Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arrived in Australia aged 16 years. Brother of James George Grant Fleming DSO, MC of Edinburgh

Next of kin given as his unlce Rev. Peter Fleming of the Baptist Manse, Flinders Street, Adelaide, SA.

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

Prior to enlisted he had be apprenticed to Newton & MCLaren of Adelaide

Also served in the Senior Cadets and the Citizen Forces with the 22nd Engineer

Norman Macpherson Fleming was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and migrated to South Australia in 1902, and proceeded to live in the suburb of Newton.

It is unknown of his relationships with his parents and family, however, his Attestation Papers noted his next of kin as his Uncle, Reverend Peter Fleming. Fleming and his uncle were of Baptist religion. Prior to the war Fleming served with the Senior Cadets. Fleming attended the School of Mines Adelaide, established in 1889, and being a well respected early mining and metallurgy educational institute, which worked in partnership with the University of Adelaide. Fleming enlisted in the army as a private on the 20th of May 1915 and embarked on the HMAT A15 ‘Star of England’ on the 21st of September 1915

Fleming took part in numerous styles of light horse training, such as horsemanship, signalling, mounted tactics, and frontline defence. Fleming was deployed in multiple regions across the Middle East, where as well as participating in frontline and trench warfare, would carry messages from officer to officer. At the beginning of his service, Fleming was appointed the 303 Lee-Enfield rifle, the standard weapon for all Light Horse soldiers, equipped with a bayonet that he would use to perform melee kills.

Fleming’s first conflict was the battle of Magdhaba, located in the Northern Sinai desert, took place in December of 1916. Fleming had to endure severe weather conditions, such as blazing heat, and dehydration from lack of water. After securing a victory at Magdhaba, Fleming would then go on to  fight in the hellish Battle of Rafah. This battle fought hard and long, ending in a brilliant victory for Britain. With no delay, Fleming would participate in the first Battle for Gaza , however, no matter how hard the 9th Light Horse tried, with Fleming on the Lewis Machine gun, the Ottoman Empire won the battle, a costly defeat for the British forces.

In an attempt to advance to Palestine, the British Empire took charge and successfully won the battle of Beersheba. However, during the war, Fleming was wounded to his left foot by a rifle on the 31st of October 1917, where he was sent to a nearby hospital in Abbasia, Egypt for medical attention. Although it was recommended that he stay in Hospital and recover, Fleming decided to head back to the battlefield and fight with his team. This act displays Fleming as a soldier with exceptional morals, showing perseverance and integrity. After this, accident struck, on the 21st of November 1917, Fleming was hospitalised with influenza. He returned to duty the following month and soon became ill again was was sent to hospital with Pyrexia (commonly known as the fever), where he was left in such a severe condition that he was hospitalized immediately.

As the town of Jerusalem surrendered to British forces, Fleming was recovering in the hospital during that period. Soon after, Fleming was discharged to Moascar, where he then regained contact with the rest of his battalion and then fought his final battle. The first attack on Jordan/Palestine took place in Es Salt, a village in Palestine 23km west of Amman, which was the scene of gruesome warfare between 30th of April and the 3rd of May 1918.

As the battle began, instantly disaster struck, Fleming was killed in action on the 30th of April 1918. The only people were a few of his comrades and Corporal Moss of the 9th Light Horse. Corporal Moss recounted the death of Fleming:

 “We were making an attack on a position near Es Salt just before dusk. Fleming being a signaller was closely following the attacking party. The first position was carried and our men continued to advance leaving the wounded and some prisoners to be collected later. When Fleming came up, a Turk, wounded in the leg, shot him through the head, the Turk was immediately killed. I was with Fleming until he died a few minutes afterwards. He was unconscious from the time he was hit until his death.”

It was suspected according to Red Cross files that the Turk in question was pretending to be a dead soldier, which had caught Fleming off guard moments before his death. Fleming was buried by A. N. Webb, but unfortunately, his grave was destroyed brutally by the following battle. Leaving no respect for the dead soldier that had just departed.