FAMILY members, relatives and others interested in history gathered at the Great Western Cemetery to remember a World War 1 Servicemen, Stan Harris.
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Stan, a long time resident of Great Western had never had his name on the grave which was rectified and a plaque was unveiled by Nola Aitken marking his war time service in the First AIF.
Stan was born at Great Western on the June 1,1895, the 12th child of William Newland Harris and Ann Jane (nee Colley).
His grandparents were one of the first families to purchase land at Great Western and settle in the area.
Stan, being one of the youngest of the Harris family brood, became a carpenter in his teens.
When WW1 broke out he wanted to be one of the first to fight for King and country. The only problem was that in late 1914, Stan was only 19 years old.
The Australian enlistments required that a young man had to be 21 years of age to enlist.
Not one to accept his age as a barrier, Stan travelled to Melbourne, where he was not known. He gave his older brother's year of birth as his own and so was accepted into the Australian Imperial Force, Service number 1193, ranked as Private in the 8th Battalion.
The 8th Battalion AIF embarked on December 22, 1914 for Egypt where the Battalion disembarked.
On April 5, 1915, the 8th Battalion sailed on the Clan McGillivray to join the Gallipoli Campaign and on the early morning of Sunday, April 25, 1915, Stan was with the third wave of men who were to tackle the formidable shores of Gallipoli.
Stan survived the first hellish months on Gallipoli, but was wounded in action on August 7, 1915 with shell shock, wounds to his back and burns
Stan rejoined the 8th Battalion to embark for France and was involved in the fighting on the Somme before again being wounded in action, along with shell shock on August 18, 1916.
He then joined the 46th Battalion serving out the war in France and Belgium under horrendous conditions.
He finally embarked for Australia on September, 24 1918 and was discharged from the AIF on January 24, 1919, aged 23 years.
Stan returned to his family in Great Western and at 42 years old, he married Mary (Mollie) Madden.
They had one child Kevin and lived in the old Harris family home in Great Western.
Mollie died in 1949 and seven years later Stan re-married Olive Booth.
They then settled at Great Western enjoying seventeen happy years together living in the Harris home on Main Street.
On Tuesday, October 14, 1978, Stan aged 83 years died and was buried at the Great Western cemetery with Olive.
For 37 years, only Olive's name graced the inscription on the grave. Only those who remembered Stan, knew he was buried with Olive. Only those who remembered Stan, knew he was a soldier who fought at Gallipoli and the Western Front.