Eddie and Stan Root

[Max Turner]

Eddie Root listed his birthplace as Alexandria, NSW on several records, which would be consistent with his birth having been registered in Waterloo.

There are two comments on Eddie's page suggesting his DOB is incorrect, however, I am confident that 26 June 1902 is correct. This is corroborated by this contemporary article in The Brisbane Courier and is also listed by the SSR Almanac site, which I have found to be pretty reliable. The incorrect date appears to have come from the same Wikipedia user mentioned previously. The comments on Eddie's page are probably honest mistakes by people relying on Wikipedia, but in the interest of limiting the damage done by this Wikipedia editor, would it be reasonable to remove these comments? They are both dated after the misinformation was added to Wikipedia.

Also, a comment on Eddie's WWI service: Eddie enlisted on 31 March 1917, which means he was 14 years and 9 months old (not 16 as Whiticker's bio says). The South Sydney Sentinal reports on this fact (though incorrectly giving his birthdate as the 20th), and says he served "at the front." Several other sources call him a Digger. Eddie's service record shows he was discharged in April 1917 when it was discovered he was underage. The Brisbane Courier article linked above says Root "wears a Returned Soldier's medal." I'd suggest Eddie was probably not eligible for any medals (there is usually a page in the service record detailing the medals awarded), so was this falsely obtained by Root? Or did he enlist again (perhaps under a different name)? One to come back to later on I think...

Stan Root was born 24 January 1924 in Newtown, NSW, and died on 17 June 1973. His full name was Stanton William Root.

Stan Root was the son of Eddie Root.

[GregRLP]

Thanks again Max I have updated his record with your details and added comments from you in regard to his service I can't remove comments added by users I'll need @AndrewRLP to remove.

Sounds like he has an interesting story certainly worth investigating further.