Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Claude Begg was born in Largs Bay South Australia, the son of H.A. Begg and A.A. Begg. Begg enlisted into the Australian imperial force on the 19th of May 1915, at Keswick, South Australia. Prior to Begg’s Military service he worked as a clerk and spent 3 years in the Naval Reserves. Begg identified with the Church of England. It is likely that Begg was motivated to enlist by patriotism influenced by propaganda and his previous military service in the Naval Reserves.

Begg and his comrades in the 27th Battalion, left South Australia from Adelaide aboard the RMS Morea on the 26th August 1916. Begg was not in the initial deployment of the 27th Battalion, but instead was a member of the third reinforcement. Begg disembarked the RMS Morea in Lemnos, Greece and quickly joined the Battalion on the HMHT Minnewaska which transported them to Alexandria, Egypt for training. The 27th arrived in Alexandria on the 10th of January 1916 and trained for 23 days before boarding a train to Moascar, Egypt where they trained for a further 10 days. After completing training the Battalion entrained back to Alexandria and embarked on the HMAT Themistocles headed for France.

The Battalion disembarked in Marseille, France, caught 2 trains to Thiennes, France, and marched to Camp Morbecque where they were trained how to use gas masks. The Battalion then marched to La Chapelle-d'Armentières arriving on 7th of April. The 27th Battalion occupied the trenches near La Chapelle-d'Armentières in conjunction with the 25th Battalion until the 12th of June where they experienced occasional heavy shelling but limited enemy combat.  During this period the Battalion witnessed a British airplane being shot down on the front line by enemy anti-aircraft fire.  On June 12th the Battalion moved to Kortepyp camp in Belgium arriving on the 17th of June. In late June and early July the Begg and the 27th Battalion occupied trenches near Messines, participating in both unsuccessful and successful raids on enemy trenches; they also experienced hurricane bombardment and spent time repairing badly damaged trenches. 

On the 12th of July the 27th Battalion travelled via train and on foot across France to Bertangles where they trained for 3 days. The Battalion then moved to the front line at La Boiselle were they helped launch an attack on the enemy in what was likely one of the first attacks of the Battle of Poziere sand ultimately the Battle of the Somme. The attack was a failure and the Battalion suffered heavy casualties. Battalion working parties spent the next few nights improving the conditions of the wire in preparation for the next attack. On the 4th of August the 27th attacked a position to the left of Bapaume and captured two lines of enemy trenches and a strong point at a windmill. After experiencing heavy action, the Battalion was relieved and spent much of July training, building an embankment and digging communications trenches to support future attacks.  On 27th August the Battalion was back on the front line in the night sector near Bapaume Re, for four days; Begg was injured during this period.

On the 1st of September 1916 Begg was admitted to a field hospital with an injury to the right ankle. Begg travelled from France to England via the HMHS ST Patrick. Upon arriving in England on 17th October, Begg was admitted to the 2nd Auxiliary Hospital in Southall. During his stay in South Hall he sent a telegram to his parents letting them know he was well, which was then published in three Adelaide newspapers.  Due to the severity of his ankle injury on the 4th of May 1917 Begg returned to Australia on the HS Runic. He arrived in Adelaide and was discharged on the 6th of August 1917.

After his military service Begg married Irene Adelaide and had three children Shirley, Marjorie and Richard. Begg died peacefully on the 11th of January 1962 and is buried at Cheltenham cemetery with his wife Irene.