The AIF Project

William DAVIDSON

Date of birth24 April 1866
Place of birthNairn, Scotland
SchoolHigh School, Nairn, Scotland
Other trainingInstructor in musketry, signalling, machine guns; certificate in field engineering and topography.
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationSoldier
AddressAlgernon Street, Oatley, New South Wales
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation48
Height5' 9"
Weight174 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs M McCrove Davidson, Algernon Street, Oatley, New South Wales
Previous military serviceServed for 8 years in the Seaforth Highland Regiment in India (Instructor); 23 years in Australian Military Forces; at time of AIF enlistment serving as Lt and Quartermaster, A& I Staff.
Enlistment date28 August 1914
Rank on enlistmentHON LT (ADJ)
Unit name1st Battalion, Headquarters
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/18/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board Transport A19 Afric on 18 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollMajor
Unit from Nominal Roll1st Battalion
Promotions

Major


Unit: 1st Battalion
Promotion date: 26 April 1915

Captain


Unit: 1st Battalion
Promotion date: 18 October 1914

Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Unspecified


Recommendation date: 25 April 1915

Mention in Despatches


Awarded, and promulgated, 'London Gazette', Supplement, No. 29354 (5 November 1915); 'Commonwealth Gazette', No. 12 (27 January 1916).

FateDied of wounds 19 August 1915
Place of burialAt sea
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel No 12), 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.

Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Wounded in action, 26 April 1915 (slight); returned to duty same day.

Transferred from Headquarters staff and attached to A Company, 30 May 1915.

Wounded in action, 17 August 1915 (gun shot wound, right shoulder), and admitted to No 3 Australian Field Ambulance, and transferred to No 1 Casualty Clearing Station; to HS 'Guildford Castle'.

Died of wounds, 19 August 1915.

Buried at sea.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsAddress incorrectly entered on Embarkation Roll as Oakley, New South Wales.
SourcesNAA: B2455, DAVIDSON William

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