Samuel John Tongway (SERN19531/257425)  

In 1916, Samuel Tongway applied to enlist but was rejected twice due to his Chinese ancestry. He succeeded on his third attempt on June 1917, aged 23, and was accepted into the Australian Army Medical Corps. He was deployed in France and was later transferred to the 5th Division Signals Company, in which his brother Hedley David (SERN 20455/ V372595) also served. 

After the armistice, he studied at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London and the University of Oxford. Sam returned to Australia in February 1920 and completed his Bachelor at the University of Melbourne. He had a long a career as head teacher in Victoria until his retirement in 1960. 

 

Tongway family photograph, c. 1900. Tongway family collection, Museum of Chinese Australian History 1750.374.07 

Graduation photograph of Samuel John Tongway. Tongway family collection, Museum of Chinese Australian History 1750.374.15