acland, elson robert

Gosford District Casualties of World War One

Acland, Elson Robert Service Number 6216

Killed in Action 6 May 1917 Bullecourt, France

Gosford City Council gratefully acknowledges the voluntary efforts of

Benalyn Campbell

And Vivienne Tranter

in compiling this resource

The information in this file has been extracted from official records

held in the

The Australian War Memorial and

National Archives of Australia

(© Commonwealth of Australia [National Archives of Australia] 2013)

Further information on this soldier may be found online at:

Commonwealth War Graves

The AIF project

Content advisory: This file may potentially contain disturbing accounts of service-related injury and death, disease and family grief. Adult supervision is recommended for children

using these resources. Individual files should be viewed within the context

provided by wider research on service conditions in the 1st AIF.

This resource is presented by Gosford City Council

for research purposes only. Please note that copyright for resources

contained within remains with the original copyright owners.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en

NAME ACLAND;- Elson Robert

SERVICE NO 6216

UNIT 20th Reinforcement, 4

th Btn, 2

nd Infantry

RANK Private

DATE OF BIRTH/AGE 21 yrs 4 mths NSW Births;- Acland, Elson R- 1896/31413 reg Katoomba parents Alfred A & Sarah E.

PLACE OF BIRTH Katoomba, NSW

ADDRESS Hill Street Gosford. NSW

OCCUPATION Carpenter, 7 yrs apprenticeship served with Barns & Blackwood, Builders, Katoomba.

DATE OF ENLISTMENT 25 Jan 1916

PLACE OF ENLIST-MENT

PREVIOUS SERVICE Jr & Senior Cadet- 7 yrs Militia Katoomba

NEXT OF KIN Alfred Albert & Sarah Eliza Acland, Hill St., Gosford

PHYSICAL DESCRIP-TION

Height-5’ 5½”. Weight 121 lbs. Chest 30½ - 33½. Complexion- Fresh. Eyes-Grey. Hair-Brown. Scar upper right arm

RELIGION Methodist

EMBARKED 9 Sept 1916-Sydney-per “Euripides”

DISEMBARKED 26 Oct 1916-Plymouth

WOUNDED/ILLNESS

NOTES AWOL-Overstayed leave 6 hrs 21 Nov 1916 8 Feb 1917- left Folkstone for France per ”Invicta”

DIED KIA- 6 May 1917

BURIED In the vicinity of Bullecourt-

MEDALS British War Medal-47881, Victory Medal-47324. Memorial Plaque & Scroll-324554

DEPENDANTS

PERSONAL EFFECTS Returned to father;- wallet, photo & letter

WILL

CORRESPONDENCE Letter from T Robinson (Base Records) acknowledged parents correction of Elsons’ age Elson had put his age up by twelve mths. He was born Septem-ber 1896. Letters from Miss N Willis, of Opp Woollen Mills, Church St., Parramatta, re-questing information. United Ancient Order of Druids-Jersey Lodge 269- Katoomba

REMARKS Note;- Elson’s brother Roy Acland b 22 Apr 1899, Katoomba, Enlisted in Gosford with permission of both parents Alfred Albert Acland & Sarah nee Wilson. 29 Oct 1918, aged 20 yrs 6 mths, serving 64 days from 4/11/1918-31/12/1918. Medical examiner was Dr James H Paul. Father’s occupation listed as Ganger NSW Railways.

Red Cross Reports He was a short nuggety built man thickset about the shoulders, & fair haired, we called him “Snowey” Killed early morning of 6

th May 1917, by shell fire in a trench at Bullecourt

Buried just behind the Hindenburg Line.

NSW BDM Birth;-ACLAND-Elson R 1896-31413 Reg Katoomba parents Alfred A & Sarah E

To the left: Gosford Times, 2-8-1917

LATE PRIVATE ACLAND Mr A. Acland, of Gosford, has received the following letter from France referring to the death of his son:- “France, 28

th May, 1917.- It is with regret that I write

to sympathise with you in the loss of your son who was killed in action on the 5

th May. He died at his

post. I feel his loss very much, and he will be hard to replace. You lose a son and I a gallant soldier. – R McMAHON, Lieutenant, D. Dompany, 4

th

Battalion

Above: Gosford Times, 7-6-1917

Abridged record courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA) Series No: B2455 Item Barcode: 3019350

Abridged records courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA) Series No: B2455 Item Barcode: 3019350

acland, elson robert

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