The Murrurundi men who served in the First World War - their names, service records and stories.
19th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF · Hairdresser · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 5291 · Survived — d. 8 October 1951 · Macksville, NSW
Edwin survived the war and returned home, living on for decades afterwards - he died at Macksville, NSW, on 8 October 1951. Not every Murrurundi soldier's story ends at Gallipoli or the Somme; some came home to live long, quiet lives, and Edwin's is one of them.
20th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF · Born: Shepshed, Leicestershire, England, 1889 · Service No: 480 · 16 April 1916 · France (died of wounds)
Born in Shepshed, Leicestershire, England in 1889, John had made Murrurundi his home town before he enlisted. He died of wounds in France on 16 April 1916, one of the many Murrurundi men - Australian-born and English-born alike - who never came home.
55th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF · Labourer · Born: Blandford, NSW, 10 December 1893 · Service No: 3247 · 20 July 1916 · Fromelles, France
Vivian was killed in action at Fromelles, France, on 20 July 1916 - part of one of the bloodiest single nights in Australian military history, where the 5th Division suffered more than 5,500 casualties in under 24 hours. He was 22 years old.
9th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF · Engineer · Born: Murrurundi, NSW, 1884 · Service No: 1103 · 25 April 1915 · Gallipoli, Turkey
Cecil was killed on the very first day of the Gallipoli landing - 25 April 1915 - among the first Murrurundi men to fall in the First World War. His photograph, captioned "Private C. T. Barrack (Chatswood), Missing," ran in a Sydney newspaper as his family waited for news.
Australian Imperial Force · Born: Murrurundi, NSW, 1894 · Service No: 1741 · — · Embarked 23 Oct 1915
Robert was one of Murrurundi's Aboriginal servicemen - part of a generation of Indigenous Australians who volunteered for the AIF despite facing racial barriers to enlistment that many of their fellow countrymen never had to consider.
Australian Imperial Force · Labourer · Born: Murrurundi, NSW, 1893 · Service No: N96691 · — · —
Samuel, a labourer from Murrurundi, was another of the town's Aboriginal servicemen who served in the AIF - their contribution largely unrecorded and unrecognised for decades after the war ended.
34th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF · Locomotive Fireman · Born: Greta, NSW · Service No: 1058 · — · —
Frank was born in Greta, NSW, and made Murrurundi his home before the war, working as a locomotive fireman - keeping the boiler fed on the steam trains that connected the Upper Hunter to the rest of the state.
2nd Aust. Light Horse Field Ambulance / Army Medical Corps · Born: 8 Nov 1889 · Service No: NX35088 · Survived — d. 1976 · —
Beith served as a medical officer through the First World War, earning the Distinguished Service Order and a Mention in Despatches, then returned to uniform in the Second World War - taking charge aboard the hospital ship Manunda. He lived to 1976, one of Murrurundi's most decorated sons.
1st Australian Division / AIF Staff · Founding Commander, AIF · Born: Greenock, Scotland · Service No: — · 18 May 1915 · Gallipoli (wounded 15 May)
Australia's first Chief of the General Staff and founder of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Bridges commanded the 1st Australian Division ashore at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915. Mortally wounded while visiting the front line three weeks later, he was the highest-ranking Australian killed in the First World War - and the only one whose body was returned to Australia for burial, at Duntroon.
4th Australian Division Signals Company · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 993 · Survived — d. 1960 · —
Bryant enlisted in February 1915 and served with the 4th Division's Signals Company, keeping the lines of communication running between headquarters and the front. He was awarded the Military Medal for his service and returned home safely, living until 1960.
17th Australian Infantry Battalion · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 1800 · 20 Sep 1917 · Menin Road, Belgium
Kenneth was killed in action near Menin Road, Belgium, in September 1917, during the fighting around Ypres. He was one of "the Douglas brothers" from Murrurundi - his brother Gordon also served in the AIF.
2nd Australian Infantry Battalion · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 6744 · 4 Oct 1917 · Belgium
Arthur rose to the rank of Corporal in the 2nd Battalion before he was killed in Belgium in October 1917, during the long, grinding campaign around Passchendaele that cost so many Australian lives for so little ground gained.
5th Australian Field Artillery Brigade · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 10170 · 23 Jul 1917 · Belgium
Reginald served as a Gunner with the 5th Field Artillery Brigade, keeping the guns firing in support of the infantry, before he was killed in Belgium in July 1917.
3rd Australian Infantry Battalion · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 1155 · 11 Oct 1916 · Belgium
Robert served with the 3rd Battalion and was killed in Belgium in October 1916, during the AIF's first winter on the Western Front after Gallipoli.
Australian Imperial Force · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: — · Enlisted 21 Nov 1917 · —
William's AIF record notes him as a "rejected volunteer" on account of race before he was eventually accepted in November 1917 - a stark reminder that Indigenous Australians who wanted to serve their country often had to fight simply for the right to enlist.
4th Australian Infantry Battalion · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 1523 · 24 Jul 1916 · France
Henry served with the 4th Battalion and was killed in France in July 1916, as the AIF moved from Gallipoli to the even costlier fighting of the Western Front.
3rd Australian Infantry Battalion, C Company · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 513 · 6–13 Jun 1915 · Gallipoli Peninsula
William served with C Company of the 3rd Battalion and was killed in the fighting at Gallipoli within weeks of the landing, in June 1915 - one of the earliest Murrurundi men lost in the campaign.
Australian Imperial Force · Born: Murrurundi, NSW · Service No: 12154 · 26 Aug 1916 · Singleton, NSW
Not every casualty of the war fell overseas. Cyril died at Singleton, NSW, in August 1916 - a reminder that training accidents, illness and the strain of service claimed Australian lives at home as well as on the battlefields of Europe and Gallipoli.
