Thomas Alwyn McDonald (Alwyn) PAGE

PAGE, Thomas Alwyn McDonald

Service Number: 542
Enlisted: 1 September 1914, Enlisted at Randwick, NSW
Last Rank: Bugler
Last Unit: 3rd Infantry Battalion
Born: Murrurundi, New South Wales, Australia, 1894
Home Town: Murrurundi, Upper Hunter Shire, New South Wales
Schooling: West Tamworth Superior Public School, New South Wales
Occupation: Railway Clerk
Died: Head wounds, 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital, Mudros, Greece, 18 August 1915
Cemetery: Portianos Military Cemetery
Plot 1, Row B, Grave 39 Chaplain T. Jones officiated Headstone inscription reads: To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die , Portianos Military Cemetery, Lemnos, Aegean Islands, Greece
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Murrurundi Bowls Club Roll of Honour, Tamworth ANZAC Park Memorial Gates, Tamworth Methodist Church Memorial Tablet
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World War 1 Service

1 Sep 1914: Enlisted AIF WW1, Bugler, 542, Enlisted at Randwick, NSW
20 Oct 1914: Involvement 542, 3rd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: ''
20 Oct 1914: Embarked 542, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney
10 Aug 1915: Wounded AIF WW1, Bugler, 542, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Gunshot wound to the head
18 Aug 1915: Involvement 542, 3rd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 542 awm_unit: 3 Battalion awm_rank: Bugler awm_died_date: 1915-08-18

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Biography contributed by Carol Foster

Son of Thomas and Jane Page of Peel Street, West Tamworth, NSW

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

At the time of enlistment he was serving in the Militia

Biography contributed by Michael Silver

The Tamworth Daily Observer of 1 September 1915 reported the death of Private Thomas Alwyn McDonald Page on 18 August 1915 from head and shoulder wounds received at Lone Pine.

Very general regret was expressed on all sides yesterday when it was reported that the Rev. T. Jamieson-Williams had received a cable asking him to inform Mr. and Mrs. T. Page, of West Tamworth, that their son, T. Alwyn McDonald Page, had died of wounds on August 18th.

In a letter dated 14 August 1915 from his brother Private Clarence Page to their parents, Clarrie advised that Alwyn, who had joined the machine gun section, was hit on the head and shoulder by shrapnel on 8 August, saying, "He was knocked out for a while but was able to walk to the dressing station". He reassurred his parents that Alwyn was 'doing splendidly' - tragically this was not the case and Alwyn Page would succumb to his wounds a few days later.

Alwyn Page, as everyone knew him, was one of those personalities who made friends amongst all with whom they come in contact. As a young boy he was attached to the local telegraph department and his bright face and cheery manner won him many friends. Bright and painstaking, he steadily made his way. At the time of his enlistment he had been employed for some years in the Railway Department at Murrurundi where he had earned quick promotion. He was one of three brothers who enlisted for the front, his letters showing that in spite of hardships which he bore with conspicuous contentment, he thoroughly enjoyed his experiences, though he was instinctively most methodical and orderIy in his habits. In one of his last letters home he mentioned the pleasure he and the other Tamworth boys received at reading the Tamworth news in the ‘Daily Observer’.”

References:

The Tamworth Daily Observer, 1 September 1915, Page 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page11151548

The Tamworth Daily Observer, 8 October 1915, Page 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page11160604

 

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