Alexander Reginald DALTON

Regimental number4531
Place of birthSouth Melbourne, Victoria
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationClerk
Address162 Cotham Road, Kew, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation18
Height5' 4"
Weight129 lbs
Next of kinFather, William Dalton, 162 Cotham Road, Kew, Victoria
Previous military serviceSenior Cadets (4 years); 53rd Infantry
Enlistment date29 September 1916
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name29th Battalion, 12th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/46/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A7 Medic on 16 December 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll46th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 1 April 1918
Age at death from cemetery records19
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
141
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William and Rose M. DALTON. Born at Albert Park, Victoria.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Melbourne, 16 December 1916; disembarked Plymouth, England, 19 February 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 22 May 1917; marched into 5th Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 23 May 1917.

Proceeded to unit, 11 June 1917; taken on strength of 46th Bn, 16 June 1917.

Accidentally wounded (gunshot wound), 18 January 1918; admitted to No 13 Australian Field Ambulance, 18 January 1918 (gunshot wound, head); transferred to No 13 General Hospital, Boulogne, 20 January 1918; now, 26 January 1918, reported as 'Wounded in Action, 18 January 1918'; to No 1 Convalescent Hospital, Boulogne, 28 January 1918; discharged, 30 January 1918; marched into Australian Intermediate Base Depot, Le Havre, 4 February 1918.

Proceeded to unit, 7 February 1918; rejoined 46th Bn, 9 February 1918.

On leave, 19 February 1918; rejoined unit, 8 March 1918.

Killed in action, 1 April 1918.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DALTON Alexander Reginald