Hector Matheson Mitchell was the oldest son of Andrew and Grace Mitchell, whose home at 1 Elliott Street overlooked the woollen mill and Merri River.

Born in 1887, he was a more than handy footballer as a teenager and by 21 had attracted the attention of St Kilda in the Victorian Football League.

He made his senior debut in the 1908 season (a loss to Collingwood in round 16), but his sporting pursuits were suspended soon after when he swapped the Saints' colours for the uniform of the Royal Navy in November that year.

Stoker Mitchell initially became a crew member aboard HMS Psyche, then sailed to England on HMS Challenger before proudly being posted to the first cruiser launched for the Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Melbourne.

Upon completing his five-year term of service (during which his father died in 1912), Hector returned to Australia and found work at the Newport workshops - pulling his footy boots back on to line up for Port Melbourne in the VFA.

War broke out while Hector was working at the Newport yards and in August 1916 he re-enlisted, serving firstly on HMAS Cerberus before transferring to HMAS Swan in Sydney, where he also managed to play some more football.

One of six speedy new River Class torpedo boat destroyers, HMAS Swan became part of British blockade forces in the Far East. Based first at Sandakan and later at Singapore, Swan helped to maintain patrols in the Malayan Archipelago until the end of June 1917.

But not long before his ship was due to sail to the Mediterranean Stoker Mitchell began suffering from an illness, described in one source as "brain fever", and was sent to a hospital in Singapore.

It was there he died from the illness on June 16, 1917, aged 29.

On Saturday, July 28, 1917, the Warrnambool Standard published this article:

Mrs Andrew Mitchell, South Warrnambool, has received the following letter from Commander A. S. M. Bond, of HMAS Swan, concerning the death of her son, Stoker Hector Mitchell:

"I am writing on behalf of the officers and ship's company of this ship, to express our deep sympathy with you on the death of your son in hospital last week. He always did his duty in a most conscientious manner and was most popular with his messmates.

"If anything can lighten a blow of this kind, it must be that he gave his life for his country no less than if he died fighting in the trenches. We buried him on Saturday evening with full naval honours, and a most impressive service read by the Chaplain of another ship.

"About a hundred officers and men were present, including an officer representing a Japanese man-of-war in port. Your son's coffin was covered with wreaths of flowers sent by different sections of our ship's company.

"We all realise what the mothers have to bear, losing those that are dear to them, so far away, and ask you to accept our deepest sympathy."

Hector Mitchell was initially interred in the Bidadari Christian Cemetery, but when that was to be closed by the Singapore authorities in 1957 his remains were transferred and now rest at Singapore's Kranji War Cemetery.

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His mother Grace died in 1932, aged 72, but the loss of her first-born was not the only heartache she had to endure.

Her brother, Robert Carmichael Baillie (also of South Warrnambool), a single, 35-year-old labourer, and her oldest son Stanley, 30, both enlisted in July 1915 and served together in the 14th Battalion.

Robert was declared missing, presumed dead, after the battle of Bullecourt in France in April 1917.

Ten years later, Grace received a letter informing her that his remains had been discovered during excavations by the Imperial War Graves Commission, identified by a damaged identity disc.

Stanley, a labourer, lived at 9 Stanley Street in South Warrnambool, not far from his mother, with his wife Catherine and their infant daughter Hazel.

He was first wounded in action on August 8, 1916, returning to his unit two months later, but was more seriously injured at Bullecourt on the same day as his uncle. They had caught up and talked just before the battle.

Stanley suffered severe gunshot wounds to his right leg and thigh and for him the war was over. After long periods in hospital, he returned to Australia in April 1918.

But he was never quite the same and a sudden, brief illness sent him to the Warrnambool hospital, where he died in October 1928.

In a letter soon after to the Army's Base Records Office, his wife wrote "that (her husband's) injuries proved fatal so sudden was a great shock to everybody, though he has been a great and patient sufferer since his return."

For Grace, it was yet another blow. Her youngest son David (there were five brothers) had also enlisted in July 1915 - a month after he turned 18 - with his mother's written permission.

He served with the 8th Battalion and in October 1917 earned himself the Military Medal for his bravery in action.

Happily, David returned safely to South Warrnambool in June 1918, some consolation for a mother and a family that had suffered enough.

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