MACLAREN, Earnest Henry Lea
| Service Number: | 2855 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 August 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Broken Hill, New South Wales, 6 April 1897 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peter’s College, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Bank Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 4 August 1916, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
Serre Road Cemetery No.2 Beaumont Hamel, France Plot XXXVII, Row E, Grave 14, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board, St Peters All Souls Anglican Church Honour Board WW1, St Peters Heroes War Memorial, St. Kilda East All Saints Anglican Church Mausoleum Memorial, Yorketown Kadina Union Bank WW1 Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2855, 27th Infantry Battalion, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2855, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 4 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2855, 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , This was the 2nd Division attack that captured the Windmill |
Help us honour Earnest Henry Lea Maclaren's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography
Attestation papers have name listed as: Ernest Heny Leo McLAREN
Please note: In the Australia War Memorial Roll of Honour Circuar his mother corrects his name from Ernest to Earnest . His third name Lea was his mothers second name.
From the book Fallen Saints - Earnest Lea MacLaren was born at Broken Hill, New South Wales and later attended the Collegiate School of St Peter School in Adelaide with his brother Duncan. Prior to enlistment he was as a clerk with the Union Bank in Adelaide while serving part-time in 35th Battery, Field Artillery. He was initially allotted to the 12th quota of reinforcements for the 10th Battalion in September but was reallotted later to the 6th quota for the 27th Battalion with whom he embarked at Adelaide.
He sailed from Alexandria aboard HMT Oriana on 21 March and the following day joined 1st ANZAC Entrenching Battalion at Étaples where he stayed until being taken on the strength of the 27th Battalion in July.
For a time, I ANZAC Corps drew its infantry reinforcements from 1st ANZAC Entrenching Battalion, which had been formed to undertake tasks near the frontline and inure new drafts to battlefield conditions.
Private Maclaren was killed in action on 4 August 1916; he was nineteen years of age. The next day, his brother Duncan, then fighting in the Sinai desert with the 10th Light Horse Regiment was wounded in action; he died of wounds on 6 August.
In December 1930, Duncan and Earnest’s brother, the Reverend Peter Maclaren of Allen House at the Collegiate School of St Peter wrote to Base Records enquiring about Earnest’s burial details.
In a letter dated 6 January 1931, the OIC Base Records wrote that he was forwarding Earnest’s identity disc and wristwatch which were recovered by the Imperial War Graves Commission at the time of his re-internment in Serre Road Cemetery No. 2.
These mementoes though now somewhat impaired through long exposure will doubtless be valued on account of their former intimate association with your brother, and I trust same come safely to hand. [i] (/admin/people/162106/edit#_edn1)
[i] (/admin/people/162106/edit#_ednref1) National Archives of Australia: B 2455, MacLaren, E H L / 1964122, viewed 16 March 2006
Click images to start slideshow.