Potter family pays tribute to Ernest James Orr on 100th anniversary of Gallipoli landing

ELIJAH and James Potter have a big task ahead of them — they are part of the youngest generation of Australians responsible for carrying on the meaning behind Anzac Day.

Katrina Potter's children James 7 and Elijah 5 ( pictured ) are likely to carry on the spirit of Anzac. They are the great, great, great nephews of Sergeant Ernest James Orr, who fought in WWI as part of the 7th battalion. with the medal given to families of a serviceman who died Picture: Mark Wilson

ELIJAH and James Potter are among many small children with a big task ahead of them.

The brothers, aged 5 and 7, are part of the youngest generation of Australians responsible for carrying on the meaning behind Anzac Day.

But thanks to mum Katrina, the Westmeadows siblings hold a piece of history that will no doubt flow through their family for decades to come.

It was August 15, 1914, that Ms Potter’s great-great-uncle Ernest James Orr enlisted for service in World War I as a sprightly 19-year-old.

“My grandma used to talk about him and her mum used to correspond (with him). She sent letters to him while he was over there,” Ms Potter said.

Lance Sergeant Orr, known to his family as Ernie, was born in North Melbourne to parents James and Elizabeth, attending school in Ferntree Gully before­ moving to St Paul’s Catholic School in Coburg, the area where the family came to live.

He was a baker and served three years as a cadet before enlisting and serving with the 7th Battalion, where he was in charge of about 15 men.

His training was undertaken at Maygar Barracks in Camp Rd, Broadmeadows.

But the soldier received wounds soon after, believed to be on April 25, 1915, after being shot in the left temple, with the bullet penetrating his left shoulder and exiting through his lower back.

He was taken by ship to Alexandria, Egypt, and admitted to hospital on May 3 to have shrapnel removed.

He also had a kidney taken out and suffered a fractured spine.

While his condition appeared to be improving at first, things slowly took a turn for the worse for the young soldier and on August 15 he was sent to the 3rd London General Hospital in Wandsworth.

He died there on November 14 and was buried at Wandsworth Cemetery.

Two whistles, handkerchiefs, bullets and notebooks were among the possessions sent to his dad, alongside a note from his commander, Charles Mason, expressing his condolences: “I am very sorry that he was not spared for you to see,” it read.

Lance Segt Orr was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, held by family in Western Australia.

Almost a century on, his memory lives on through the wealth of letters, medical records, enlistment documents and the Dead Man’s Penny, or memorial plaque, in Ms Potter’s possession.

She said they would take Elijah and James to visit his grave in London next year to reflect on everything those in the war effort went through and to “realise that people have given their lives for what we have today”.