MALCOLM, Errol Gordon Bruce
| Service Number: | 611 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Australian Field Artillery Battery |
| Born: | Crookwell, New South Wales, Australia , 31 August 1894 |
| Home Town: | Woollahra, Woollahra, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Cleaner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 14 November 1916, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 611, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 611, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 16 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 5th Australian Field Artillery Battery, Transferred from 19th Infantry Battalion to 5th Australian Division 2nd Trench Mortar Battery |
Help us honour Errol Gordon Bruce Malcolm's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Errol Gordon Bruce MALCOLM was born near Crookwell, NSW, on 31st August 1894. On 5th September 1913 he joined the NSW Government Railways and Tramways as a cleaner in the Electric Tramways, in Sydney. On 10th February 1915 he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces.
His Attestation Paper shows he joined the AIF on 9th February 1915 with the rank of Private (Service Number 611). He was posted to the 19th Infantry Battalion. He nominated his mother, Caroline Louise Malcolm, then living at Woollahra in Sydney, as his next of kin (Errol’s father had deserted the family, and disappeared, in December 1902).
Errol embarked for Egypt aboard HMAT A40 ‘Ceramic’ at Sydney on 25th June 1915. His military record does not specify when he disembarked in Egypt but it does show that he left Alexandria as a member of the 19th Infantry Battalion for duty in the Gallipoli Campaign on 16th August 1915. In the meantime, on 17th July 1915, he had been promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.
The 19th Infantry Battalion was involved in the last attack in the offensive of August 1915, on Hill 60, before taking on the role of defending Pope’s Hill from mid-September until it was evacuated on the night of 19th December 1915. During this period, Errol was caught smoking in a fire trench at 1.45 am on 22nd September 1915, contrary to orders, for which he was severely reprimanded. On 7th October 1915 he was found guilty of neglect of duty while in charge of a fatigue party, for which he was demoted to the rank of Private.
On 7 January 1916, Errol returned to Egypt from Mudros (on the Greek island of Lemnons) and he stayed in Egypt until 18th March 1916 when he embarked at Alexandria for France. On 10th April 1916 he was detached to join the 5th Australian Division 2nd Trench Mortar Battery at Rolanderie Farm. This became a formal transfer on 16 thApril 1916. On 16th May 1916 he reported sick, suffering from an anal abscess. He was either in hospital or convalescing until 24th June 1916 when he was discharged to the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples. However, on 10th September 1916 he was admitted to hospital again this time with balanitis. He returned to the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot on 19th September 1916 before marching out to his unit on 25th September 1916.
His military record shows he joined the 5th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery from hospital near the village of Flers, south of Pozières, on 14th November 1916, and he was killed in action the same day.
He is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. His place of association is the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, NSW.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.