STEEL, Gordon Malcolm
| Service Number: | 1244 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 September 1914, An original member of H Company |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | St Helens, Tasmania, Australia, 23 January 1893 |
| Home Town: | St Helens, Break O'Day, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Killed in action, Pozieres, France, 7 August 1916, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Scottsdale Portland Municipality Including Portion of Lilydale Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1244, 15th Infantry Battalion, An original member of H Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 1244, 17th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 1244, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 7 Aug 1916: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1244, 15th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1244 awm_unit: 15th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1916-08-07 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Gordon was one of four brothers from Tasmania to serve in WW1 as well as his father who also enlisted during 1915.
His dad, P.W. Steel, was 51 years of age when he joined a remount unit in Egypt. Another brother, 3394 Pte. Norman Percy Steel 40th Battalion AIF, died in France on 28 March 1918, aged 19.
Another brother 19648 Stewart John Steel served with the 15th Field Ambulance and returned to Australia in mid-1919.
A fourth brother Allan Steel enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy during March 1915, at age fourteen.
Gordon Steel was among the very first in Tasmania to enlist in the AIF. He served at the Anzac landing and survived at Gallipoli until he was evacuated to Malta with dysentery during July 1915. He was eventually sent to England for treatment and returned to his unit in Egypt just prior to going to the Western Front.
Killed in the very fiercest fighting around Pozieres, his father made several representations as to the whereabouts of his personal possessions, including writing to a Senator, but his remains and possessions remained lost after the war.
His father noted on his roll of honour form, “Killed by a sniper when bringing in a wounded mate-off No Mans Land-for which he volunteered.”
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