MCGILL, Alfred Eager
| Service Number: | 5841 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 May 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1895 |
| Home Town: | Ashfield, Ashfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | William Street Public School Ashfield |
| Occupation: | Carter |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Belgium, 26 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Plot XXIII, Row A, Grave No. 16, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Lijssenthoek, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 29 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5841, 18th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 5841, 18th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 5841, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Alfred Eager McGill, not quite 21 and his brother Herbert John McGill, 22, both from Ashfield NSW, enlisted together in May 1916, both joined the 18th Battalion and left Australia together on the 7 October 1916. Their younger brother, James Edward McGill, only just 17 years of age, enlisted just before they embarked, in the 58th Battalion AIF.
Alfred was severely wounded in action during the Battle of Menin Road in Belgium with the 18th Battalion 20 September 1917, a gunshot wound to the thorax, surviving 6 days in the 10th Casualty Clearing Station before he died of his wounds on the 26 September 1917. Herbert McGill, of the same battalion, survived the battle. Their youngest brother, James McGill, although serving with a different battalion, the 58th, was mortally wounded in action on the 25 September 1917, with multiple shrapnel wounds to the head and face, and died of wounds the same day in the 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. He was only born in 1899 and was probably not quite 18 years of age when he died.
By sheer chance, the two casualty stations the brothers died in are quite near one another, and the brothers are both buried in Plot XX111 of the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Belgium. They were the sons of Arthur and Margaret McGill of Sydney NSW.