North Kalgoorlie School Cadets

North Kalgoorlie School Cadets,
Winners of the Best Shooting School Cadets 1909
Back Row -? SMITH – Jack BACKHOUSE, Captain: Lionel JEFFRIES – E STRANGER – Eric LEAN –
Front Row: Royce WOODHEAD – Tom CLEMENTS -B CAPLE – Sid KINGS

North Kalgoorlie School Cadets 1909 – Image SLWA

Young Royce Woodhead would have been 14 years old in this photograph, although he looks younger. The shooting was to be training for them just a few short years later, with the start of WWI.  Royce was one of the first to enlist at the age of 16 years, and he was to die, killed in action in Egypt on 11th April 1918, aged 21 years, in the final year of the war. He left behind his grieving parents in Kalgoorlie. His mother, Clara and his father, William Woodhead, a master printer who had his business premises in Cassidy Street, Kalgoorlie.  As in the article below, it would seem that his skill in the cadets with the rifle would play a part in his death, as he was singled out to be a sniper because of his marksmanship.

The following photo shows the family in happier times in 1906 when Royce was only 8 years old, his sister from left to right are Daphne, Doris, Mabel, who died in 1908 two years after this photograph was taken, Gwendoline and Maisie. There was also a younger brother yet to be born, Geoffrey, in 1910.  We can only imagine the tragedy of this one family; sadly, this was the fate for many families who would lose their sons to the Great War and their children to illness and accident. Royce’s mother Clara, only survived her son by just over a  year and died in October 1919 and is buried in the Kalgoorlie cemetery. The family lived at 68 Ward Street, Lamington, only a few houses away from my own home.

Woodhead Family – 1906 – Photo SLWA

Royce Woodhead – Phopto AWM

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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