WILFRED Spokes was born in Colac, Victoria, the eldest child of James William and Elizabeth (née Pearce).
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At the time of enlisting, he was employed as a driver, having served a six-month apprenticeship with Dalgety & Co. in Colac.
The Spokes family moved from Victoria and settled in the Wagga district about 1914.
Here, they became respected members of the community, with James working in the dairying industry for the next 34 years.
Wilfred sailed from Australia with the 22nd Battalion in May, 1915, and spent the first part of his military service in hospital, suffering from influenza.
After proceeding to France in March, 1916, he spent the rest of the war fighting in positions along the Western Front.
Wilfred suffered from various health problems, including recurring influenza and scabies and the effects of gunshot and shell wounds and gassing.
In September, 1918, Private Spokes was awarded the Military Medal for action he took during a battle near Mount St. Quentin (near Péronne on the Somme).
In The Daily Advertiser 100 years ago
Wagga was deeply divided on the issue of conscription in October, 1916, as former Labor prime minister John Watson and then serving prime minister Billy Hughes visited the town within days of each other to campaign for a yes vote.
Ahead of Mr Hughes’s visit on October 23 and speech at the Strand Theatre, The Daily Advertiser published an article in which he posed the question: Ought I send a man to his death by voting yes?
“Answer: This is a specious query put forward to mislead the people. It is intended to appeal to the women of Australia.
“It is made by men who think only of the sanctity of their own lives and care nothing for that of others.
“If you vote ‘Yes’ you send reinforcements to help the men at the front, and so help to save their precious lives.
“If you vote ‘No’ you abandon them to die.
“Are their lives not precious and sacred to you, for whom they offer them up every day?”