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Gunnyon, Walter

631 Gunner Walter Gunnyon - 36th Heavy Artillery Group

Walter Gunnyon was born in Stawell Victoria on the 16th May 1895 to James and Martha Gunnyon. He had a brother James born 1888, Edith in 1890, Esther born in 1893, John born in 1899 and the family then moved to Fremantle and a daughter Jessie was born in Fremantle in 1903.

The family lived at 69 Skinner Street Fremantle and Walter was educated at Fremantle Boys School. He had served in the Cadets and after leaving school Wally found employment as a clerk.

Walter also continued with his service, being a member of the 11th Australian Garrison Artillery which was based at the Fremantle Artillery Barracks.

When many of the Permanent Gunners joined the AIF in 1915, many of the 11th AGA were called upon to replace them at the Artillery Barracks.

Walter was able to enlist into the AIF also, signing up on the 3rd November 1915 at the Fremantle Artillery Barracks. The medical examiner recorded Walters physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 10 & 3/4 inches tall;

Weight - 156lbs;

Chest Measurement - 37 inches;

Complexion - Dark;

Eyes - Brown;

Hair - Black.

Upon his successful enlistment, Walter was gathered with other Gunners from WA and sent to Victoria and NSW to complete their training.

On the 15th January 1916 Walter embarked from Sydney with other Siege Brigade Reinforcements aboard the transport ship RMS Osterley. After reaching England in March 1916 Walter was disembarked and sent to the Siege Brigade Training Camp. Walter remained in England for much of 1916.

On the 15th November 1916 he went across to France and was sent into the Royal Garrison Artillery Base Depot at Le Havre. Walter remained here for over a month. On the 26th December 1916 Walter was taken on strength of the 55th Battery of the 36th Heavy Artillery Group.

On the 14th February 1917 Walter was detached for duty at the Siege Park, which was the base where the unit's equipment and munitions were stored. He stayed there until the 5th April 1917 when he rejoined the 55th Battery.

On the 27th April 1917 Walter was wounded while on duty with the Battery. They were then situated at Oosthove Farm in Belgium. Fortunately the wound was slight and he remained on duty.

The 55th Battery supported the offensive operations at Messines in June and July 1917 before going closer to Ypres to support the infantry operations taking place there.

In August 1917 Walter was away from his unit for a few days as he needed dental work.

On October 4th 1917, Walter was wounded for the second time in the war. Shrapnel had struck him in the face but it was a slight wound and after some treatment at the 11th Field Ambulance, he remained on duty. Walter was fortunate as many in his unit were killed or severely wounded when German artillery fire hit their Battery.

After their service during the Third Battle of Ypres, the unit was sent to Cambrai to Take part in the offensive their in November 1917. Their guns supported the British infantry. While there was initial success the Germans counterattacked and the 55th Battery guns had to make a quick withdrawal to avoid being captured.

The unit then moved back to Belgium where they remained till April 1918.

However on the 29th December 1917 Walter was evacuated to hospital as he was suffering from venereal disease. He was sent to the 39th General Hospital in the French town of Le Havre. Walter rejoined his unit on the 1st March 1918.

On the 14th March 1918 Walter was sent for medical treatment as he was suffering with ankle issues. He spent time at the 5th Field Ambulance and then the 7th Field Ambulance, before rejoining his unit on the 26th march 1918.

On the 21st March 1918 the Germans launched a large offensive further sough which had broke through the British front. The Australian infantry divisions were sent south to stop this German advance, however Walter's artillery unit remained in Belgium.

On April 10th 1918 the Germans launched another major offensive, this time in Belgium. The Gunners, including Walter had to make a quick withdrawal. When the guns were attempting to withdraw the Germans launched heavy artillery fire into the area, during which time Walter was wounded.

He got hit in the leg with shrapnel and after treatment at the casualty clearing station he was sent to the 10th Stationary Hospital at St Omer. On the 1st May 1918 he was then transferred to the 7th General Hospital. Walter eventually returned to his unit on the 21st May 1918, the unit then being stationed at Hazebrouck.

On the 31st May 1918 Walter was granted leave to England, enjoying a fortnight away from the action, returning on the 17th June 1918.

On August 18th 1918, Walter was wounded for the fourth time in the war when his unit was supporting the British infantry advance. Walter was hit by shrapnel in the groin region. He was first taken to the 1st South African Field Ambulance where his wound was initially treated and was then sent to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station for further medical aid. He was then admitted to the 38th Stationary Hospital at Wimereux. Walter remained there until the 24th August 1918 when he was shipped to England.

Walter was admitted to the Ontario Military Hospital in Orpington Kent where he recovered for the next few weeks. On the 18th September 1918 Walter was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford. On the 30th September 1918 Wally was well enough to be released from hospital and was given a two week furlough.

On the 14th October 1918 Wally reported into No.4 Command Depot Camp at Hurdcott. He spent the next month here and was at Hurdcott when the Armistice was announced.

On the 17th November 1918 he was sent to the Camp hospital ill though fortunately he recovered quickly and was back at the camp by 23rd November 1918.

On the 5th December 1918 Wally was sent to the Overseas Training Brigade Camp at Longbridge Deverell. Wally spent the next several weeks here and on the 25th January 1919 was transferred to the Royal British Artillery Depot at Heytesbury.

Wally was now earmarked for a return to Australia. On the 28th February 1919 he boarded the transport ship Anchises and set sail for Australia, disembarking in Albany on the 7th April 1919.

(Photo below showing Gunners of the 55th Battery including Wally Gunnyon on left)

After arriving in Albany, Wally entrained north for home and arrived in Fremantle. He was then given a medical examination at No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle.

Wally then returned to the family home in Barnett Street Fremantle (Having moved from Skinner St after he went overseas) though sadly his father James had died in Fremantle on the 23rd July 1916 when Wally was away.

Wally soon found work as a clerk and resumed playing football for the South Fremantle Football Club in the WAFL. Wally also played in the 1921 State game in which Western Australia defeated Victoria.

Wally was soon made Captain of the South Fremantle team. However in 1922 Wally moved to Victoria. Wally had played 54 games for South Fremantle (1915 & 1919-1921)

The Advertiser Fremantle 10th March 1922

WALLY GUNNYON GOES EAST.

Followers of every kind of sport will regret to hear that that fine athlete, Wally Gunnyon, has accepted a business appointment in Victoria and will leave by the trans train on Saturday.
There was a fine muster of clubmates and friends at the 'Cleopatra Hotel on Monday night to bid 'au revoir' to this sterling player. Mr. Stevens, president of the South Fremantle Football Club, in a few well chosen remarks, wished the guest of the evening the best of luck in his new commercial undertaking.
He said he felt confident he voiced the opinion of not only those present, but of the whole sporting community when he said that Western Australia was losing one of its finest athletes. "Wally" had reached the topmost rung of the ladder of popularity through his manliness both on and off the fields of sport. He wished him every success and trusted that should ever he return to the West again he would don the red-and-white guernsey.
Messrs. W. Nott, Cleve Doig, Tom Cain, Paddy O Donnell, G. Tuxford, Bob Fulton, Roy Council, W. Power and McGillvary supported sincerely the president's remarks. Mr. Stevens then presented Mr. Gunnyon with a razor as a token of esteem from his fellow players. On rising to reply Mr. Gunnyon was received with applause. He said he was sorry to sever his connection with Fremantle, but "business was business and he really thought he was acting in his best interests by accepting his new position. A lot had been said concerning other side football clubs making overtures to him to play for them, but he could give them his word as a man of honour that all these reports were unfounded as he had not been approached by any Victorian club to play for them,
and had always been against trafficking in football.
The heartiest of good wishes with rousing cheers ended a right royal sendoff.
 
 
 
Daily News 13th July 1922
 
 
WALLY GUNNYON IN VICTORIA.
A 'HERALD' APPRECIATION:
The Melbourne 'Herald' publishes a photograph and appreciation of 'Wally' Gunnyon, the Westralian footballer who has joined up with the St. Kilda Club. The article is headed: 'A Champion from West Australia. Wally Gunnyon, a Real Discovery for St. Kilda.' 
It reads:—'Like a brilliant meteor from the west, 'Wally' Gunnyon, the half-forward of the St. Kilda team, has flashed upon Victorian League football this season. The simile ends there, for his stay in the game here is likely to last longer than a meteoric flash.
Even allowing for these days of quick changes among players, he seems set for quite a long period of useful service with the seaside club. Not including to-day, Gunnyon has only been seen in two matches on Melbourne grounds, but he has shown enough of his capabilities to justify the preliminary boosting that the Western Australian star would cause something of a sensation. He made his first appearance against Carlton three weeks ago, and though obviously not fully trained, and playing in strange company, he revealed all the qualities of a class footballer. A week later in the match against Essendon, he came out in all his glory as a champion forward, and played, as he himself has since said, ' the game of his life.' All doubts among St. Kilda supporters about Andrew Curran 's new discovery from the West wore then set completely at rest.
Making a Team.
In the process of team building at St. Kilda, vigilant officials have searched far and wide for players. Determined to put the club on the football map, after years of useless internal strife, the present management have not confined their quest to the State. Their field has been the Commonwealth, and it will be admitted that a fine collection of players has been brought together. There are more to come, I understand, but even if the present 25 can be kept fit and well, and intact, no one who has seen the team in action will deny that they are a great premiership possibility—not this year, but later, perhaps. Another
Gunnyon or two and a premiership pennant may yet flutter over the shack that passes muster for a grandstand, at the otherwise well-kept seaside ground.
A Natural Footballer.
The newest recruit to the team, Gunnyon comes from furthest afield. His game was learnt in the great football nursery of the Golden West, whither so many Victorian stars have migrated in past years. Blessed
with an admirable physique, a keen intelligence, and an ideal temperament, the new man is every inch a natural footballer. After nature had moulded him he graduated in a splendid school, and his action on the field suggests that not only does he know every move of the game, but he has the ability to execute them. His marking is good to watch, and his drop-kicking superb — witness those six goals against Essendon from the half-forward line. He is a man who can keep cool under all circumstances and just the player to turn a game. Players and officials alike think so much of his skill that he has already been appointed a sort of sub-captain of the team. That is to say, while the genial Bill Culblns, the real captain, is busy looking after the defences, Gunnyon from his place at centre half-forward, directs the attacking
forces. The two men know and trust each other, and before long the fruit of the system of dual captaincy should be plainly visible.
Victorian by Birth.
Off the field Gunnyon can best be described as a plain, unassuming fellow, but very much alert. He is only 26 years of age, but the years he has spent as a traveller in the wholesale trade have imparted to him a keenness that manifests itself in his work and his play. He was born at Stawell, Victoria, and at the age of six moved with his people to Western Australia. At school he was a footballer, and rose quickly through the junior ranks until a season before war broke out. He was in the South
Fremantle team in the senior League competition of Perth.
Like so many other good footballers, the war called him to France, and for four years he saw very little football. Being in the Siege Artillery, he had no opportunities for a game, except in the training camp in England, and the only Victorian player he met of note abroad was Cliff Rankin, the clever Geelong forward. The friendship formed then, and continued,
between the two gave rise to the rumor early this year that Gunnyon would be seen in the Geelong team when the present season opened. But the rumor was without substance, as Gunnyon himself did not know, when he arrived in Victoria, that he would continue the game at all.
After returning home from the war, he re-joined the South Fremantle team, and played for three seasons, in one of which he filled the dual position of captain and coach. For business reasons he decided to
leave the West and come to Victoria, and exactly three months later he played his first game with St. Kilda. In his club team his usual place was in the centre, but in the Western Australian carnival team that defeated Victoria in Perth last year he was placed centre half-forward. It was
after that game, which was witnessed by many sharp-eyed Victorian officials, that stories of his fame began to spread East.
When he came to Melbourne he had no idea that his clearance would not be forthcoming, but the Western League did not stand in the way of his continuing in the game, and St. Kilda officials were first on the job with an offer when it was assured that he was willing to play here.
Most Unselfish Player.
Gunnyon's views on how the national game should be played are best shown by one instance. A couple of seasons ago he played half-forward for his club, and only kicked two goals for the whole season. That
team possessed the cleverest full forward in the competition, and Gunnyon set himself to feed him, regardless of his own
opportunities. That he did so to the satisfaction of his club is evident from the fact that they awarded him a gold medal for being the most unselfish player of the season. Already that same unselfishness has been evident in his game in Melbourne.
'I don't think a half-forward should kick goals,' he said to me one day this week. 'His job should be to see that he gets the ball on to the forwards every time. More goals will come to the side in this way.'
Two Games Compared.
Asked to compare the game in Victoria with that in the West, Gunnyon said he could not admit it was better here. In Melbourne the play was certainly more strenuous, and the teams seemed to make a specialty of big men. In the West the men were smaller, and perhaps a little classier. He pointed out that the players in the West were amateurs. A team there might have eight or ten good players, and the rest 'passengers,' but in Melbourne teams comprised 18 good men. In Victoria, where the game was more of a business, the teams were better prepared and of more even quality. In the West they had few coaches, and they played less seriously, But, all the same, I think there is not a great deal between the standard of play in the two States.
Why Victoria Lost
Was it inferior all-round play that caused the defeat of the Victorian team in Perth last year? he was asked. No, not exactly that, he confessed, but rather that the Western Australian carnival team was
selected a month previously, and the men trained and played together during that period. Consequently they know each other better, and played with more combination than the Victorians. 'One other point about the newcomer's play. In Perth he was noted for his place kicking, but so far in Melbourne he has relied on drop-kicks, and with wonderful
effect. His explanation is that the grounds are damper here than in Perth, and he has found that he can do better with the drop-kick than by putting the ball on the ground.
Cricket and Swimming.
Gunnyon 's summer hobbies are cricket and swimming. He played with Fremantle in 'A' Grade matches, but he does not claim to be up to Victorian pennant standard. He is a useful right-hand bowler, and hopes to play next summer with some junior team here. As a swimmer he favors sprint up to 100 yards. His height, 5ft. 11 in., and his weight, 13st. 41b., are ideal for strenuous athletics.
 

Wally ended up playing for St Kilda from 1922 to 1927 and played 63 games for the team during this period. He then went to play for Camberwell in 1928 in the VFA Competition and then Oakleigh from 1929-30, with whom he won a premiership.

Wally had been married to Agnes Vaughn in Sydney in 1923 and a Daughter Nellie was born in 1925

Wally's mother Martha died in Melbourne in November 1929 and his wife Agnes died in 1941.

In 1947 Wally remarried to Doris McGlade.

Wally Gunnyon died on the 27th December 1972 in McKinnon in Victoria.

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