MAUNSELL, Allan Richard Livingstone
| Service Number: | 1307 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 November 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mosman, New South Wales, Australia, 27 January 1895 |
| Home Town: | Armidale, Armidale Dumaresq, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Armidale Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Local Clerk and elocutionist |
| Died: | Wounds, Pozieres, France, 28 July 1916, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Boulogne Eastern Cemetery Grave reference: VIII.A 156, Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Boulogne, Nord Pas de Calais, France |
| Memorials: | Armidale Memorial Fountain, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Neutral Bay Superior Public School Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Nov 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Corporal, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Feb 1915: | Involvement Corporal, 1307, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Bee embarkation_ship_number: A48 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Feb 1915: | Embarked Corporal, 1307, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Bee, Sydney |
The story behind a name
One of the stories I can remember my mother telling me when I was growing up was how embarrassed she was at school whenever her full name, Marcia Livingstone Maunsell, was read out. ‘Livingstone’ is clearly not a typical name for a girl, even when it’s just a middle name.
But, it turns out her father was just continuing a long-standing tradition in the Maunsell family of passing down family names, whether they be ‘Livingstone’ or ‘Lewis’ or ‘Richard’ (of which there were many over the previous generations).
My mother’s uncle, Allan Richard Livingstone Maunsell, was killed in WWI (at the age of 21), and his brother, Lewis (my mother’s father), kept his older brother’s memory alive by naming his first born, ‘Allan Richard’, and his giving his daughter the middle name of ‘Livingstone’.
Perhaps if my mother had known back then that ‘Livingstone’ is of Old English derivation meaning “Leofwine's settlement”, and ‘Leofwine’ as a personal name means “beloved friend”, she would have felt a bit better about her name!
Submitted 26 January 2022 by Carolyn Kidd
Biography contributed by Carolyn Kidd
My Great Uncle, Allan Richard Livingstone Maunsell, died in France at the age of 21, a long way from his family home in Armidale, NSW, after succumbing to horrific gunshot wounds to his face. Allan was wounded on the battlefields of Pozieres, France, where so many other young Australian men also tragically lost their lives. Although it's now well over 100 years since he died, it's still possible to imagine the type of person he was through the notes written about him at the time. He was apparently the 'most popular entertainer in his battalion' - and, in fact, 'one of the most popular in the Australian Imperial Force.' He was affectionately known as "Gunga Din", in reference to the final line ('You're a better man than I am'), from Rudyard Kipling's poem of the same name. He was also chosen to represent the AIF at the opening of Anzac Buffet (a club for Australian and New Zealander soldiers) in London in 1915. Before Pozieres, Allan also served in Gallipoli and was wounded at Lone Pine. It's hard to think of three names - Pozieres, Gallipoli and Lone Pine - that better reflects the ultimate sacrifice that brave young men such as Allan made for their country.
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