Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alexander Nicolson MacKinnon, born in 1891 in Chetwynd, Victoria, was the son of Angus McKinnon (1835-1918) and Margaret Reid (1862-1934).

MacKinnon enlisted in Melbourne on 14 January 1915, aged 23. Prior to enlistment, he was a grazier in the Wimmera. He embarked aboard A34 Persic on 28 May 1915 as part of A Squadron of the 13th Light Horse Regiment A.I.F.

The men of 13th Light Horse woke early on their day of departure. The roll call was at 2 am. At 4 am they were issued their plumes for their slouch hats, and then at 8.30 am, they saddled up and rode from camp to the pier at Port Melbourne, where they received the regimental colours from the Governor. The Persic had the men of the Regiment and their horses aboard. It seems it was not an ideal ship to be carrying horses. Multiple times on the voyage, large waves crashed aboard the ship and broke some of the boxes housing those horses stabled on deck. Other horses were stabled below deck, and the heat became stifling as the ship sailed towards Egypt. Thirty horses of the Regiment died on the voyage.

As the ship moved north towards Suez, the warmer weather made life below decks uncomfortable for the men, too, so they went to sleep on deck. The horses also needed to be brought up from the holds for exercise and swapped with those stabled on the deck. The Persic arrived in Suez on 28 June 1915.

Upon arrival in Suez, the men and horses travelled by train to Abbassia outside Cairo. After travelling for over a month from Australia, the men were given leave in Cairo. For men from Australia, Cairo was a significant contrast. In his diary, 415 Private Arthur James Rouget (1889-1940) of the 13th Light Horse, who had accompanied MacKinnon aboard the Persic, described it as '… a wonderful city. We had no idea that there was a city like it in the world so dirty and a peculiar stench'. The men travelled out to the Pyramids and the Sphinx. The Regiment then spent ten days guarding Turkish prisoners of war before receiving word that they were heading for Gallipoli to be used as infantry. Unfortunately, Alexander MacKinnon did not travel with the men. About a week after landing in Egypt, he began to have pains in his knees, ankles and neck. MacKinnon now walked with difficulty. He wrote a letter to his mother, Margaret, informing her that he was in hospital at Heliopolis and had been diagnosed with Rheumatism.

In September 1915, having received only one letter from Alexander, she wrote to the Secretary of Defence seeking information on his condition. In his service records, Margaret's letter shows her concern for him, having heard no official word from the Army. On 15 September, she received a reply from the Army, acknowledging that he was in hospital in Heliopolis suffering from Rheumatism. A reason was provided for why she had not received any official correspondence, 'it is probable, however, that it was only a slight attack, and the Egyptian Authorities did not consider it warranted officially reporting.' She would have found that reply a relief.

However, Alexander did not recover. On 5 October 1915, he sailed from Suez aboard Kanowna for Australia. He was discharged in Melbourne on 15 February 1916. Sadly, within a year, he was dead.

He died on 11 January 1917 and was buried at Tarrayoukyan in the Southern Grampians Shire.

The following is an extract from the Casterton Free Press and Glenelg Shire Advertiser from 15 January 1917. Note that the spelling of MacKinnon is McKinnon.

'Death of a Returned Soldier.

Our Tallengower correspondent writes : ' Quite a gloom was cast over the district when word was received that Alexander McKinnon had succumbed to an internal complaint in a private hospital in Melbourne on New Year's Day. His brother, John, who remained with him during his last illness, conveyed the body by train to Coleraine, and on Wednesday the remains were interred in the Tarryoukhan cemetery. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. John Meers. The deceased was the third son of Mr and Mrs Angus McKinnon, of 'Glenelg Vale,' and when the war broke out, was one of the first to go. He returned to his home about a year ago, his health having broken down. A few months ago, he gradually began to sink, and although the most skilled medical advice was procured, he passed peacefully away. Much sympathy is felt for his sorrowing parents and for his brothers and sister.'