7 May 1917

• John ‘Jack’ Curran is killed in action in the Second Battle of Bullecourt
• George Joseph Beshewatie enlists. George is commemorated on the Centenary of WWI in Orange Honour Roll; he would be killed in action in France on 16 April 1918.
• The Murray family of The Meadows, Orange, receives word that their son, Hugh Miller Murray has been taken prisoner of war
• Roy Sylvester White sends news from Egypt to say his unit is camped by the sea and that it is “beautiful to be able to hop in and have a swim”. Soldiers Letters – The Joys of Swimming

Australian soldiers swimming in and sunbathing beside the Suez Canal c1916. Image courtesy Australian War Memorial.

• One person is killed and two are injured as a single German Albatros C VII aircraft drops several bombs over London
• Franco-Venizelist forces near Gevgeli on the Southern Front repulse a Bulgar counter-attack
• The Leader declares:

These words cut deep and keenly,
Like the surgeon’s knife:
“I’d sooner be a soldier’s widow
Than a slacker’s wife.”