MCMILLAN, Alexander
| Service Number: | 2874 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia, 10 November 1883 |
| Home Town: | Gulgong, Mid-Western Regional, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Fettler |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 11 August 1916, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Boulogne Eastern Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gulgong and Mudgee District Roll of Honor, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2874, 1st Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2874, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Sydney | |
| 7 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2874, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières , Severe shell wounds to left side, thigh and foot. Admitted to 13th Stationary Hospital Boulogne. Died of wounds on 11th August 1916. | |
| 11 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 2874, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2874 awm_unit: 45 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-08-11 |
Help us honour Alexander McMillan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Alexander McMILLAN (Service Number 2874) was born in Gulgong on 10th November 1883. His wife Lily, who had borne him two daughters, Ena and Nellie, died in 1909. The children were cared for thereafter by Lily’s mother, Mrs Ellen Stahl, of Dunedoo. Alexander joined the NSW Government Railways in October 1912 as a labourer in the Metropolitan Division of the Permanent Way Branch. A month later he was noted as a ‘packer’, and in February 1913 as a ‘relief fettler’. In July 1913 he was transferred as a fettler to Warrobil, which is on the Mudgee-Craboon line, not too far from Dunedoo. In August 1913 he was working on the Portland line, and in December 1913 moved to the Mudgee-Gulgong line. On 31st May 1915 he was released from duty to enlist in the AIF, and did so at Liverpool in June, aged 31. He named his eldest daughter Ena, c/o Mrs Stahl, as his next of kin.
He was allotted to the 9th Reinforcements, 1st Battalion. He was embarked at Sydney in August 1915. In May 1916, in Egypt, he was transferred to the 45th Battalion, and in June sent with them to France.
On 7th August 1916 he was wounded in action: severe shell wounds of the left side, thigh and foot. He was admitted to the 13th Stationary Hospital, at Boulogne, on 8th August. He died there of his wounds on 11th August 1916. He was buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
In April 1916 Miss Ruby Kirk, of Gulgong, had obtained a maintenance order against Alexander McMillan for the support of their ex-nuptial daughter, Mona.
War pensions were granted by the authorities for all three daughters, Ena, Nellie, and Mona. Alexander’s service medals, and his few personal effects, were given to Ena, who was aged 13 in 1920, as his next of kin, and eldest and nearest blood relative.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.