James Telford Dobson (SN 6306) born in Ballarat and was a 20 year old farmer when he enlisted in Melbourne on August 9th 1916. Assigned to the 24th Battalion his unit embarked from Melbourne on the Hororata on November 23rd 1916. He was transferred to the 6th Light Trench Mortar Battery in France in June 1917. In early October 1918 he was wounded in action and was evacuated to hospital in England suffering from ‘gas shell poisoning, severe'. He was returned to Australia on the Karmala on February 15th 1919 and discharged on March 17th as ‘medically unfit – gas burns'.

His cousin Robert also served in the AIF and is honoured with a tree in the Avenue.