Alfred Henry BABER

Alfred Henry BABER Update Details

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BABER, Alfred Henry

Service Number:	4134
Enlisted:	16 August 1915, Dalby, Queensland
Last Rank:	Corporal
Last Unit:	9th Infantry Battalion
Born:	Petersham, New South Wales, 17 October 1885
Home Town:	Dalby, Western Downs, Queensland
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Grazier
Died:	Natural causes, 24 Rivers, Transvaal, South Africa, 6 February 1965, aged 79 years
Cemetery:	St. John The Baptist Anglican Church Yard, 24 Rivers, South Africa
Memorials:	Jandowae War Memorial

World War 1 Service

16 Aug 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4134, Dalby, Queensland
3 Jan 1916:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4134, 9th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: ''
3 Jan 1916:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4134, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Brisbane
6 Jul 1917:	Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 9th Infantry Battalion
17 Apr 1918:	Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 4134, 9th Infantry Battalion, German Spring Offensive 1918, GSW (arm, shoulder, chest, groin)
23 Dec 1919:	Discharged AIF WW1, Corporal, 4134, 9th Infantry Battalion

Alfred's War Story

Alfred was nearly 30 years old when he enlisted in August 1915. At 6 feet 4 ½ inches and 195 pound, he must have been an imposing figure. He shipped out in May 1916 to Egypt and on to the trenches of France via Marseilles. His battalion's first major action in France was at Pozieres in the Somme valley. Later the battalion fought at Ypres, in Flanders, before returning to the Somme for winter. Alfred fought and survived many battles and was promoted to the rank of Corporal. During 1917, the battalion moved back to Belgium for the advance to the Hindenburg Line.

In August 1917, Alfred went to England and attended the “Rifle Course” at the School of Musketry in Tidworth, England. He remained in England, at the Australian Sutton Veny camp, until March 1918 and then returned to the battlefield. In March and April 1918, his battalion helped stop the German spring offensive. It was during this offensive, on April 17th, that Alfred was badly wounded. Because of the nature of the wounds (“Arm, Shoulder, Groin & Chest”), I would think it must have been from an exploding shell close by. After a few days at a Canadian Field Hospital in France, he was transferred back to England to be treated at the First Eastern Hospital No. 1 in Cambridge and, by then, had contracted pneumonia.

Now the Cambridge University Library, The First Eastern General Hospital was a military hospital established by Royal Army Medical Corps in 1908. It was described as a small town, it had its own Post Office, shops, tennis courts even a cinema and at its peak it had 1700 beds. More the 70,000 casualties passed through its doors. Alfred was discharged 8 months later and then admitted again after a month to be discharged permanently in March 1919 and returned to Australia, via Alexandria, on the hospital ship “Dunluce Castle”.

He later moved to South Africa, where his brother (Charles Edward) had moved before the war. He married Lois Davidson at age 42 and was a successful farmer. His descendants are still running various types of farms in the area. He never completely healed from the wounds he received and had to have them looked after on a daily basis for the rest of his life.

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