City of Armadale - History House > Records

DIARY WWI A L BETTENAY

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Overview

Brown rectangular leather folder with pockets on the inside of the front cover for cards, tickets, stamps. Pockets labelled in gold text. Inside a note book of white pages with hand written text on them. Frayed elastic loop on outside to keep notebook it closed. Initials in gold on front cover. On back of notebook page with purple marble design with green stamp in the middle

Historical information

This diary was kept secretly by Arthur Bettenay during his time serving with the Australian Imperial Forces in WWI. Arthur and his family ran an orchard called 'Irymple' in the Roleystone Karragullen area. Arthur enlisted on 26 April 1916 aged 21. After his training at Blackboy Hill, he embarked for England on 10 October 1916 where he underwent further training before joining the 44th Battalion as a signaller in France on 4 February 1917. On 8 June 1917 he received shrapnel wounds to his right shoulder during an attack on the German lines at Messines Ridge in Belgium. He returned to England for treatment where he quickly recovered and was found guilty for going AWOL during the night of 9 July. After some more training he returned to France on 15 April 1918 but was soon back in the hospital with trench fever and appendicitis. On 7 August he was transferred to the Overseas Training Brigade who he served with in England until he returned to Australia and was discharged from the AIF in 23 April 1919.

Arthur returned to the family orchard and in 1920 married Mable Parker, who had performed at farewell party held for Arthur and other local men who had enlisted in 1916. Together they lived and worked at 'Irimple' until they handed it over to their children. During World War II Arthur re-enlisted and served with D Company of the 2nd (Fremantle) VDC Battalion for a little over 2 years.

Arthur died in 1978, aged 83.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-AK1995.19

Item type

Documents

Material

Ink

Inscriptions and markings

on front cover [A.B.]on inside one end [HENRY PENNY'S / R36 / METALLIC] other end [CARDS / TICKETS / STAMPS]. Green stamp main text [HENRY PENNY'S / PATENT / Improved Metallic Books / BEST PREPARED PAPER]

Statement of significance

This object is part of collection with good provenance and interpretive potential that tells the story of the City of Armadale's connection to armed conflicts around the world from the late 1800s to today. The collection explores the experiences of people associated with the City of Armadale who went to war, their experiences when they returned as well as how these conflicts impacted the community who stayed behind.

Last modified

Thursday, 24 September, 2026

Completeness

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City of Armadale - History House