POWELL, Alfred
| Service Number: | 145 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 April 1915, Place of Enlistment, Brisbane, Queensland. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 26th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Newton, Herefordshire, England. , 15 August 1896 |
| Home Town: | Nerang, Gold Coast, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Nerang, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 5 July 1979, aged 82 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Allambe Memorial Park, Gold Coast Protestant, Lawn Section. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 145, 26th Infantry Battalion, Place of Enlistment, Brisbane, Queensland. | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 145, 26th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 24 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 145, 26th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Brisbane |
Private Alfred Powell.
Private Alfred Powell of the 26th Infantry Battalion. Alfred was an 18 year-old labourer, living in Brisbane at Scott’s Boarding House in George Street, when he enlisted on the 1st April 1915. He gave his next of kin as his father, W. Powell, living in Newtown, Herefordshire, England. Alfred was born in Herefordshire in 1896 and must have emigrated to Australia sometime before 1915.
Alfred embarked from Brisbane on the troopship HMAT A11 Ascanius on the 24th May 1915 as part of A Company, 26th Battalion. He landed at Gallipoli in early September, but on the 29th November, just before the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula, he suffered severe shrapnel wounds to his face and left leg. He was treated at the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station before being transferred to the 19th General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was described as being “dangerously ill”. On the 13th December he was removed from the dangerously ill list and was sent back to Australia as medically unfit on the 20th January 1916 on the troopship Karoola. In Brisbane he was admitted to the Kangaroo Point Military Hospital for further recuperation and was discharged on the 9th August 1916.
After the war Alfred took up farming at Gilston in the Gold Coast Hinterland, where he lived for
the rest of his life. In 1924 he married Evelyn Theresa Friske and had two sons and one daughter. In 1932 Alfred was seriously injured in an explosion when he was blowing up stumps on his property. His right hand was shattered and he was also injured about the face and scalp.
Fortunately Alfred recovered from this accident and went on to lead a long life. He died in 1979 at the age of 83. State Library of Queensland,
Courtesy of Researcher Gary Parsons.
Submitted 17 March 2021 by Lynette Turner
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