MEEK, Lancelot Gordon
| Service Number: | 312 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Company Quartermaster Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wyndham, New South Wales, 1894 |
| Home Town: | Condobolin, Lachlan, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Eden Public School & Cook's Hill High School, Newcastle |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Passchendaele, Belgium, 6 November 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Tyne Cot Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Plot 2 Row E Grave 7 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 312, Sydney, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 312, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: '' |
|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 312, 2nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Sydney | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 312, 2nd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 6 Nov 1917: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Company Quartermaster Sergeant, 312, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 2nd Passchendaele , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 312 awm_unit: 2 Battalion awm_rank: Company Quartermaster Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-11-06 |
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Lance was the son of Flora (nee Cameron) and Vincent Meek who was a police officer with NSW Police Force and the family spent 24 years at various Police Stations in the Bega Valley. When he left school Lance enrolled as a student at the Bathurst Agricultural Experimental Farm. He served in the Militia for 2 years and had the rank of Corporal in the 41st Infantyr.
The three Meek brothers enlisted at Randwick on the same day, their enlistment numbers were Cyril 310, Darcy 311 and Lance 312. Lance was 19 years and 9 months old. The brothers embarked at Sydney together on the HMAT A23 Suffolk on 18th Oct 1914 for Alexandria, where they attended the training camp until the 2nd Battalion left for Gallipoli.
During the landing at Gallipoli on the 25th April 1915 Lance received a gunshot wound, he was transferred back to Cairo hospital treated and returned to his unit at Gallipoli on 13th June 1915.
By the 5th August 1915 Lance was suffering from a septic hand which was from a second gunshot wound. During 1916 he was hospitalised on numerous occasions from ill health. He was promoted to Company Quarter Master Sergeant on 27th March 1916. He rejoined his unit in France on 18th Oct 1916 after taking leave in Paris and further hospital stays.
On the 6th November 1917, "At Paschendael in Nov when we were on outpost duty in a small trench we had dug, a 5.9 shell came over and landed on the parados, hitting some bombs that were stored there. A piece of one of the bombs hit Meek in the temple; he was unconscious for about 6 hours. It was 5:30 a.m. and he could not be moved until night when he was taken to the D.S. just behind the supports....told me afterwards that he had died as soon as he got to the D.S. and that he was buried near the DS(a pill box). There were a large number of graves around there and all had crosses on. I was the 4th man from Meek when he was hit. He was A/Sergeant at the time, the 1st time he had taken a platoon into action. He was an original man and had been at Gallipoli." Pte A Ralph.
He is commemorated on Panel 33 of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Lance is also remembered on the Eden Cenotaph and the Condobolin and District Memorial Park and Cenotaph.
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