ALLMOND, Arthur William
| Service Number: | 3359 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 September 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Durham, England, December 1872 |
| Home Town: | Magill, Campbelltown, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Public School,South Australia |
| Occupation: | Postal Employee |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Polygon Wood, near Ypres, Belgium, 26 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ieper, Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Adelaide Officers of S.A. Post, Telegraph and Telephone Department Great War Roll of Honor, Adelaide Postmaster General's Department WWI Honour Board , Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Magill Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Rose Park Burnside & District - Fallen Soldiers Memorial Trees - Rose Park, Rose Park Burnside District Fallen Soldiers' Memorial - Rose Park |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Sep 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3359, 50th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Feb 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3359, 50th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Bee embarkation_ship_number: A48 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3359, 50th Infantry Battalion, Polygon Wood, Killed in Action at Polygon Wood. |
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Arthur William ALLMOND (1872-1917)
Arthur Allmond was born in Durham England in 1873. He had emigrated to Australia as a child attending school in his new home. At the time of his enlistment in September 1916, he was 43 years and 9 Months old. Precise dates of birth were not recorded in WW1 enlistment documents. He was married to Katie Anne ALLMOND, of Park St MAGILL, an eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. Arthur was a postal worker at the time of his enlistment and had rendered five year's service in D Company of the Adelaide Volunteers, a Militia unit which had susbequently been disbanded.
Quite why he chose to enist aged 43 and married, is open to conjecture.
After enlistment in September 1916, he underwent training at the Mitcham Camp south of the city. His reinforcement draft (9th Reinforcements for the 50th Battalion) embarked for overseas service from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A48 Seang Bee on 10 February 1917. Disembarking in Devonport in the UK he then underwent training at the 13th Training Battalion in Codford, n the UK, where he was subject to low level disciplinary action for overstaying leave. He then embarked for France on 11 August 1917.
Arthur Allmond was only in the field for approximately one month before he was killed in action in his first engagement.
He was lost in the course of the campaign known as Third Ypres, centred around the Belgian city of the same name, which had assumed great strategic significance early in the war.
He joined his unit, SA's 50th Battalion on August 25th 1917 and was killed in action on September 26th 1917 in fighting at Polygon Wood, involving Australia's 4th and 5th Divisions. According to records he was buried near Westhoek, 2 miles SW of Zonnebeke. Due to the German advance and constant shelling the grave was subsequently lost. At this time the 50th was in action at Polygon Wood and the reference to his grave location places him in this battle.
The administrative follow up in Australia reveals more tragedy in the Allmond household. His widow Katie was granted a pension of 2 pounds per fortnight from 16 Dec 1917. Action was also taken to recover salary in ieu of furlough from Arthur Allmond's employer, the Postmaster General's Department. She took possession of his effects in June of 1918. Between 3rd July 1922, and October 1923, Katie had deceased. No children survived apart from a daughter Evelyn (married name Rogers) who took possesion of his Memorial Plaque (colloquially known as the 'Dead Man's Penny') in October 1923.
Researched from Service and related records
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