Tag: Australian Imperial Force

George Leslie Scott: An Australian Officer of the Final Advance

Early Life and Family

George Leslie Scott was born at Newcastle, New South Wales, on 5 January 1886, the son of William Henry Scott and Mary Maxwell. He was baptised ten days later, on 15 January, at Scone, where he spent his early childhood. Although several later military documents give inconsistent dates and places of birth, the civil registration and baptismal evidence support 5 January 1886 at Newcastle as the most reliable account. [1]

By 1913 Scott was living on Main Street, Lithgow, New South Wales, and was recorded in the electoral roll as a Staff Sergeant Major. His career before the Great War was already closely tied to soldiering and military instruction, and he brought substantial experience to the Australian Imperial Force rather than entering as an untrained civilian volunteer. [1]

In 1908 he married Rachel Florence Maude Blue at Lithgow. Their family included five daughters: Mavis Lilian, Hazel Meryl, Alva A., Olga and Elizabeth Mary Scott. At the time of his commission application, the family address was “Toxana”, Windsor Street, Richmond, New South Wales, where Rachel remained his nominated next of kin throughout his overseas service. [1]

George Leslie Scott was a professional soldier, husband and father of five who became an AIF officer in the war’s final year.

Military Service

Before joining the Australian Imperial Force, Scott had accumulated considerable military experience. His commission application recorded two years with the New South Wales Irish Rifle Regiment, two years with the 3rd Australian Infantry Regiment, and seven and a half years on the instructional staff. He qualified for his first appointment as a lieutenant at No. 6 School, Duntroon, in March 1917. [1]

His medical examination certified him fit for the fatigue of active service. The papers describe him as a married British subject living at Richmond, New South Wales, and indicate that his occupation was soldier. He was appointed to the AIF as a Second Lieutenant on 5 November 1917. [1]

Scott initially served with the 26th Reinforcements of the 13th Battalion before joining the 18th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 10 January 1918, although official commemoration records and casualty documentation also use the rank of Second Lieutenant. The distinction reflects the differing dates and administrative purposes of the surviving records; it does not alter the fact that he died while serving as an officer of the 18th Battalion. [2][1]

His medals were the British War Medal and Victory Medal, accompanied after his death by the Memorial Plaque. These awards recognise his overseas war service and his death while serving with the AIF in France. [1]

The 18th Battalion

The 18th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Imperial Force, raised in 1915 and assigned to the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Australian Division. Its recruits came principally from New South Wales, and it served on the Western Front through some of the AIF’s most demanding campaigns. [3][4]

Before Scott joined the battalion, the 18th had fought at Pozières, Mouquet Farm, Bullecourt, Ypres, Villers-Bretonneux and Hazebrouck. In 1918 it helped resist the German spring offensive before returning to the attack in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive, participating at Amiens on 8 August and at Mont St Quentin on 31 August. [3]

By October 1918, the battalion was part of the 2nd Australian Division’s effort to break the Beaurevoir Line, the final fortified belt of the Hindenburg Line system in its sector. The Australian Corps had been severely depleted by years of fighting and was nearing the end of its continuous front-line role, yet the 18th Battalion was still called upon for a final major operation. [5][3]

Montbrehain and the Beaurevoir Line

On 3 October 1918, the 18th Battalion attacked as part of the Battle of Beaurevoir, an action within the wider battles of the Hindenburg Line. At 6.05am, Australian troops advanced under artillery support alongside tanks, but encountered wire obstacles and heavy German machine-gun fire. The fighting became close and costly, involving bombs, bayonets and determined local resistance. [6][5]

The 5th Brigade, to which the 18th Battalion belonged, secured its objectives by late morning. The action at Montbrehain became the battalion’s final battle of the war. Lieutenant Joseph Maxwell of the 18th Battalion received the Victoria Cross for exceptional bravery during the operation, a measure of both the intensity of the engagement and the demands placed upon junior officers and their men. [5][3]

Scott took part in the attack near Tincourt on 3 October, described in the AIF correspondence as being in the furthest part of the Hindenburg Line. Although the surviving record does not identify his platoon, company or exact position, it places him directly within the 18th Battalion’s final offensive action at the Beaurevoir Line. [3][1]

Scott was wounded during the 18th Battalion’s last battle of the war, the hard-fought assault on the Beaurevoir Line near Montbrehain.

Wounds and Death

During the attack of 3 October, Scott was severely wounded. He was admitted the same day to a casualty clearing station suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen by a machine gun and the effects of mustard gas. The medical report records that surgeons operated as soon as practicable and recovered a foreign body from his abdomen. [1]

Scott died of his wounds on 8 October 1918, aged thirty-two. There is a minor discrepancy in the correspondence over whether he was treated by the 55th or 58th Casualty Clearing Station, and one letter refers to the 5/8th Casualty Clearing Station. The consistent elements are that he was wounded on 3 October, underwent surgery, and died five days later at a casualty clearing station in the Tincourt area. [1]

His death came only thirty-four days before the Armistice. Following the Montbrehain fighting, the exhausted Australian Corps was withdrawn for rest and reorganisation and did not return to the front before the fighting ended on 11 November 1918. [4][3]

Burial and Commemoration

George Leslie Scott was buried on 9 October 1918 in Tincourt British Cemetery, later known as Tincourt New British Cemetery, east of Péronne. His grave is in Plot VII, Row F, Grave 21. The burial took place the day after his death, at a cemetery used for men who died in the casualty-clearing stations serving the sector. [7][1]

He is also commemorated on Panel 87 in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. A cenotaph on his father’s grave at Sandgate Cemetery, Newcastle, preserves his memory in the city of his birth, while the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record establishes his permanent connection with Tincourt. [8][9]

The correspondence sent to his widow illustrates the AIF’s effort to provide bereaved families with detailed information. It explained the nature of Scott’s wounds, his operation, death and burial, and noted that grave photographs would be sent to next of kin when available. [1]

Legacy

George Leslie Scott’s service was distinctive because he entered the AIF as an experienced military instructor rather than as a newly enlisted civilian. His previous work in New South Wales’ citizen forces and instructional staff prepared him for commissioned service, but it also meant that his wife and five young daughters were separated from a man whose professional identity was bound closely to the Army. [1]

His life connected Newcastle, Scone, Lithgow and Richmond in New South Wales with the battlefields of northern France. He was a son of William Henry Scott and Mary Maxwell, the husband of Rachel Florence Maude Scott, and the father of Mavis, Hazel, Alva, Olga and Elizabeth. [1]

Scott’s grave at Tincourt and his name on the Australian War Memorial ensure that he is remembered not simply as one of the casualties of 1918, but as an officer wounded in the final attack of his battalion’s war. His story gives a human scale to the costly advance that broke the Beaurevoir Line and helped bring the conflict towards its conclusion. [9][3]

Sources and Further Reading

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-George-Leslie-Scott.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/609025c7-1751-4c16-8687-96239a4c62a7/Individual-Report-for-George-Leslie-Scott.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Checksum-Mode=ENABLED&X-Amz-Credential=ASIA2F3EMEYEXGE3RRSB%2F20261008%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261008T123620Z&X-Amz-Expires=1353&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEFwaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDsXtfYGUTm2%2FQPPJzuizB3dn4T0KdLGUGaC7ww6rxmMwIhALVzshIxoCYD2mwvV%2B4R1tVlecEZjk2NKbXcfqNCEBVdKoAFCCUQARoMNjk5NzUzMzA5NzA1Igw77MqwOlEGzJguBs4q3QQDL2E343PCvvEDccp3lBE8Wtp3EkyS8xstkfIMiYqDUPM7OZWTIXQFl0O5qXoppTRCnV978%2FcQgP3Z1pPsDlxFto%2FB%2Bwsbt5HFDu3zfK3nxBvqb5jAykegAYgzy0lM1%2FbWZRCH7MjmInHE4zcOhjoOacpZMVVU8M4VldcAZwUVt%2FYz7JePYoI0kQ73booEOyyFgOkiuA%2FRGkE2g6t4g%2ByIPFk9itJRUoCgB8g4eUhhXPI8MzzHshCosrirHRZ%2FulWKba5uxYfIurIPC3MOjTMHvmv0cXIUwAHk40XZ5iJ4U13kGtOEX%2FolXVQz61zXM8Ro1CnY6F%2Fsi1iMxR9xKQXoxtS%2B1gAw65kwsY79A43710VrBtVpoCYgU4ZQSPFd7%2F9o7En6o39FGr%2B2w0WUIia7yk%2BA1DiLmUViq8ejebOpwE8kPXcA8TwZTA1jCOI9324KppLQB4J2gQ2KIo9KFyitwxt%2FlS6fq%2FfrWo2tlS6UaIuvKNjDK%2F%2BVelbIVG8BauVvSjUyv5hUm1zTMpkP8c1VFM0VfZEwSwQuviRxzXLE%2BKUAE2nCB%2FdTOBrIK3PkGuP8INA%2F%2Bo42JxDEk8fwCaLBcFO4kRdZJ%2B42pwaUz55FexJOvS8EqUsjMal2LWbqgqLl3T0sBtWfMhtAHeAIbrM%2B0ECQUTEghfyqSZBVC531WETE9o5Tlm4XVT63CQyX1SrUB%2BvDUGSC4H4hbzER87UEOJRTlkjmYeubqQODWYavK5ffUJp1anqQzto6Zcx9s%2Be05d2kOLPEogVTMdWa6ZpKhZ8rV4v%2B5qwBplPhaTC6i57WBjqXAf5%2BQ73jDgyztM5Zde4Rr%2B%2BqNEo%2FanOoiMopkEt%2F4Z0q%2FM1kHqLEr2vMVlVglupUatrA8rr9%2FKzD9zkL4c%2FmYCuoULqu4Fu0mX8yse35oYSFz5y7%2FExNhv611zgjmadaYGMaET9cqzm4ceC6Agh%2FweKKQWSUdCuLLTOKgd4yFqbRlA9DdU50CQaYoxbSm85rjwAxzQEZxSY%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-id=GetObject&X-Amz-Signature=5cea783828d2bfc45d322f3cf90939b0b79c2147074ff4c0e9a126dcbd12236e
[2] Lieutenant George Leslie Scott – Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P11069124
[3] 18th Australian Infantry Battalion https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51458
[4] 18th Battalion (Australia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Battalion_(Australia)
[5] 1918—Amiens to Hindenburg Line – Anzac Portal – DVA https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/resources/1918-amiens-hindenburg-line
[6] The Battles of the Hindenburg Line https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battles-of-the-hindenburg-line/
[7] Second Lieutenant George Leslie Scott | War Casualty Details … https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/256340/george-leslie-scott/
[8] Second Lieutenant George Leslie Scott (1886-1918) – Find a … https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249841550/george_leslie-scott
[9] George Leslie Scott | Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1663946
[10] From the Coal Mines to War and Back – By Eddie Parsons https://glensidemuseum.org.uk/from-the-coal-mines-to-war-and-back-by-eddie-parsons-129/
[11] Lieutenant George Leslie Scott (1886-1918) – Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56573076/george_leslie-scott
[12] Virtual War Memorial | George Leslie SCOTT https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/95499
[13] Second Lieutenant George Leslie Scott Australian Infantry, A … https://astreetnearyou.org/person/256340/Second-Lieutenant-George-Leslie-Scott
[14] Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/117/1 – Transcribe https://transcribe.awm.gov.au/transcription/item/rcdig1066755-0
[15] Hindenburg Line | Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney https://www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/hindenburg-line
[16] WWI Battlefield Tours: The Somme – Breaking the Hindenburg Line https://www.abmc.gov/news-events/news/wwi-battlefield-tours-somme/

Edwin Alderton: From Tram Driver to Soldier

Lance Corporal Edwin Thomas Alderton was a North Sydney tram driver who served in the 1st Infantry Battalion during World War I. He died from accidental injuries in France on August 28, 1918, at age thirty-two. Alderton’s service reflects the contributions of civilian men during Australia’s final military offensives in the war.

Lance Corporal Edwin Thomas Alderton was a North Sydney tram driver, husband and father who served with the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. He died in France on 28 August 1918, aged thirty-two, following accidental injuries sustained after rejoining his battalion during the final Allied advance of the war. [1][2][3]

From the tram routes of North Sydney to the battlefields of France, Edwin Alderton served Australia during the war’s decisive final campaign.

In memory of Lance Corporal Edwin Thomas Alderton, 6457

Early Life and Family

Edwin Thomas Alderton was born on 4 May 1886 in New South Wales, Australia, his birth being registered in the St Leonards district under registration number 12657. He was the son of Henry Charles Alderton and Ann Alderton, née Hollis, and was baptised in Sydney on 27 June 1886. His early life was therefore rooted in the rapidly expanding northern suburbs of Sydney, an area increasingly connected to the city by ferry, rail and tram services. [1]

By adulthood, Edwin had established himself in North Sydney and worked as a tram driver. Records place him at 43 Jenkins Street between 1913 and 1916, and his occupation was again recorded as tram driver when he enlisted for military service. This was responsible public work: tram drivers operated within the expanding transport networks that linked Sydney’s commercial centre to residential districts on the northern side of the harbour. [1]

In 1912 Edwin married Clarice Una Paterson in New South Wales, the marriage being registered in the St Leonards district. Their known child was Ronald Alan Alderton. When Edwin enlisted, his wife Clarice was recorded as his next of kin, initially at an address care of Mrs F. E. Smeal in Cambridge Street, Willoughby. His wartime service consequently affected a young Sydney family whose household and livelihood depended upon his return. [1]

Enlistment and Embarkation

Edwin enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 10 May 1916 at the age of thirty. He was recorded as married, Church of England, and employed as a tram driver, and was allotted service number 6457. He embarked from Sydney on 7 October 1916 aboard HMAT Ceramic, sailing as part of the 21st Reinforcements for the 1st Infantry Battalion. [1]

Within the AIF system, reinforcement drafts were intended to replace men lost through death, wounds, sickness or transfer. Rather than necessarily serving together as a permanent body, the 21st Reinforcements were trained and dispatched to provide men for the 1st Infantry Battalion as vacancies arose. Once overseas, men could be absorbed into different companies and platoons according to the battalion’s immediate needs, and their eventual wartime experience depended upon the unit to which they were posted at the front. [1]

The 1st Infantry Battalion

The 1st Infantry Battalion was one of the original infantry battalions raised for the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914. Recruited principally in New South Wales, it formed part of the 1st Brigade within the 1st Division and served from the beginning of Australia’s overseas commitment in the war. The battalion fought at Gallipoli in 1915 before transferring to the Western Front, where it took part in the prolonged campaigns in France and Belgium. [4][1]

By the time Edwin reached the battalion, the original pre-war enthusiasm of 1914 had been replaced by the realities of sustained industrial warfare. The battalion had suffered severe losses in successive operations, and the continual arrival of reinforcements from Australia was essential to keep it at fighting strength. Men such as Edwin brought civilian skills, maturity and fresh manpower into an experienced unit whose members had already endured years of active service. [1]

The 1st Battalion’s service in 1918 included the Battle of Amiens, which opened on 8 August and marked the beginning of the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. The battalion continued operations until late September, participating in the advance that broke the former stalemate of the Western Front. Australian forces played a major role in the initial Amiens attack, overcoming fortified German positions, capturing prisoners and guns, and helping establish the momentum that carried the Allied armies eastwards. [5][4]

The 1st Battalion’s reinforcements were not reserves held apart from danger: they were absorbed into an experienced fighting unit during the decisive final months of the war.

1st Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force

Unit Context at Time of Death

Late August 1918 was a period of rapid movement and considerable danger for Australian infantry. Following the success at Amiens, the Australian Corps continued its advance across the Somme battlefield, pressing German forces from positions they had held or reoccupied during earlier phases of the war. The 1st Infantry Battalion remained actively engaged in these operations, while the wider 1st Australian Division was involved in further actions at Lihons and Chuignes during August and September. [6][4][5]

Even away from the moment of a formal assault, the forward zone remained hazardous. Battalions had to move through shell-damaged roads and trenches, establish new positions, bring up supplies and ammunition, recover equipment, and prepare for the next stage of the advance. Artillery fire, abandoned munitions, damaged infrastructure and the hazards of hurried movement across a devastated battlefield could all cause casualties. [4][5]

Edwin’s service record identifies him as a member of the 1st Infantry Battalion at the time of death, while the casualty material records him as a Lance Corporal rather than the Private shown on his embarkation record. This promotion indicates that he had assumed responsibility within his section or platoon, helping supervise fellow soldiers in a battalion operating under the pressure of the final campaign. The surviving evidence does not identify his company or exact role, but his rank shows that he had progressed beyond the status he held when he left Australia in 1916. [3][1]

Circumstances of Death

Lance Corporal Edwin Thomas Alderton died in France on 28 August 1918. His death was recorded as accidental injuries rather than death by enemy action, and the Virtual War Memorial Australia notes that he was accidentally seriously injured after rejoining his battalion on that date. The available summary does not specify the nature of the accident, and it would therefore be inappropriate to claim a particular mechanism or location without consulting his full AIF personnel dossier. [2][1]

His accidental death should nevertheless be understood within the setting of an active military advance. The 1st Battalion was operating in the aftermath of the Battle of Amiens, when units continued to move and prepare for further fighting across terrain heavily damaged by four years of war. Whether his fatal injuries arose from transport, equipment, ammunition, movement through damaged ground or another incident, they occurred while he was on active service with a front-line infantry battalion. [2][3][5][4]

Edwin was thirty-two years old when he died. His loss was felt not only within the 1st Battalion but also by his wife Clarice and their son Ronald in New South Wales. A later Sydney newspaper index entry dated 28 August 1923 suggests that his name remained present in public remembrance in his home city after the war. [1]

Burial and Commemoration

Edwin Alderton was buried in Daours Communal Cemetery Extension, in the Somme region of France, in Plot VII, Row A, Grave 35. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as Lance Corporal 6457 of the Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force, 1st Battalion, and confirms his death on 28 August 1918. His burial in this cemetery provided his family with a known and individually marked place of commemoration. [3][1]

Daours lay within the wider medical and logistical zone behind the Somme front, an area used by Allied forces during the campaigns of 1918. The presence of a cemetery extension there reflects the network of treatment, evacuation and burial arrangements that served troops operating in the Amiens and Somme sectors. Edwin’s grave connects his North Sydney family to this wartime landscape in northern France. [3][1]

His service is also preserved in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission register and the Virtual War Memorial Australia, while Find a Grave records his memorial under identification number 56386663. These linked sources allow descendants and researchers to trace the path from his civilian life in Sydney through enlistment, embarkation and front-line service to his final resting place in France. [2][3][1]

Legacy

Edwin Thomas Alderton’s story is that of an Australian civilian whose ordinary working life was interrupted by global war. Born in New South Wales, baptised in Sydney, employed on the North Sydney tramways and living at 43 Jenkins Street, he enlisted at thirty and crossed the world to serve with the AIF in France. His experience reflects the contribution of married working men whose families remained in Australia while they reinforced the battalions fighting on the Western Front. [1]

Within the wider family history, Edwin is recorded as a second cousin three times removed to the researcher. His death did not result from a conventional battlefield wound, but it occurred during a period of active operations with one of Australia’s most experienced infantry battalions. Remembering this distinction helps preserve the full truth of his service: he died through accidental injuries, yet those injuries were sustained while carrying out military duty in the dangerous conditions of the 1918 advance. [2][1]

Sources and Further Reading

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Edwin-Thomas-Alderton.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/a4969cf5-37bb-42fa-891a-425514f39e88/Individual-Report-for-Edwin-Thomas-Alderton.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIA2F3EMEYE4RIL35TQ&Signature=C907p%2BeIVYN0fkmTgWO2cGfo3KE%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIb%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIE2mWRlcey33BaiHf9pbL4O5tYvNRInB%2Fo2vhvsSHbb%2FAiEAjXCdcFEXBCJIMmrGvVjSHiXL3U1Rmlhh6RK9CqYMzHUq8wQITxABGgw2OTk3NTMzMDk3MDUiDJk7aQNHx9DyVpqxHSrQBAZ8Npx2tcYCvXYlW76FJ1AMkIG0MbR4b1mbz54zQ1CmVpExF0G7NCxOna637zuUNKptGngqHL%2B6se6emqRiydjiLMsJWiUCJDMS99m558iOmyrKkmh%2FA4NG3ogtg13pjaiKkpZbvaXQE7L7wH17%2B1CcuT4CgxOwqHdZnA3yZqf94J0fOF5UxocHkdv4dduVjP389snjgtJNbybfn8kVPTzoCgoZZXcABKY0loz85oiEwPSuTOaw6ADM8h%2BSkmRPgf9PvEAq3YcdbwsHr2zB57dLRyQuD3UmIM5sPgH3XksBKCei9jNCBcbZMrhf%2BLJ7ouU4GshH6RAaj7EoFh%2F%2FdfBS%2B4ykodLFNNbs13hrHuLHOLdwBDR%2FqENX2tdd7%2FQUAStGIcbi06oBqyANrov7cWHCwsILav74z4FDihPD25hWu%2FbEjQ0ILGO2%2BPWMoohGCZH%2FIHoh2sKL8WkeX0biwHefAxv6B%2FY4a0Idm7RUOeuITrgTSxlFJVcnzTYJkf8SCJORCwDPGzyPAbq2OuVW4yWNFSypRByxt%2FSs6g2VifuauCFET3MnOeSX1GcyQZvWhymKov1UaKakQQ2Mhzx600SMl%2B%2Ff4KJ1Kc4EQviB5TqBMRgJBC%2FA4s7woY3iHYskDsyvJbBqDWjjROwzm6AJrPAgi5wqpIItQCFhCq4ER5OSFpHw6VSQwn9noO%2BYHiRXC3PG6Pk2XJJpd7RmhCkuMjwhR7vCqWTUTkGEnPXhg65ANOQPr8ek%2Flx%2BfUj4zNdrH41MVoP7dcksltRpelyB0RgwsZ7G1AY6mAHL0E0HY2FrWTowKAtq6UCrYQJmn4KwvToSIQ5fV7WyciZKBRvAZM11p1SmRqe2RtdmzDTsqLd%2F4VlUUHg17zyF3TT3OcK8FN863Oao7VEoiYTownnvosh6tzGtcc%2F9AA%2F4UAeDEQ0HtPSecd3kib%2Bd3Oy0HKJ0d2EitYLxAFbjCm5T2x21sZvJwrl4PSzZ03%2FjkLW2IU6Pog%3D%3D&Expires=1787926075
[2] ALDERTON, Edwin Thomas – Virtual War Memorial Australia https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/145669
[3] Lance Corporal Edwin Thomas Alderton | War Casualty Details 76703 https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/76703/edwin-thomas-alderton/
[4] 1st Australian Infantry Battalion https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51441
[5] Australians in the Battle of Amiens 8 to 11 August 1918 – Anzac Portal https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/western-front/hundred-days/battle-of-amiens-1918
[6] The 1st Australian Division in the Great War and its Legacy https://researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/australian-army-journal-aaj/volume-4-number-1/forgotten-first-1st-australian-division-great-war-and-its-legacy
[7] Lance Corporal Edwin Thomas Alderton Australian Infantry, A.I.F. … https://astreetnearyou.org/person/76703/Lance-Corporal-Edwin-Thomas-Alderton
[8] Record of service in the great war 1914-18 https://archive.org/download/recordofservicei00lond/recordofservicei00lond.pdf
[9] 22nd Battalion: 1918 – Following the Twenty-Second https://anzac-22nd-battalion.com/22nd-battalion-1918/
[10] Edward C Alderton (1886-1930) – Mémorial Find a Grave https://fr-ca.findagrave.com/memorial/67376566
[11] Somme American Cemetery, Bony, France – Interment.net https://www.interment.net/data/france/bony/somme-american-cemetery/records-a-f.htm
[12] Squadron Quartermaster Serjeant C Alderton | War Casualty Details … https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/305167/c-alderton/
[13] UNITED STATES ARMY https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/Documents/WWIIAccounting/united_states_army.html
[14] https://content.myconnectsuite.com/api/documents/7… https://content.myconnectsuite.com/api/documents/79b747183ebb4ffa8461bbf6508ffeae
[15] World War 1 – The first ‘Collie Boys’ killed in action. https://www.colliecardiffrsl.com.au/wars/world-war-1/world-war-1-first-collie-boys-killed-in-action
[16] HCRA Elector List – August 1, 2026 https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/hcra/elector/elect_a2.htm

The Battle of Mouquet Farm: Remembering Henry Alderton

Henry Herbert Alderton, born in Sydney in 1884, was a clerk who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915. He served as a private in the 13th Battalion and was killed during the Battle of Pozières at Mouquet Farm on 14 August 1916. Alderton is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.

Henry Herbert Alderton was born at St Leonards, Sydney, New South Wales, on 29 January 1884, the son of Henry Charles Alderton and Ann Hollis. He was baptised in Sydney on 24 February 1884 and spent his early life on the northern side of the harbour, with family addresses later recorded at North Sydney and Blues Point, St Leonards. Before the war he worked as a clerk, an occupation requiring accuracy, organisation, and dependable routine.

At the age of 31, Alderton enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Holsworthy on 9 August 1915. He embarked from Sydney on HMAT A60 Aeneas on 20 December 1915 as Private 4127, a member of the 13th Reinforcements for the 13th Battalion. Single and without children, he named his mother, Mrs A. Alderton of Homewood, French Street, North Sydney, as his next of kin. [1]

A North Sydney clerk, Henry Alderton was lost in the fierce night attack on Mouquet Farm during the Battle of Pozières.

Early Life and Family

Henry Herbert Alderton belonged to a Sydney family whose life was centred on St Leonards and North Sydney. His birth was registered at St Leonards in 1884, and his parents were Henry Charles Alderton and Ann Hollis. He was baptised while still an infant, and the family’s later addresses suggest a life closely associated with the growing northern suburbs of Sydney.

By 1905 Alderton was living in North Sydney, and in 1913 he was recorded at Blues Point, St Leonards. His 1915 address, Homewood, French Street, North Sydney, was also the address given for his mother when he enlisted. The close correspondence between his own address and that of his next of kin indicates that family ties remained important in the years before his departure for war. [1]

Before enlisting, Alderton worked as a clerk. Clerical employment placed him in the expanding commercial and administrative world of early twentieth-century Sydney, rather than in the city’s docks, factories, or rural industries. He was 31 when he joined the AIF, making him older than many of the volunteers who had enlisted in the war’s first months, but still well within the Army’s need for reinforcements after the costly Gallipoli campaign. [1]

Military Service

Alderton enlisted at Holsworthy on 9 August 1915 and was allotted service number 4127. He embarked from Sydney on 20 December 1915 aboard HMAT A60 Aeneas, sailing as part of the 13th Reinforcements for the 13th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. Reinforcements such as Alderton were trained and sent overseas to replace the battalion’s losses and bring it back towards fighting strength. [1]

The 13th Battalion had been raised in New South Wales in September 1914 and formed part of the 4th Brigade, initially commanded by Colonel John Monash. It served at Gallipoli in 1915 before withdrawing to Egypt and moving to France in June 1916. By the time Alderton reached the battalion, it had already endured the hard transition from the Gallipoli peninsula to the vastly different conditions of trench warfare on the Western Front. [2]

As a private, Alderton would have served in a rifle company within the battalion’s infantry structure. His work included moving into and holding trenches, carrying equipment and ammunition, participating in patrols and attacks, and facing the continual danger of artillery, machine-gun fire, sniping, gas, exhaustion, and disease. The simple rank of private should not obscure the importance of such men: infantry battalions depended upon their ability to advance, hold ground, and endure conditions that were frequently beyond ordinary experience.

Unit Context at Time of Death

In August 1916, the 13th Battalion was fighting in the Battle of Pozières, part of the wider Somme offensive. The battle centred on a village and ridge of great tactical importance, because possession of the high ground gave observation over surrounding country and helped determine control of the approaches towards Thiepval. The 13th Battalion’s first major action on the Western Front was at Pozières, where Australian troops encountered relentless German artillery fire and strong defensive positions. [2]

After the fighting for Pozières village and ridge, the Australian advance moved north towards Mouquet Farm, known to many troops as “Mucky Farm” because of the devastated and muddy ground surrounding it. The farm stood on the German second defensive line and had been fortified with trenches, dug-outs, wire, and machine-gun positions. It was a formidable objective, and a succession of attacks between 8 August and early September produced severe casualties. [3][4]

On the night of 13 August, Australian troops attacked Mouquet Farm and the associated German trench system. The official Australian commemoration records that a quarry near the farm was captured and that a company from the 13th Battalion, under Captain Harry Murray, seized part of Fabeck Trench north-east of the farm. The Australians were then outflanked and had to fight their way back. Alderton’s battalion was therefore committed at the centre of a difficult night operation against well-prepared German defences. [5]

He crossed No Man’s Land in the attack on Mouquet Farm, but was never seen again after the fighting began.

Circumstances of Death

Henry Alderton was killed in action in France on 14 August 1916. A statement by Private A. G. Fowler of A Company, 13th Battalion, offers a rare direct insight into his final action. Fowler said that he had been in the same platoon as Alderton and had gone “over the top” at the same time during the attack on Mouquet Farm on the night of 13 August. [1]

According to Fowler, the attacking men had to cross about 200 yards of No Man’s Land to reach the German trenches. They got into the enemy position but were forced to retire. Fowler did not know what had happened to Alderton, adding that if he had reached the German trenches, he might have been taken prisoner, as some Australian troops had been captured that day. This was a contemporaneous uncertainty rather than a confirmed account of captivity; Alderton was later officially recorded as killed in action. [1]

The account conveys the confusion of the battle. Darkness, shellfire, broken ground, closely fought trench combat, and the need to withdraw could easily separate men from their platoons. Alderton’s disappearance amid that fighting was typical of the Somme: many casualties could not be recovered, and some were not identified even when remains were later found. The 13th Battalion suffered heavily in the Mouquet Farm operations, and the 4th Australian Division’s losses in the surrounding period were severe. [4][6]

Burial and Commemoration

Alderton has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France. The memorial bears the names of Australian servicemen who died in France during the First World War and whose graves are unknown. It stands as the formal place of remembrance for men whose bodies were never recovered or could not be identified after the battle. [1]

For his mother, Ann Alderton of North Sydney, the memorial replaced the grave that could not be provided. It recorded the name of a son who had left Sydney as a clerk and returned neither to his home on French Street nor to the life he had known before the war. His service is also preserved by the CWGC casualty record and the Australian military embarkation record, which together retain the essential facts of his civilian and military life. [1]

Legacy

Henry Herbert Alderton’s story follows a path shared by many men of the Australian Imperial Force: a civilian career, enlistment after the war had already revealed its cost, a journey from Sydney to Europe, and death in a battle whose violence was difficult for families at home to comprehend. His life connected North Sydney’s commercial world with the shattered farms and trenches of the Somme.

His role in the 13th Battalion gives his loss a precise military setting. The battalion was not merely present at Pozières; it took part in the attempt to capture and hold German positions around Mouquet Farm, one of the most fiercely defended objectives in the sector. Alderton was among the men who crossed No Man’s Land in that effort, advancing into a position from which his battalion was eventually forced to withdraw.

Remembering Henry Alderton restores the individual behind the name on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial: a son of Henry Charles and Ann Alderton, a North Sydney clerk, a private in the 13th Battalion, and a man lost in the night fighting at Mouquet Farm in August 1916.

Sources and Further Reading

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Henry-Herbert-Alderton.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/26ff454e-3717-4cea-bb4c-270c63908e8d/Individual-Report-for-Henry-Herbert-Alderton.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIA2F3EMEYE3EIMVMLP&Signature=PKyfkJGS1j5S9jy%2BJ%2FIrDSjB8O0%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEO7%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIDICev3anKbQg%2FXs4nNoGSn3h8b7h3ufGlkRj%2FJ81D4cAiEAyIOosv2BM0Wnd7KUGaVoktG46idsLbDFvzwao3JNUWQq%2FAQIt%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARABGgw2OTk3NTMzMDk3MDUiDI8JocJ7%2FzTivhBLHCrQBOx5wk0Wk5qZZVV91iI7Ya1x%2FfCA3ngcDl%2B5aBF79EfO6xIGRHenC2wPuix6LJkO7kbxK5srbyraUspp1C%2FwOT4YfOPMbQj1d%2BwPEnfkVTdhcbO7Sih0E%2Fm93dIe%2Fnp27Vj8NPmzXRuChdCTHWMOfdBB8LDK0DVtOoJmn%2BYVG3YyuQKX3Jd04Cc02KcJRfuEAFBcEa36%2BygSZ65FmC%2BQqAMZxFN%2FGHbwQahEWMZ8uHJkx6aEjE36SV6XKlSaIp5fbEIDREqCghFoh8DY7pIFGkkUyvoi7wRa67He86SRLxnYUYJVLLKyYBw1nt%2FV%2FsCF04JxrdWfCdxJxb6q1NgS%2FUj8WQr0bHR%2BdfCwlLrsEYkuhukwFJ%2FR7wF78k1vmEga%2B9l%2FKrO3VFo4nFH3yUtMa5N57SVnHuhq%2Bvy23x4G62nqzv0%2FExkhMls3J8D6e3yBSLj3YtbkFDo2KYNDiqqfOMUj5e%2BjhViifIyGMf8bjalTuU2hPgFqhhLKTCopaH15UPTRVYRamX4SoZOfXeQLX559WS8B8CfRjAgH4pnMfa0%2F938%2Fg0Q9keEHLXrURMhLGYYmnCKQK9l9rnKiJrC2gphOjv%2FTOtd3zvR04ceRv2un1kPox%2BYjG8VcUdCriM0JtxcrYFfJ97%2BFNnehj0%2F5miYWZI6ywsvtYgI9awEwe1hr6ds2XU%2FRxf4HNG1ZRhvjOUW%2Fh4cYmrkO0Fw%2B5dLvjJ2wdEVXgdsp%2BACkZtgqR3K%2BvIcH1en0mDzz1CXfarnIjNn9D390fwS7a8jYMuIdGMUws9Hs0wY6mAGUiOMU4aAV1%2BGEcqI8C3o2s76j9L8klqVAHdJ1OFNi0Q20tR9uscJHEEF2c3xWuogCuQFXDiW241Pfuh7nvZK%2FUmhpSsjrh%2Bc6%2Fp36WzeKCiBpv3iIvPbJa2iWzq1rUydYRCqLskDX3Yjd5DiwwaQMqDcx6SzB%2BOiQ%2FU%2BVnCKRNItaz9VVIyfTmgtOCBf%2FNb3TZgTspgC8pQ%3D%3D&Expires=1786457631
[2] 13th Australian Infantry Battalion https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51453
[3] Australian War Memorial https://www.facebook.com/AWMemorial/posts/beginning-110-years-ago-on-8-august-1916-the-battle-for-mouquet-farm-extended-th/1434324148742828/
[4] The battle of the Somme: Mouquet Farm 1916 – Webmatters http://www.webmatters.net/index.php?id=109
[5] Mouquet Farm Battle Exploit Plaque https://www.dva.gov.au/recognition-and-commemoration/memorials/memorials-europe/france/mouquet-farm-battle-exploit-plaque
[6] Pozieres & Mouquet Farm: AIF Divisions https://anzac-22nd-battalion.com/pozieres-mouquet-farm-aif-divisions/
[7] coventry and the battle of the somme 14 july 1916 – Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/covroots/posts/9452379241531046/
[8] http://airhistory.org.uk/rfc/files/names_WO339pt3.csv http://airhistory.org.uk/rfc/files/names_WO339pt3.csv
[9] First World War cemetery at ARRAS MEMORIAL – view casualties https://astreetnearyou.org/cemetery/82700/ARRAS-MEMORIAL
[10] AIF Divisions: 1916 – Following the Twenty-Second https://anzac-22nd-battalion.com/aif-divisions-1916/
[11] Katie M. Julian photos on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/Katie%20M.%20Julian/
[12] Annie Browne photos on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/Annie%20Browne/
[13] Mouquet Farm – The Western Front https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/93125-mouquet-farm/
[14] Mouquet Farm – ‘Mucky Farm’ at The Somme, Pozieres #mouquetfarm https://www.facebook.com/historyinyourhand/videos/mouquet-farm-mucky-farm-at-the-somme-pozieres/1420735169641501/
[15] Gerald Griffin photos on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/Gerald%20Griffin/
[16] Mouquet Farm (World War 1, 8 August 1916 to 5 … https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/103

Legacy of Walter James Kavanagh: A Sydney Stevedore’s Sacrifice

Walter James Kavanagh, born in Sydney around 1871, was a stevedore who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 27 September 1914. Aged and family-oriented, he served as a sergeant in the 45th Battalion during the bitter fighting at Pozières and was killed in action on 7 August 1916, leaving behind a wife and two children.

Walter James Kavanagh was born in Sydney, New South Wales, in about 1871 and made his living before the war as a stevedore. He married Annie Grace Alderton in St Leonards, New South Wales, in 1910, and the couple had two children, Henry Maxwell Kavanagh and Noelle Kavanagh. By the time he enlisted, he was a mature family man rather than a young recruit, and his life combined the responsibilities of work, marriage, and parenthood with the call of military service. [1]

Kavanagh enlisted at Holsworthy, New South Wales, on 27 September 1914 and served as Sergeant 4220 in the Australian Imperial Force. He was attached to the 45th Battalion, Australian Infantry, AIF, and became one of the many Australians who crossed the world to fight on the Western Front. He was killed in action in France on 7 August 1916 and is buried at Pozières British Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boisselle. [1]

He was a Sydney stevedore and father of two who became a sergeant in the Australian Imperial Force and fell on the Somme.

Early Life and Family

Kavanagh’s early life began in Sydney, where he was born in the 1870s and later worked at the port as a stevedore. That occupation placed him among the labouring men who handled cargo, ships, and the physical demands of the harbour economy. His marriage to Annie Grace Alderton in 1910 gave him a settled family life in New South Wales before the war interrupted it. [1]

The birth of his children, Henry Maxwell and Noelle, shows that he entered military service with strong domestic responsibilities. Unlike the younger unmarried soldiers who made up much of the AIF, Kavanagh was an older married man, likely already experienced in work discipline and authority. That background helps explain his later rank of sergeant. [1]

Military Service

Walter James Kavanagh enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Holsworthy on 27 September 1914 and was assigned service number 4220. He served as a sergeant in the 45th Battalion, Australian Infantry, AIF. The 45th Battalion was formed in Australia as part of the expansion of the AIF and became part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division. [2][3][1]

The battalion reached France in June 1916 and soon entered the hard fighting of the Somme. Its first major battle came at Pozières in August, where it took on a defensive role and helped hold ground previously captured by the 2nd Australian Division. As a sergeant, Kavanagh would have been responsible for leadership at section or platoon level, maintaining order, carrying out instructions, and keeping men together during battle. [2][1]

Unit Context at Time of Death

At the time of Kavanagh’s death on 7 August 1916, the 45th Battalion was fighting in the Pozières sector of the Somme, one of the most bitterly contested parts of the Western Front. After the Australian 2nd Division had seized Pozières heights on 4 August, the 4th Australian Division moved into the line to continue the attack north along the ridge. The 45th Battalion was part of that divisional effort, holding and defending ground in the teeth of German artillery and counter-attacks. [3][4][2][1]

Pozières was a severe test for the AIF because the battlefield was dominated by shell-fire, shattered trenches, and exhausted infantry. The battalion’s task was not simply to advance, but to consolidate and retain ground already won at terrible cost. In that context the work of experienced NCOs like Kavanagh was essential, since they helped keep the battalion functioning under intense pressure. [4][5][2][1]

His battalion’s first major Western Front battle was Pozières, where it fought in the shadow of some of the AIF’s heaviest losses.

Circumstances of Death

Kavanagh was killed in action in France on 7 August 1916. The circumstances were those of the Somme battlefield in full fury: artillery bombardment, disordered trenches, and relentless pressure from the German line. The report does not give the precise instant or manner of death, but his burial at Pozières British Cemetery places him squarely in the fighting around the ridge. [4][1]

His death came at a moment when the 4th Australian Division was trying to secure and extend the gains made at Pozières, a battle in which the Australians suffered enormous casualties. Kavanagh’s loss would have been felt not only by his battalion but also by the family he had left in Sydney. As a husband and father, his death carried the burden of a private tragedy within a much larger military disaster. [4][1]

Burial and Commemoration

Kavanagh is buried in Pozières British Cemetery, Ovillers-La-Boisselle, in grave III.P.24. The cemetery lies close to the battlefield on which he died and contains many of the dead from the Somme offensive. His burial there gives his family and later visitors a specific place of remembrance in the landscape of the battle. [1]

The CWGC record preserves his name, rank, unit, and burial place, while the Australian War Memorial roll of honour confirms his service and death. His medals, the Victory Medal, British War Medal, and Memorial Death Plaque, were the customary tokens of remembrance issued to the families of the dead. Together they mark his sacrifice as one that linked Sydney, Holsworthy, and the Somme. [6][1]

Legacy

Walter James Kavanagh’s life reflects the experience of many older AIF men who enlisted with families, trades, and responsibilities already established. He was not a boy soldier but a mature labouring man who became a non-commissioned officer and led others into battle. His death at Pozières places him among the Australians who endured the worst of the Somme and helped define the AIF’s reputation on the Western Front. [2][4][1]

His story also shows the reach of the war from Sydney’s docks to the chalk of northern France. The 45th Battalion’s role at Pozières was part of the wider Australian contribution to the Somme, and Kavanagh’s name belongs to that larger military history as well as to his family history. Remembering him restores the human face behind the service number and the cemetery plot. [3][2][1]

Sources and Further Reading

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Walter-James-K-Kavanagh.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/95c9787e-b221-4847-ae5b-02ba14eb47da/Individual-Report-for-Walter-James-K-Kavanagh.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIA2F3EMEYEQUFV43F6&Signature=ku%2FxHGivAwhzO3Kr2yHhqgNrZt0%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHcaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIHuXW91l7Su7w0Gf2FYh9J%2FZp6u9V9hWXG%2F9wyQ42s7zAiAUEmrapPdijdLvtVH7RjJZ9g%2B8D%2BF0Dc0eKz4ZFdPg5SrzBAg%2FEAEaDDY5OTc1MzMwOTcwNSIMZVauHdpirMet58jWKtAEbJdTQ2w0gW7vrKlFocnNGvY4DToQI0qyUH1vWaWpUGcJg9ONLXyAS6GYEKKlXEz%2BxUYjs1KUoI963ER%2F9FzdZe%2BOtQuDqiLhdwFYkNwCxM63Gx7AP8WYjNtJhn5BN054K1SUOskE3MLV1zCBEnVyX5txP6raFu93Y%2FJzPmY7gJhUGXdjgDpiayXhGce26AxhoG5u%2Bs8HlJKdGM1pbiNhbwTzYcAEoeEghfkj1HL1M4ciEbgzdHsii%2F4ToKNNbIg7oZViqrbXmlpolcdeJyt6AhHPqrANRmw1jKwa69iXH6TO61JMkbjQ%2BxWiav3f8Nhjdmd3fReyYGtwTW7qn2oTHjfnYowqQfxBrgnD7DsFh5XYRd7dgva7fypM6%2B2a46E9Ck8tPgOju1SDwd6ABMIVL9nAnuR7jRfrXZef%2BZ1bAthi7SebZM92TmajswGmFqN8eohY9SVNM8bVL%2FwtEevZBxrqx1GSYsJXv%2Fu9m9RD5SCj1HMogHt4nEErZ2%2BxFfCv7P21iL9UXLzsIFGQyaitqEBFq3RHlJ%2FPaBWyQvk1nKr2xelIDJkrf%2Fu4hLqy2DxYvMgoHB3AGw4kcXOVO9wjIeRlIYQMLlkx2w7ER%2BN5yNN7%2Bpxe6wwo63PNwnAuW0if%2BJJhWDRDsfg60Z9uTyWFxpIN9Dfb4gt%2FwJcdq6DTKySMi2Lip7sacrpBJPDDCv98jlY6bgCZ9v057v4JrmnSyk0JFaDb2eCRHqAyvCnaPJ8J95vUNs4iLhVnHTDzmDCH%2Bgk%2BnT9lNWgPmhQGa9e34TC%2BrNLTBjqZAYak%2B8l2Rsre%2FMnPgaZYX93SsLo8XLlOUbVV8tVvpK2nhECTiDvtGZKZ7RR72mfK189h3zeyxnfhnHxweFu4Yzo5FcHXZvgE6KW%2B3CMxSWiUoRa2YLucK8UnvWNZktHdGiJ4uPyfzeIxHQDg%2BoQzmwkNoAx3kn%2FtM5HO0lacVkgy22XKkqlOKs7TwN0DHbxcYOqQWV4GSZHHdQ%3D%3D&Expires=1786028433
[2] 45th Australian Infantry Battalion https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51485
[3] 45th Infantry Battalion https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/250
[4] Battle of Pozières 23 July to 3 September 1916 – Anzac Portal https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/western-front/battle-of-pozieres
[5] AIF Divisions: 1916 – Following the Twenty-Second https://anzac-22nd-battalion.com/aif-divisions-1916/
[6] Roll of Honour Walter James Kavanagh https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1641079
[7] Sergeant Walter James Kavanagh https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10244390
[8] Pte PJ Leo’s death in Pozieres on August 4, 1916 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964/posts/4421140878156100/
[9] Life story: Walter James Kavanagh | Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7501019
[10] 45th Battalion (Australia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45th_Battalion_(Australia)
[11] The Battle of Pozières Ridge, 23 July–3 September 1916 https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/battle-pozieres-ridge-23-july-3-september-1916/
[12] REMEMBRANCE THE WORLD WAR I DEAD OF CO. … https://kildarecoco.ie/library/KildareCountyArchivesandLocalStudies/DecadeofCommemorations/WorldWarI/Remembrance%20WWI%20Book%20June%202021.pdf
[13] Private James Kavanagh | War Casualty Details 1583625 https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1583625/james-kavanagh/
[14] Battle of Messines | Australian Army https://www.facebook.com/AustralianArmy/videos/battle-of-messines/10155954013586195/
[15] part 1. 2C2R No.205 Pte Thomas James Haas, 1894-1916. … https://www.facebook.com/groups/anzacday2020/posts/358813035076438/
[16] In the fields of the Somme, sacred lands of France, stand in … https://www.facebook.com/groups/anzacday2020/posts/1787285922229135/