| Regimental number | 3087 |
| Place of birth | Oakleigh, Melbourne, Victoria |
| School | Queenstown State School, Victoria |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Orchardist |
| Address | c/o A Comb, Merbein, Mildura, Victoria |
| Marital status | Married |
| Age at embarkation | 28 |
| Height | 5' 10.5" |
| Weight | 161 lbs |
| Next of kin | Wife, Mrs I Laity, c/o A Comb, Merbein, Mildura, Victoria |
| Previous military service | Nil |
| Enlistment date | |
| Place of enlistment | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 6th Battalion, 10th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/23/3 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT RMS Osterley on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Lance Corporal |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 6th Battalion |
| Recommendations (Medals and Awards) |
Military Medal '(27th-28th February 1917) Act of gallantry; also valuable services as scout.' Recommendation date: Distinguished Conduct Medal '(27th-28th February 1917) Act of gallantry; also valuable services as scout.' Recommendation date: |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of death or wounding | Belgium Border |
| Age at death | 30.7 |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 30 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 7), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 47 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: William and Elizabeth LAITY; husband of Isabella LAITY, Mildura, Victoria |
| Medals |
Distinguished Conduct Medal 'For conspicuous gallantry when on patrol. He crawled through the enemy wire to within a dozen yards of the enemy parapet and threw bombs into the trench. He has at all times set a splendid example of courage and devotion to duty.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 133 Date: |
| Family/military connections | Brother: 4531 Pte Edward Reynolds LAITY, 30th Bn, killed in action, 4 October 1917. |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Taken on strength, 6th Bn, Tel el Kebir, 7 January 1916. Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 26 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 2 April 1916. Appointed Lance Corporal, 15 February 1917. Awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Killed in action, Belgium, 20 September 1917. Medals: Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
| Sources | NAA: B2455, LAITY Rupert |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
