HALLEY, Edward John

Edward John Halley was 28 years old when he enlisted at Geelong on 14 November, 1916. He had already had one earlier attempt to sign up, probably in Melbourne, but had been rejected because of poor vision and bad teeth. He was in employment as a liftman and gave as his address 20 Lansdowne Street, East Melbourne,the home of his mother, Annie Grace Doran. Presumably his father, Edward Thomas Halley, was dead and she had married again. 

Edward Halley was attached to the 57th Battalion and left Melbourne for England on board HMAT Medic, landing in Plymouth on 18 February, 1917. From Plymouth, he was sent to camp at Hurdcott on 18 February, then moved on immediately to Windmill Hill Camp at Perham Downs, where he was taken on strength with the 57th Battalion AIF. On 28 August, 1917, he proceeded overseas as a reinforcement for the 37th Battalion.

The 37th Battalion had been formed in Seymour, Victoria, as part of the 10th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division, drawing recruits from Melbourne, Gippsland and North-East Victoria. They moved into France on 23 November, 1916, and fought their first major battle on 7-9 June, 1917, at Messines in Belgium. At the time Edward Halley joined them on 1 September, 1917, they were still in Belgium and he would have fought in the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October, where the Division suffered 6,500 casualties. On 12 October, the 37th were engaged at Passchendaele, another bloody battle. By then Edward Halley was in hospital, only rejoining his battalion on 29 November, 1917. He was again ill and admitted to hospital on 23 December, having a severe case of trench feet, from which he did not recover.

Edward Halley was returned to Australia in May 1920 on board RTA Bremen. He was sick at sea, but landed safely at Melbourne, disembarking on 21 July, 1920. In 1919, he married Gertrude Miriam Jones and in 1923, they were living at 'Wrexham', Balcombe Road, Black Rock, Victoria. They had one child, a son, Joe. Ted Halley died at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital on 19 November 1950. There was no mention of Gertrude in the two Death Notices appearing in The Age of 20 November, 1950, so perhaps the couple were separated. On 7 July, 1954, Gertrude, now a widow, applied for a War Service Home. She was then living at 15 Dixon Street, Mentone.