Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alfred Roy Gorrie 

Service Number: 552

Alfred Roy Gorrie enlisted in World War 1 on the 2nd of September 1914 at the age of 19. Alfred was born on the 1st of December 1896 and lived on Grosvenor Road, Lindfield New South Wales (2). He lived with his mother, Jane May, and his father, Alfred Gorrie (3). Alfred graduated from Sydney Technical High School in 1912 and under the tutelage of A H Oswald was apprenticed for 5 years and pursued to become an electrical engineer (4).

Alfred enlisted on the 2nd of September 1914 as a private as part of the 1st Light Horse Regiment (5). Alfred disembarked in Egypt onboard the HMAT A16 star of Victoria on the 3rd of December 1914 (7)  where he underwent the standard training for a soldier which included: maintaining a certain level of physical fitness, learning to operate firearms, trench warfare, and other aspects of survivability during the war (8).

On the 9th if May 1915, Alfred’s unit disembarked on the Gallipoli Peninsula and joined the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (M.E.F.)(9). The M.E.F were part of the British army that commanded the Allied troops in the Gallipoli campaign (10). The campaign aimed to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war by capturing its capital city Constantinople and force through the Dardanelles Strait to re-establish sea communications with Russia (11). During his time in the Gallipoli peninsula, he participated in a battle called the ‘Deadman Ridge’ (12)and was admitted to the hospital for debility. In recovery, he started getting worse when he got Enteritis and then got transferred to England where he was admitted again to St. Andrews Hospital for dysentery. After his recovery, he was transferred back to Egypt onboard the HT Kingstonian on the 3rd of March 1916. He continued to serve as part of the A.I.F where he was promoted to a Corporal part of the 1st Field Squadron engineers on the 3rd of March 1916. He continued to serve for another 3 years when he contracted malaria and was held in hospital for long periods (13).

Alfred Roy Gorrie survived the war and was sent back to Australia for early repatriation due to the many illnesses that weakened him (14). After the war, he was married to his beloved wife Shelia Meryl Gorie and became a representative of the distributing oil organisation, Live Wire Oil Co (15). In 1933 he was accused by an oil company and prosecuted in court for selling motor spirit trademarked by the company “voco”. In 1934 Alfred was then again sent back to court and fined for threatening to kill an employee from a rival oil company. Alfred then became an officer working at the R.A.A.F (Royal Australian Air Force) two years before his death (16) .

His name is up for display at the Sydney Technical World War 1 memorial and the virtual war memorial to commemorate his work done for our country along with his many comrades and classmates.

References:

WW1 Honour Board Name list 
Virtual War Memorial - GORRIE, Alfred Roy
Ibid. 
Ibid.
Ibid.
Britannica - First Battle of Marne
NAA
Anzac Portal - Army recruits
Ibid. 
Britannica - Gallipoli Campaign
Ibid.
1st light horse brigade - Australian War memorial 
Ibid. 
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid. 

Bibliography:

Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive
https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=114961
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=4787597&isAv=N
https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Battle-of-the-Marne
https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/296518
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51035
https://www.lighthorse.org.au/the-battle-of-dead-mans-ridge/
Marty Vu - WW1 honour board name list 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n-hpAiScH641ctvJRpiFbQCJ86M6Z4b2
https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/military-organisation/training
https://www.gallipoli-association.org/campaign/order-of-battle-mef/
https://www.britannica.com/event/Gallipoli-Campaign