Walter Henry Shiers (1889 - 1968)

Ancestors

Biography

Lieutenant Wally Shiers AFM & Bar

Walter Henry 'Wally' Shiers AFM & Bar was born on 17th May 1889 in Stepney, South Australia (Australia). He was the third surviving son of William Shiers, plasterer, and his wife Annie Haire, ^[1] in a family of ten (surviving) children. Wally attended Richmond Public School, Keswick, South Australia until 1902 when he began work with a market gardener and learned the rudiments of pump and motor maintenance.

Following the death of their mother in 1907, Wally lived with his eldest brother, John, in Broken Hill, New South Wales, and worked at the Broken Hill North Mine until December 1912. In 1913 Wally opened an electrical contracting business at Leeton, New South Wales and worked there until April 1915.

On 9th April 1915, Wally enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, his young nation's overseas expeditionary force during The Great War. ^[2] He embarked for the Middle East on 22nd June 1915 from Sydney aboard HMAT Vestalia A44 as a Private, with reinforcements for the 4th Light Horse Brigade Ammunition Reserve. ^[3] In Egypt, he was assigned to the 1st Light Horse Regiment. He later served in the No.1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps and was engineer on the first flight from Cairo to Calcutta in November-December 1918 with Captain Ross Smith. As well as receiving the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, he was awarded the Air Force Medal (AFM), gazetted in London 3rd June 1919. ^[4] Wally's brother, William, was killed in action with the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion in 1916 on the Western Front.

Wally was a crew member with the Smith brothers, Ross and Keith, in the winning Vickers in the 1919 England to Australia Air Race. Wally's share of the Australian-government provided prize money, £2,500 (worth more then $75,000 in 2021), would have then been quite handy. ^[5] Wally, and the other mechanic, Jim Bennett, were awarded Bars to their Air Flying Medals and granted commissions as Lieutenants. ^[6] Ross and Jim were killed in a flying acident in 1922 whilst preparing for an around-the-world flight attempt.

On 17th February 1920, in the Methodist Church (now Uniting Church), Bellevue Hill, New South Wales, Wally married Helena Alford. ^[7] They had no children.

After operating a garage at Bondi Junction, New South Wales and, following a visit to England in 1922 with the Smith brothers (when Sir Ross and Jim Bennett died in a plane crash), Wally worked for various aviation companies at Mascot, New South Wales. He obtained his pilot's licence (No.408) on 20th November 1929. The following year he joined New England Airways, which later became Airlines of Australia, for which he was chief engineer until 1939. ^[8]

During the Second World War, Wally was in charge of the textiles branch of the Light Aircraft Co., which manufactured parachutes for the defence forces. From 1945 his health deteriorated; he lived quietly in Dover Heights, overlooking Sydney's northern beaches. ^[8] Helena died in 1951.

Never forgotten by his adventurous mates, when Keith Smith died in 1955 he bequeathed £100 ($200) to Wally. ^[8]

From 1965, Wally returned to Adelaide to live. There he died of heart disease on 2nd June 1968 at Hilton, aged 79 years, and was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery. ^[9] He was survived by two younger brothers and a host of nephews and nieces.

Wally Shiers' medals are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia. ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ South Australia Birth Index #437/1 1889; registered at Norwood
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 27 Sergeant Walter Henry Shiers; accessed 11 Apr 2020
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial embarkation roll: 27 Private Walter Henry Shiers; accessed 11 Apr 2020
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: 27 Air Mechanic First Class Walter Henry Shiers; accessed 11 Apr 2020
5. ↑ Australian Geographic November-December 2019
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: 27 Sergeant Walter Henry Shiers; accessed 11 Apr 2020
7. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #1730/1920; registered at Woollahra
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Cooke, T H. 'Shiers, Walter Henry (1889–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988; accessed online 11 Apr 2020
9. ↑ South Australia Death Index #49A/3861 1968

See also

• Cooke, T H. 'Shiers, Walter Henry (1889–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988; accessed online 11 Apr 2020.