Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Lt Mark Gregor
44th Australian Infantry Battalion, D Company,
11th Brigade, 3rd Australian Division
 
In the fields of the Somme, in the white and silent cities in which the poppies of Remembrance grow, rest in peace, united side by side in brotherhood, in comradeship, in mateship, thousands of young men, a whole generation of men who here, for the peace and freedom in which we live, fought and fell together in the most beautiful spirit of unity and bravery in which they always stand united, tall and proud behind the countless rows of their white graves on which are inscribed, honored and remembered the names and lives of these heroes whom we will always keep strong and alive so that these young men will never be forgotten and so that they will live forever on the soil of a friendly country that will take always care for them with love and gratitude and over which I would always watch with honor, devotion and pride to bring them back to life.

Today, it is with gratitude in my heart, with respect that I would like to honor the memory of one of these men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Lieutenant Mark Gregor who fought in the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion, D Company, 11th Brigade, 3rd Australian Division, and who was killed in action 103 years ago, on June 20, 1918 at the age of 35 on the Somme front.

Mark Gregor was born in 1883 in Yorketown, South Australia and was the son of Christiana Gregor (née Petersen) and Francis Gregor. Mark was educated at Yorketown State School and after graduation worked as an engine driver and served in the Goldfields Infantry Regiment Volunteers.Before the outbreak of the war, he married Mabel Gregor, lived at 318 Picadilly Street, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and had a son, Mark.

Mark enlisted on January 17, 1916 at Blackboy Hill,Western Australia as Corporal in the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion, D Company, which was raised at Claremont, Western Australia, and soon became known as "Old Bill's Thousand" after its first commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel William Mansbridge.

After a five month training period at Blackboy Hill, Mark embarked with his unit from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A29 Suevic on June 6, 1916, a month before the start of the Somme offensive and sailed for England and was disembarked in Plymouth on July 21, 1916 and then sent to School Instruction at Larkhill on September 25.

Two months later, on November 25, 1916, Mark embarked with his battalion from Southampton, England and proceeded overseas for France where he was disembarked the next day, on November 26 and fought at Steenwerck then at Armentieres where he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on January 27, 1917 for his courage.

Five months later, on June 23, 1917, Mark was accidentally wounded in the left ankle near Messines whilst moving into trench for garrison duty and three days later, on June 26, he was admitted to the 9th Australian Field Ambulance and then to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station on June 27 then at the 7th Canadian General Hospital in Etaples on June 28.

On July 2, 1917, Mark was admitted to the 6th Convalescent Depot and after recovering, he was sent to the 3rd Australian Divisional Base Depot in Le Havre then joined the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion on July 26, 1917 at Mont Kemmel, Belgium and a month later, on August 18, 1917, he was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant in Messines.

Three months later, on November 12, 1917, while fighting in the sector of Wittes, Pas-De-Calais, Mark fell ill and was sent the next day,on November 13, to the 15th Casualty Clearing Station and a few days later, on November 20, he was sent to the New Zealand Stationary Hospital in Wisques, Pas-De-Calais, suffering from dental problems.

The following month, on December 18, 1917, he was discharged to unit and rejoined his battalion on December 20 at Bois Grenier, Hauts-de-France, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant a month later, on January 30, 1918, and was granted leave in England on February 6 then returned to his unit on February 23 in the Somme to stop the German spring offensive.

On April 24, Mark and the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion fought courageously at Villers-Bretonneux but unfortunately, two months later, on June 20, 1918, he met his fate and was killed in action by a fragment of German shell whilst on a working party at Blangy-Tronville near Villers-Bretonneux,he was 35 years old.

The war diary of the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion recounts the events of June 20, 1918 as follows:
"Blangy-Tronville, June 20, 1918 weather unsettled, sky cloudy casualties -the following casualties occurred whilst the boys were on a forward working party. Killed:Lieutenant Mark Gregor. Wounded:Lieutenant R.D.Darling.
All gas helmets inspected and tested".

Today,Lieutenant Mark Gregor rests in peace with his men, friends and brothers in arms at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "In memory of the dearly loved husband and father of Mabel and jack ".

Mark, you who were young and brave, it is here, on the soils of the Somme, that you fought and served with courage, honor and pride alongside your men, your friends whom you guided through the battles and the dangers of a world at war until your last breath in the poppies of the battlefields that saw so much courage and blood shed, lives shattered, and for all you have done for us, for Australia and France, for my country, I would like, from the bottom of my heart to say thank you and express my respect and gratitude to you because thanks to you, to your courage, to your sacrifice, we live today in a world in peace, a better world for which you gave your life and your youth in the trenches and the mud of the great war.Determined and full of will, you answered to the call of duty and of your country without hesitation to join the ranks of your comrades and wear the uniform with pride and a valiant heart to fight in the name of peace, justice and freedom and all together, they left their homes and the love of their country, of their loved ones to join the lands of France that they knew little about but for which they would all fight with conviction and determination in the trenches filled with blood and mud.Side by side, shoulder to shoulder, they fought united in the mateship, in the fraternity and the friendship which characterized them and which made their strength, in the camaraderie, they found the courage to hold their positions under the fire of the artillery who sent upon them, day and night, tons of steel and shells that transformed the world and formerly peaceful landscapes into quagmires, fields of death that so many young men bravely tried to cross under the fire of the machine guns that spit on them avalanches of bullets which mowed down a whole generation of young men who fell into the barbed wire and the shell holes that shared, in life and death, friends and enemies in this hell on earth in which so many heroes, young boys gave their lives.In the cold, under fire and poison gas, they lived, fought and died alongside their friends, they lost their innocence and gave their youth, their everything so that the hopes of peace that they had in their hearts could live beyond war,so that future generations can live in peace without us being afraid of the next day while they lived and fought for four years with the fear of never seeing their families again and never seeing the sun rise on a new day.On the battlefields they stood tall, courageous and proud, guided by men and officers as brave as you Mark who had shown at all times, the way and the courage to follow in front of your men, young men who , seeing your bravery, moved forward fearlessly under enemy fire to face their fate and death that so many young boys found in the eternal shroud of poppy fields on which they still walk in silence today to show us who they were and what they did and why they fell.Today the old battlefields of the Somme are peaceful and bloom under the red glow of poppies and barbed wire, machine guns and cannons have disappeared but the men who were here will live with us forever and we will keep strong and alive their memory so that they are never forgotten.I would always watch over them, over each of them to bring them back to life, so that they are not just names in stone but men who lived and who will always live on the soils of the Somme and in my heart so that who they were, what they did for us, can forever be told and perpetuate like the flame of remembrance that we all carry in our hands and that I would always carry high and proud so that these men, my heroes, my boys of the Somme can live forever in each of us.Thank you so much Mark,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.