Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alfred Edmund Dunn was born 8th July 1890 in Poplar London. The son of Melville Dunn and Martha (formally Wadham)
He lived with his family (including younger brother William) in Poplar (address was given as 37 Bath Street Poplar). Poplar situated on the Thames side of East London has a long connection with England’s adventurous explorers of the seas and oceans. The ‘East India Docks’ were situated at Poplar and in the late 1800’s one can only imagine the busy Docklands with the ships setting out for the trade routes of the world.
So it is not surprising that at the age of 14 Alfred Dunn set sail as a deck boy on his first adventure to Cape Town, South Africa. His certificate of service in the Merchant Navy shows many voyages to Cape Town, Mauritius, Delagoa Bay and other Ports along the African Coast.
Some of the ships he worked on are recorded as the ’S.S.Greek’, ’S.S.Galeka’, ’S.S.Comrie Castle’, S.S.Dunluce Castle’ and in 1908 his first trip to Australia in the ‘Orient’. Over the next 3 years he made 7 other recorded trips to Australia on the following ships: ‘Orient’, ‘Omrah’ and ‘Osterley’. The destination of these trips were Brisbane and Sydney. In 1911 he transferred to an Australian interstate ship the S.S.Moira’ and travelled to Fremantle, where he was to settle.

In 1907 Alfred Dunn was presented by The Royal Humane Society a certificate of bravery. It was inscribed: ‘That Alfred Dunn is justly entitled to the Honorary Testimonial of this Society inscribed on Vellum which is hereby awarded to him for having on the 15th June 1907 at great personal risk gallantly attempted to rescue John Beckwith who was unfortunately drowned in the Thames off Wapping”

In Fremantle Alfred was to meet Lucy Constance Towler and they married at St Paul’s Church Beaconsfield 28th April 1913.
With the events of World War 1 - in 1916 he joined the Australain Imperial Force the 14/28th Battalion and served in Belgium and France. He departed Fremantle with the 14th reinforcement on the SS Miltihdes on 9th August 1916, arriving in England on the 27th September where he was to train at signalling school. On 27th September he was part of 50,000 ANZAC trrop reviewed at Bulford by King George. He departed for France on 20th November 1916 arriving at Etaples. He was then to proceed to the Somme, camping at Vinacourt, then to Fricourt Wood via Albert and Mametz. He was to see action at Delville Wood, Ypres and Westock Ridge. On 28 October 1917 he was injured at Passechendaile Ridge near Ypres and suffering the effects of mustard gas was sent to England for a period of recovery and then eventually back to Australia.
In his dairy he wrote "At 1am I am relieved on the phone and the chap who relieved me seemed alright, but he said one of the runners was very sick. i go over to the pillbox and could not get in the door for Gas (Mustard stuff). When I did get in I found all our fellows peacefully asleep, roused them up and nearly everyone of them started to vomit. After a while I lit a fire and tried to burn out the gas, but I do not know which was the worst, the gas or the smoke. The chap on the phone is feeling sick so I relieve him and while I am here the whole lot of them are evacuated and I am the sole survivor. About 7am I am vomiting and I ask the Sig Officer to get someone from the front line before I get too bad. By noon I am a casualty, my eyes are terribly sore and feel as if they have been filled with pepper and sand. About 2pm the quack evacuates me and I do not think I have suffered so much before getting out of the line. I had a distance of 5 miles to walk, I could hardly see and shells were dropping all around me. Anyhow I managed to get to the Chateau Wood where I got on a horse ambulance, but it all seems a nightmare to me now. Arriving at field dressing station I go blind. From there a lot of us are placed in a motor lorry and taken to a casualty clearing station, a chap who was wounded assisted me on the lorry.
I seemed to be here for weeks and at last I am placed on board a Red Cross train, which I am told is bound for Etaples. I am taken from the train and put in a motor ambulance and at last a nice warm bed. The nurse informs me that I am in the 22nd Canadian General Hospital, Cameirs and the day is Wednesday. Every attention is paid to me here, but I am still blind. My sight has returned a little by Monday 5th Nov and the nurse informs me I shall soon be going to Blighty."


Alfred Dunn lived a full life - despite re-occurring problems with being gassed in the war and in later life being declared legally blind he lived to the age of 90, dying in 1981.
He and Lucy were married for 68 years prior to his death. In addition to his ‘boy’ Alfred Edmond junior, they had two girls Constance Lena and Beatrice Maud.
A photo of Alfred Dunn was to feature on the flags which fly in the streets of Fremantle on Anzac Day and on various commemorative brochures.
He is also remembered at the WA Maritime Museum Welcome Walls.