The AIF Project

Eliazar Lazar MARGOLIN

Date of birth26 March 1875
OccupationMerchant
AddressJohnston Street, Collie, Western Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation39
Next of kinBrother, Moses Margolin, Petrograd, Russia
Previous military serviceServed for 3 years (commissioned) in the 86th Infantry, Citizen Military Forces.
Enlistment date18 September 1914
Rank on enlistmentCaptain
Unit name16th Battalion, B Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/33/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 22 December 1914
Rank from Nominal RollMajor
Unit from Nominal Roll16th Battalion
Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Mention in Despatches


Promulgated, 'London Gazette', 11 July 1916; 'Commonwealth Gazette', 30 November 1916.

FateDischarged 18 March 1918
Medals

Distinguished Service Order


Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 129
Date: 21 September 1916

Discharge date18 March 1918
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Emabarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 12 April 1915.

Wounded in action, 2 May 1915 (gun shiot wound, upper arm), and admitted to 4th Field Ambulance; discharged to duty, 5 May 1915.

Promoted Major, 5 May 1915.

On leave to Alexandria, 8 October 1915; rejoined unit from leave, 9 November 1915.

Disembarked Alexandria, 30 December 1915 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 1 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 9 June 1916.

Appointed to Command of 14th Bn, Belgium, and promoted Lt Colonel, 8 June 1917.

On leave to Paris, 17 August 1917.

Relinquished Command of 14th Bn, and transferred to 16th Bn, 1 September 1917.

Admitted to 2nd Red Cross Hospital Rouen, 26 September 1917 (synovitis, left knee); transferred to England, 29 September 1917, and admitted to 3rd London General Hospital, 1 October 1917 (displaced cartilege, left knee); discharged to Cobham Hall, 12 November 1917; to Command Depot, Sutton Veny, 27 December 1917. Marched out to No 3 Command Depot, Hurdcott, 21 December 1917.

Following a Medical Board determination that he was unfit for 'service in the firing line', he wrote to AIF Headquarters, London, 13 December 1917, asking to be posted for service abroad rather than in England, on the grounds that '(a) I am a native of Russia, and both speak and write Russian with fluency; (b) I have lived for about ten years in Palestine, and am well acquainted with the country in which our troops are fighting and know intimately the language, habits, and customs of the inhabitants.' GOC AIF rejected his request, 27 December 1917.

War Office enquired of AIF HQ, March 1918, whether Margolin's services could be obtained to command the 42nd Bn, Royal Fusiliers, Plymouth: 'This Battalion is the reserve battalion for the 38th and 39th Battalions Royal Fusiliers which are composed of men of the Jewish faith. It is considered essential that an Officer of the Jewish faith should command each of these Battalions ... ' War Office was advised, 14 March 1918, that 'approval is given for the resignation of ... [Margolin's] Commission in the Australian Imperial Force to enable him to accept the Command of the 42nd (Reserve) Battalion Royal Fusiliers.

Discharged from the AIF, 18 March 1918.

Medals: Distinguished Service Order, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, MARGOLIN Eliazar Lazar

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