GREY, Denis Basil

Denis Basil Grey had almost no contact with East Melbourne, staying perhaps only very briefly at 'Rosebank', a boarding house in Clarendon St. afer being returned to Australia following a war injury. He was born in Ceylon of English parents, but the family then moved to Hong Kong, where his sister Nora Evelyn was born in 1898. His mother was Louisa Adeline Grey and she appears as his next of kin on his army record,first at 'Rosebank', but subsequenty c% Charter Bank of Australia, Ceylon and India, at Bishopsgate London. his father, Mr. B.W. Grey, is shown as working for the Public Works and residing in Hong Kong,. 

Denis Grey first enlisted on 3 November, 1914, aged 18 years and 3 months. This would put his birthdate at 1896, probably in August. He was an impressive looking man, 6'2" in height, with blue eyes and fair-light brown hair. He belonged to the Church of England and gave his occupation variously as station hand and farmer. He was called up on 29 March, 1915, and joined as a private attached to the 2nd Reinforcements of the 4th Battalion. He then moved into the D Corps, 4th Battalion, and embarked for Egypt on board HMAT Seang Bee A 48. From Egypt, the reinforcements went to join the 4th Battalion at Gallipoli, where on 7 May, 1915, Denis Grey received a severe gunshot wound to one leg and was evacuated back to Alexandria. he was repatriated to Australia on board HMAT Osterley on 8 December, 1915.

The 4th Battalion landed in Egypt and from there were sent to the Gallipoli Peninsula on 2 October, 1915.  Along with the other Australian battalions, they withdrew from the peninsula in December 1915,  and in March, 1916, were sent to France. Their first major battle was at Pozieres and from then until 1918, they were deployed around the Somme Valley in France and Ypres in Belgium.

Denis Grey returned to Melbourne for his recovery, but then re-enlisted in 1916, first returning to Egypt on the Osterley, then on 23 March, 1916 on the H.T. Simla, sailing from Alexandria to Marseilles, disembarking on 30 March. He had already been promoted to Second Lieutenant and marche in to the battalion in the field. On 7 May, he was wounded again, this time with a gunshot wound to his cheek. He was sent to the 3rd Field Ambulance for treatment, then on to hospital at Donlieu. He returned to duty on 15 May, but was again in hospital on 24 May, this time with influenza. On 10 June, he was again discharged to duty, but by then, his war experiences had affeced his health. He had synovitis in his right knee - perhaps from the original wound - and weak health generally, so was returned to England and assigned to the School of In 1916.struction, arriving on 31 August. This appeared to be training for a future role. On 18 October, he was promoted to Lieutenant and from then on was assigned to Training, first at Tidworth, then in 16 April, 1917, at Sutton Veny with the 1st Training Battalion.

It's hard to follow the sequence of events: on 22 April, Denis Grey is listed as returning from France, so perhaps he accompanied the trainees across the Channel. On 27 April, he was back posted for duty with teh 1st Training Battalion; on 29 April, he was detached for temporary duty with the 63 Battalion. On 25 May, he was again in hospital, this time at Tidworth, and then shown as on command at B.T. School. His entry at the Australian War Memorial has him as a member of the Australian Flying Corps, but this is not supported by his military record. 

Denis Grey was back in hospital on 9 August, 1917, admitted to Cobham Hall, then to the Delhi Hospital at Durrington. The decsion was made to invalid him out of the army, but this caused a dilemma: the authorities want him sent back to Australia, then discharged. He wanted his discharge to take place in England.

In a letter, signed at Tidworth on Monday 6 January, 1919, he stated: I am an Englishman. 2. My business and home are here. 3. I have  no engagements or dependents in Australia and was only there fore twelve months. in my having to return to Australia for my discharge, I would be .... to return here (England) as early as possible which would be a great inconvenience.

His intended place of residence was at 22 Kensington Gardens Bayswater, presumably to live with his mother. His father was at the time in Malaysia, with the address Val D'Or, Bukit Tambon, Province Wellesley, Federated Malay States.

Basil Grey was discharged in England after much negotiation and disappears henceforth from Australian records.