MUNRO, Duncan Keith
| Service Number: | 2908 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 June 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Maclean, New South Wales, Australia, 5 August 1897 |
| Home Town: | Maclean, Clarence Valley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Maclean Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Electrical engineer |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 13 April 1918, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery, Morbecque Plot III, Row A, Grave No. 6. HIS SUN WENT DOWN WHILE IT WAS YET DAY |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Jun 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2908, 1st Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 2908, 1st Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 2908, 1st Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Borda, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Duncan Keith MUNRO (Service Number 2908) was born on 5th August 1897 at Maclean on the Clarence River. On 16th December 1913 he began working for the NSW Tramways as a shop boy at Randwick Workshops. By June 1915 his work was described as an electrical junior and it was from this role that he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.
He enlisted at Sydney on 13th June 1916, using the name Keith Munro and gave his mother Margaret Munro of Marrickville as his next of kin. He had had four years’ experience in the Senior Cadets and 12 months in the Militia Artillery. He was allotted to the 6th Reinforcements to the 1st Australian Infantry Battalion Pioneers. He embarked HMAT ‘Borda’ at Sydney on 17th October 1916 and reached Plymouth on 9th January 1917. At first, he was attached to the Pioneer Training Battalion at Fovant and Hurdcott before he proceeded to France to join his unit on 22nd November 1917.
In February 1918 he was admitted to the 14th Australian Field Ambulance with laryngitis and this required ten days of treatment before he re-joined the Battalion on 11th February. The condition had not properly cleared, and he was re-admitted to the Ambulance the next day, and then to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station and the 24th General Hospital at Etaples. It was 7th March before he returned to his unit.
Munro was killed in action a few weeks later on 14th April 1918. There are several reports of his death and all agree that he was killed by an artillery shell as he was marching forward at Hazebrouck.
He was buried at St. Marie Cappel Aerodrome, Grave No. 677. Map reference P.25.c.0.6., 1:40,000 Sh 27. After the war this grave was located, and Munro’s remains exhumed and re-interred at Le Grand Hazard Military Cemetery, 1-mile SSW of Hazebrouck.
A pension of 40/- per fortnight was grated to his mother.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
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