LONG, Archie Franklin
| Service Number: | 4028 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Burraga, New South Wales, Australia, 1898 |
| Home Town: | Armatree, Gilgandra, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Station hand |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Belgium, 22 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Plot XXIV, Row F, Grave No. 10A, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Lijssenthoek, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Coonamble Municipality and Wingadee Shire HR, Coonamble War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4028, 4th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 4028, 4th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 4028, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Sydney | |
| 3 Jun 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 4th Infantry Battalion | |
| 22 Sep 1917: | Involvement 4028, 4th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4028 awm_unit: 4th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-09-22 |
Help us honour Archie Franklin Long's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Archie Long, an 18 year old station hand from Armatree, NSW, enlisted at Dubbo during 1915. Long transferred to 1st Pioneer Battalion in March 1916. He received a bullet wound to the left hand the following month. In September 1916 Long transferred back to his original unit, 4th Battalion. He was awarded the Military Medal in 1917. The recommendation for the award reads, 'At DEMICOURT, on 15th April 1917, Pte. LONG showed great courage and devotion to duty by proceeding out into the open and sniping the Germans as they advanced on DEMICOURT, thus helping materially to encourage his comrades and beat off the attack. His gallantry, together with his good shooting, enabled him to inflict heavy casualties upon the attackers.'
In the 4th Battalion unit history Long was said to have taken up a lone role in a sunken road and his marksmanship was so effective it supposedly accounted for about 100 Germans.
He was promoted to lance corporal in May 1917; to corporal and then lance sergeant and machine gun sergeant of the battalion's 13th Platoon in D company the following month. While moving up the line on the evening of 22 September 1917, close to Clapham Junction near Polygon Wood in Belgium, Long and some fellow soldiers took shelter in a shell hole during a heavy German barrage. Long was hit by shrapnel in the back and right buttock and was also wounded in both legs. He died shortly after arriving at 10 Casualty Clearing Station, age 19. He is buried at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium. Archie Long had enlisted with his brother, Edward. They were allocated consecutive service numbers and both served with 4th Battalion. They transferred to 1 Pioneer Battalion together but Edward was captured and taken prisoner by the Germans in May 1916. Edward returned to Australia in March 1919.
(Compiled with information from the Australian War Memorial)
Click images to start slideshow.