BAX, Alec Hartly
| Service Number: | 524 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 September 1914, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Trooper |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Mount Pleasant, South Australia, 8 August 1894 |
| Home Town: | Mount Pleasant, Barossa, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Mount Pleasant State School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Jockey |
| Died: | Died of wounds, At Sea, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 30 May 1915, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Buried at Sea, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, Men from Renmark and District Roll of Honor Boards (4), Mount Pleasant District Memorial, Mount Pleasant Pictorial Honour Roll, Mount Pleasant Roll of Honor, Tumby Bay RSL Portrait Memorials, Tumby Bay War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Sep 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 524, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 524, Adelaide, South Australia | |
| 22 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 524, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
| 30 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 524, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 524 awm_unit: 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment awm_rank: Trooper awm_died_date: 1915-05-30 |
A Soldiers Story
Alec was born on 8 Aug 1894 at Mount Pleasant (SA) to Charles Forbes Bax and Elizabeth Jane Bax (nee Bolt). He was the third youngest of 8 children in the family, 7 boys and a girl. His family lived at Mount Pleasant in the Talunga District (SA), his father being a horse trainer.
Alec went to school in the Mount Pleasant district. On completion of schooling he moved to a number of country areas where he worked as both a jockey and a horse trainer, his final employ being in the Lipson area until his enlistment in the Army at Morphettville at the age of 20. At that time he recorded his occupation as jockey.
On enlistment Alec was sent to Base Light Horse at Mitcham for training on completion of which he was allocated to A Squadron, 3rd Light Horse Regiment on 16 Oct 1914. A week later (23 Oct 1914) he embarked with his unit aboard HMAT " Port Lincoln" at Adelaide bound for the Middle East and disembarked at Alexandria.
The 3rd Light Horse Regiment was raised in Adelaide in Sep 1914. Although most of its recruits were enlisted in S A, one of the regiment’s three squadrons was composed of Tasmanians and was raised and trained in Hobart. The two components sailed from their home ports, arriving in Egypt in the second week of Dec 1914. Here, they joined the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments to form the 1st Light Horse Brigade and undertook further training at Alexandria, before they took part in the North African campaign defending the Suez Canal.
The 1st Light Horse Brigade deployed to Gallipoli without its horses and landed there on 12 May 1915, joining the Australian and New Zealand Division. Here the Regiment fought in the Anzac Cove area and the Battle of Sari Bair, but spent most of the campaign in a defensive posture.
It was near Anzac Cove, in Monash Valley, that Alec was Wounded in Action on 29 May 1915 with a penetrating gunshot wound to the head, only a fortnight after landing at Gallipoli; Monash Valley was known as "sniper alley. Shrapnel Gully, leading into Monash Valley, was the artery of Anzac, where daily resupply was effected. This was known to the Turks and lethal sniping positions had been camouflaged along the ridgeline. To provide some protection from the danger, sandbag walls had been constructed, between which men dashed as they made their way along the valley floor.
As an aside, it was also in this location that Simpson was killed by a sniper whilst he was bringing a wounded man down Monash Valley on his donkey.
Alec was evacuated from the slopes of the Valley to a dressing station on the beach and then transferred to the HS "Gascon". A day later, 30 May 1915, he died of wounds aboard the Hospital Ship and was buried at sea on the same day at 11 am, 3 miles from Gaba Tepe in the Dardanelles.
Alec is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey, along with 5200 other Australians who have no known grave. His name is also recorded on the Tumby Bay Memorial
Submitted 5 April 2020 by Geoffrey Stewart
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Stewart
Alec was born on 8 Aug 1894 at Mount Pleasant (SA) to Charles Forbes Bax and Elizabeth Jane Bax (nee Bolt). He was the third youngest of 8 children in the family, 7 boys and a girl. His family lived at Mount Pleasant in the Talunga District (SA), his father being a horse trainer.
Alec went to school in the Mount Pleasant district. On completion of schooling he moved to a number of country areas where he worked as both a jockey and a horse trainer, his final employ being in the Lipson area until his enlistment in the Army at Morphettville at the age of 20. At that time he recorded his occupation as jockey.
On enlistment Alec was sent to Base Light Horse at Mitcham for training on completion of which he was allocated to A Squadron, 3rd Light Horse Regiment on 16 Oct 1914. A week later (23 Oct 1914) he embarked with his unit aboard HMAT " Port Lincoln" at Adelaide bound for the Middle East and disembarked at Alexandria.
The 3rd Light Horse Regiment was raised in Adelaide in Sep 1914. Although most of its recruits were enlisted in S A, one of the regiment’s three squadrons was composed of Tasmanians and was raised and trained in Hobart. The two components sailed from their home ports, arriving in Egypt in the second week of Dec 1914. Here, they joined the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments to form the 1st Light Horse Brigade and undertook further training at Alexandria, before they took part in the North African campaign defending the Suez Canal.
The 1st Light Horse Brigade deployed to Gallipoli without its horses and landed there on 12 May 1915, joining the Australian and New Zealand Division. Here the Regiment fought in the Anzac Cove area and the Battle of Sari Bair, but spent most of the campaign in a defensive posture.
It was near Anzac Cove, in Monash Valley, that Alec was Wounded in Action on 29 May 1915 with a penetrating gunshot wound to the head, only a fortnight after landing at Gallipoli; Monash Valley was known as "sniper alley. Shrapnel Gully, leading into Monash Valley, was the artery of Anzac, where daily resupply was effected. This was known to the Turks and lethal sniping positions had been camouflaged along the ridgeline. To provide some protection from the danger, sandbag walls had been constructed, between which men dashed as they made their way along the valley floor.
As an aside, it was also in this location that Simpson was killed by a sniper whilst he was bringing a wounded man down Monash Valley on his donkey.
Alec was evacuated from the slopes of the Valley to a dressing station on the beach and then transferred to the HS "Gascon". A day later, 30 May 1915, he died of wounds aboard the Hospital Ship and was buried at sea on the same day at 11 am, 3 miles from Gaba Tepe in the Dardanelles.
Alec is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey, along with 5200 other Australians who have no known grave. His name is also recorded on the Tumby Bay Memorial
Biography
Nominal Rolls have him as Alec Hartley Bax, according to the birth index Book/Page 549/150 it is spelled Alick Hartley Bax
3 Light Horse
Rank - Trooper
Proceeded to join Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 9 May 1915;
Seriously wounded, Monash Valley, Gallipoli, 30 May 1915 (gun shot wound, penetrating head);
Died of wounds and buried at sea on HS 'Gascon', 30 May 1915.
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Son of Charles Forbes and Elizabeth Jane Bax of Mount Pleasant South Australia.
Brother of 107 L/Cpl. Murray Charles Bax (/explore/people/234981), 3rd Light Horse Regiment, died of wounds, 10 January 1917;
and... 106 Pte Ben Robert Bax (/explore/people/223390), 3rd Light Horse, returned to Australia, 13 October 1918.
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