A.J. May
The story of Arthur Jesse May
Tram conductor Arthur Jesse May enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in May 1916 aged 22. Born in England, Arthur had previously served time in the 22nd Territorial Battalion.
Assigned to the 34th battalion he spent the rest of 1916 in training depots here in Australia before embarking for England at the end of January 1917. Again he spent a great deal of time in camp, ultimately transferring to France in August of that year having been promoted to a Sergeant.
In October he was wounded in action but that did not see him out of action and he continued to fight with his unit all the way through 1918, except for a brief period of two weeks when he was in hospital, sick.
He ultimately returned home in March 1919 where he was discharged. He passed away in 1965 and is remembered on the North Sydney Tram Depot memorial.
Research notes:
1) According to census records Arthur was still in England in 1911.
