Ernest Downey (1893-1918)

The grave of Anzac Ernie Downey, 25, was ‘lost’ after the creation of a hydroelectricity scheme in country Victoria in the 1920s. Ernie served with the 16^th Battalion at Gallipoli until he was felled by a severe gunshot wound to the chest. Repatriated to Australia, he died of meningitis in 1918 and was buried in Alexandra Cemetery. Two years later, when Lake Eildon was created and the town of Darlingford was inundated, his grandfather John was interred alongside him. Ernie’s grave marker was lost over time, but a headstone remained for the pioneer John Downey. It appeared this Anzac did not have a grave, but as cemetery records show, all that time, he remained in Alexandra Cemetery.