Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alexander William Coghill was born near Port Adelaide, South Australia. He was 5 feet and 4.5 inches tall. According to his service record, he had a dark complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. He was single and had no children. He worked as a cook.His father, also called Alexander Coghill, lived on James St, Glanville in South Australia. 

Coghill had several encounters with the law during his younger years. On the 9th of March 1898 Coghill, pleaded guilty to stealing a pair of winkers worth 5 shillings from William R. Cave, from Port Adelaide. The following day was also accused of stealing a wheelbarrow and 18 empty bottles, valued at 7 shillings and 6 pence. Both cases were heard in the Juvenile Offenders Room.   On the 23rd of [SU1] July 1902, he stole agricultural equipment worth 4.10 pounds and was given 3 months of hard labour. We were 18 years and 8 months old at the time.

On the 3rd of June 1915, at the age of 31, Coghill enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Keswick, South Australia. He was assigned to the 10th Battalion. His enlistment form shows he wasn’t married or had any children.

Coghill embarked on HMAT Anchises A68 on the 2nd of September 1915. He first arrived in Mudros, Greece, in November 1915. He joined the 10th Battalion as reinforcements after Gallipoli. Shortly after, on the 8th of January 1916, Coghill fell from a train between stations near Alexandria.

On the 24th of February 1916, Coghill was admitted to a hospital in Ismailia, Egypt, suffering from a medical condition. He was transferred between several hospitals over the following weeks, first to the 1st Australian Stationary Hospital, then to No.4 Hospital Train, and finally to another base hospital, spending a total of 48 days receiving treatment. He also suffered a heat-related illness in April 1916, a reflection of how punishing the Egyptian climate was for soldiers not used to it. He then passed through Port Said and Tel el Kebir before departing for France.

In May of 1916, Coghill disembarked at Marseille, France, aboard the ship HT Caledonia. He passed through Éstaples, the main British base camp, where soldiers received further training before being sent to the front.

Coghill joined the 10th Battalion on the 30th of July 1916, right as they were engaged in the Battle of Pozières, part of the broader Battle of the Somme. The objective was to capture the village of Pozières and the high ground beyond it. By this stage, the village had been completely destroyed by shellfire. During the advance to support trenches, the battalion was heavily shelled with both poison gas and high-explosive shells. Coghill fought in the second rotation of the assault. In five weeks of fighting across the Somme, the Australian First, Second, and Fourth Divisions sustained 23,000 casualties. It was the greatest Australian sacrifice of any single campaign in the nation's military history.

He remained with his unit through August as he wasn’t wounded during this time and took part in the Battle of Mouquet Farm. The farm stood in a dominating position on a ridge, and the Germans had fortified it extensively, converting the stone cellars into an impenetrable underground fortress. Nine separate attacks were mounted by three Australian divisions between the 8th of August and the 3rd of September 1916. On the 21st of August, the 10th Battalion conducted a rare daylight attack, with zero hour set for 6 pm. The attack resulted in heavy losses with 11,000 casualties across the attacking divisions for the whole campaign. Not one assault succeeded in holding the farm. On the 14th of September 1916, he was sent to the hospital after suffering a scalded right foot. He was admitted to the 12th Field Ambulance, where he received treatment. The injury kept him out of action for several weeks before he was finally discharged and returned to duty on the 3rd of October 1916.

After the fighting around Pozières and Mouquet Farm, Coghill remained with the 10th Battalion through the remainder of 1916. He served in the Ypres Salient in Belgium, where the unit conducted trench duty near Hill 60. Conditions on the Western Front were extremely difficult, with soldiers facing mud, constant artillery fire and dangerous living conditions in the trenches. The battalion later returned to the Somme region during the winter, occupying trenches around Guedecourt and Cardonette.

During this period, Coghill began to experience disciplinary problems. On the 9th of December, he received 14 days of Field Punishment Number 2 after being absent without leave from a parade. This punishment involved strict supervision and physical labour.

Further offences followed. On the 4th of January 1917, he faced a Field General Court Martial at the 1st Australian Division Base Depot at Étaples for being absent without leave between the 27th of November and the 9th of December 1916. He was sentenced to 56 days of Field Punishment Number 1, a harsher penalty that sometimes involved being restrained to a fixed object for several hours a day.

Although he eventually rejoined his battalion on the 23rd of March 1917, his disciplinary issues continued. Throughout 1917, he was repeatedly charged with being absent without leave and eventually received a sentence of six months imprisonment with hard labour in July 1917.  After being released in December 1917, Coghill once again went absent without leave on the same day he rejoined his battalion. On the 7th of April 1918, he remained with his unit under close arrest. In June 1918, he was tried for desertion, a very serious military offence. He was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment, although the sentence was later reduced to two years with hard labour.

After the conflict ended, his sentence was suspended, and he was eventually returned to Australia. On the 12th of May 1919, he sailed home aboard the SS Soudan, marking the end of his wartime service. 

Reference List:

Vwma.org.au. (2026). Virtual War Memorial. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/103 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2026].

 Vwma.org.au. (2026). Virtual War Memorial. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/5 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2026].

 Adfa.edu.au. (2026). Details. [online] Available at: https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=56992 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2026].

 Terrace, V. (2026). View digital copy. [online] Naa.gov.au. Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3266745&S=1 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2026].

 Sa.gov.au. (2026). Mitcham Army Camp | Places | A World Away | South Australia’s War. [online] Available at: https://southaustraliaswar.history.sa.gov.au/places/mitcham-army-camp/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2026].

 Awm.gov.au. (2026). AWM4 Subclass 23/27 - 10th Infantry Battalion. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1339170 [Accessed 19 Mar. 2026].

Trove. (2026). JUVENILE OFFENDERS ROOM. - South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) - 12 Mar 1898. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/54515489?searchTerm=Alexander%20William%20COGHILL [Accessed 9 Apr. 2026].

Familysearch.org. (2019). FamilySearch.org. [online] Available at: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJK-DJQC?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A7KDC-XLT2&action=view&cc=2613137&lang=en&groupId= [Accessed 9 Apr. 2026].

Images

Figure 1: “The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931)”, database, Trove, published March 12 1898, pg. 10 (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5353082?searchTerm=Martin%20Theodore%20Fritsch), viewed 9 April  2026

Figure 2: "Adelaide, South Australia, Australia records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJK-DJQC?view=explore : Apr 9, 2026), image 11 of 350; South Australia. State Records.

Image Group Number: 103336956

Figure 3: “Coghill, Alexander William WWI Service Records”, database with images, National Archives Australia (https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4035259&S=1&R=0) Viewed 9 April 2026, Attestation Form, pg. 1

Figure 4: Auctions, L. (2018). MILITARY - WORLD WAR ONE: 1916 real photo of Mitcham Military Camp (SA) featuring dozens of tents, chopping wood, underground oven & a group of bare-chested soldiers on a makeshift raft, a couple of minor inkspots, used under cover. One of the most appealing WWI Military Camp Cards we have seen. Ex Bronte Watts. [The writer, Sapper WW Evans, says ‘...Tell me which you think is me...’]. Available at: https://auctions.leski.com.au/lot-details/index/catalog/162/lot/79627/MILITARY-WORLD-WAR-ONE-1916-real-photo-of-Mitcham-Military-Camp-SA-featuring-dozens-of-tents-chopping-wood-underground-oven-amp- [Accessed 9 Apr. 2026].

Figure 5: Wiki, B. (2021). HMAT A68 Anchises. Available at: https://www.birtwistlewiki.com.au/wiki/HMAT_A68_Anchises [Accessed 9 Apr. 2026].

Figure 6: Worker, S. (2017). Mutiny at the Heart of Empire—how Soldiers Rebelled at Etaples. Available at: https://socialistworker.co.uk/in-depth/mutiny-at-the-heart-of-empire-how-soldiers-rebelled-at-etaples/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2026].

Figure 7: Specialists, battlefieldtour (2014). The Battle for Pozières. Available at: https://www.battlefieldtourspecialists.com.au/the-battle-for-pozieres-western-front/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2026].

Figure 8: Memorial, A.W. (1916). Mouquet Farm, France. October 1916. The war destroyed area after capture by Allied Forces. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H15927?image=1.

Figure 9: Image, G. (2026). Hill 60 on the southern flank of the Ypres Salient. A sketch of the German position just before its capture by British, April 17, 1915. From The Great World War A History Volume III, published 1916. https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/hill-60-on-the-southern-flank-of-the-ypres-salient-a-sketch-news-photo/113630693?adppopup=true.

Figure 10:   “Coghill, Alexander William WWI Service Records”, (n 4), pg. 56

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