Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Norman was born on 26th November 1888 in Bradford. His father Carl Otto Bernhardt Ampt was a German from Rastatt, where his father was a brewer. Carl came to Bradford as a young man in the 1860s where he was a merchant in the wool trade. In 1884, aged 39 he married Mary Elizabeth Crosland Bentley, a farmer’s daughter fourteen years his junior. She was known as Elsa. They had three children, Carl William (later known as Charles), Norman Crosland, and Doris Bentley Ampt. By the time of his death in 1911 he was a man of substance, leaving an estate of £12,000

Norman was at Bradford GS from 1898 to 1902, then he followed his elder brother to Sedbergh School, where he was in Mr Wilson’s house from 1902 to 1906. According to The Sedberghian, “though he won no great renown at athletics and was not gifted with any great ability at his books, he was a pleasant and a popular member of his house.” Ampt was at home on the rugby field and played for the Sedbergh First XV, going on to play for Headingley RFC. He was also a promising cricketer, gymnast, fives player and runner. He won the modern science prize in March 1906, just before his Sedbergh career ended. He may have been a member of the School OTC, as his brother certainly was

In 1909 Ampt settled in Melbourne in Australia, where he worked as “station manager”. He was a well-built man for his time, an inch short of 6 feet tall and weighing 13 stones. His complexion was fair and his hair brown

He visited Britain in 1911 following his father’s death. When war broke out he was one of the first to enlist in the Australian army, on 18th August, as Private no.62 in the 4th Light Horse Regiment, A Squadron. They sailed for Egypt on 19th October 1914 where they spent the winter guarding the Suez Canal

Ampt’s qualities led to his promotion to 2nd Lieutenant in April 1915, when he was also admitted to hospital for treatment on an ingrowing toe-nail

In late March the 1st Battalion Border Regiment, a Regular Army unit, disembarked at Alexandria, part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force bound for Gallipoli

Norman now age 26 met his former school fellows among them and his request for a transfer was granted — “The younger Ampt has just joined us,” another Sedberghian wrote, “a fine stalwart figure and a good advertisement of Sedbergh.”

The 1st Border landed on X Beach, Cape Helles, Gallipoli on 25th April with 29th Division. They performed very creditably but suffered heavy casualties, until they were withdrawn to rest on the island of Imbros in mid–July

After less than a fortnight at Gallipoli he was put on the sick list, suffering from sunstroke. He re–joined the battalion, now at Suvla Bay, at 10am on 21st August as it prepared to assault Scimitar Hill. Under heavy fire from the Turkish defenders, par ties of the assaulting units were able to seize footholds on the hill, but it proved impossible to dig in so stony was the ground. Of the 1/Borders 14 officers who took part, 13 were wounded, while 38 rank and file were killed and over 300 wounded or missing

According to a fellow officer, Ampt was hit “whilst gallantly leading his platoon through a most murderous fire of shrapnel, maxim and rifle fire”; another wrote, “All the officers and men held him in the highest esteem, both as an officer and a gentle man.” He died of his wounds the following day on a hospital ship and was buried at sea. His name is recorded on the Helles Memorial, Turkey