LEE, Albert
| Service Number: | 380 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 September 1914, Enlisted in Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Preston, Victoria, Australia., 10 November 1891 |
| Home Town: | Willoughby, Willoughby, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Fireman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 22 July 1916, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France), Willoughby Old Boys Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 380, 1st Infantry Battalion, Enlisted in Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 380, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 380, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Sydney | |
| 12 Mar 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1st Infantry Battalion, Promoted at Serapeum in Egypt. | |
| 22 Jul 1916: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 380, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 380 awm_unit: 1 Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1916-07-22 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Albert LEE (Service Number 380) was born on 10th November 1891 at Preston, Victoria. He began work with the NSW Tramways as a shop boy at Randwick on 13th July 1908. By March 1909 he had progressed to tram cleaner at North Sydney Depot. He stayed in this job until May 1912 when he transferred to the Locomotive Branch of the Railways and became a cleaner (in the career path to locomotive driver) at Bathurst Locomotive Depot. By February 1913 he had progressed to fireman. In July he relocated to Eveleigh.
He was released to join the Expeditionary Force and enlisted at Sydney on 14th September 1914. He was unmarried and gave his father living in Willoughby as his next of kin. He also claimed two years’ experience in the 7th Infantry Regiment.
He embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Afric’ on 18th October 1914. Although he was with 1st Australian Infantry Battalion, he did not take part in the landings on Anzac Day. He did not leave Egypt for the Dardanelles until 10th August 1915. He embarked on ‘Cawdor Castle’ and re-joined the Battalion on 15th August.
On 15th December he was hospitalised on Gallipoli with a septic sore and evacuated to Mudros (on the Greek island of Lemnos) on 18th December. The whole force was evacuated about that time. By the time he re-joined his Battalion it was in Mudros as well. By the end of that month it was in Alexandria.
As the battered units regrouped in Egypt, Lee was promoted to Lance Corporal at Serapeum on 12th March 1916. He embarked again at Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. He passed through Marseilles on 20th March.
On 6th April, at Outtersteen, he was charged with Drunkenness whilst on Active Service. He escaped with only a Severe Reprimand.
On 28th July 1916 he was reported wounded in action on one of the preceding days. By 4th August the report was changed to Killed in Action. Because of the general chaos at Pozières, he has no known grave. He is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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