GRAY, Mark
| Service Number: | 5005 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 March 1916, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wilmington, South Australia, 17 July 1887 |
| Home Town: | Wilmington, Mount Remarkable, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Spring Creek Public School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Grazier |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 28 October 1916, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Littlehampton Honour Roll, Mount Barker Soldiers' Memorial Hospital Roll of Honor, Mount Barker War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France), Wilmington District WW1 Honour Boards |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5005, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jun 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 5005, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Bulla embarkation_ship_number: A45 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5005, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Bulla, Adelaide | |
| 20 Oct 1916: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 5005, 32nd Infantry Battalion, 2nd Passchendaele , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 5005 awm_unit: 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1916-10-28 |
Lance Corporal Mark GRAY (Jnr.) 17 / 7 / 1887 – 28 / 10 / 1916
Mark GRAY was born 17th July 1887 in WILMINGTON the third son of Mark & Janet GRAY who lived at WILMINGTON. He was one of six sons, three of whom enlisted for WW1.
Mark worked as a Grazier on a property near WILMINGTON before enlisting. His family had moved to LITTLEHAMPTON. He attested (formally enlisting in the AIF) on 13th March 1916 at ADELAIDE.
He left for the Mitcham training camp immediately. He was described as a single man, 5’7 ¼ “tall, weighed 127 pounds and had a 34” chest. He had brown hair, a fresh complexion and hazel eyes. He sported a large brushy moustache.
Mark completed camp training and embarked from Adelaide on HMAT Bulla on June 23rd 1916. Mark joined his battalion, the 10th, on the Western Front in France, on 29th September 1916. The 32nd Battalion fought its first major battle at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. The attack was a disastrous introduction to battle for the 32nd -' it suffered 718 casualties, almost 75 per cent of the battalion's total strength, but closer to 90 per cent of its actual fighting strength. When Mark joined the 32nd was still rebuilding and involved in smaller actions..
Mark was a conscientious soldier and on the 20th October, 1916 he was promoted to Lance Corporal. He was killed in action by shrapnel on the 28th October 1916 as he and his men were involved in fierce localised fighting in “SCABBARD TRENCH”. He was listed as having a severely fractured skull and was dead when brought into the Aid Post. Marks grave was not able to be located after the war.
As Mark GRAYs body was never recovered, his name is now one of the over 4,000 on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
The GRAYs were obviously devastated. Marks younger brother, 3468 Pte William Gray enlisted from Perth in the 16th Battalion and embarked for Egypt in November 1915 where he was hospitalised for six months with pleuro pneumonia before returning to Australia for discharge, medically unfit, on 29 September 1916.
His youngest brother, 5364 Pte Frederick Gray, 28th Battalion, died of broncho pneumonia in France on 8 March 1917 and is buried in the St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen. He was aged 22 years.
Mark Snr later received both Mark and Fred’s British War Medals, Victory Medals, Memorial Scrolls and Plaques along with copies of the ‘Kings Message’.
Mark is also commemorated in a number of places, including on the Australian War Memorial on the Roll of Honour and on the Honour Roll at The WILMINGTON Soldiers Memorial Hall.
Submitted 8 June 2021 by N. Campbell
Biography
"...5005 Private (Pte) Mark Gray, 32nd Battalion. A grazier from Littlehampton, South Australia, prior to enlistment in the 13th Reinforcements of the 27th Battalion he embarked from Adelaide on 24 June 1916 aboard HMAT Bulla for Plymouth, England. Following training in England he proceeded to France and was transferred to the 32nd Battalion on 15 October 1916. Five days later he was appointed Lance Corporal. He was killed in action near Albert, France, on 28 October 1916, aged 29 years. He has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. His youngest brother, 5364 Pte Frederick Gray, 28th Battalion, died of bronchopneumonia in France on 8 March 1917 and is buried in the St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen. He was aged 22 years. His younger brother, 3468 Pte William Gray enlisted from Perth in the 16th Battalion and embarked for Egypt in November 1915 where he was hospitalised for six months with pleuro pneumonia before returning to Australia for discharge, medically unfit, on 29 September 1916." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
"LATE LCE.-CPL. GRAY.
MOUNT BARKER, December 1.— Mr. Mark Gray, of Blakiston, has received word that his son, Lce.-Cpl. Mark Grey, was killed in action in France on October 28. Lce.-Cpl. Cray was the third son, and was 28 years of age. Three of six sons had enlisted. One is now in France, and the third was invalided home from Egypt. The deceased soldier had been engaged in farming at Wilmington, and was a single man. He had been only a month in France when he was killed." - from the Adelaide Chronicle 09 Dec 1916 (nla.gov.au)
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