Private E. Oldham (wounded), is the youngest son of the late John S. Oldham, of Williamstown. He served his apprenticeship as engineer at Mephan Ferguson's, Footscray, and worked at the railway rolling stock works and signal shops, Newport. He had only recently returned from a twelve months' trip to England and Scotland when the war commenced. He was a cricketer, and played with the Williamstown club. Private Oldham was the first to enlist from the Kooweerup district. (1)
It is the last line of the report which is of interest to us - Private Oldham was the first to enlist from the Kooweerup district. I can find no connection between Ernest and Koo Wee Rup and I believe this is a mistake on the part of The Age. He is not mentioned as enlisting in the Lang Lang Guardian, the local newspaper at the time; nor does the paper carry the report of his injury or his death. He is also not listed at Koo Wee Rup or surrounds in the Electoral Rolls. However, I may be wrong and I hope by writing this post that someone may provide the link to Koo Wee Rup.
Private Oldham was Ernest Oldham, born in Williamstown in 1888 to John Spencer Oldham and his wife Harriett (nee Hodge). He had eight older siblings - William Robert (1867 - 1880); James Alfred (1869 - 1915); Isabella Jane (1871 - 1877); John Henry (1874 - 1923); Selina Harriet (1877 - 1929, married name Hawdon); Albert (1879, died aged 4 months in 1879); Arthur (1880 - 1931) and Marmaduke Luke (1883 - 1948). (2) John Spencer Oldham died in November 1912 at the age of 74 and his obituary noted that he was a boiler maker and had worked at the Newport Railway Workshops and was a life member and past president of the Williamstown Mechanics' Institute; and a member of the Loyal Williamstown Manchester Unity Lodge. Harriet had died in November 1909 aged 65. (3)
Ernest attended Williamstown Central State School and Footscray Technical School and became a Fitter and Turner. (4)
Ernest (service number 1162) enlisted on September 18, 1914 in the 7th Battalion, at the age of 26. His next of kin was his brother James, of 109 Hanmer Street, Williamstown. He embarked on the Themistocles on December 24, 1914, and later arrived at Alexandria on April 5, 1915. Twenty days later, on what was to become Anzac Day, Ernest was wounded at Gallipoli, shrapnel wound to his left leg. This was the incident which was the subject of the report in The Age. Ernest was promoted to Corporal in June 1917 and was Killed in Action in France on June 27, 1918 after 3 years and 9 months of active service. He is buried at the Borre British Cemetery in France. (5)
With all this information - the fact that he worked at the Railway Workshops at Newport and had just returned after a year in England and Scotland before he enlisted - it seems unlikely that he could have spent any length of time in Koo Wee Rup. Let me know in the comments if you have any information about his connection to the Koo Wee Rup area.
Footnotes(1) The Age, May 28, 1915, see here.
(2) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages
(3) Williamstown Chronicle, November 9, 1912, see here; The Australasian, November 13, 1909, see here.
(4) Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1658302
(5) First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, National Archives of Australia https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7993871
