CAKEBREAD, Alfred
| Service Number: | 821 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 February 1915, Enlisted at Atherton, QLD |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bow, England, United Kingdom, 6 January 1889 |
| Home Town: | Peeramon, Tablelands, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Maury Road School, Romford, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 27 October 1915, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Gallipoli.Turkey Special Memorial, Row A, Grave 20 Headstone inscription reads: Gone but not forgotten , Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Atherton War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Peeramon and District Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 821, 25th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Atherton, QLD | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 821, 25th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 821, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Brisbane |
Last Post Ceremony, Commemorating Albert Cakebread.
Alfred Cakebread was born in Bow in London, one of a family of four boys. He came to Australia when he was 21, probably with his youngest brothers George and John, after the death of his parents. Life in Queensland was hard for the newly-arrived Alfred, and he spent time travelling between plantations working for scanty wages in poor conditions. He wrote scathing letters to the Labor Party press about conditions on sugar plantations to the newspapers, saying “the truth is that the conditions of labour are so disgusting that local men will only go to some mills as a last resource”. After some time in Australia he became more successful, and was a dairy farmer when the First World War began. He left his occupation to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1915 at the age of 26.
Cakebread was posted to the 25th Battalion, raised in Queensland about six months earlier. He went into training in Australia and then in Egypt. On 11 September 1915 the 25th Battalion arrived at Anzac Cove, where the Australians had been for nearly five months. They managed to land reasonably safely, with only one casualty, and soon went into the front line to work on improving trenches and strengthening their position.
Although the major offensives were over for the Australians on the Gallipoli peninsula, the position of the 25th Battalion was by no means safe, and it suffered regular casualties during its time there. On 27 October it came under heavy Turkish shelling and several men were killed. One of these was Private Alfred Cakebread. He was visiting the cookhouse in Reserve Gully when a Turkish shrapnel shell burst nearby and killed him and Private Armstrong, also of the 25th Battalion. Cakebread had been on Gallipoli just over one month.
Story Researched by Dr.Meleah Hampton, Historian, Military History Section, AWM.
Submitted 6 March 2021 by Lynette Turner
Biography contributed by Carol Foster
Arrived in Australia aged 21 years
Son of Alfred and Amy Cakebread of Romford, Essex, England; brother of John Cakebread of Peeramon, QLD
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Although CWGC records him as Native of Romford, he was in fact born in Bow, East London -birth registered in Poplar.
Births Mar 1889 Cakebread Alfred Poplar 1c 594
The school he attended was more likekely Mawney Road School.
Click images to start slideshow.