MCGOUGH, Walter Colombo
| Service Number: | 4175 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Nairne, South Australia, 22 April 1891 |
| Home Town: | Birdwood (formerly Blumberg), Adelaide Hills, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Birdwood Primary School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Butcher |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 4 August 1916, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval Plot 5, Row G, Grave 15., London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Birdwood Blumberg Roll of Honor, Birdwood Pictorial Honour Roll WW1, Birdwood WW1 & WW2 Soldier's Memorial, Murray Bridge Roll of Honour WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4175, 27th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4175, 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: RMS Mongolia embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 9 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4175, 27th Infantry Battalion, RMS Mongolia, Adelaide | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Walter McGough was taken on strength of the 27th Battalion on the 6 July 1916. On the 4 August, exactly a month before his younger brother Henry Murray Gough died at Mouquet Farm, Walter was killed in action at Pozieres as the 27th Battalion attacked the OG1 and OG2 trenches at Pozieres. He was listed as missing for a long time. During 1937, his grave was located and he was identified by his ID disc which was still on his body. His remains were reinterred in the London Cemetery and Extension. His ID disc was sent to his father at this time, his mother having died in 1924. The father Thomas seemed untraceable after 1931, so the whereabouts of the identity disc is now unknown. The following letter in his service file was returned to Robinson as undeliverable.
Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, Victoria Barracks,
Melbourne 30 Nov 1937.
Dear Sir,
With further reference to the report of the regrettable loss of your son, the late No.4175 Private W.C. McGough, 27th Battalion, I am now in receipt of advice that during the course of recent exhumation work in the vicinity of Pozieres (Somme) the Imperial War Graves Commission was successful in recovering the remains of this soldier, which have since been interred with every measure of care and reverence in Grave 15, Row G, Plot 5 of London Cemetery Extension, High Wood, Longueval, France, where a permanent headstone of uniform design will be erected in due course and engraved with his full regimental particulars and date of death, together with any verse or epitaph previously selected in the form of a personal inscription.
I am also enclosing herewith an identity disc which was found at the time. This memento, though now somewhat impaired by long exposure, will doubtless be valued on account of its former intimate association with your son, and I trust same comes safely to hand.
Yours faithfully, T. Robinson, Officer 1/o Base Records.
Mr. Thos. McGough, Port Wakefield, South Australia.
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