Samuel Henry GALE

GALE, Samuel Henry

Service Number: 282
Enlisted: 8 March 1916, Port Pirie, South Australia
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 5th Machine Gun Battalion
Born: Yacka, South Australia, 16 October 1886
Home Town: Yacka, South Australia
Schooling: Watts Range Public School, South Australia
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Killed in Action, Belgium, 22 March 1918, aged 31 years
Cemetery: Kandahar Farm Cemetery, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium
Plot II Row H Grave Number 22
Memorials: Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Yacka WWI Honour Board, Yacka War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

8 Mar 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 282, 8th Machine Gun Company, Port Pirie, South Australia
4 May 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 282, 8th Machine Gun Company, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: ''
4 May 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 282, 8th Machine Gun Company, HMAT Port Lincoln, Melbourne
22 Mar 1918: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 282, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, German Spring Offensive 1918, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 282 awm_unit: 5th Australian Machine Gun Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-03-22

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Biography contributed by Wayne Eberhard

Private Samuel Henry (Sam) Gale was born at Yacka on 16/10/1886.  Yacka is a small farming community on the banks of the Broughton River approximately 30 minutes north of Clare in South Australia.  He was one of fourteen children born to Henry and Elizabeth Gale.  Sam was educated at the Watts Range Public School and prior to enlisting in the AIF he worked as a farmer in the Yacka area.

Sam enlisted on 08/03/1916 at Port Pirie and left Melbourne on 04/05/1916 aboard HMAT A17 Port Lincoln as part of the 8th Machine Gun Company 3rd Reinforcements (later to become the 5th Machine Gun Battalion).  After a short stop in Egypt for some training with the 5th Australian Division, Sam then proceeded to England for more training before proceeding to France in December 1916.  In early February 1917 he was admitted to hospital with Bronchitis and in mid March he rejoined his unit where he remained in the trenches until October 1917.  He then spent the next two months as a driver before returning to the trenches.

Sam was Killed in Action on 22 March 1918 on the second day of the German Spring Offensive, he was aged 31 years.  He was single.  Sam is buried at the Kandahar Farm Cemetery.

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Biography

Brother of 881 Pte. Edwin James Gale (/explore/people/286359) who died of wounds in Belgium on 21 Oct 1917