By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A YOUNG soldier robbed of sight, taste and smell during the last days of the World War I is today remembered by many as a remarkable man who defied his disabilities to become the state’s first honorary solicitor.
Dudley Ackerley Tregent, the grandfather of Berwick resident Noella Van Der Linde, enlisted to serve the country on 10 December 1915.
He fought in the battlefields of France until the final days of war, where he was wounded by an exploding shell and lost his sight in both eyes on 17 October, 1918 – less than a week after being promoted to sergeant in the 7th Field Artillery Brigade.
Dudley recovered at the 2nd London General Hospital before getting permission to visit his injured brother Percy, a 59th Infantry Battalion Private, at a hospital in Wales. A nurse at the hospital put the brothers in adjoining beds where they spent days talking about what Dudley could do when he returned to Australia.“Dudley was greatly concerned as to what he could make of his life. He told Percy he was not going to sell matches in the street,” read a chapter of The World is Mine, a book which tells the story of the handicapped ex-serviceman.
Refusing to be limited by his disabilities, Dudley enrolled Melbourne University’s law school where he became the department’s first blind legal graduate, and later, the Legacy Club of Melbourne’s first honorary solicitor.
As part of the legacy, Dudley provided free welfare and legal help to deceased servicemen’s dependents.
“He gave his services gratuitously and willingly to individuals who sought his help, and always refused to accept any fees. Deprivation of certain senses certainly developed one great attribute – compassion, for which he will always be affectionately remembered,” read a Legacy Club of Melbourne tribute to Dudley, who died on 10 August in 1971.
Dudley was best remembered for leading the plea for increased pensions and allowances for ex-servicemen, women and their dependents in 1927.
Noella said she and her sister Eileen Crewes always remembered visiting their granddad at his Collins Street law firm – Dudley Tregent and Co.
“If we went to the office to see our grandfather, we had to put on our best dresses. Even though he was blind, we had to be all dressed up and sit there quietly,” Noella recalled.
Dudley, who did not have a walking cane or guide dog, lived in a South Yarra home he designed himself and was visited each Sunday by his granddaughters.
“We would go for walks in the Royal Botanic Gardens. We had cuddles and would play games, like pulling down his socks while he was sitting in his chair,” Eileen remembered.
Noella said her grandfather’s determination to succeed despite the odds is a point of pride within her extended family.
“My father and his brother worked at the firm. My aunty also worked there for a time and my cousin is now a judge at the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court,” she said.
“He inspired us by teaching us you can do anything you want.”
Dudley was married to Eileen Sharp in London on 12 July 1920 – years after meeting her as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse during his time in recovery.
