RETCHFORD, Albert Roy
| Service Number: | 388 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 September 1914, Blackboy Hill, Western Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 June 1894 |
| Home Town: | Kalgoorlie, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Fireman |
| Died: | Killed In Action, France, 3 June 1918, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Borre British Cemetery II A 8 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Boulder Goldfields First Enlistments WWI Roll of Honor, Boulder Kalgoorlie Amateur Swimming Club Roll of Honour, Kalgoorlie Boulder 84th Infantry Goldfields Regiment Roll of Honour, Kalgoorlie St John's Anglican Church Honour Roll, Leonora Honour Roll, Leonora Road Board District Roll of Honor, Leonora War Memorial, The Shrine of Remembrance (Melbourne) |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 388, Blackboy Hill, Western Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 388, 11th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 388, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Fremantle | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 388, 11th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 3 Jun 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 11th Infantry Battalion, Merris (France), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 11 Battalion awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1918-06-03 | |
| 27 Nov 1918: | Honoured Military Cross, 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When in charge of a patrol, he and a non-commissioned officer pushed forward in advance of the party, and succeeded in reaching the enemy wire. They were observed by the enemy, who opened up machine gun fire, by which the non-commissioned officer was wounded. He started to return carrying the non-commissioned officer with him, and, though he himself wounded on the journey back, he succeeded in bringing the wounded man to our lines. He showed courage and endurance of a high order.' Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 185 Date: 27 November 1918 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Edwards
"Lieutenant Roy Retchford ran across No Man’s Land, stumbling under the weight of his Sergeant as the machinegun bullet tore through his thigh.
It was the night of 21 March 1918 and the two 11th Battalion soldiers were on patrol in the Hill 60 sector south-east of Ypres in Belgium. Patrol leader Lieutenant Retchford’s orders were to reconnoitre the German position.
He and his Sergeant pushed ahead of the patrol and reached the enemy wire. The pair were spotted in the bright moonlight and the German guns opened up, seriously wounding the NCO.
Without a second thought, Lieutenant Retchford hefted his Sergeant over his shoulder and began running back towards the Australian lines. He was shot in the thigh, but managed to keep moving and the pair made it to safety.
The young Lieutenant was awarded the Military Cross for his courageous action but didn’t live to receive it – a few months later, on June 3, 1918, he was killed in action at Mont de Merris in northern France. He was 23 years old.
The award citation described Lieutenant Retchford as showing “courage and endurance of a high order”. His Military Cross was presented in 1919 to his elder brother Percival, who also served in the war.
Albert Roy Retchford was a 20-year-old locomotive fireman on the Trans-Australian railway line when he enlisted in Kalgoorlie on 18 August, 1914, just two weeks after his country entered the war. Before he joined the construction crews building Australia’s longest railway line, the former Kalgoorlie School of Mines student worked on the Sons of Gwalia gold mine near Leonora, 235 kilometres to the north of Kalgoorlie..." - READ MORE LINK (www.greataustralianstory.com.au)
Son of Richard and Julia (Lulu) RETCHFORD of 'Dalmor', Boulder Road, Kalgoorlie
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