CHATFIELD, Alfred George
| Service Number: | 3783 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 August 1916, Hackney, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 23 February 1884 |
| Home Town: | Hackney, Norwood Payneham St Peters, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Horse Driver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Morlancourt, France, 1 August 1918, aged 34 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Aug 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Hackney, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Sep 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3783, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Commonwealth embarkation_ship_number: A73 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Sep 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3783, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Commonwealth, Adelaide |
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Alfred George Chatfield, born in South Australia, son of Frederick George Chatfield and Elizabeth Harding, grew up in the inner suburbs of Adelaide, before meeting and marrying Edith Blanche Kearns in 1908 in Broken Hill, New South Wales. He had two children, Arthur Frederick George and Ruth Edith. Aged 34, he enlisted in the 32nd Infrantry Battalion, and taken on strength to the Third Division, 8th Brigade, 9th Reinforcements when volunteers were desperately needed after several disastrous battles in Hamel and Fromelles, France. He sailed on "HMTS Commonwealth" arriving in Plymouth on 14 Nov 1916. He proceeded on the "SS Victoria" from Folkstone in February 1917 and was posted to France. He was assigned to B Coy, where his platoon was stationed on the Bray-Corbie Road, near the brick beacon, opposite, Morlancourt, France.
On the 1st August 1918, at around 2am, he was manning a listening post, when a whiz bang took his life and he was blown to pieces. An English Regiment, the 18th Surreys, relieved the platoon's position and according to the International Red Cross Report, they buried him in an unmarked grave. He was posthumously awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His Commanding Officer was Captain John H Allen.
"...3783 Pte Alfred George Chatfield, 32nd Battalion, of Hackney, SA. A horse driver before enlisting on 7 August 1916, he embarked from Adelaide on HMAT Commonwealth on 21 September 1916 with the 9th Reinforcements. He was hit by a shell and killed in action on 1 August 1918, on the Bray-Corbie Road opposite Morlancourt, France, while serving with 6 Platoon, B Company. He was 34 years old." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
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