Horace Lynton Prott

Submitted by Mt Kembla Minin... on Fri, 07/07/2017 - 09:36

First Name:

Horace

Middle Name:

Lynton

Last Name:

Prott

Date of Birth:

Sunday, November 14, 1897

Mother's Name:

Ellen Prott nee Sullivan

Father's Name:

Frederick Prott

Date Enlisted:

Thursday, June 10, 1915

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Rank at Discharge:

Private

Unit:

1st Battalion

Service:

Infantry

Awards:

1914/1915 Star

British War Medal

Victory Medal

Date of Death:

Friday, February 1, 1980

Place of Death:

Warrawong, N.S.W.

Details:

Horace Lynton Prott (Service No 2487), was born in Kiama, N.S.W.

At enlistment, he was single, 18 years old, worked as an engineers assistant and had served 6 years with the Cadets.

Horace embarked on HMAT A67 Orsova, with 1st Battalion, 7th Reinforcement, on 14th July 1915, arriving in Egypt in late August. He arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, on 4th November 1915, where he served with the 1st Battalion, until he was evacuated due to sickness, on 16th December 1915. Horace was repatriated to Australia in June 1916, and discharged medically unfit with a pension, due to cardiac weakness, on 5th October 1916.

In 1927, Horace found himself in serious trouble. He had met a young nurse from Kiama Hospital who he was fond of, but his interest not returned. Horace went to the hospital with a gun, and after firing at the nurse and wounding her, he turned the gun on himself. Both parties survived the shooting, and Horace was charged with attempted murder and attempted suicide. He was convicted and sentenced to death in December 1927.

In January 1928 after a petition, the sentence was commuted to 7 years. He was out of gaol in 1933, when he was a pallbearer at his mothers funeral.

In 1934, Horace married Linda Sproule, in Wollongong, N.S.W., and the couple had 2 children.

Horace died in 1980.

Horace had an older brother, Leonard, who had served in the Boer War.

Sources:

NAA: B2455, PROTT HORACE LINTON