North Kalgoorlie School Cadets, winners of the best shooting school cadets. Taken in 1909. Back row ? SMITH, Jack BACKHOUSE, Captain Lionel JEFFRIES, E STRANGER, Eric LEAN Front Row: Royce WOODHEAD, Tom CLEMENTS, B CAPLE, Sid KINGS.
Young Royce Woodhead would have been about 14 yrs old in the above photograph, although he look younger, he was born in Adelaide South Australia. The shooting was to be training for them just a few short years later with the start of WWI. Royce was one of the first to enlist at the age of 16yrs and he was to die, killed in action, in Egypt on 11th April 1918 aged 21 yrs, in the final year of the war. He left behind his grieving parents, William Woodhead and Clara nee JAHN in Kalgoorlie. His mother Clara and his father, William Woodhead, master printer who had his business premises in Cassidy Street, Kalgoorlie. As in the article below it would seem that his skill in the cadets with the rifle would play a part in his death, as he was singled out to be a sniper because of his marksmanship.
The above photograph show the family in happier times in 1906, when Royce was only 8 yrs old, his sisters from left to right are Daphne, Doris Mabel Hilda who died in 1908 (age 16yrs) two years after this photograph was taken, Gwendoline and Maisie. There was also a younger brother yet to be born, Geoffrey, born in 1910. We can only imagine the tragedy of this one family, sadly this was the fate for many many families who would loose their sons to the great war and their children to illness and accident. Royce’s mother Clara only survived her son by just over a year and died in Oct 1919 and is buried in the Kalgoorlie cemetery with her daughter Doris. The family lived at 68 Ward Street Lamington, only a few houses away from my own home.
Moya Sharp
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