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The eldest of 11 children he worked from a very young age at various labouring jobs prior to enlisting in Hobart on 10 July On his attestation papers it lists his date of birth as January 9th This is incorrect as he added two years to his age to allow his brother Edwin Ted - TX Dare to enlist at the same time as Ted was in the early days of WW2 considered too young.
This then made Ernie 21 and Ted 20 years old when Ernie was actually 19 and Ted He and his brother Ted completed their initial training at Brighton Army Camp. Up until he joined the Army, Ernie had never worn socks!
Training at Brighton Camp was inconsistent with little equipment, rudimentary barracks accommodation, and a dislocated HQ in Adelaide. The men did eventually meet the standards required. The Company war diary from those early days of illustrates concern that if the men were not embarked for war soon that it was likely they would start going AWOL.
Eventually at the end of October , C-Company was ordered to concentrate in Adelaide. A period of intensive training that involved a lot of route marches and range practices occurred in Adelaide. Ernie recalled many marches but one in particular would be the longest route march undertaken by any AIF unit during training, a gruelling km, two-week monster of a march.
