MCROSTIE, Stewart
| Service Number: | 254 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dunkeld, Scotland, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Cloyna, South Burnett, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Labourer |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Sep 1914: | Involvement Private, 254, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Omrah embarkation_ship_number: A5 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 1914: | Embarked Private, 254, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Omrah, Brisbane |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Lang
Stewart McRostie
Stewart McRostie was born in Dunkeld, Scotland, one of a group of ten men who were members of either the Murgon or Cloyna Rifle Clubs. All ten enlisted in Gympie on 2nd September 1914 and were placed into “B” Company of the 9th Battalion at Enoggera with consecutive service numbers. Stewart informed the recruiting officer that he was a farm labourer from Cloyna and had been a member of the Cloyna Rifle Club for one year. At enlistment, Stewart was 20 years old.
The ten mates remained together during the voyage from Australia and the period of training in Egypt. On 25thApril, the Murgon Ten were in the first group to land at Anzac Cove.
In July 1915, Stewart was promoted to corporal but then was evacuated to hospital in Malta with dysentery. He returned to Egypt where he was one of a number of the Murgon Ten who were transferred to the 49th Battalion.
The 49th sailed from Egypt to France in June 1916 and faced its first major action at Pozieres in August and then at Mouquet Farm in September. Stewart received a serious wound to his left foot at Mouquet Farm and he was evacuated by hospital ship to the Australian Hospital at Southall. Stewart spent the next 12 months in and out of hospital but his shattered foot did not heal. Finally, a year after being wounded, his lower left leg was amputated.
Stewart was assigned a berth on a ship returning wounded servicemen to Australia and he was discharged in Brisbane on 14th February 1918. He was granted a disability pension. It is uncertain if he ever returned to the Murgon district but a relative living in Brisbane applied for his Gallipoli Medallion in 1967.
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