211527 Pte. Sydney James Easton Australian Imperial Force 17th Battalion from:Sydney, Australia My great grandfather, Sydney James Easton, enlisted in the 17th Battalion, Australian Imperial force on 31st May, 1915. He travelled to Gallipoli on the HMAT Suffolk, arriving on the 17th September 1915. His unit was tasked with defending Quinns Post. He was wounded for the first time after being in Gallopoli for just over a month but returned to his unit 4 days later. Six weeks later he was wounded for the second time and was evacuated to a hospital ship, the HMHS Oxfordshire.
While he was in hospital his unit was withdrawn from Gallipoli and transferred to Egypt for further training. He rejoined his unit in Egypt. They moved to France in March 1916 where they were assigned to the Armentieres section of the Western Front. He fought on the Western Front for a little over a year but then in April 1917 he suffered a head wound and was captured by the Germans. He was sent to a POW camp where he remained for 18 months before being repatriated to England in January 1919. Whilst there he met and married his wife and they returned to Australia in July 1919.
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