AAAAW Lu!!!!! I don't know whether to cry, or clap
How on earth did you unravel all that tangle of threads? I was looking around the Wgton area and within a year or two of his Wgton Prison incarceration --- assuming, he was in such rough shape he wouldn't have lasted much longer and was staying "close to home in his final years". I underestimated Tim's resilience once again.
I would never have even recognized the issue with the Regimental numbers - that's some seriously diligent and dedicated investigative work. WELL DONE AND OUR FAMILY IS (and will for future generations be) GRATEFUL TO YOU:)
To be honest, I am a bit shocked Tim lasted into his 60's. I mean he joined the war in his 30's and look at that 30 year "journey" he had. To end up homeless, in a gully in a different city, is a very sad conclusion to a very challenging and colourful life.
I checked the place of death "Grafton Gully"...it seems like a bit of a wilderness area and a place where the homeless would set up:
From Wiki:
"Grafton Gully is a deep (about 50 m) and very wide (about 100 m) gully running northwards towards the sea through the volcanic hills of the Auckland volcanic field in New Zealand. It divides the CBD from the suburbs of Grafton and Parnell in the east.
History
The Grafton Gully was formerly home to the Waipārūrū Stream, known to early European settlers as the Graveyard Spring.[1]"
I was however, heartened to see that when he was buried his military service was recognized. He, at least, deserves that.
I will go through your links and download everything I can so his life's struggles and very unusual journey will be recorded for him; so he won't just be some barely known, elderly, homeless drunk found in a gully.
I need a stiff drink, thanks again Lu!!!
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