The AIF Project

Arthur Malcolm STACE

Regimental number5934
Date of birth9 February 1885
Place of birthKogarah, Sydney, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
AddressHaymarket PO, Haymarket, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation26
Height5' 3"
Weight131 lbs
Next of kinSister, Mrs Minnie Harman, 166 Bowman Street, Pyrmont, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceServed in the St George's Rifles for 5 months (resigned).
Enlistment date18 March 1916
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll16 March 1916
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name19th Battalion, 16th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/36/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 7 October 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll19th Battalion
FateReturned to Australia 24 December 1918
Discharge date2 May 1919
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked from Sydney, 7 October 1916; disembarked Plymouth, England, 21 November 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 28 December 1916. Taken on strength, 19th Bn, 5 February 1917.

Admitted to 56th Casualty Clearing Station, 19 April 1917 (bronchitis); transferred to 5th General Hospital, Rouen, 21 April 1917; to England, 30 April 1917 (pleurisy); admitted to 1st War Hospital, Birmingham, 1 May 1917. Transferred to 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, 18 May 1917. Discharged on furlough, 18 July 1917, to report to No. 2 Command Depot, Weymouth, 1 August 1917. Marched out to No. 3 Command Depot, Hurdcott, 8 August 1917. Classified B1. Taken on strength, Headquarters, AIF Depots in the UK, 1 June 1918. Re-transferred to 19th Bn, 3 December 1918.

Commenced return to Australia on board 'Takada', 25 December 1918; disembarked Melbourne, 11 February 1919, for onward travel to Sydney; discharged from the AIF (medically unfit: pleurisy), 2 May 1919.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

After the war, Stace became well-known in Sydney for writing, in a distinctive copperplate style, the word 'Eternity' in public places - footpaths, walls etc. His explanation was that after a lifetime of drunkenness he had found religion in 1930 when he attended a meeting in a church hall in Pyrmont. Thereafter his life was dedicated to spreading the message through single word 'Eternity'. By the time of his death it was estimated that had written the word more than 500,000 times throughout the city.

Date of death30 July 1967
Age at death82

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