When Eden’s Amanda Midlam wrote the amazing but tragic story of her great uncle into a short piece for the Magnet’s Sands of Gallipoli Anzac Day competition she simply wanted to revive his legacy.
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Her story not only won the local competition, but during the research phase Amanda discovered her great uncle’s biography had recently been written and is about to be launched at the Sydney site where he tragically died in 1920.
Her great uncle, Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Gray Marks (known as Dud) was the youngest battalion commander in the Australian Imperial Force and a living link between the Anzac legend and the Australian Surf Life Saving movement.
Dud survived Gallipoli and the Western Front only to drown at Sydney’s Palm Beach while rescuing a woman who had become overwhelmed by rough seas.
His peacetime death prompted the formation of the Palm Beach Surf Club, which is still operating today.
It also prompted author Will Davies to write a book about him, titled The Boy Colonel.
In August, Amanda is looking forward to finding out more about her family history when she attends the book launch.
“He got in touch with me when he got back from a trip to Gallipoli and I’ll be going to the book launch with my son and my grandson who is Dud’s great, great, great nephew,” Amanda said.
“He’s probably tracked down family information that I don’t even know about.”
The seventh-generation Australian has also donated her prize, a boxed set of unique medallions, to the Eden RSL sub-branch.
