SCOTT, Allan
| Service Number: | 5898 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cookardinia, NSW, March 1893 |
| Home Town: | Cookardinia, Greater Hume Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Labourer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 2 May 1918 |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 5898, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 5898, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
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Early Life:
Allan Scott was born on March in 1893 in Cookardinia, NSW. While he was growing up he lived on a farm with his Auntie Mrs James Ainger. Allan and his Auntie were both farm labourers. Before Allan joined the army he was single. His religion was the Church of England. Allan was very small when he enlisted as he was five feet and nine inches tall and weighed 96 pounds. Allan had brown eyes and brown hair.
Service Life:
Allan was just 23 years and 2 months old when he joined the Australian Military Forces. On the date of his enlistment which was the 12th of May 1916 he was ranked as a private. His first embarkation was on board the HMAT A40 Ceramic on October 7th of 1916 which embarked on a journey from Sydney to Plymouth. When he arrived on The Western Front his job was to do any job he was told to do by the officers which could have been from fighting to white washing coal and peeling potatoes. Only a couple of days later he arrived in Belgium to do duty in the field.
Allan was part of the 20th Battalion which was raised at Liverpool in New South Wales in March 1915 as part of the 5th Brigade. The 20th Battalion left Australia in late June, trained in Egypt from late July until mid-August, and on 22nd August landed at ANZAC Cove. Allan was enlisted in May when he joined the Battalion in 1916 and in the following month they had the dubious honour of being the first Australian battalion to be raided by the Germans. The 20th took part in its first major offensive around Pozieres between late July and the end of August 1916. The 20th Battalion provided reinforcements for the attack near Flers between 14 and 16 November, launched in conditions that were described as the worst ever encountered by the AIF. In 1917, the 20th was involved in the follow-up of German forces after their retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and was one of four battalions to defeat a counter-stroke by a German force. The Battalion took part in three major battles before the year was out, second Bullecourt (3-4 May) in France, and Menin Road (20-22 September) and Poelcappelle (9-10 October) in Belgium.
Unfortunately, on 18/4/1918 Allan was tragically wounded in action in France. Even though he passed away he received two war medals for his efforts which were The British War Medal which is a campaign medal of the British Empire that was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in World War I. The other medal was The Victory Medal which is a First World War campaign medal of Britain and the colonies and dominions (e.g. Canada, Australia, New Zealand). Allan was buried at the Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension, Abbeville, Picardie, France.
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