Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of George Buckley and Sarah Buckley nee Gibbs of Emma Street, Milton, Brisbane, QLD

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

#718  BUCKLEY David  15th Infantry Battalion
 
There is very little information regarding David Buckley’s early life save for the fact that he was born in 1888 in Brisbane to George and Sarah Buckley. It would appear that David’s parents lived in and around Milton for most of their lives, however at some stage David left the city to work in rural areas. The presence of his name on the Murgon Memorial is testament that he was remembered in the South Burnett, while at the time of his enlistment, he was working on the Darling Downs in the Millmerran District.
 
David presented himself for enlistment at the courthouse at Millmerran on 15th September 1914. His attestation papers were signed by a local Justice of the Peace, and David was instructed to make his way to Enoggera Camp where his induction into the AIF was completed on 19th September 1914.
 
David was allocated to the 15th Battalion which was at that time being raised as the second battalion from Queensland to be included in the 1st Division of the AIF. The 15th was made up of recruits from all over Queensland and Northern New South Wales. David was placed in “E” Company along with other recruits from the Darling Downs region. The 15th battalion was one of four battalions that made up the 4th Brigade, under the command of Brigadier John Monash. After two months of training and organising in Brisbane, the 15th journeyed by several trains to the Broadmeadows Camp on the outskirts of Melbourne where they joined the other three battalions that comprised the 4th Brigade.
 
The first contingent of Australian Troops from the three original brigades of the 1st Division had departed Australia almost a month previously before the 4th Brigade boarded transports at Port Melbourne on 22ndDecember 1914. The embarkation roll for the 15th Battalion shows David Buckley, labourer, aged 26 years. He had named his father, George, of Emma Street in Milton as his next of kin and allocated 3/6 pence of his daily pay of 5/- to his parents. The “Ceramic” arrived in Egypt in late January 1915 and on 3rd February, disembarked the 15th at the harbour in Alexandria. The battalion proceeded to the Aerodrome Camp in Cairo for training and brigade and divisional manoeuvres which continued until 11th April 1915.
 
On 12th April, the men of the 15th Battalion boarded trains for the short journey to Alexandria where they boarded two troop transports, the “Australind” and the “Seang Bee.”
The transports ferried the 15th to Mudros Harbour on the Greek Island of Lemnos where the men remained on board ship while practicing disembarkation drills with cutters and horseboats. On the evening of the 24thApril the transports sailed out of Mudros Harbour. The “Australind” positioned itself off the shore at Cape Helles and the men on board crowded the rails to observe the landing of the British troops there during the morning of the 25th. The “Australind” then sailed up the west coast of the Gallipoli Peninsula to stand off at Anzac Cove. Soon after midnight on the 26th April, companies of the 15th began to be ferried ashore under the cover of darkness.
 
By the morning of the 26th, all of the 15th Battalion was ashore and received orders from Brigade Command to move up a gulley (which would soon be named Shrapnel Gulley) to take up a position between two brigades that had landed the day before. This position was quickly named Quinn’s Post after Captain Quinn who commanded “B” Company.
 
It is recorded that David Buckley was reported Killed in Action at Quinn’s Post on 26th April 1915. No record exists of the nature of his death, or of his remains being recovered or buried. David is commemorated on the tablets of the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, which looks out over the old Anzac positions, and which honours the 4200 Australians and 700 New Zealanders who have no known grave or were buried at sea.
 
David’s parents dutifully signed for his campaign medals in 1922; the 1914/15 Star, The Empire Medal and the Victory Medal.