James Arthur GEDDES

Regimental number789
Place of birthScarsdale Victoria
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationBuilder
Address54 Bridge Street, Ballarat, Victoria
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation35
Height5' 8.5"
Weight140 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs J A Gesses, c/o A Atkinson, Lower Road, Trevallan, Launceston, Tasmania
Previous military serviceServed for 8 years in the 3rd Battalion, 7th Australian Infantry Regiment; served for 3 months in South Africa
Enlistment date27 March 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentQuartermaster Sergaent
Unit name24th Battalion, D Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/41/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 10 May 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll24th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 20 September 1915
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 19), Gallipoli, Turkey

The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.

The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.

The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
101
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Melbourne, 8 May 1915.

Promoted to Company Quartermaster Sergeant, 8 May 1915; reverted to Private at own request, 12 August 1915.

Promoted to Corporal, Gallipoli, 4 September 1915.

Killed in action, Gallipoli, 20 September 1915; buried in Brown's Dip by Chaplain A. P. Bladen, Gallipoli, 20 September 1915.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, GEDDES James Arthur