SUTTIE, Grenado
| Service Number: | 7277 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 5th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales Australia , 12 March 1888 |
| Home Town: | Albury, Albury Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Accountant |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 8 August 1918, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
Adelaide Cemetery Villers-Bretonneux, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Baulkham Hills William Thompson Masonic School War Memorial, Moree & District Fallen Soldiers Honour Roll, Moree ANZAC Centenary Memorial, Moree All Saints Anglican Church Honour Board, Moree Superior Public School WW1 Roll of Honour, Sydney United Grand Lodge Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Gunner, 7277, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Persic embarkation_ship_number: A34 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Gunner, 7277, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Persic, Sydney |
Help us honour Grenado Suttie's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Lorraine McMahon
Grenado Suttie was the second son of Alderman Daniel and Florence Suttie. He was just 30 years old when he died in action at Villers-Bretonneux. At that time, his father Daniel was the Mayor of Moree, New South Wales. Their eldest son, Thomas Herbert (Service No. 737), had also joined the military.
Before enlisting, Grenado, also known as Gray, was employed on the staff of Wright, Heaton and Co., Ltd., being an accountant in that firm's Albury branch.[1]
During his service in France, Gray held the position of Storeman in the Battery. On August 8th, the Battery was in the process of advancing, and he was tasked with transporting supplies using a GS Wagon along the route from Villers Bretonneux to their new destination. An eyewitness account states that an explosion took place due to an object on the road, which led to Gray sustaining serious injuries to his head and chest. He succumbed to his injuries within 24 hours.[2]
On 21 June 1916, Grenado described the conditions he was enduring in France –
'Two heavy nights of bombardment in succession. The first night the Germans gave us two gas attacks, but they didn't turn out a success. It came across our part very light. Thanks to our gas helmets we didn't get a smell of it. They are not very comfortable to wear, especially when you have to keep them on for two hours. Two whiffs of gas and you're a goner. The only damage it did to us was to rust the links on our harness, and as we have to keep them bright we called the Germans all sorts of names. …….”[3]
In another letter written to his parents one week before his death, he writes in part
….. has not had much time for writing during the last two weeks as things were going pretty solid, being out with ammunition almost every night and moving their position by a few miles weekly.
"I have not been getting too much sleep at night and so have had to take snatches during the day. This week things have been very brisk along the line, plenty bombardment. On a road the other night, whilst up with ammunition, the Huns started with their guns. They tried to put them on the road, but their shells fell short from 50 to 100 yards from us every time. They ploughed the ground up a treat. Our horses got excited at first but take it quite naturally now. The excitement was at concert pitch, considering that both sides kept it up for 3 hours. We arrived back to our wag gon line O.K. and had plenty to talk about for a while…….[4]
[1] ‘Personal.’ Moree Gwydir Examiner and General Advertiser, 16 August 1918 p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115771441
[2] Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files for Grenado Suttie (Service No;. 7277) as found on the Australian War Memorial website,
[3] ‘Driver Suttie.’ Moree Gwydir Examiner and General Advertiser, 25 August 1916, p 5.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113001224.
[4] “Gunner Grey Suttie, Moree Gwydir Examiner and General Advertiser (NSW : 1901 - 1940) 1 August 1916: p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113001393.