FLETCHER, Allen Scott
| Service Number: | 4473 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 September 1915, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mount Gambier, South Australia, August 1885 |
| Home Town: | Compton, Grant, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Mount Schank School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 20 September 1952, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Compton Presbyterian Sunday School Roll of Honour, Mount Gambier St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4473, 10th Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 4473, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 4473, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Adelaide | |
| 16 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 4473, 50th Infantry Battalion, Mouquet Farm, Shell shock | |
| 10 Jun 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 4473, 50th Infantry Battalion, Battle of Messines, GSW left arm |
Memory of my Great Uncle
Thank you to the Saint Ignatius College for their very well researched and valuable contribution to maintaining the memory of my Great uncle, I wish to clarify some aspects and enhance their article.
My Great uncle was one of five siblings, correctly his older brother was John, a member of the South Australian Parliament for many years representing the Mount Gambier district. My Grandmother Mary was his younger sister, she was married to John Frederick Boardman my Grandfather who also served in WW1, their younger sisters were Bessie, Flora and Janet.
John was also his fathers name, who was actually born on the Mount Schank station in 1857, working there from a young age, later rising to be a manager of the Station for many years, which covered many hundreds of acres South Of Mount Gambier, a life which Allan thrived in, becoming skilled at all aspects of station life. Allan was an exceptional horseman and throughout his life owned, bred and raced thoroughbred horses at race meetings throughout out South Australia and Western Victoria, often riding the horses himself.
Submitted 22 September 2021 by Ian Cusack
Biography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Allan Scott Fletcher was born at Mount Salt Station in Mount Gambier, SA. In his early life, he was educated at Mount Schank School. He had blue eyes and light brown hair. He had only one sibling, his older brother, John Fletcher. He was a labourer for the majority of his life, meaning that before enlisting in the war and embarking on his journey, he would have had a lot of physical work incorporated into his daily life. His family consisted of his mother and father, as well as his older brother, John. Throughout his life, the other citizens of his community considered him a man of generous and cooperative nature and was always willing to lend a hand. He had never participated in any other military service previous to his enlistment in the Australian Imperial Force, meaning he would have been eager to embark on a new journey in his life.
When he enlisted, he stood at five feet and eight and a half inches and weighed 145 pounds. He had blue eyes and light brown hair. He had a medical examination on the sixteenth of August 1915, which proved that he was fit for active service. He was placed into the fourteenth reinforcement of the 10th battalion and filled out all of the forms in Adelaide on the seventh of September of 1915. He embarked on board HMAT A28 Miltiades on the seventh of February 1916, five months after his initial enlisting. However, around April of that year, he was transferred to the 50th battalion and was sent to France. He was wounded for the first time in action on the 16th of August during the fighting at Mouquet Farm near Pozières. He suffered from shell shock due to the heavy bombardment. After recovering he was again hospitalised for appendicitis and didn’t see much action for the rest of 1916. During his time working as an Australian military, he was going between England and France a lot. What most likely was happening is if he was wounded or wasn’t required for battle in France, he would likely go to England to either rest or to be treated for wounds. He returned to his battalion on 30th March 1917.
Fletcher was wounded for the second time on 10th June 1917 at Messines, suffering a left arm wound which caused him to be transferred to England. In October of 1917, he developed bronchitis, along with other more minor sicknesses at that time. This caused him to travel to Sutton Veny and Harefield to be treated in hospitals specialised for soldiers of world war one. Two months later in early December he had some complications with his asthma and had to go back to Harefield. From there he was returned to Australia for medical discharge in early 1918.
He joined the Australian military on the seventh of September 1915 and fought in the world war up until he got discharged on 3rd May 1918. After being discharged from the military, years later in April 1922, he married Lilian Maria Noblett. They went on to have one child together, Lorna Fletcher, who lives in Adelaide. His wife passed away previous to him, and during the years following this, he did shear and contract work. He passed away at Dawes road repatriation hospital on the morning of Saturday, September 20th after his health failed around 12 years previous, and his funeral took place at Mitcham cemetery.
He received a 1914/1915 star medal, a British war medal and a victory medal.