Last week about 11am I was hanging out the washing near the lodge, when out of it stepped a soldier, slouched hat partly over his face, and walked towards me… When the soldier was about 20ft away, he looked up. I nearly fainted… To my horror I saw that half his face was shot away…
See the original newspaper article here [
Nothing is known about the author, unfortunately. There are a few inaccuracies in the article though, for example, Mrs Ley lived in her own house, which is now the Azelia Ley Homestead Museum not in the Davilak property which burned down in 1960.
Read more about the Azelia Ley Homestead on the Cockburn History website.
The article quotes Lucius Manning of Peppermint Grove, and he tells a similar story in notes held at the Azelia Ley Homestead Museum (AL.91.13B). See the image:


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