SHERBURNE, Lafayette Alonzo
| Service Number: | 312 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 August 1914, Enlisted at Randwick, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Piercetown, Indiana, United States of America, 21 September 1884 |
| Home Town: | Newcastle, Hunter Region, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Conductor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 1 May 1915, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 312, 4th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Randwick, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement 312, 4th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked 312, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 1 Jan 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 4th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 May 1915: | Involvement 312, 4th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 312 awm_unit: 4th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Sergeant awm_died_date: 1915-05-01 |
Help us honour Lafayette Alonzo Sherburne's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Address at the time of enlistment was 20 Parnell Place, Newcastle, NSW
Son of L.D. and Isa B. Sherburne of 201 Main Street, Warsaw, USA. Next of kin later changed to his sister Sylvia S. Hammond of Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Alonzo Lafayette SHERBURNE (Service Number 312) was born on 21st September 1884 at Piercetown, Indiana, USA. He first worked for the NSW Tramways as a casual conductor in Newcastle from 9th July 1914 and was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 16th August 1914. He enlisted at Randwick three days later. He was unmarried and gave his father, L D Sherburne living at 201 Main Street, Warsaw, Indiana (USA) as his next of kin. He also claimed four years military service in the US Navy, two years in the Cape Police and five years in the United Cape Rifles.
By 19th October he had been promoted to Lance Sergeant in the 4th Battalion. On 20 October he left Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Euripides’.
He embarked the transport ‘Lake Michigan’ at Alexandria on 5th April, for the landing at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915.
Sherburne was killed in action at Gallipoli on 1st May 1915 and contemporary documents suggest that he was buried in Wire Gully, though this place has never been identified and he has no known grave. Sherburne is commemorated at the Lone Pine Memorial.
The military authorities went to great lengths during the war to return personal effects to next of kin, and after the war to ‘dispose of’ the several medals due for service and mementoes created to honour the memory. This distribution was particularly difficult in Sherburne’s case as all his relatives lived in the United States. His nominated next of kin, his father, died in 1921. The military in Australia was able to trace his step-mother and his sister, Mrs S S Hammond, living in Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) and the items were sent to her.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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