On April 22 Southern Highlands resident, Ernie Chester Walker, will celebrate his 103rd birthday.
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He was born in 1916 at Forest Lodge to Will and Amy Walker.
The middle of seven children, Ernie grew up with a strong connection to horses through his family's business.
Ernie resided in North Ryde for nearly 40 years.
He moved to Penrose in the 1980s where he still resides today.
Ernie enlisted in the Australian Army on May 4, 1940.
His total effective service in WWII was 1,478 days of which 932 days were served outside Australia.
Ernie is one of the brave Rats of Tobruk, who served during the 241-day Siege of Tobruk.
He also served in the jungles of Papua New Guinea on the Kokoda Track.
A love of horses was responsible for him meeting his first wife Jean Whiteman who he married in 1940 and also his second wife Bev Hines who he married in 2001.
Ernie and Bev bred Australian stock horses and trained and instructed in the Olympic disciplines of Dressage, Cross Country and Show Jumping in Penrose.
At the age of 80 Ernie took part in the inaugural Multiple Sclerosis Ride. The ride was just over 200km over six days between Taree and Port Macquarie.
In 2016 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the general division.
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