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General Birwood visiting from the UK presented Lt DH Killicoat with his Distinguished Service Medal on 6 March 1920.

"Lieutenant D. H. KILLICOAT, son of Mrs. P. L. Killicoat, of St. Peters, received the Distinguished Conduct Medal last November at Beersheba, when he was a sergeant. The advice reads: —

'For con spicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He was in command of a troop throughout the action, and led it with conspicuous skill and gallantry in the assault upon a strongly-defended objective. His able leadership was most marked and his conduct exemplary.'

Lieutenant Killicoat went to the front With the 3rd Light Horse, and left Adelaide in October, 1914. He fought in Gallipoli before going to Palestine. He has never been wounded or ill. He is one of five brothers to go to the front. One of them was killed on Gallipoli. His sister left Australia in November, 1916, and is still in France." - from the Adelaide Chronicle 17 Aug 1918 (nla.gov.au)

David the son of Philip Lander KILLICOAT & Mary CAVE and was born on the 24th of June 1892 in the family homestead “Abberton Park Station”, Redruth, near Burra.

Philip & Mary were married on the 18th of June 1874 in St Mary’s Church, Kooringa, SA.

His father was the son of Captain Isaac KILLICOAT & Ann ROWE and was born on the 28th of August 1844 in Perranworthal, Corwall, England.

His mother was the daughter of John Darby CAVE & Helen JAMES and was born on the 24th of September 1854 in Gumeracha, SA.

David was the ninth child born into this family of 13 children; 6 boys and 7 girls.

David’s father was a pastoralist and sheep farmer in Redruth.

He had arrived in South Australia when he was 10 years old on board the Malacca with his mother, his father having arrived earlier in the ship Abberton with a shipment of mules from Monte Video.

David’s grandfather; Isaac KILLICOAT, as a youth, went into mining and attended night classes for an education.  At 19 he became a superintendent of operations employing 500 hands.  For 19 years before migrating to SA he was Surface Captain to the Tresavean Copper Mine, Gwennays, Cornwall, one of the oldest and largest copper mines in England and the second in the world to introduce a ‘man engine’: i.e. a lift to lower miners into the depths of the mine.  This whole time he walked 5 miles ‘back and forth’ as the Cornish say, or 10 miles a day.

In 1848 he was engaged by John Schneider & Co., later the Patent Copper Co., to come to Burra and superintend the purchase of ore from the SAMA and others on behalf of the Smelting Co.  This he did till the mine closed. He then purchased “Abberton Park”, in Redruth, named after the vessel he came in, and devoted himself to sheep.  He also used irrigation there to grow fruit trees, especially oranges and lemons.

At the time of his death in 1886, this was one of the largest estates in the district.

When he died David’s father took over the estate.

David and all his siblings were born at Abberton Park Station, Redruth.

David was only 10 years old when his brother John enlisted into the Boer War, 2nd Australian Commonwealth Horse (1054), on the 6th of June 1902.

David and his siblings attended the Burra State School and his brother Arthur then attended St Peters College. After leaving College Arthur decided to become an engineer and served his three years apprenticeship at May's Works, in Gawler.

His sister Edith had become a nurse and was a charge nurse in the Adelaide Hospital. She completed her questionnaire for enrolment into the AANS on the 10th of January 1909 (but she never served).

David joined the Burra School Cadets and then in March 1911 David gained a Scholarship to Roseworthy College.

His father died on the 14th of September 1911 as a result of an accident after falling from a horse trap (buggy).

Not long after his death his mother moved to 54, Fifth Avenue, St Peters.

During this time Arthur gained employment with the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, in Broken Hill and had made great headway and had then left Australia to complete a course at Grennock, Scotland.

David remained in Burra and joined the 23rd Light Horse Regiment (Barossa), C Squadron.

His brother Phillip enlisted into the 3rd Light Horse Regiment, No.1 Troop, A Squadron, at Morphettville Camp, on the 19th of August 1914.

On Friday the 21st of August there was quite a crowd at the Burra Railway Station to bid farewell to David and another dozen soldiers who had been accepted into the AIF.

At the age of 22 David enlisted into the AIF on the 22nd of August 1914 in Morphettville and was allotted the service number 157 and posted to the nearly raised 3rd Light Horse Regiment, No.1 Troop, A Squadron, at Morphettville Camp. This was the same Regiment as his brother Phillip.

Whilst they were in camp their brother Arthur enlisted into the 1/1st Lovat Scouts Yeomanry on the 4th of September 1914. (He served in Egypt, Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine. Also Captain with the 3rd Royal Scottish Regiment, attached to the Royal Irish Fusiliers in Mesopotamia).

David & Phillip embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on the 22nd of October 1914, disembarking in Alexandria on the 9th of December. They served in Egypt before heading to the Gallipoli Peninsula.

The 18th of September, at Destroyer Hill, was the last day that David would see Phillip again as Phillip suffered a Gun Shot Wound to his throat and abdomen and was transferred to the 13th Casualty Clearing Station before being transferred to the Hospital ship Maheno.

Sadly, Phillip died from his wounds on the 19th of September at sea on board the Hospital ship Maheno on the voyage to Mudros.

It was in this same month that Arthur and the 1/1st Lovat Scouts Yeomanry landed in Gallipoli.

Whilst he was serving in Gallipoli his sister Frances enlisted into the AANS on the 5th of November 1915. (Frances embarked on the 12th of November 1915 in Melbourne on board HMAS Orsova. She served in Egypt, Marseilles and on the field in France)

David returned to Egypt in December and whilst he was there his brother Harry enlisted into the 23rd Howitzer Brigade on the 31st of July 1916. (He served in France & Belgium).

Then on the 10th of January 1917 Miles enlisted into the 50th Battalion. (He served in France & Belgium).

John also did his part in WW1 and joined the 23rd Light Horse Regiment (Barossa), C Squadron.

David finally embarked for Australia on board HMNZT Orari on the 15th of May 1919, arriving in Outer Harbour, Adelaide on the 26th of June.

They disembarked the following day and in the evening they were the guests at a smoke social held for them in the Soldiers Lounge of the Victoria Hall.

David was finally discharged from the AIF on the 11th of July 1919.

After the war his brother Arthur married in Scotland and returned to South Australia on the 18th of February 1920 with his wife, Helen.

General Birwood visiting from the UK presented David with his Distinguished Service Medal on the 6th of March 1920 in Adelaide.

By 1923 David was managing Yundamindera and Mount Celia Stations in WA for Mr T.H Pearse. They comprised of 1 million acres and were situated about 40 miles south of the Murrin Murrin Railway Station on the Laverton railway.

He left the stations in late 1938 and returned to Adelaide and resided with his mother at 31 Lambert Road, Joslin.

On the 15th of March 1940 David enlisted into the AMF at Wayville and was allotted the service number S/213137.

He was appointed as an Instructor at the Infantry Training Depot and attended full time duty.

David married Rose Adelaide CRAMOND nee HAINS on the 29th of May 1940.

Rose was the daughter of Joseph HAINS & Hannah BARNETT and was born on the 6th of September 1882 in Pt Adelaide, SA.

She had previously married Harold Glass CRAMOND on the 2nd of August 1907 in Alberton, SA, but they had divorced in 1930.

Rose was a Hotel Keeper and when David married her she was the publican of the Queens Head Hotel, 117 Kermode Street, North Adelaide.

David was discharged from the AMF on the 20th of September 1941 when he was placed on the retired list.

David and Rose sold the lease of the Queens Head Hotel in late 1941 and purchased the lease of the Bath Hotel, in Norwood.

David was a member of the Kensington & Norwood RSL Sub-Branch.

They relinquished the lease in July 1950 and moved to 27 The Grove, Lower Mitcham.

Rose died on the 25th of February 1970

David died on the 19th of February 1972 and was buried in the North Road Cemetery; Path 18 North, Plot A214.

David’s grave has never been marked.

# Note: Out of the 13 KILLICOAT children – 7 served, 1 in the Boer War and 6 in the 1st War

Military Service

At the age of 22 David enlisted into the AIF on the 22nd of August 1914 in Morphettville and was allotted the service number 157 and posted to the nearly raised 3rd Light Horse Regiment, No.1 Troop, A Squadron, at Morphettville Camp. This was the same Regiment as his brother Phillip.

The Regiment consisted of 25 officers and 497 other ranks serving in three squadrons. 

He listed his mother of 54, Fifth Avenue, St Peters, as his next of kin.

On the 12th of February 1915 he was promoted to Lance Corporal.

David & Phillip embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on the 22nd of October 1914, with their horses, and arrived in Albany, WA on the 26th.

They sailed from Albany on the 1st of November and arrived at Colombo 2 weeks later, where they re coaled the ships.

By the 28th they had reached the Red Sea and received instructions that they were to complete their training in Cairo.

They finally arrived in Alexandria on the morning of the 6th of December, but didn’t disembark until the 9th of December.

Here, they joined the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments to form the 1st Light Horse Brigade at Ma’adi Camp, about 12 miles from Cairo, on the outskirts of the Sahara Desert.

They walked the entire way to Ma’adi Camp as the horses had just got off the boat and were a bit groggy on the legs. They were very tired by the time they reached camp as they had practically no exercise on the boat.

In Mid January David, Phillip, and their Regiment met a professor of chemistry who was an Egyptian, but who spoke English fluently having been to Oxford to study. He took them all over the place and going back to Cairo they called in at the Ghizeh Agricultural College, this was the place where he was teaching the Egyptians.

It was not as large as the Roseworthy Agricultural College, it being only an intense culture farm, but the chemical laboratories are superior to Roseworthy’s.

The professor explained that the course extended over four years. The building itself was a fine place and the principal was an Englishman.

The College had been opened in 1902, so it was only in its infancy.

The best cows gave about 26lbs. of milk a day, which was inferior to Australian cows.

The Buffalo cow was the best, it gave a larger percentage of butter fat, but it was not very good from the butcher's point of view. A good cow at the time was worth from anything up to £26.

That night they went to the Kursaal which was a place of entertainment. Some of the singing was exceptionally good, but it was sung in Italian or French.

The building itself was very much like the New Tivoli in Adelaide, inside.

It was not long after this that they took part in the North African campaign defending the Suez Canal and during this time David was promoted to Lance Corporal on the 12th of February 1915. 

They were then deployed to Gallipoli on the 9th of May, without their horses, landing on the 12th and joined the New Zealand and Australian Division at Destroyer Hill.

The 18th of September, at Destroyer Hill, was the last day that David would see Phillip again as Phillip suffered a Gun Shot Wound to his throat and abdomen and was transferred to the 13th Casualty Clearing Station before being transferred to the Hospital ship Maheno.

Sadly, Phillip died from his wounds on the 19th of September at sea on board the Hospital ship Maheno on the voyage to Mudros.

David and his Regiment played a defensive role throughout most of this campaign and during this time David suffered from 2 nasty bouts of Diarrhoea.

They embarked from Gallipoli on the 14th of December 1915, disembarking in Alexandria 6 days later.

Back in Egypt they joined the ANZAC Mounted Division and David was promoted to Corporal on the 29th of December.

Between January and May 1916, the regiment was deployed to protect the Nile valley from bands of pro-Turkish Senussi Arabs.

On the 18th of May, as part of their parent brigade, they joined the forces defending the Suez Canal.

They played a significant role in turning back the Turkish advance on the canal at the battle of Romani on the 4th of August and in ensuing days they participated in the immediate follow-up of the defeated Turks, but were soon withdrawn to rest.

It was during this time that David was promoted to Sergeant on the 6th of July.

David and the 3rd Light Horse Regiment rejoined the Allied advance across the Sinai in November and were subsequently involved in the fighting to secure the Turkish outposts on the Palestine frontier - Maghdaba on the 23rd of December 1916 and Rafa on the 9th of January 1917.

A stint of protective duty along the line of communications through the Sinai followed and then their next major engagement was the abortive second battle of Gaza on the 19th of April. Gaza finally fell on the 7th of November, after a wide outflanking move via Beersheba (Charge of Beersheba), in which the entire 1st Light Horse Brigade played a part.

On the 6th of November, the day prior to the fall of Gaza, David was in command of a troop throughout the action, and led it with conspicuous skill and gallantry in the assault upon a strongly defended objective at Beersheeba. His able leadership was most marked and his conduct exemplary.

For this gallantry and leadership, David was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM).

David then gained a Commission as an Instructor and on the 1st of January 1918 was transferred to the 1st Light Horse Training Regiment in Moascar and then promoted to Lieutenant on the 4th of February.

On the 10th of May he was transferred back to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment and then involved in the repulse of a major German and Turkish attack on the 14th of July 1918.

They were then involved with the final British offensive of the campaign, which was launched along the Mediterranean coast on the 19th of September 1918, with the ANZAC Mounted Division taking part in a subsidiary effort east of the Jordan aimed at Amman. Turkey surrendered on the 30th of October 1918.

David then gained 2 weeks leave in England on the 17th of November and after this he was granted Long Service Leave until the 7th of February 1919.

On the 16th of March he proceeded to back Egypt and rejoined his Regiment on the 29th.

David finally embarked for Australia on board HMNZT Orari on the 15th of May 1919, arriving in Outer Harbour, Adelaide on the 26th of June.

They disembarked the following day and in the evening they were the guests at a smoke social held for them in the Soldiers Lounge of the Victoria Hall.

David was finally discharged from the AIF on the 11th of July 1919.

WW2

On the 15th of March 1940 David enlisted into the AMF at Wayville and was allotted the service number S/213137.

He was appointed as an Instructor at the Infantry Training Depot and attended full time duty until the 20th of September 1941 when he was placed on the retired list.