CADD, Horace Alfred
| Service Number: | 863 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 December 1914, Oaklands, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Port Vincent, South Australia, 19 April 1894 |
| Home Town: | Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Port Vincent Public School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Shot by a sniper while carrying wounded, Messines, Belgium, 31 July 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Port Vincent War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Dec 1914: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Trooper, 863, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, embarkation_roll: roll_number: 1 embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: |
|
|---|---|---|
| 2 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Oaklands, South Australia | |
| 1 Apr 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Trooper, 863, 3rd Light Horse Regiment | |
| 15 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 863, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Sep 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 863, 43rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 16 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 863, 43rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 7 Jun 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 863, 43rd Infantry Battalion, Battle of Messines | |
| 11 Jul 1917: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 863, 43rd Infantry Battalion, Warneton, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 863 awm_unit: 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-07-31 |
Help us honour Horace Alfred Cadd's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography
Known as ALF.
Son of Joseph Cadd and Ellen (nee Hanrahan).
Medium height; stout; Greenish-grey eyes; medium brown hair; fairly solid chap and dark. Roman Catholic religion.
Tattoos on both arms (upper left arm: "Faith, Hope & Charity"; initials "H.A.C"; "the rising sun"; and on the right arm “I love E.M.E.B” - noted by his mother).
Rank: Lance Sergeant
Unit: 3rd Light Horse Regiment
He served at Gallipoli from August to December 1915.
Pte Cadd was hospitalised with severe illness several times during and after the campaign. Fit for service in September 1916, he was transferred to the 43rd Battalion.
In November 1916 he was promoted to Lance Corporal. Shortly afterward he arrived for service in France.
In May 1917 he was promoted to Corporal and in June to Temporary Sergeant.
On 24 June 1917, he was awarded the Military Medal (MM) for bravery in action during the Battle of Messines, Belgium, 7 June 1917.
He was promoted to Lance Sergeant (L/Sgt) on 12 July 1917.
On 31 July 1917 L/Sgt Cadd's unit was attempting to take a windmill near Warneton, Messines. They left their trench at approximately 4am and throughout the course of the day, the windmill was taken, lost and regained.
L/Sgt Cadd was shot and killed, possibly by a sniper, at about 6pm.
One member of his unit reported that while "Alf was attempting to carry back one of the men who was wounded he was shot. Alf was considered the best soldier in the battalion by all who knew him".
The other soldiers in the portrait have not been identified, however, written on the back of the photograph is:
"To Dear Mum with Love Alf XX / these are my to (sic) mates."
He was noted by his fellow servicemen:
“He was a great pal of everybody and a fine athlete”. -- JA Miller, 723, 43rd Battalion, Aldwych
“Caddy. He was considered the best soldier in the Battalion by all who knew him.” -- L.Cpl H Wilkins, 415, Glanville SA
Medals:
WWI Star; British War Medal (10160); Victory Medal (10116); Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll (328542).
A cousin of L/Sgt Cadd, 462 Pte Edwin Cadd, 3rd Machine Gun Battalion, died of wounds in France on 20 July 1917.
Sourced and collated by Julianne T Ryan 26 May 2014. Lest we forget.
Biography contributed
Biography written by Koby Poulton, Yorketown Area School, SA attached as a document. Winning entry for 2018 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize.
Click images to start slideshow.