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(2 May 1944)
Posted to NO. 4 (COASTAL) OTU :
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A family's sacrifices
From Raymond's granddaughter, Michelle
Eli and Agnes Marstella of Tenterfield, New South Wales, had three sons. Sydney died in 1890, the year he was born. Frederick was born in 1891. Tommy in 1894. On 19 March 1897, when Frederick and Tommy were five and three years old, they lost their mother when Agnes died at Leech’s Gully, near Tenterfield. Eli married Mary a year later and they had four children. Eli died on 5 September 1914, a month after WWI began. He is buried in Stanthorpe Cemetery, Queensland.
On 5 October 1914, less than a fortnight before his 23rd birthday, Frederick enlisted for service in WWI. He served with No. 4 Australian Driver Supply Column in France. He survived the war and returned to live at home in the Stanthorpe area and later in Brisbane, Queensland. He died in Orange, New South Wales, in 1964.
Tommy also enlisted. He died in 1915, after fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey for just one week. He was 21.
Eli’s brother, Frederick Charles, married Sarah in 1902. They had three sons and three daughters. Their third son, our Raymond Thomas Marstella, Frederick’s and Tommy’s cousin, was born on 20 June 1917. He was educated at Slade School, Warwick. He worked on ”Langlands”, the family property at Stanthorpe.
Raymond enlisted for service in World War II. On 4 December 1940, shortly before leaving for overseas, he married Ellen (also of Stanthorpe) in the Chapel at Slade School. Raymond’s and Ellen’s daughter, Crystal, was born shortly after he enlisted. Raymond served with the Royal Australian Air Force for four years until W6009’s accident. Raymond is buried in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, England.
Raymond and his cousins Frederick and Tommy are remembered always by Raymond's daughter Crystal, his two grandchildren, and his three great-grandchildren.
Flying Officer Marstella
circa 1940
Raymond with Ellen and daughter Crystal
circa 1942
Raymond was training in Sydney when Crystal was born. He came home for a time to meet his daughter, bringing with him a large white wicker pram. Crystal still has her pram. She used it for each of her daughter and son and later for her three grandchildren.
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, January 1945
THE SLADE SCHOOL MAGAZINE, December 1945
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 14 January 1953
