MALONE, Arthur
4655, Private, 26 Battalion, AIF.
b. 15.04.1879 Lancashire, England.
Enlisted: 30.08.1915 Brisbane, Qld.
d. 29 Sept 1952 Sunshine Coast, Qld.
Next of Kin: Mrs. M.J. Martindale of Rochdale, Lancashire, England.
Wife: Margaret Malone.
Being an actor could perhaps have given Arthur Malone some preparation for war. He was 36 years old when he enlisted in the AIF and his next of kin at the time was his sister, Mrs. M.J. Martindale of Lancashire, England. He was of medium height, 5 feet 5½ inches, with dark brown hair and grey eyes.
On another section of his papers, Malone stated that he had served time with the 22/2nd Cheshire Battalion, giving his profession as cook and his place of residence as Ayr. All other details match except for his hair colouring, which then was fair.
Malone was sent to Etaples in France, where he inevitably became sick. Conditions were foul and the weather worse. By May 1917, he was wounded in action and suffered from shell shock and exposure to gas. A telegram to that effect was sent to his wife Margaret.
Although many men suffered permanent lung conditions after gas attacks, the recuperation period was brief and Malone found himself back in action in June of the same year. He had a third period in hospital in December 1917 and another in February 1918.
Like most of his fellow soldiers, Malone also had his share of AWOL days, for which he was penalised and had pay docked. Sadly, most army records don’t give an accurate account of the fighting and living conditions on the front so are misleading as character references.
When Arthur Malone came to Queensland to live on the Sunshine Coast is unknown. He was buried in the Military Section of Woombye Cemetery.
Source: National Archives of Australia
From the Genealogy Sunshine Coast publication
“AND THEIR NAMES SHALL LIVE FOREVER…”
REMEMBERING MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THE OLD MAROOCHY SHIRE CEMETERIES – BOOK 1, WOOMBYE
Arthur MALONE 4655 moved to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast by 1943. He died in 1952 and is buried at the Woombye cemetery.
Arthur is not included in the Adopt a Digger database as he falls outside our criteria of living in the district before 1925. He is included in this gallery as he has lived in the district later in his life and is buried in a Sunshine Coast cemetery. Importantly, as a WW1 digger he still deserves to be recognised and commemorated by our project.