Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

On the 22nd of September 1899, the world was introduced to Kenneth Albert Pittman. At 18 years old Kenneth was 5,5, weighed 115 pounds (52kg), blue eyes, brown hair, and a medium complexion. He was born and raised in Kent Town in a little city named Adelaide, South Australia. He joined the fight at the age of 18 in the First World War, with the Australian Medical Corp. He trained in Adelaide before setting sail to Britain, United Kingdom in 1918. Although his war stories weren’t one for the books, his career certainly was.

Kenneth Albert Pittman was born on the 22nd of September 1899, to Edward Albert Pittman (Father) and H.M Pittman (Mother). In 1909, Edward Albert Pittman (Father) was elected the General Secretary of the South Australian branch of the Vehicle Builders Employees Federation (SABVBEF), where he remained for 25 years before retiring in 1934. He died on September 14, 1939 (Trove, Death of E.A Pittman, 1939).

Kenneth enrolled in the First World War on the 11th of December 1917 at the age of 18 as a warehouseman, he enrolled to become a private with the Army Medical Corps general reinforcements. Due to him being under 18, his mother had to sign a consent form to say that he was allowed to join the AIF. His mother did give permission but under the condition that he wouldn’t embark until the age of 19. Due to this, he trained in Adelaide with the AMC General Rifles (Australian Medical Corp) until he finally left the shores of Adelaide on the 6th of August 1918.

Kenneth Albert Pittman boarded the SS Gaika in 1918. When he arrived in the United Kingdom, he was admitted to a hospital with an unknown sickness that he had contracted on the ship. Pittman was hospitalized from October 1st to October 4th, 1918. Nine days later he was transferred to the AAMC training depot. On October 22, 1918, he returned to the hospital with influenza. He was transferred between the Fovant Mill Military Hospital in Salisbury, England, and an undisclosed facility. He was returned to the training depot on November 10, 1918 (the day before the war ended). The war then ended on the 11th of November 1918. But he wasn’t able to leave England just yet; his records show that he was granted leave on the 19th of September 1919.

Pittman's role was very important as he helped soldiers with their rehabilitation in an auxiliary hospital, helping them retrain their bodies, and arrange their journeys home. He himself returned to Australia on the ship Euripides, which left England on the 3rd of September 1919 and arrived in Australia on 18 October 1919. He was dismissed from the AIF on the 4th of November 1919. Kenneth Albert Pittman made it through the war and returned home in one piece.

When he returned home, he met a young lady named Elinor Jean, and they married (date unknown). Pittman decided he wanted more after being a warehouse worker. He became the manager of the highly successful textile company Robert Reid and Co Ltd. Pittman's company had a net worth of roughly £112,515 (241,314 thousand Australian dollars). While only being the manager for five years. Pittman later relocated to Sydney but continued to visit Adelaide regularly. He slowed down in his later years, retiring date unknown and moving into a house in Wattle Park, Adelaide, where he died on August 23, 1977, at the age of 78. He is now laid to rest at Centennial Park Cemetery.