Son of Reuben and Charlotte Walker of Goolwa, South Australia. He was killed in action, aged 33 years.
50th Battalion, Australian Infantry, A.i.F. - Service No. 2466
--------
Herald Sun - 18 February 2014.
"Aboriginal Anzac Arthur Walkers war medals returned to family
ALMOST 100 years after Aboriginal soldier Arthur Walker was killed on the Western Front during World War I, his family has been reunited with his war medals. So proud is the family of Mr Walkers war legacy, theyve named a son in each generation Anzac, for the past five generations. Woodforde man John Lochowiak had his great-grandfathers medals given to him last month by a relative in Canberra after almost 50 years of searching. Mr Lochowiak was seen by his aunt Colleen Colquhoun on TV last November during news coverage of the unveiling of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial at the Torrens Parade Ground. She had the medals and returned them to the family last month.
I got a phone call from my aunty saying my uncle had died and they had been trying to track me down and saw me on the news, Mr Lochowiak says.
Being killed overseas is a big deal for anyone, but in Aboriginal tradition where you are born is where you return when you die, so Arthur was separated from his country.
Its overwhelming to think his mother received these medals after he was killed and now they are back in the right place.
Mr Walker, of the Ramindjeri people, was living in Gawler with his wife and children when he enlisted in 1914 at 32 years old. He landed at Gallipoli on the first Anzac Day, April 25, 1915, and served in the 10th Battalion for the entire campaign before being moved to the Western Front where he was killed in 1916.
Whats significant is in order for him to enlist he had to say he wasnt Aboriginal and lie about being married, because of the policy of the time, but he did it for the love of country, Mr Lochowiak says.
Because he wasnt listed as married, the medals were sent to his parents who passed them on to his sister and they went down another side of the family.
Some of our family lost contact because members went through the stolen generations and some went through the exemption certificate so the medals were lost.
Mr Lochowiaks mum, Mabel, spent more than 50 years trying to track down the medals through stories from elders but John took over the search two years ago when she became unwell. He enlisted the help of Bill Denny, a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial Committee, who was able to find out more details about Mr Walkers service and got Mr Lochowiak involved in the memorial celebrations.
We never gave up hope but we feared they were lost forever, Mr Lochowiak says.
Getting the medals back is better than winning the lottery because weve also found my aunty and cousins.
His body hasnt come home but its almost like his spirit has, 100 years later, so our family is complete.
The family started a tradition of naming a son in each generation Anzac in Mr Walkers memory.
Mr Lochowiaks son Anzac is the fifth generation to share the name and the 12-year-old says he is proud of what it represents.
I like my name because its important to my family, Anzac says.
Mr Denny says the return of the medals highlights the significance of the war efforts of Aboriginal people.
Aboriginals served in every conflict in World War I and have only just been recognised with a memorial and its as if it is already doing its work bringing these medals home, Mr Denny says."
50th Battalion, Australian Infantry, A.i.F. - Service No. 2466
--------
Herald Sun - 18 February 2014.
"Aboriginal Anzac Arthur Walkers war medals returned to family
ALMOST 100 years after Aboriginal soldier Arthur Walker was killed on the Western Front during World War I, his family has been reunited with his war medals. So proud is the family of Mr Walkers war legacy, theyve named a son in each generation Anzac, for the past five generations. Woodforde man John Lochowiak had his great-grandfathers medals given to him last month by a relative in Canberra after almost 50 years of searching. Mr Lochowiak was seen by his aunt Colleen Colquhoun on TV last November during news coverage of the unveiling of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial at the Torrens Parade Ground. She had the medals and returned them to the family last month.
I got a phone call from my aunty saying my uncle had died and they had been trying to track me down and saw me on the news, Mr Lochowiak says.
Being killed overseas is a big deal for anyone, but in Aboriginal tradition where you are born is where you return when you die, so Arthur was separated from his country.
Its overwhelming to think his mother received these medals after he was killed and now they are back in the right place.
Mr Walker, of the Ramindjeri people, was living in Gawler with his wife and children when he enlisted in 1914 at 32 years old. He landed at Gallipoli on the first Anzac Day, April 25, 1915, and served in the 10th Battalion for the entire campaign before being moved to the Western Front where he was killed in 1916.
Whats significant is in order for him to enlist he had to say he wasnt Aboriginal and lie about being married, because of the policy of the time, but he did it for the love of country, Mr Lochowiak says.
Because he wasnt listed as married, the medals were sent to his parents who passed them on to his sister and they went down another side of the family.
Some of our family lost contact because members went through the stolen generations and some went through the exemption certificate so the medals were lost.
Mr Lochowiaks mum, Mabel, spent more than 50 years trying to track down the medals through stories from elders but John took over the search two years ago when she became unwell. He enlisted the help of Bill Denny, a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial Committee, who was able to find out more details about Mr Walkers service and got Mr Lochowiak involved in the memorial celebrations.
We never gave up hope but we feared they were lost forever, Mr Lochowiak says.
Getting the medals back is better than winning the lottery because weve also found my aunty and cousins.
His body hasnt come home but its almost like his spirit has, 100 years later, so our family is complete.
The family started a tradition of naming a son in each generation Anzac in Mr Walkers memory.
Mr Lochowiaks son Anzac is the fifth generation to share the name and the 12-year-old says he is proud of what it represents.
I like my name because its important to my family, Anzac says.
Mr Denny says the return of the medals highlights the significance of the war efforts of Aboriginal people.
Aboriginals served in every conflict in World War I and have only just been recognised with a memorial and its as if it is already doing its work bringing these medals home, Mr Denny says."
Son of Reuben and Charlotte Walker of Goolwa, South Australia. He was killed in action, aged 33 years.
50th Battalion, Australian Infantry, A.i.F. - Service No. 2466
--------
Herald Sun - 18 February 2014.
"Aboriginal Anzac Arthur Walkers war medals returned to family
ALMOST 100 years after Aboriginal soldier Arthur Walker was killed on the Western Front during World War I, his family has been reunited with his war medals. So proud is the family of Mr Walkers war legacy, theyve named a son in each generation Anzac, for the past five generations. Woodforde man John Lochowiak had his great-grandfathers medals given to him last month by a relative in Canberra after almost 50 years of searching. Mr Lochowiak was seen by his aunt Colleen Colquhoun on TV last November during news coverage of the unveiling of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial at the Torrens Parade Ground. She had the medals and returned them to the family last month.
I got a phone call from my aunty saying my uncle had died and they had been trying to track me down and saw me on the news, Mr Lochowiak says.
Being killed overseas is a big deal for anyone, but in Aboriginal tradition where you are born is where you return when you die, so Arthur was separated from his country.
Its overwhelming to think his mother received these medals after he was killed and now they are back in the right place.
Mr Walker, of the Ramindjeri people, was living in Gawler with his wife and children when he enlisted in 1914 at 32 years old. He landed at Gallipoli on the first Anzac Day, April 25, 1915, and served in the 10th Battalion for the entire campaign before being moved to the Western Front where he was killed in 1916.
Whats significant is in order for him to enlist he had to say he wasnt Aboriginal and lie about being married, because of the policy of the time, but he did it for the love of country, Mr Lochowiak says.
Because he wasnt listed as married, the medals were sent to his parents who passed them on to his sister and they went down another side of the family.
Some of our family lost contact because members went through the stolen generations and some went through the exemption certificate so the medals were lost.
Mr Lochowiaks mum, Mabel, spent more than 50 years trying to track down the medals through stories from elders but John took over the search two years ago when she became unwell. He enlisted the help of Bill Denny, a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial Committee, who was able to find out more details about Mr Walkers service and got Mr Lochowiak involved in the memorial celebrations.
We never gave up hope but we feared they were lost forever, Mr Lochowiak says.
Getting the medals back is better than winning the lottery because weve also found my aunty and cousins.
His body hasnt come home but its almost like his spirit has, 100 years later, so our family is complete.
The family started a tradition of naming a son in each generation Anzac in Mr Walkers memory.
Mr Lochowiaks son Anzac is the fifth generation to share the name and the 12-year-old says he is proud of what it represents.
I like my name because its important to my family, Anzac says.
Mr Denny says the return of the medals highlights the significance of the war efforts of Aboriginal people.
Aboriginals served in every conflict in World War I and have only just been recognised with a memorial and its as if it is already doing its work bringing these medals home, Mr Denny says."
50th Battalion, Australian Infantry, A.i.F. - Service No. 2466
--------
Herald Sun - 18 February 2014.
"Aboriginal Anzac Arthur Walkers war medals returned to family
ALMOST 100 years after Aboriginal soldier Arthur Walker was killed on the Western Front during World War I, his family has been reunited with his war medals. So proud is the family of Mr Walkers war legacy, theyve named a son in each generation Anzac, for the past five generations. Woodforde man John Lochowiak had his great-grandfathers medals given to him last month by a relative in Canberra after almost 50 years of searching. Mr Lochowiak was seen by his aunt Colleen Colquhoun on TV last November during news coverage of the unveiling of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial at the Torrens Parade Ground. She had the medals and returned them to the family last month.
I got a phone call from my aunty saying my uncle had died and they had been trying to track me down and saw me on the news, Mr Lochowiak says.
Being killed overseas is a big deal for anyone, but in Aboriginal tradition where you are born is where you return when you die, so Arthur was separated from his country.
Its overwhelming to think his mother received these medals after he was killed and now they are back in the right place.
Mr Walker, of the Ramindjeri people, was living in Gawler with his wife and children when he enlisted in 1914 at 32 years old. He landed at Gallipoli on the first Anzac Day, April 25, 1915, and served in the 10th Battalion for the entire campaign before being moved to the Western Front where he was killed in 1916.
Whats significant is in order for him to enlist he had to say he wasnt Aboriginal and lie about being married, because of the policy of the time, but he did it for the love of country, Mr Lochowiak says.
Because he wasnt listed as married, the medals were sent to his parents who passed them on to his sister and they went down another side of the family.
Some of our family lost contact because members went through the stolen generations and some went through the exemption certificate so the medals were lost.
Mr Lochowiaks mum, Mabel, spent more than 50 years trying to track down the medals through stories from elders but John took over the search two years ago when she became unwell. He enlisted the help of Bill Denny, a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial Committee, who was able to find out more details about Mr Walkers service and got Mr Lochowiak involved in the memorial celebrations.
We never gave up hope but we feared they were lost forever, Mr Lochowiak says.
Getting the medals back is better than winning the lottery because weve also found my aunty and cousins.
His body hasnt come home but its almost like his spirit has, 100 years later, so our family is complete.
The family started a tradition of naming a son in each generation Anzac in Mr Walkers memory.
Mr Lochowiaks son Anzac is the fifth generation to share the name and the 12-year-old says he is proud of what it represents.
I like my name because its important to my family, Anzac says.
Mr Denny says the return of the medals highlights the significance of the war efforts of Aboriginal people.
Aboriginals served in every conflict in World War I and have only just been recognised with a memorial and its as if it is already doing its work bringing these medals home, Mr Denny says."
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