TURNER, Alexander Robert
| Service Number: | 2886 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 July 1915, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 14th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ararat, Victoria, November 1892 |
| Home Town: | Ararat, Ararat, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Ararat High School |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Passchendaele, Belgium, 16 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Ararat Shire of Ararat WWI Roll of Honor, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2886, 14th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2886, 14th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Sep 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2886, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 16 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2886, 14th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2886 awm_unit: 14 Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-10-16 |
Alexander Robert Turner
These are just two of several eyewitness account of Robert's death.
Alec Turner was a L/CPL IN BV. He was neither fair nor dark, clean shaven,26, about 5'10" and single. On the afternoon of the 16th of OCT whilst holding the line at Passchendaele I saw a party of SBs carrying L/CPL Turner who was wounded in the back. I wished them luck as I passed. I did not see this party again. It was reported later on that day to us by some of the 15th AIF that they had seen a party of 4 SBs carrying a wounded man when a shell burst in their midst. (Witness; L/CPL A. V. Bhean no;2851
He was on a stretcher and was being carried to the rear when a shell blew them up killing them all instantly. I was just behind the at the time. This happened just behind the old Menin Roulers railway line. The bodies were only partly buried as we had to leave on account of the shells were falling very thick. I knew him well in the Battalion. (witness; private Tye no;2476 14th Battalion)
A brave bunch of men/boys who died in a futile war. We must remember them always.
Submitted 11 November 2015 by Tony Barnard
Biography
"KILLED IN ACTION. LANCE-CORPORAL A. R. TURNER.
On Thursday evening last the Rev. R. Whitford received a telegram from the Defence Department, asking him to convey to Mr George Turner, of Surface Hill, Ararat, the sad intelligence that his youngest son, Lance-Corporal Alexander Robert Turner, had been killed in action. The deceased was twenty-five years of age, and prior to enlisting in June, 1915, was engaged at the Cathcart Central mine. He sailed for the front in September of the same year, and before going to France served in Egypt. He was highly respected throughout the town and district, and was a member of the Loyal Ripon Lodge, I.O.O.F., having filled the N.G. chair for a period. On the 9th September, 1917, the father received word that his son had been wounded, and after the expiry of a month further word came to hand that he was missing, and nothing further was heard as to his whereabouts until the sad message reached Ararat on Thursday." - from the Ararat Advertiser 30 Mar 1918 (nla.gov.au)
Click images to start slideshow.