Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alexander Krueger #6150 25th Battalion

Alex Krueger reported he was born at Kalbar. By the time he enlisted on 19th August 1916, Alex was almost 30 years old and worked as a sawyer in a local timber mill. After signing his enlistment papers Alex proceeded to Enoggera where he would spend some time in a depot battalion. On 5th October Alex was added to the roll of the 17th reinforcements of the 25th Battalion. Three weeks later he boarded the “Marathon” in Brisbane for overseas. The embarkation roll shows Ferdinand Krueger of Kalbar, Fassifern Line as Alex’s father and next of kin.

The “Marathon” docked in Plymouth on 9th January 1917 and the reinforcements marched into camp at Rolleston. Alex reported sick with a middle ear infection and spent some time recuperating. On 25th June he began a journey to join up with his battalion.

The 25th Battalion, part of the 7th brigade of the 2nd Division AIF, was in the rear areas around St Omer from May to August 1917 engaged in rest and training. It was high summer and up to 100 men a day from the battalion were assigned to assist the local farmers with the harvest. A good proportion of the 25th were men from the rural areas of Queensland and the opportunity to help the Flemish farmers was a welcome distraction. Those not engaged in the harvest spent time on the live firing ranges improving their skills with machine guns and bomb (grenade) throwing.

The campaign in Flanders would be conducted utilising a very different strategy to that employed on the Somme the year before. The General in charge set only limited objectives which allowed any gains to be defended against counter attack; a strategy that General Plumer called “bite and hold”. The first objective was a ridge which paralleled the road from Ypres to Rouliers. The battle of Menin Road began on 17th September with battalions from the 1st and 2nd Divisions AIF put into the line. The action was a resounding success with the new front line established, but at a cost to the 25th Battalion of 32 men killed and 125 wounded. The 25th were relieved by a British regiment and went back to the assembly area around Poperinghe to prepare for the next assault against the Germans at Broodseinde Ridge.

By 4th October the British front line had progressed along the line of the Menin Road from Ypres east towards Passchendaele, with significant advances made at Menin Road and Polygon Wood by the Australians. The attack on Broodseinde Ridge and the village of Zonnebeke would go ahead at 4:20am on 4th October. Three Australian Divisions, including the 2nd Division and a New Zealand Division would advance behind a creeping artillery barrage. In preparation for the attack, the men of the 25th painted a red diamond on their helmets to indicate their objective in the advance; the redline.

As the men of the 25th stood up from the jumping off trenches to hug their own artillery barrage, they encountered a line of German infantry walking towards them. Incredibly the Germans had planned a counterattack for exactly the same time on 4th October. Unluckily for the Germans, they were caught in the open by the Australian artillery and were badly mauled. The survivors were then engaged in hand to hand and bayonet fighting by the Australians.

Broodseinde was another success but like Menin Road just two weeks before, the casualties for the battalion were significant with 40 killed in action and 195 wounded. One of the wounded was Alex Krueger. He was taken to a field ambulance where a penetrating gun shot wound to his lung was diagnosed. Alex was loaded onto a light railway evacuation train and transferred to the 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station at Poperinghe where he succumbed to his wound on 6th October 1917. Alex was buried in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.

In December of 1917, the Shire Clerk at Harrisville wrote to the authorities in Melbourne on behalf of Alex’s father requesting any information regarding his son’s death or his personal belongings. Eventually campaign medals as well as a memorial plaque and scroll were sent to Ferdinand Krueger of Kalbar. Alexander Krueger is commemorated on both the Boonah and Kalbar War Memorial.

The 25th Battalion suffered the heaviest casualties of any battalion in the AIF with 3900 killed, died of wounds or wounded.