MCKENZIE, Duncan
| Service Number: | 613 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 38th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Kerang, Victoria, Australia, November 1889 |
| Home Town: | Kerang, Gannawarra, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Belgium, 13 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Passchendaele, New British Cemetery On 28 April 2026, the Australian Dept of Defence announced. His headstone will be marked in Passchendaele New British Cemetery. |
| Memorials: | Murrabit Great War Honour Roll, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 613, 38th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jun 1916: | Involvement Corporal, 613, 38th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Jun 1916: | Embarked Corporal, 613, 38th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Melbourne | |
| 13 Oct 1917: | Involvement Second Lieutenant, 38th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 38th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Second Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1917-10-13 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Australian Dept of Defence - Emma Thompson,
Released 28 April 2026
2nd Lt Duncan McKensie, 38th Infantry Battalion
More than a century after they were killed in action in World War I, the remains of two missing Australian soldiers have been identified.
Second Lieutenant Duncan McKenzie and Private Roy Lesley Martin (1584, 30th Infantry Battalion) will now have their names engraved on new headstones.
Australia’s Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart said the identifications showed Australia’s enduring commitment to honouring its war dead.
“The formal identification of Second Lieutenant McKenzie and Private Martin, more than a century after their deaths, reflects our ongoing responsibility to those who served and sacrificed for our nation,” Lieutenant General Stuart said.
“Time does not diminish our obligation to remember their service and to honour them with the dignity of a named grave.”
Second Lieutenant McKenzie, from Kerang in Victoria, was killed in action on October 12, 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres.
He and his brothers departed for war from his family’s Kerang property in 1916. His descendants still reside there.
Serving with the 38th Battalion, Second Lieutenant McKenzie was part of an attack to suppress German positions.
With many accounts of him being captured or killed during this attack, his body was not formally identified when the battlefield was cleared in 1920.
He was buried at Passchendaele New British Cemetery as an unknown Australian soldier.
Recent investigations and the discovery of new evidence made it possible to confirm the identity of his remains.
His headstone in Belgium will be replaced with one that bears his name and regimental details.
“By formally identifying Second Lieutenant McKenzie and Private Martin, their families receive long-awaited reassurance and clarity,” Lieutenant General Stuart said.
“Their families have lived generations without knowing where their loved ones lay.”
The identifications were conducted in partnership with the soldiers’ families, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commemorations team, historical research organisation Fallen Diggers Incorporated and the Fromelles Association of Australia.
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