Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

2nd Lt Albert Hugh GALLOWAY
 
The Somme, more than a hundred years ago, these lands of France were the scene of violent battles which saw a whole generation of courageous and young men who, between the lines of barbed wire and the trenches, on the battlefields, fell under the fire of machine guns and shells which poured hell on them, a hell that they crossed alongside their comrades and brothers in arms with exceptional bravery and devotion, they fought for their country and for France, for peace and for humanity, for freedom and justice, for their loved ones and their families and today, it is in peace, side by side, in silence and serenity that they rest in peace on the poppy fields that grow between the rows of their graves and on the old battlefields on which so much blood was shed and so many lives were taken too soon.Gone but not and never forgotten, we keep here, in these lands of remembrance which are theirs today, in our hearts and in our thoughts, the faces and the stories of these young men who together, did so much for us and on whom we will always watch with love and respect, with gratitude so that their memories, their stories and their names may live forever and today, it is with gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these men, I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Second Lieutenant Albert Hugh Galloway who fought in Company B of the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion and who died of his wounds 104 years ago, on February 16, 1917 at the age of 28 on the Somme front.

Albert Hugh Galloway was born on March 19, 1888 in Eastwood, South Australia, and was the son of John Jamieson Galloway and Margaret Galloway (née Ellis), of Yuruga, Magill Road, Tranmere, Adelaide, South Australia. Albert was educated in Pultney Street School and after graduation he lived at 85 Frederick Street, Unley, South Australia, with his wife Margaret Jane Galloway and had two children, Mavis Jean Galloway and Maxwell Hugh Galloway. Before the outbreak of the war, he worked as a salesman for the firm of "John Martin And Co "and was in their employ up to the time of his enlistment.

Enlisted on August 20, 1915 in Adelaide, South Australia as Private under service number 5981,he attended NCO(Non-Commissioned officers) School during November and December 1915 and was promoted to Sergeant. He then attended Officer School starting in January 1916 and on graduation on 3 March 1916 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.Albert then embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A57 Malakuta on June 27, 1916 and embarked for England where he arrived in Devonport on August 22, 1916 and was sent to Larkhill Camp on August 24 then received his training at Salisbury Plain.Four months later, on December 29, 1916, Albert embarked for France and was disembarked at Etaples on December 31 and was sent to the British camp of Etaples where he was until February 10, 1917.

The next day,on February 11, 1917, Albert and his battalion were sent to the front of the Somme to fight in the sector of Flers where he fought with great courage but it was near Flers, that unfortunately, five days later, on the 16th February 1917, Albert met his fate.

On the night of February 16-17, 1917, while Albert and the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion were on their way to relieve the 57th Australian Infantry Battalion between Bapaume and Le Transloy, Albert and his men reached a support trench called "Rose Trench",when suddenly the Germans shelled them with their artillery using several types of shells including shrapnel and poison gas shells, it was one of these shells that fell a few meters from Albert but he was not fast enough to put his gas mask on his face and was badly gassed.Albert was immediately evacuated to the 15th Australian Field Ambulance but died a few minutes later, he was 28 years old.

All those who knew Albert, his families, his friends and his comrades who fought with him said of him that he was of a jovial disposition, and was much liked by all who knew him.

Today,Second Lieutenant Albert Hugh Galloway rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Bernafay Wood British Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "Too dearly loved to ever be forgotten, mother and father".

Albert had a younger brother who also fought in the war, Private number 3400 Leslie James Galloway who fought in the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion and who was unfortunately also killed in action eight months after his brother, on October 14, 1917 in Passchendaele, Belgium,at the age of 24.Sadly, his body was never found and Leslie is today remembered and commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.

Albert and Leslie, you who served with pride and honor for your country and who gave your lives with heroism and bravery on the battlefields of the Somme, France and Belgium, I would like on this day,to tell you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, for all you have done for us in the name of freedom and peace for which, without hesitation, you answered the call of duty and joined, together, the ranks of your comrades under the Australian flag, under the banner of humanity and justice who guided your steps on the soils of France, walking together with confidence and hope through the muddy and torturous paths of the French and Belgian countryside, through the poppy fields, with a proud and valiant heart because you knew that you were going to serve for just and noble causes under the same uniforms with your French and Commonwealth brothers in arms, all united in the same fight to protect the peace which was threatened.With their heads held high, they walked together towards their destinies, towards the trenches and the darkness of war which they saw in the horizon consumed by the flames and with the ardor of their youth, with faith, they went forward and followed their comrades in this hell which stretched out as far as the eye could see in front of them over the trenches, over the parapet where they saw for the first time the horrors and the brutality of the war, they saw men who lay without life in the shell holes, in the bloody barbed wire where they were mowed down before them in attacks as courageous as they were often disastrous under the murderous fire of the machine guns but despite that, they kept, intact in their hearts, their faith in a better future for which they would fight with determination.Always in the front line, they fought like lions under the incessant fire of the cannons which poured on them, day and night, day after day, in an endless nightmare, millions of shells tearing the sky and the ground in sinister rumbles and in apocalyptic explosions.in the mud, heavy and sticky, their feet deeply sunk in lunar landscapes, they fought in appalling conditions, in the biting cold of the Somme, in the frozen water causing diseases and infections, almost often without warm clothes, without food , they held their trenches and their positions with exceptional bravery, they were more than admirable men, they were all heroes who lived with the fear that each day would be the last and that they would never see the sun rise again.united in bonds of camaraderie and unity, they faced death and increasingly destructive and often invisible weapons like the poison gas that burned their lungs and made them blind.They were young, they were brave and in this hell , they gave their youth, they fought with their hearts and they gave their lives and today, always side by side, they rest in peace, in silence, without a sound to disturb their sleep under the light breeze of the wind which caresses the poppies which spread their petals and which remind us that here, for the peace we live in, they shed their blood and gave their today so that we can have a tomorrow. Gone but not forgotten, we will always watch over them with the utmost respect they all deserve, with love, with deep gratitude , they will never be forgotten and will never be condemned by the weight of the years, I will always carry high and proud the flame of Remembrance and the colors of Australia and France, two countries linked by a beautiful and indestructible friendship and by a mutual respect, this friendship, just like these heroes, my boys of the Somme over which I watch, will always be in my heart, a source of pride, for your boys who did not have the chance to return home, France will always be their home and I would always treat them with love and respect, with admiration, I will be their faithful guardian, so that their names and their stories can be told, shared and never forgotten. I will always be there for them and their families. Thank you with all my heart Albert, Leslie, we'll never forget you.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember them.

"THE LATE LIEUTENANT A. H. GALLOWAY.

Mr and Mrs. J. J. Galloway, of Harrow-road, St. Peters, have been notified that their eldest son, Lieutenant Albert Hugh Galloway, died in France from the effect of poison gas. Lieutenant Galloway left Adelaide in June, 1916. He spent most of his time at Salisbury Plain training. He left England for France early in January. He was 23 years of age, and was educated at Pulteney-street school, and afterwards joined the firm of John Martin & Co. He was in their employ up to the time of his enlistment. He was of a jovial disposition, and was much liked by all who knew him. He left a widow and two children. His brother, Private L. J. Galloway, left for the front last month." - from the Adelaide Chronicle 17 Mar 1917 (nla.gov.au)

"BROTHERS KILLED.

Pte. LESLIE JAMES GALLOWAY, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Galloway, Harrow road, St. Peters, was killed in action on October 14. He was in his twenty-fifth year, and left for the front in February, 1917. After training at Codford he left for France early in August. Before enlisting he was with the Commonwealth Bank, Kalgoorlie. Pte. Galloway's elder brother (Lieut. A. H. Galloway) was killed early in February. Both had a wide circle of friends here and in Western Australia, and were highly esteemed." - from the Adelaide Observer 17 Nov 1917 (nla.gov.au)