www.monumentaustralia.org.au

Charlie WandiPrint Page Print this page

29-April-2019
29-April-2019

Photographs supplied by Glenn Day

The headstone over the grave commemorates Aboriginal Salvation Army soldier, Charlie Wandi.

Charlie Wandi was an aboriginal boy who was found as a small child beside the body of his mother who had died from snakebite. The group of men who found the boy in the desert region were surveyors for the laying of railway track between Kalgoorlie and South Australia. As a young boy, Charlie Wandi was fostered by a family in Narrogin. He became a soldier in the Salvation Army in Narrogin in 1909 and later moved to Midland Junction. He was a drummer in the Salvation Army Band with the Midland Corps for many decades.

He eventually lived in Darlington, where he carved model aeroplanes and boomerangs for children in the area. After Charlie died in 1959, Salvationists throughout Western Australia contributed to placing the headstone on his grave at Karrakatta Cemetery.

Location

Address:Railway Road, Salvation Army BA599, Karrakatta Cemetery, Karrakatta, 6010
State:WA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -31.973461
Long: 115.796241
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Grave
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Indigenous

Dedication

Front Inscription

In loving memory of Charlie Wandi

Aboriginal drummer.

Midland Junction S. A. Band and of Narrogin

Brother in Christ to all
Promoted to glory 
27th Jan. 1959.

Right Side Inscription

Karrakatta Historical Walk Trail Two

Charlie Wandi (d. 1959)
Salvation Army soldier

Charlie Wandi was an Aboriginal boy who was found as a small child beside the body of his mother who had died from snakebite.  Charlie was fostered by a family in Narrogin.  He became a soldier in the Salvation Arny in Narrogin in 1909 and later moved to Midland Junction.

Charlie was a drummer in the Salvation Army Band with the Midland Corps for many decades.  He eventually lived in Darlington.  After Charlie died in 1959, Salvationists throughtout Western Australia contributed to placing the headstone on his grave at Karrakatta Cemetery.

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au