A year ago the private memorial to World War I Victoria Cross recipient Walter Ernest Brown languished neglected in Woronora Memorial Park.
His family could not be found and because it was a private memorial it did not come under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
It will be a different story this Anzac Day.
Walter Brown VC is now commemorated on the new Military Memorial at Woronora and the mystery of his family was solved when the only surviving member of his family, his daughter, Pamela, now 80, was found to be living in the United States.
Walter Brown served on the Western Front in WWI, receiving the Victoria Cross. He also served in WWII and was killed in Singapore in 1942.
His son, also called Walter, died of meningitis the following year, aged seven and Mrs Brown placed a memorial to her husband on their son’s grave.
Pamela, now Mrs Gould, moved to Washington, in 1956 and her mother followed her two years later.
Mrs Brown died in 1981. Her ashes are in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington DC.
She never recovered from the loss of her husband and son.
A flyer telling Walter Brown’s service and sacrifice is now available for visitors to the Woronora Military Memorial.
