Ivar Helfrid Swanston (SN 5238) was born in Sweden but was a 30 year old sail maker when he enlisted in Ballarat on February 19th 1916. He embarked from Melbourne aboard the Suffolk on April 1st and sailed to Egypt. In June 1916 he was charged with ’failing to put out the lights when ordered to do so by the orderly officer’ and was confined to barracks for two days. Soon after this, as a member of the 59th Infantry Battalion he reached the battlefields of the Western Front. He was hospitalised for an extended period from August due to illness and a groin complaint. When the war ended, he returned to Australia aboard the Port Melbourne, disembarked on August 20th 1919 and was discharged on October 12th 1919.

Lucas’s Staffs Appreciation of Brave Men, the original Avenue register, records his name as Evan H. Swanson.