GEDDES, Alfred Charles Borle
| Service Number: | 2581 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | 10 Chapel St, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland, 2 November 1897 |
| Home Town: | Cottesloe, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Telephone Mechanic |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 11 February 1917, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery Grave G. 4. INSCRIPTION HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THOSE HE LOVED , Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery, Bazentin, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Nov 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 2581, 3rd Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: RMS Mooltan embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 2581, 3rd Field Company Engineers, RMS Mooltan, Sydney | |
| 11 Feb 1917: | Involvement Sapper, 2581, 3rd Field Company Engineers, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2581 awm_unit: 3rd Field Company, Australian Engineers awm_rank: Sapper awm_died_date: 1917-02-11 |
Help us honour Alfred Charles Borle Geddes's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was 19 and the son of John Graham Geddes and Eleanor Elizabeth Geddes, of "Clyde," Palmerston St., Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia.
He is one of 11 Australian soldier casualties of the Great War who are remembered on the Rutherglen war memorial.
The main memorial, The Cenotaph, was constructed in the 1920's and stands at the west end of Rutherglen Main Street. A further memorial stands in Rutherglen cemetery. Although the Sword of Remembrance memorial at the entrance to Rutherglen Cemetery, again constructed in the early 1920's, contains an inscription it contains no names unlike the Cenotaph.
The main memorial was unveiled on 26th October 1924; the memorial itself was by Robert Gray sculptors of Glasgow, and the bronze figure of 'Courage' is by George Henry Paulin.
The provost of Rutherglen called a meeting on 10th May 1920 to consider the erection of a memorial. After some debate it was decided to erect a commemorative memorial rather than a utilitarian memorial such as a hospital or social club. By 1921 the decision was taken to halt fund raising " in respect that there was at present in the Burgh considerable distress in consequence of the large amount of unemployment for which a Public Relief Fund was presently being raised". It is worth remembering that the vast majority of war memorials were erected by public subscription made up from large numbers of small donations from ordinary people who by 1921 were suffering badly from high unemployment.
On this memorial he is recorded as Alf G.Geddes
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