) and the Hall opened in 1925 (3). Dalmore had a population of 173 in 1921 (4)
Here is a list of any soldiers I could find with a Dalmore connection. Some local men may have enlisted with Cardinia as an address, I have written about some Cardinia Soldiers, here, including some of these men on this list. I haven't included soldiers who moved into the area after the War onto the Gowan Lea Soldier Settlement Estate. I have listed the Service Numbers (SN) so you can read their full service record on the National Archives of Australia website
Andrews, Cecil (SN 2123) Cecil was a 26 year old farmer when he enlisted on May 1, 1916. His address on the Embarkation Roll was Dalmore and his next of kin was his mother, Emily of Mordialloc. Cecil was Killed in Action in France on October 17, 1917. There are six In Memoriam notices for Cecil in The Argus from October 18, 1918 (see here) one of which is a lovely notice from his nieces and nephews, including 'wee Cecil' obviously named in honour of his Uncle. The other notices were from his parents, his sister Alice, his brother Walter and his wife Ethel, who lived in Mordialloc; his brother Will and his wife Lydia - they lived in Dalmore; and his brothers Arthur and Charles and sister-in-law Nellie, who also all lived in Dalmore. Cecil is listed on the Cardinia Honor Board and also had a tree planted in the Memorial Grove at the Cardinia State School, you can read about this here.
Hardy, Horace Robert (SN 19995) Horace enlisted on June 20, 1917 at the age of 21. He Returned to Australia July 13, 1919. Horace was the son of William John Hardy (1855 - 1940) and Sophia Wells Cadd (1856 - 1919) of Dalmore. His paternal grandparents, Emling and Emily (nee Gregory) Hardy took up land at Clyde North in 1856 - Hardy Road is named after the family. His maternal grandparents were Thomas and Sarah (nee Wells) Cadd who took up land at Clyde in 1862 (5). Horace had a tree planted in the Memorial Grove at the Cardinia State School, you can read about this here.
The following two grandly named men were the sons of Edward Simpson Hill and Charlotte Hill of Dalmore. Edward also enlisted.Hill, Arthur George Leonard Curnow (SN 61869) was an 18 year old labourer when he enlisted on June 11, 1918. Arthur was born at Bunyip South, which was later called Iona. Arthur was sent overseas to England, but was not involved in any fighting and Returned to Australia September 22, 1919.
Hill, Graham John Dudley Bowman (SN 1574) Known as Dudley. Dudley enlisted on September 6, 1915. He was a 22 year old farmer. Dudley Returned to Australia March 9, 1919. Dudley was granted a Soldier Settlement farm after the War, you can read his file here.
Hill, Edward Simpson (SN V21471) Edward, the father of the two men above, enlisted on February 16, 1916. His next of kin was naturally his wife, Charlotte. His occupation was Engine driver/Engineer; he was however also the Dalmore Post Master and in March 1916, he had to amputate a man's leg (under telephone instructions from a doctor), read about it in the Weekly Times, here. He was discharged on June 22, 1916 as he was unfit for service. He stated his age on enlistment as 44, but a notation on the file says 'is obviously very much over age' and lists his age as 56!
Kelly, Darcy (SN 5050) Darcy enlisted on October 3, 1917 at the age of 18 years and 4 months. He claimed to have been born in Dalmur, Gippsland which has been accepted as Dalmore. Darcy was sent back to Returned to Australia March 17, 1919. Darcy claimed that he had no next of kin. His file states This lad asserts he has no relatives, parents dying in infancy and has lost trace of his guardian. Was last employed by a travelling hawker named McFadzen and left him on the River Murray this week. The enlisting officer seemed to have sympathy for his plight and was asking permission to enlist him in loco parentis as Darcy is now without means.
Darcy signed a statuary declaration on December 21, 1918 saying that he was actually born June 26, 1900 and so was only 17 years old when he enlisted. He added a next of kin, a Mrs Sadie Harper, 40 Cope Street, Coburg, who he said was his aunt. Darcy was sent back to Australia in January 1919, as he was underage, and disembarked in Melbourne April 30, 1919. Another Statuary declaration was signed in 1958, this time he said he was only 15 years old on enlistment and was born June 26, 1902. The 1958 declaration also said his real name was Norman Hunt, not Darcy Kelly. This is correct because a Miss O. Hunt from 14 Railway Avenue, Malvern wrote to Base Records in April 1918 asking for Darcy Kelly's address. The 1958 Declaration was made because Darcy/Norman wanted proof of his service to join the RSL in Iron Knob in South Australia where he was then living. So was Darcy Kelly / Norman Hunt really born in Dalmore? Well the answer is actually no, he was born in St Kilda on June 26, 1902 to George and Mary Kate (nee Walker) Hunt and the Miss O. Hunt who wrote the letter was his sister Olga, so she obviously knew what he was up to. His mother had died on December 31, 1916 but his father was still alive and died in 1938. Even though, as it turns out, Darcy / Norman does not really have a Dalmore connection, he remains in my list because you have to admire the gumption of a 15 year old boy enlisting and making up a very fanciful story about why his parents couldn't sign his enlistment papers.
McNamara, Michael (SN 7532) Michael enlisted on May 9, 1917, he was a labourer from Dalmore and his next of kin was listed as a friend, Amelia Sorensen of Richmond. Michael Returned to Australia on January 30, 1918 and was medically discharged in the April on the grounds of 'premature senility.' Michael said he was 44 when he enlisted but this may have been a lie as a year later his medical reports listed his age at 52 so it appears he removed seven years from his age.
Woods, William (SN 2728) William was 21 and a farm labourer, when he enlisted on May 9, 1916. His address was care of William Hardy of Dalmore. His next of kin was his grandmother, Mary Woods, of Maribyrnong. He Returned to Australia January 25, 1919. William also served in the Second World War, he enlisted at the age of 45 in January 1941 and was discharged in March 1944. William was granted a Soldier Settlement farm, firstly at Dalmore and then at Werrimull, south of Mildura, after the Great War and was living in Mildura when he enlisted in 1941.You can read his Soldier Settler files, here and here. William had a tree planted in the Memorial Grove at the Cardinia State School, you can read about this here.
Footnotes(1) VicSig website https://vicsig.net/infrastructure/location/Dalmore
(4) Victorian Places website http://www.victorianplaces.com.au/
(5) Clyde History website https://www.earlyhistory4clydevic.com/html/0404hardy.html
