Virtual
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Australia

Son of Edward MacFARLANE, & Annie Law (nee Horsfall) MacFARLANE, of Bourke, Bourke Shire, New South Wales.

Born:  23rd September 1890, Bourke, Bourke Shire, New South Wales.  [NSW Birth Register of Edward MacFarlane MacFARLANE, Registraton No:  7580/1890].

Information Referenced from this website:  New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages | Family History  Search.  

Lieut. Edward MacFarlane MacFarlane, who has died of wounds, was 25 years of age, and received his commission in the Scottish Rifle Regiment (Illawarra Infantry) in 1909. He was appointed a full lieutenant in July, 1913, and went to the front with the 3rd Battalion. He was previously reported in May last as having been severely wounded in the shoulder and neck. Lieut. MacFarlane was the only son of Mr. Edward MacFarlane, late Under-secretary for Lands.

From The Western Front Association

On 2 August 1915 Capt Edward MacFarlane MacFarlane died of his wounds on board a hospital ship off the coast of Gallipoli.

Born in 1890, Edward MacFarlane MacFarlane first joined the armed forces in 1909, when he enlisted in the Scottish Rifles (Illaara Regiment). Previously a Dairy Farmer by trade he quickly rose through the ranks, transferring to the citizens forces (39th battalion) where he attained the rank of Lieutenant. He then transferred to the 37th battalion in July 1913, remaining with them until September 1914 when he joined the Australian Imperial Force, being assigned to the 3rd Battalion.

Edward took part in the landings at Gallipoli where he was wounded.

His obituary appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, 14 August 1915, "Lieut. Edward MacFarlane MacFarlane, who has died of wounds, was 25 years of age, and received his commission in the Scottish Rifle Regiment (Illawarra Infantry) in 1909. He was appointed a full lieutenant in July, 1913, and went to the front with the 3rd Battalion. He was previously reported in May last as having been severely wounded in the shoulder and neck. Lieut. MacFarlane was the only son of Mr. Edward MacFarlane, late Under-secretary for Lands".

He had previously written home about his experiences, a letter being published in the Sydney Morning Herald in June 1915.

"We started landing last Sunday morning at about 4 o’clock under a heavy hail of fire from everything the Turks could bring to bear on us. We landed at about 4.20 on Gallipoli peninsula. The Turks brought their machine guns and rifles right to the water’s edge, just inside the scrub, where they entrenched. When the boats reached the beach the Turks brought such a heavy fire on them from the trenches whilst a hail of shrapnel poured down from the forts that in some of the boats every man was killed or wounded before he got to the shore.

"Some of the third brigade were so close when they reached the shore that they jumped from the boats and made a bayonet charge. The Turks however did not wait for them and cleared as hard as they could go. When I landed it was fairly dark and I was told to go to the firing line at once, in fact I think I was one of the first from the 3rd battalion to be sent to the firing line. I was acting second in command in my company and I took the company less one platoon and was going to the centre of the line when a staff officer told me to reinforce the right of our position as they had suffered a lot of casualties and were likely to be pushed back at any moment. The rest of the 3rd went to the left so I saw no more of that battalion.

"I was never so tired in my life as when we were going to the right. We had hills and gullies to climb and the hills were so steep. I kept my men at it as hard as I could go, aided by my sergeant major, a man in splendid condition. We had a couple of slight halts before we got into position. By this time we had all dropped our packs – it was essentially that we get to the firing line as quickly as we could. When we got there the enemy’s firing line was only 200 yards from us but we could not see them because they were entrenched. We were on a perfectly flat piece of ground without any cover and with low scrub about 18 inches between us. We could not entrench because we would have been shot doing it. All we could do was lie as flat as possible and keep our fire, under clouds of rifle bullets and shells.

"That was the worst of it, being fired at and not being able to fire back at anything. On our left the men were entrenched. At 2pm some New Zealand troops coming to reinforce us lost all of their officers. I ran back to bring them up to the firing line. I brought them all up and was just falling to my face when a bullet hit me on the left shoulder, coming out the small of my back. At 4pm was the first we saw the Turks. They came within 100 yards of us to make a bayonet charge. When they got to 100 yards we could see them plainly and fired as hard as we could. They got up to charge and we got up to meet them firing. They charged to within 50 yards of us and then turned and bolted – that was when we got some firing in. I was firing my pistol and revolver as hard as I could. Just then the shrapnel opened on us. I was hit in the side but it did not go deep. At 9pm some soldiers cut my equipment off and got me back down to the beach. At 1 am I was dressed and sent back here. I am doing well and hope to get back to it soon."

After recovering from his wounds he returned to his unit and was promoted to Captain. However in late July he was shot in the head, only to die on 2 August while onboard a hospital ship.

Captain Edward MacFarlane MacFarlane is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli.