REGAN, Ambrose Edwin
| Service Number: | 673 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 July 1915, Enlisted at Keswick, SA 8th Machine Gun Company which was part of the 32nd Battalion |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Nottingham, England, 1895 |
| Home Town: | Yorketown, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Edmunds College, Ware, Hertfordshire, England |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Fleurbaix, France, 20 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
VC Corner Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles, France Graves in this cemetery are not individually marked. Panel 23. , VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles, Lille, Nord Pas de Calais, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial, Warooka and District WW1 Honour Board, Yorketown War Memorial, Yorketown and District of Melville Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 673, 8th Machine Gun Company, Enlisted at Keswick, SA 8th Machine Gun Company which was part of the 32nd Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 673, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 673, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide |
Help us honour Ambrose Edwin Regan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Arrived in Australia aged 18 years
Address at the time of enlistment was Young Street, Yorketown, SA
Son of Michael James Regan and Mary Regan of 13 Alexandra Drive, Aintree, Liverpool, England
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Ambrose had also trained for a Roman Catholic Clergyman
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was the son of Michael and Elinor Regan and the brother of Edmund, Ann Mary and Michael Regan. In 1901 they were living at Liverpool.
St Edmund's College is now a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the British public school tradition, set in 440 acres in Ware, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1568 as a seminary, then a boys' school, it is the oldest continuously operating and oldest post-Reformation Catholic school in the country.
Australian Infantry (AIF) 8th Coy Australian Machine Gun Corps The unit embarked 18/11/1915 from Adelaide South Australia aboard HMAT A2 Geelong.
Soldier wrote to parents from Mitcham Camp, Adelaide, 12 August 1915: 'I am sending you 5 photos as I have a few friends over here who would like to remember me. Remember me, why did I say that? because (sic) I have joined the Army as you can see in the Machine gun Section. I hope you will both agree with my decision and I think you will, as all are wanted to save the Empire. but perhaps I may be one of the lucky ones and get through safe, if so you will find me coming home, never, I hope to part again ... I hope you will not take this to heart as it is my very obvious duty ...
' Embarked Adelaide, 18 November 1915; disembarked Suez, 16 December 1915. Transferred to 8th Brigade Machine Gun Company, 9 March 1916, taken on strength, Tel el Kebir, 11 March 1916. Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 16 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 23 June 1916. Reported wounded and missing, 20 July 1916. Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 29 July 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in action, 20 July 1916'.
Note, Red Cross File No 2260413: 'No trace Germany. Cert. by Capt. Mills. 10.10.19.' Statement, 1180 Pte J.W. MIERS, 5th Machine Gun Bn (patient, No 2 Australian General Hospital, Boulogne), 22 September 1916: 'On July 20 at Armentieres, the 8th Australian Machine Gun Bde were with the 5th Division at Armentieres. About 6 p.m. they made an attack. Informant saw Regan fall in second line enemy trenches - as far as he could make out very badly wounded in the body. The following morning they had to retreat, and between first and second lines, the informant passed Regan still alive. Couldn't stop but informant thinks he could not have lived long enough even to be taken prisoner. There was an official list of prisoners sent from Germany of those taken that day and Regan's name was not on list.' Second statement, Major R.J.MARSDEN DSO, 8th Machine Gun Company, 12 August 1917: 'Regan was wounded in the leg and as I saw him myself I know it was not serious. He left the position where he was hit to return to the Dressing Station, but never reached it and it is surmised that he rested in one of the dug-outs and was taken prisoner when the enemy re-took the position.' Letter, Mrs REGAN to Miss Vera DEAKIN, 17 May 1917: 'This Major Marsden of whom you speak, did [underlined] write to me in August last & told me he was almost confident that my boy was in the hands of the Barbarians. Do please to find out officially if he is really killed.'