CARTWRIGHT, Albert Robert
| Service Number: | 455 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 July 1915, at Keswick |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Waihi, New Zealand, 22 September 1893 |
| Home Town: | Walkerville, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 455, 32nd Infantry Battalion, at Keswick | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 455, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 455, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 29 Sep 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 48th Infantry Battalion | |
| 13 Apr 1917: | Involvement 455, 48th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
According to the State Library of South Australia, 'Albert Robert Cartwright, born in Waihi in 1893, New Zealand on 22 September 1896, enslisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 7 July 1915 at Keswick, South Australia, aged 21 years. Service no. 453, a Private, he served first with the 32nd Battalion and later with the 48th Battalion in the Middle East and France. He returned to Australia in 1919 after 1340 days of service abroad. On 15 January 1920 he married Thurza Violet Penngelley (b. 2 March 1896, d. 30 November 1990) in Torrensville, South Australia, and they had three children: Robert George (1920-1994), Lillian Betty (b. 1922), and Ronald (1924-2014)'.
Other information:
Albert Robert Cartwright left Australia on the 18th of November 1915 on the HMAT A2 - Her Majesty's Australian transport. The A2 stands for Geelong - where they left from. Her final departure from Australia was on 18 November 1915, carrying 1,362 soldiers, including the 32nd Infantry Battalion (Albert Robert Cartwright was on the last ever journey the ship made) and some reinforcements for other units. Shortly after disembarking, the men in Egypt, the Geelong sank after a collision with SS Bonvilston, an Admiralty store ship, in the Mediterranean Sea near Alexandria, Egypt, on 1 January 1916. There was no loss of life. The HMAT A2 was strictly a transport ship so nothing valuable was lost.
In September 1916, Cartwright transferred to the 48th Battalion. He was repeatedly AWL and in April 1918 was arrested as a deserter. After serving several months in prison he returned to Australian in mid 1919.
Through look at documents from the Red Cross, I was able to discover the existance of Albert Robert Cartwright's sister, Fanny Eliza Moore. She wrote to the Red Cross to ask why her brother had stopped his correspondence.
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