Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Angus Graham was born on the 6th of February 1876 on Leadenhall Street, Port Adelaide, South Australia. He was the son of Daniel Murdoch Graham and Janet McLachlan and grew up in a large family of 8 children. Graham’s seven other siblings were Murdock Graham, Donald Graham, Annie Carlsson (née Graham), Colin Graham, Mitchal Graham, Alexander “Alick” McKenzie Graham, and Janet Campbell Graham.

Before enlisting to serve in the First World War, Graham worked as a labourer and lived on Nicol Street, Goodwood, with his sister Annie Carlsson. Graham, who had never been married and identified as Anglican, stood 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 137 pounds. He had blue eyes, greying hair, and tattoos on his left forearm and right upper arm.

Graham enlisted January 15, 1916, at the age of 39 years and 11 months. On the 28th of April 1916, he embarked from Adelaide aboard the HMAT Bakara (A41), bound for overseas service. Once Graham arrived in Egypt, he was assigned to the Imperial Camel Corps (ICC), a specialist mounted infantry unit that operated in the harsh desert conditions of Egypt and Palestine. On the 8th of July 1916, after more than a month of training in the 3rd Training Regiment in Tel El Kebir, he was assigned to the 13th Company of the Imperial Camel Corps (ICC), which, after four months, was integrated into the 3rd Anzac Battalion. The Camel Corps played an important role in supporting the wider British campaign against the Ottoman Empire, conducting patrols, raids, demolition work, and support tasks across difficult desert terrain.

On January 9th 1917, the Battle of Rafa, also known as the Action at Rafa, took place on the border between Egypt and Palestine. The battle involved the ANZAC Mounted Division, the Imperial Camel Corps, and the 5th Mounted Brigade, who were successful in dislodging the Ottoman forces from their defensive positions at El Magruntein. Although Graham did not participate in this battle since the 3rd Battalion was the reserve, this victory marked the end of the Sinai campaign for the British. On the 16th of March 1917, Graham, along with the entire 13th Company, was transferred from the 3rd Anzac Battalion to the 4th Anzac Battalion. For the next month, Graham moved between different posts and patrol areas until April 16th, when the Kubri Post had to be quarantined due to a plague outbreak. This affected the whole of the 13th Company and a section of the 17th Company. Throughout June and the first 28 days of July, the entire 4th Anzac Battalion was resting. On August 20, 1917, Graham, along with the 13th Company, transferred from the 4th Anzac Battalion to the 3rd Anzac Battalion. However, his service from this point onwards was increasingly affected by illness, which was likely linked to his age and the harsh conditions of the desert campaigns.

On the 29th of September 1917, Graham was taken to an Anzac rest camp in Marakeb, Palestine, due to exhaustion from illness. Just over a week later, on the 9th of October, he was admitted again, this time to the 65th Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) at Rafa with an undiagnosed illness. On October 14th, he was diagnosed with malaria, a disease that spread rapidly among troops stationed in the Middle East, transmitted by mosquitoes, and was transferred by hospital train to a facility in El Arish. Five days later, on October 19th, he was transferred to the 14th Australian General Hospital in Abbasia, Cairo. This area also served as a training location for units like the Imperial Camel Corps (ICC), of which Graham was a part. After nearly two months of treatment, Graham was sent to a Convalescent Depot on the 7th of December 1917, a facility where soldiers recovered before being declared fit to return to duty. He was discharged a week later, on the 14th of December, and rejoined the 3rd Anzac Battalion on the 20th. On the 30th of December 1917, Graham was transferred to the 4th Anzac Battalion; however, illness continued to disrupt his service. On the 8th of January 1918, Graham fell ill again with malaria and was taken to the 76th Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) the next day. He was discharged a few days later on the 14th of January.

On the 9th of May 1918 Graham was sick to hospital again, and was diagnosed at the 47th Casualty Clearing Station on the 13th of May with Acute Baghdad Dysentery, a severe intestinal infection caused by contaminated food and water that was common in the desert campaigns. On the 19th he was transferred to Kantara and on the next day he was admitted to the 14th Australia General Hospital (AGH). By the 18th of June 1918 his condition was still not fit for battle so he was transferred from the 14th AGH to the 31st General hospital in Port Said.

On the 11th of July 1918 he embarked for Port Darwin, Australia, from the Suez Canal on account of neurasthenia - a diagnosis at the time referring to a mental and physical breakdown caused by prolonged stress, now recognised as a form of combat fatigue or PTSD. Private Graham was discharged by the 4th Military District on October 14, 1918, due to medical unfitness just weeks before the war's end.

Graham survived the war and returned to civilian life after his medical discharge in 1918. He died on the 19th of September 1952 at the age of 76 and was buried in the AIF Cemetery (Row 14, Grave 49), West Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia.