Roy Dunk

Roy Dunk fought with great courage for Australia during the Great War, and his vivid recollections of his experiences, both terrible and uplifting), are a valuable part of the personal histories of this time.

Born in the South Australian river port of Morgan in 1892, Roy became, at only eighteen years of age, one of the independent breed of young Australians who nonchalantly travelled thousands of kilometers to take up station work- in his case at Currawinya, on the Queensland border above Bourke.

Dunk survived initiation on a buck jumping stock horse and quickly proved himself a skilful stockman, farrier, and horse racer. When the distant European War called, his boss, James Carstairs, generously gifted Roy a horse and saddle, and told him to sell them in Bourke to pay for his way home.

As Corporal Dunk he embarked for Egypt on the S.S. Benalla in October 1915 and was soon wide eyed and open mouthed, like most young colonials, at the wonders of the ancient world along the Nile

Roy was one of four Dunk brothers that fought in the Great War, in which sixty men from the Bourke district died. He returned home in 1919 and took up a remote soldier-settler block at the border town of Hungerford. He became a respected pastoralist and active community member of the Bourke Shire over the next sixty years and remained a proud Digger to the end.

For more information please contact the Back O' Bourke Information and Exhibition Centre

Kidman Way, Bourke NSW 2840

02 6872 1321