CAMPBELL, Alexander William
| Service Number: | 2731 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 July 1915, Claremont, Tasmania |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 26 February 1899 |
| Home Town: | Launceston, Launceston, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Natural causes, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 16 May 2002, aged 103 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cornelian Bay Cemetery and Crematorium, Tasmania Section: DZ; Site: 187 |
| Memorials: | Wellington Lone Pine |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2731, Claremont, Tasmania | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Aug 1915: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 2731, 15th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' |
|
| 21 Aug 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2731, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Melbourne | |
| 23 Oct 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2731, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Aug 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2731, 15th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Alexander William Campbell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Edwards
Alec Campbell - The last Anzac!
"The story of the last Anzac begins in Launceston, Tasmania, on 26th February 1899, and thus spans three centuries. Alec was the son of Marian Thrower and Samuel Campbell and grandson of Donald Campbell, an immigrant from Argyllshire, Scotland. On 2nd July 1915, two months after the landing at Gallipoli was reported in the Australian newspapers, he presented himself at the recruiting office where he gave his age as 18 years 4 months. He was at that time, he stated, a clerk in an insurance company, and had served three years in the Senior Cadets at Launceston's Scotch College. He was 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 135 pounds. Parental consent was necessary for anyone between the ages of 18 and 21 to enlist in the A.I.F., which should have presented an obstacle to enlistment because Alec had in fact lied about his age, raising it a full two years above his actual 16 years and 4 months. He met the problem of how to show the authorities he had his parents' permission head-on; he simply got it from them. On 30th June 1915 his mother and father signed a letter in which they give their consent to his 'enlistment for the front', unwittingly reserving a special place in history for their son, No. 2731 Private A. W. Campbell, 15th (Queensland & Tasmania) Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Force. He would be nicknamed and known by his comrades as 'The Kid'..." - READ MORE LINK (www.anzacs.org)
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