Sapper Ernest Wallace, 3rd Field Coy, Australian army engineers, survived three months at Gallipoli only to die in France in 1916. He died of wounds at Boulogne on September 20th 1916 after being wounded on August 25th.
A bricklayer from Hebburn-on-Tyne, he mentioned a civil conviction for “fighting” on his attestation form. A star player in North Adelaide’s 1914 league winning side he was a regular goal getter, and scored two in a season deciding 4-3 win over Hindmarsh.
After his death Wallace’s sister Sarah Saint wrote to the military authorities requesting next of kin status, stating that she had raised him since the age of seven after their mother died. Adelaide Chronicle 25 November 1916 wrote:
THE LATE SAPPER E. WALLACE. Sapper E. Wallace, formerly of Hexham, England, and brother of Mrs. Saint and Miss Wallace, Kirkealdy, left Australia with the 2nd Reinforcements to the 10th Battalion on February 1, 1915. Prior to enlisting he played for the North Adelaide British football team, and was very popular with many friends. He went through 21 weeks of fighting on Gallipoli and died of wounds received in France on September 19.