ROSS, Claude Murray
| Service Numbers: | 1154, Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Royal Flying Corps |
| Born: | Caulfield, Victoria, Australia, 13 May 1893 |
| Home Town: | Hawksburn, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engineer |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Zandvoorde, Belgium, 19 August 1917, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Arras Memorial, Arras, Nord Pas de Calais, France. |
| Memorials: | Arras Flying Services Memorial, St Martins Hawksburn HB |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement 1154, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked 1154, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Shropshire, Melbourne | |
| 16 Mar 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1154, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , Discharged to Royal Flying Corps with rank of 2nd Lieutenant | |
| 19 Aug 1917: | Involvement British Forces (All Conflicts), Second Lieutenant, Officer, Royal Flying Corps |
Help us honour Claude Murray Ross's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
On 19 August 1917, 2nd Lieutenant Claude Murray Ross Royal Flying Corps was killed in action in Belgium.
He had represented Australia in the 400 metres event at the 1912 Olympics. He left Australia with the first contingent, October 1914, and served as a sergeant with the 6th Battery, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade on Gallipoli. He took part in the original Landing at Anzac Cove before he was evacuated from Gallipoli suffering with dysentery in July 1915. He was serving with No 45 Squadron Royal Flying Corps flying a Sopwith 2 Strutter when he died. The aircraft either broke or was hit by a shell and was seen falling from 6000 feet with no wings. A 2nd Lt. J.O. Fowler also died in the crash. Ross has no known grave, and is remembered on the Flying Services Memorial at Arras.
On the first anniversary of his death his mother inserted the following notice in the Melbourne Argus, “In affectionate and loving memory of my loved son, Flight Lieut. Claude M. Ross, who was killed in action on August 19, 1917, while flying and nobly doing his duly.
It's far away lies my darling boy,
Somewhere in France.
- (Inserted by his sad and loving, lonely mother.)”
Claude Ross had a brother, Captain Roderick Ross of the Australian Flying Corps who was mentioned in despatches, and returned home safely. During the Second World War, Roderick’s son, and Claude’s nephew, Leading Aircraftsman Claude Murray Ross of the RAAF crashed on a detached ice floe on 4 February 1941, just offshore of Ontario, Canada and him and his Australian observer both died. It is poignant to note that Claude junior he had been named after his uncle.
Click images to start slideshow.