COULTER, Alexander
| Service Number: | 4395 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Newtown, New South Wales, Australia, 12 July 1887 |
| Home Town: | Redfern, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tramway maintenance worker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 3 May 1917, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
Queant Road Cemetery, Buissy, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4395, 18th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4395, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Sydney |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
Alexander COULTER, (Service Number 4395), was born on 12 July 1887 at Newtown. He had first worked for the NSW Tramways in May 1908 as a temporary maintenance worker. His position was not made a permanent one until 1912. He was still classed as a labourer when he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 21 December 1915. Coulter was single. He left Australia on 9 April aboard HMAT ‘Nestor’.
He was killed in action on 3 May 1917 at Bullecourt and buried about 1 mile S.E. of that place. The remains were recovered in 1925 and re-interred in the Queant Road British Cemetery.
His mother, Elizabeth, desperate to believe that her missing son was not dead, identified him in a photograph published in a Sydney newspaper of prisoners of war held in Germany. The military authorities, while probably knowing that the hope was forlorn, pursued the investigation and identified the three men in the photo as others than Coulter.
Submitted 7 June 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Alexander COULTER, (Service Number 4395), was born on 12th July 1887 at Newtown. He first worked for the NSW Tramways in May 1908 as a temporary maintenance worker. His position was made a permanent one in 1912. He was still classed as a labourer when he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 21st December 1915. Alexander was single. He left Australia on 9th April aboard HMAT ‘Nestor’. He had reached England by June. He was disciplined for being AWL (absent without leave) at the end of that month. He was again AWL in early July, and for ten days in September, as well as being in possession of a false pass and resisting arrest. This resulted in ten days detention and the forfeiture of 28 days’ pay.
A month after this detention on 20th October he went to France and was transferred to the 18th Battalion.
He was killed in action on 3rd May 1917 at Bullecourt and buried about 1 mile S.E. of that place. The remains were recovered in 1925 and re-interred in the Queant Road British Cemetery.
His mother, Elizabeth, desperate to believe that her missing son was not dead, identified him in a photograph published in a Sydney newspaper of prisoners of war held in Germany. The military authorities, while probably knowing that the hope was forlorn, pursued the investigation and identified the three men in the photo as not being her son.
- based on the notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board