The AIF Project

Spencer Herbert KEEPENCE

Regimental number1783
Place of birthGladesville, New South Wales
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationElectrician
AddressWharf Road, Gladesville, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation29
Height5' 10"
Next of kinCharles Keepence, Wharf Road, Gladesville, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date4 January 1915
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name1st Battalion, 4th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/18/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A8 Argyllshire on 10 April 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll1599
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll1st Battalion
FateDied of wounds 9 August 1915
Place of burialAt sea
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 14), 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
29
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Joined Bn at Gallipoli, 26 May 1915.

Wounded in action, 6-9 August 1915 (shrapnel wound, stomach); admitted to 2nd Field Ambulance, 9 August 1915, and transferred to 1st Casualty Clearing Station, and then to HS 'Gascon' en route to Alexandria.

Died at sea, 9 August 1915.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, KEEPENCE Spencer Herbert

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