VOLKMAN, Arthur Gus
| Service Number: | 209 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry |
| Born: | 1879, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Mackay, Mackay, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Mackay, Queensland, Australia, 17 July 1957, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mackay Cemetery, Qld Plot: Lutheran Section 2, Line 6, Plot 9 |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 209, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1899: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 209, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 448 notes 1st QMI embarked 1 Nov 1899 aboard Cornwall arriving Cape Town 13 Dec 1899. | |
| 2 Jul 1900: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 209, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, National Archives Australia- Boer War Dossier, notes invalided with asthma returned to Australia arriving in Brisbane 9 Apr 1900 and accommodated at Victoria Barracks until discharge on 2 Jul 1900. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
Note- while the AWM Boer War Nominal Roll compiled by Murray records him as Arthur Gus Volkman, his pension case file held by National Archives Australia indicates his actual name was Arthur George Volkman.
When Arthur Gus (George) Volkman enlisted in 1899 in the 1st QMI and his details were published with the rank and file in The Brisbane Courier, 18 Nov 1899, he was recorded as Private A. G. Volkman, single, George Street, Mackay. He was invalided from service due to asthma and returned to Brisbane where he was discharged on 2 Jul 1900. When he arrived in Brisbane he had yet to be paid outstanding wages/gratuity and was temporarily attached to the Permanent Forces and accommodated at Victoria Barracks until he could be sent on to Mackay.
His actual place and date of birth have yet to be determined. Based on cemetery burial record and BDM Qld death registration he was born about 1879, a son to Gustav Volkman and Christiania Volkman (nee Chrutsch). He married Mary Ann Harrowell on 25 Aug 1913 at Mackay, but there were complications.
As reported in The Daily Mercury (Mackay), 19 Mar 1914, "Alledged Bigamy", his wife came to the attention of the local police. On investigation they found she had previously married an Arthur Harrowell in Nov 1900 and as he was not deceased and there was no approved divorce they took her to court on a charge of bigamy. After hearing evidence at trial she was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, which also appears to have ended her relationship with Arthur George Volkman.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 451; National Archives Australia- Boer War Dossier; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 114).