Trundle Hero Norman Scott Beuzeville
The first entry to our searchable blog tells the amazing story of a man from Trundle. A 50 minute drive from Parkes, Trundle is better known as the home of the Trundle ABBA Festival (Australia’s first dedicated ABBA festival). What is lesser known is that “from the small village of Trundle and its district a total of 149 young men enlisted over the period of the war” (Watts & Wright, 1987 p174) Today we choose to highlight the efforts of one young man from Trundle.
Norman Scott Beuzeville: No 779. Son of Herbert Marshall Beuzeville. Scott Beuzeville applied for and gained admission to the 6th Light Horse when he enlisted on November 17, 1914 at the age of twenty seven. The Light Horse were the elite of the Australian troops, superior horsemanship being the criterion for selection. Their horses, however, had to be left behind in Egypt during the assault on Gallipoli. On Gallipoli Scott Beuzeville was given a job as a sniper because of his skill with a rifle and was selected as a member of the Bodyguard for Sir Ian Hamilton when he visited Gallipoli. After Gallipoli he served in other Middle East Stations including Alexandria, Cairo, Moascar and Port Said and took part in the cavalry charge at Beersheba. He served for more than four years, being finally discharged on June 2, 1919. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the ANZAC Commemorative Medal in recognition of his services. After the War he returned to Trundle and then took up the property he named “Normandoon” at Warren in 1922. He retired to Trundle in 1962 and lived there until his death in 1978, aged ninety one. (Watts, Janice P. & Wright, Chas F. The Story of Trundle: A Country Town and Its People. Trundle: Ian Berry & Judith Curr, 1987. Print) Scott Beuzeville was one of the few who were fortunate enough to return home from the war. However his good fortune didn’t end there. As detailed in a newspaper artice from The Sydney Morning Herald he was one of two fortunate men to be given land through a ballot. This was the land he lived on until his retirement in 1962 when returned yet again to Trundle.
Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday 13 April 1921 LAND BALLOT AT WARREN – 490 APPLICANTS FOR TWO BLOCKS. WARREN.-Tho local land board conducted a ballot for two homestead farm areas, known as the Gillendoon blocks, comprising 1808 and 188G acres, respectively. The total number of applicants was 490, although the land was made available for all comers; the Returned Soldiers’ League protested that the areas were originally intended by Mr Ashford (when Minister for Lands) for returned soldiers. The land board took the representations of the Returned Soldiers’ League into consideration, and excluded all applicants except returned soldiers and married men, with the result that 300 applicants were cut out; 100 went to ballot, and 20 marbles were drawn, the two successful applicants being Norman S. Beuzeville, of Trundle, a returned soldier, and Thoa R. N. Boss, of Balladoran. 
(photo used with permission by The AIF Project taken by Peter Dennis, The University of New South Wales, Canberra from the commemorative avenue in Trundle, NSW)
Click here for more information about Trundle’s Avenue of Remembrance
History Parkes 
the date of death on the plaque is incorrect. it should be 1978.
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Thank you Julie for pointing this out.
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Hopefully this will assist you Julie to get this error fixed. Apparently the Trundle RSL were placing all the plaques in Trundle on the Avenue of Remembrance. It would be best to contact them to see if they can get the correct date of death on Mr Beuzeville’s plaque.
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