BAKER, Ralph Alderton
| Service Number: | Q210283 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 May 1916, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Medical Officers |
| Born: | Medindie, South Australia, 18 May 1889 |
| Home Town: | Maryborough, Fraser Coast, Queensland |
| Schooling: | St Peter’s College and University of Adelaide |
| Occupation: | House surgeon |
| Died: | Natural causes, Maryborough, Queensland, 9 August 1943, aged 54 years |
| Cemetery: |
Maryborough Lawn Cemetery, Queensland |
| Memorials: | Adelaide University of Adelaide WW1 Honour Roll, Hackney St Peter's College Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 16 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Captain, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Jun 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, Medical Officers, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Katuna embarkation_ship_number: A13 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, Medical Officers, HMAT Katuna, Adelaide |
World War 2 Service
| 18 Aug 1942: | Enlisted Q210283, Maryborough, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Aug 1942: | Enlisted Q210283 | |
| 19 Aug 1942: | Involvement Q210283 |
Help us honour Ralph Alderton Baker's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Sharyn Roberts
Excerpt from Blood Sweat and Fears: Medical Practitioners and Medical Students of South Australian who Served in World War 1. Courtesy of the Authors
Ralph Alderton Baker was born on the 18th of May 1889 at Medindie, South Australia. He was educated at St Peter’s College and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide graduating MB BS in 1912. He then gained experience as a House Surgeon at the Adelaide Hospital for 12 months in 1913. He proceeded to Ardrossan on the York Peninsula as a General Practitioner. Ralph married Emma Maud Cora Burfitt Riley prior to enlistment in the AIF.
Baker enlisted in the AIF on 16th May 1916 with the rank of Captain in the AAMC. He was 27 years old 5ft 7ins tall and weighed 150lbs. He had fair hair, blue eyes and no previous Military experience. His wife of Dequetteville Terrace, Adelaide was named as next of kin with WW Baker, Egmont Terrace Lower Mitcham as an alternative address. Baker embarked from Sydney for Egypt in HMAT Katuna on 26th June 1916. He was attached to the 1 LH Training Regiment in Egypt. His time there was as a RMO to Regiments, the 14 AGH, and in the 1 and 3 LH FdAmb. He also had detached duty in the 1 LH FdAmb of the British Army in September 1918 as a temporary captain. He saw duty at Mustapha, Abbassia, Moascar and the Medical School. It was during this latter part of the war that he contracted malaria and was admitted to the 14th AGH then to the HT Kantara and finally on board Port Sydney on the 5th March 1919 departed Egypt for Melbourne. From Melbourne he was transferred to the 4MD Adelaide on 22nd April 1919 where his appointment was terminated on 12th June 1919. Ralph Baker was issued the British War Medal and the Victory Medal
Baker had three daughters between 1920 and 1924, born in Adelaide and in Barmera. Baker, living in Kensington Gardens, subsequently divorced his wife who was living on South Terrace, Adelaide on the grounds of her habitual drunkenness and neglect of domestic duties. He later married Johanna from NSW. He enlisted again in the Army during WW2 from Maryborough, Queensland on 18th August 1942 and his wife Johanna Baker was named as next of kin. Ralph Alderton Baker died in Maryborough Queensland on the 9th August 1943.
Sources: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/NameSearch/Interface/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3009955.
The Advertiser of 11th December 1935
Courier Mail Brisbane 11th August 1945
Ancestry.com
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