GUNN, Alexander Donald
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 September 1915, Place of enlistment - Melbourne, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, 13 May 1892 |
| Home Town: | Dandenong, Greater Dandenong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Carlton College, The Geelong College |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | 3 November 1956, aged 64 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne Alexander Gunn was cremated and the ashes have been scattered. |
| Memorials: | Geelong College WW1 Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, Place of enlistment - Melbourne, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, Embarked on HMAT 'A18' Wiltshire from Melbourne on 18th November 1915, disembarking Suez, Egypt on 15th December 1915. | |
| 15 Dec 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, Briefly attached to 22nd Howitzer Brigade from 4th March 1916 to 13th March 1916. | |
| 14 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, Embarked from Alexandria, Egypt on 14th March 1916, disembarking Marseilles, France on 19th March 1916 to join British Expeditionary Force. | |
| 24 Jun 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, Had been promoted to (Temp) Lieutenant on 1st April 1916. | |
| 10 Jul 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 3rd Division Artillery | |
| 8 Nov 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column | |
| 21 Feb 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 8th Field Artillery Brigade , Had been attached to this unit from 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column since 8th November 1916. | |
| 23 Jun 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Captain, 8th Field Artillery Brigade , Had been an Acting Adjutant from 11th February 1917 and Adjutant from 21st February 1917 to 18th July 1917 of the 8th Field Artillery Brigade. | |
| 3 Oct 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Captain, 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column | |
| 28 Dec 1917: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches | |
| 5 Apr 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column, Embarked for return to Australia on HMT Warwickshire from Liverpool, England on 5th April 1919, disembarking Melbourne on 28th May 1919. | |
| 20 Jul 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
GUNN, Alexander Donald, (1892-1956)
Born on 13 May 1892 in Ballarat, the son of the Hon. John Alexander Gunn (1860-1910) (MLC, NSW) and his wife Jessie Maria nee Turner (1862-1925) of ‘Braehour’, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Alexander Donal Gunn was educated at Carlton College and then Geelong College as a boarder from 1908 to 1910, completing Form VI in his last year.
He spent over two years in the Geelong College Senior Cadets (the Geelong College Archives hold his official decommissioning note from the Cadet Corps). While at College, he rowed bow position in the Head-of-the-River crew of 1910. In June, 1909 he was listed as playing the violin in the Midwinter Concert. School reminiscences of his son, Jack Alexander Gunn (1921-) were published in the Magazine of the Former Students’ Association of Penleigh and Essendon Grammar which noted that Alexander Donald Gunn's name appeared on the Honour Board of the former Carlton College.
'Alec' then spent three years as 2nd Lieutenant with 16 Battery, Field Artillery at Wagga Wagga, up to November 1913. In 1914, he married Miss Helen Ramsay, daughter of William and Carol Maud Seaborn Ramsay. A daughter, Helen Ramsay Gunn, was born in Kew in 1915. They were living at 'Bundalohn', Stud Road, Dandenong, when he sailed on 18 November 1915 in HMAT A18 Wiltshire with the 4th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Division, AIF, then transferred to the 22nd Brigade. He was promoted Captain on 23 June 1917, and at the end of the war was with 3rd Division Artillery. He was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's Despatches, gazetted on 7 November 1917. He returned to Australia on HMT Warwickshire, embarking on 5 April 1919, and his appointment was terminated on 20 July 1919. He died on 3 November 1956’.
His brother, Angus William Gunn (1895-1926) was a student of the College from 1909 to 1914.
Source : The Geelong College - https://gnet.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au/wiki/GUNN-Alexander-Donald-1892-1956.ashx?HL=gunn
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