CAMERON, Donald McGregor
| Service Numbers: | 1882, 1882A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 35th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Yass, New South Wales, Australia, 1894 |
| Home Town: | Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway employee |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 12 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Goulburn District Railway Employees Great War Honour Roll, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 1882, 55th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Barambah embarkation_ship_number: A37 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 1882, 55th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Barambah, Sydney | |
| 12 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 1882A, 35th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1882A awm_unit: 35th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-10-12 |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
‘Donald CAMERON’, (Service Number 1882A) was born in 1894. He gave his ‘trade or calling’ as ‘railway employee’ when he enlisted in the AIF at Goulburn in December 1915.
He embarked from Sydney in June 1916 and landed in England in August. He was sent to France with his unit in November. In June 1917 he was wounded in action but able to return to duty the same month. In July he was wounded again and returned to duty the same month. He suffered a bout of Influenza which again hospitalised him for a few days in August. On 12 October 1917 he was reported ‘missing in action’ in a major battle at Passchendaele.
In 1918, having had no further news of him, his family wrote ‘to the Pope’ asking for his help in tracing Donald. They received a reply (part-Italian and part-French) from the Vatican office charged with collecting information concerning prisoners of war, which stated that enquiries were being made and that the results should be awaited with patience. The family misinterpreted this letter as stating that Donald was a prisoner of war. Their misunderstanding was corrected by the military authorities, whose further enquiries convinced them that he had in fact been killed in action on 12 October 1917. Their records were amended in May 1918.
Although he has no known grave, some personal effects were recovered and forwarded to his family in Australia.
Submitted 16 May 2023 by John Oakes