Norman Leonard Terry
Unit number 431
Military medal number AKJ43038
By Pauline Graves
NORMAN Terry was one of the four children born to Marmaduke Terry and Cathie Selman.
He was born January 10, 1890 in St Kilda, Victoria. Sadly, Norman was just five when his mother passed away and his family moved to Western Australia soon after.
It was not to be a little family for long; Norman's father remarried to Filumena Bussell and the family grew to include 11 children, making for a noisy and boisterous household that was one of the centres of the area's social life.
By the outbreak of war, Norman was a member of the Church of England and a farmer. He was quite tall at five foot ten and full of dark complexion with brown hair and eyes.
Norman was the first of his brothers to enlist. A year before Marmaduke and Donald stood in line together to sign up, Norman travelled to Perth to enlist at the army barracks at Helena Vale on September 22, 1914.
Military life for Norman was probably not as daunting as it was for most as he had spent 15 months as an army volunteer before the war. But like the greater majority, he entered at the rank of Private and was posted to the 16th Battalion.
After three months training he travelled with family friend and Sergeant Lance Andrews to Melbourne, where they boarded the HMAT A40 Ceramic that sailed to Alexandria.
When fighting broke out in the Dardanelles, Norman was in the thick of it and on May 2 he was shot in the head. His army records do not give much details on this, but it could not have been too severe as a week later he was with the 4th Field Artillery in the Dardanelles.
For the rest of 1915, Norman suffered health problems including an ear infection in September, which was severe enough to have him evacuated to Malta, put on board the hospital ship Huntsgreen and shipped back to England. He stayed at the Southern General Hospital in Birmingham until mid-December.
By January 1916, Norman was back in Egypt, but was sent to France shortly after. He was wounded on August 10, suffering shell shock, but promoted to Corporal next day.
In June 1917, still in France, Norman's unit was fighting at Messines. During June 7-13, he was used as a scout, in charge of a group whose job it was to reconnoitre all the land in front of troops in the trenches and all the land approaching it.
Once the Battle of Messines started, Norman had to repeatedly reconnoitre the area in front of the New Zealand Division.
Norman was head of the patrol that advanced 500 yards along the banks of the River Douve on June 11-12. He went ahead of the troops digging in to hold the position, thus providing cover for them. His bravery was recognised and he was awarded the Military Medal on June 23, 1916.
A month later, he was sent to attend the No.5 officers cadet unit and in November he was promoted to second Lieutenant and posted to the general infantry reinforcements. Two weeks after, he was sent back to France.
In January 1918, Norman was sent to a course on the Vickers Machine Gun for which he received congratulations from the Divisional Commander on a satisfactory report.
In early September, he had a week's leave before being sent to an intelligence course. Again he received praise for his efforts.
Norman's war came to a close when he was repatriated to Australia aboard the Leicestershire, arriving home on December 9, 1918. He received an honourable discharge on March 16, 1919.
In 1922 in Perth, Norman married Kathleen Marguerite Burnett.
He passed away in Perth in 1954.
Kathleen was living at 4 Altona St, West Perth in January 1961 when she wrote to the Army to apply for a war pension home.
Kathleen died in 1967 in Perth.
These profiles will form part of an exhibition at the Bramley School, Old Margaret River Settlement, for the commemoration of the ANZAC centenary. The honour roll, WWI medals and memorabilia are available for viewing to the public at the old school every Thursday from 1.30 to 4 pm and Saturdays from 10 to 2.
If you have any pictures, memorabilia or information regarding any of the ANZACs on the local honour roll, please contact Pauline Graves at the Margaret River and Districts Historical Society by email on pushing_60@hotmail.com.
