Catherine Heathcote shares the story of her Grandfather, Reginald Dalton Hooker

Reginald Dalton Hooker enlisted in 1914 when war broke out at the age of 21. He was in the 5th battalion and landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. He was there about three months before being buried by a bomb blast. He was taken to a hospital on Lemnos and then sent back into action.

In late August he was on a machine gun when a bullet splattered in his face and he was evacuated to Egypt and then sent back to Australia, blind in one eye. He tried to re-enlist but couldn’t pass the eye test in Melbourne. He memorised the eye chart, went to Sydney, passed the test and got into the air force (Australian Flying Corps) and was on his way to England before the paperwork caught up with the authorities.

He obtained his wings in England but never flew against the Germans, as the war ended first. Reg, like many soldiers, wrote a diary while he was in Gallipoli. He seems to have maintained a sense of humour as this extract from his diary shows.

“Getting very heavily shelled –have been wondering how long I am going to live for the last hour and a half – not at all fair throwing things about as they do. If they keep on at it they might do some serious bodily harm.” 

After the war, Reg took up a soldier settlement block at Karawinna North in the Mallee, and while there met Marjorie McMahon Ferguson, the sister of a fellow soldier-settler. They married in 1926, and had four children. Reginald passed away in 1973 at the age of 80.