Duncan FORBES MID

FORBES, Duncan

Service Number: 1003
Enlisted: 3 September 1914, Enlisted at Helena Vale, WA
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 12th Infantry Battalion
Born: Fairburn, Ross Shire, Scotland, 1892
Home Town: Pingelly, Pingelly, Western Australia
Schooling: Marybank Public School, Ross Shire, Scotland
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Killed in Action, Gallipoli,, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, Ceylon, Egypt, 25 May 1915
Cemetery: Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli
Grave III. D. 31. INSCRIPTION FONDLY REMEMBERED BY ALL AT HOME Chaplain F.R. Richards officiated , Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey, Kanatte General Cemetery, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Chatby Military and War Memorial Cemetery, Alexandria, Egypt
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Brookton District War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

3 Sep 1914: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1003, 12th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Helena Vale, WA
2 Nov 1914: Involvement Private, 1003, 12th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: ''
2 Nov 1914: Embarked Private, 1003, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Fremantle
Date unknown: Honoured Mention in Dispatches

Help us honour Duncan Forbes's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon

He was 23 and a son of Roderick and Jessie Forbes, of Fairburn, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, Scotland.

His brother, Private Finlay Forbes, aged 24 fell in action only weeks earlier in the same theatre of war.

He was also serving with the 12th Bn. Australian Infantry, A.I.F., Service Number 998, but the fortunes of war denied Finlay the honour of a known grave, so he is therefore commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial at Panel 35.

He is one of four Australian soldiers of the Great War remembered on the Muir of Ord War Memorial- his brother Finlay being one of them. Here he is commemorated as a Corporal.

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Biography contributed by Carol Foster

Arrived in Australia aged 18 years. Prior to arriving he had served in the Ross Shire Territorial Forces, Scotland. Brother of Finlay Forbes who was killed in action on 25 April 1915 and has no known grave. His name appears on the Lone Pine Memorial, Panel35

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks

A third brother also died,

S/12054 Lance Corporal Donald Laurie Forbes(recorded as O D L by CWGC) 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders died of disease 14 July 1916, in Iraq, age 23. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Roderick Forbes, of Fairburn, Muir-of-Ord, Ross-shire. Grave/Memorial Reference: II. B. 14. Cemetery: Amara War Cemetery, Iraq.