Local Heroes WW1
WARREN, Alfred Harold
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(Pte) Alfred Harold Warren
Private Alfred Harold Warren 1819, a Clerk from Semaphore, South Australia prior to enlistment on 18th may 1915 and embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, with his unit 27th Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement, on board HMAT A61 Kanowna on 23 June 1915.
| Regimental number | 1819 |
| Place of birth | Semaphore, South Australia |
| School | Public School, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Religion | Congregational |
| Occupation | Clerk |
| Address | Walter Street, Semaphore, South Australia |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 18 |
| Next of kin | Mother, Mrs A M M Warren, Walter Street, Semaphore, South Australia |
| Previous military service | Served in the Naval Cadets. |
| Enlistment date | 18-May-15 |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 27th Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/44/2 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A61 Kanowna on 23 June 1915 |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 27th Battalion |
| Other details from Roll of Honour Circular | He was wounded 29th June 1916 in Belgium. |
| Fate | Killed in Action 4 August 1916 |
| Place of death or wounding | Pozieres, Somme Sector, France |
| Age at death | 19.3 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France |
| Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy. | |
| The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra. | |
| On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours. | |
| After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns. | |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour,Australian War Memorial | |
| 111 | |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | |
| Joseph Frederick and Alice Maude Mary WARREN. | |
| Family/military connections | Cousins M Hampstead 43rd Battalion deceased and Ralph Ernest 10th Battalion deceased. |
"THE LATE PRIVATE A. H. WARREN.
Private A. H. Warren, who was killed in action on August 4, was 19 years of age, and the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Warren, of Water-street, Semaphore. He was educated at Lefevre Peninsula school. He enlisted on May 8, 1915, and served three months on Gallipoli until the evacuation, and was then transferred to the clerical staff at headquarters in Egypt, until leaving for France on March 14. He was wounded on June 29, and had only been in the firing line a few days when he met his death. Private Warren entered the A.U.S.N. office on leaving school, and latterly was in the town clerk's office at Port Adelaide. He was an officer in the Semaphore Congregational Sunday-school, where he will be greatly missed." - from the Adelaide Chronicle 14 Oct 1916 (nla.gov.au)
National Commemoration
Australian War Memorial Canberra - At the heart of the Memorial building is the Roll of Honour: a long series of bronze panels recording the names of over 102,000 members of the Australian armed forces who have died during or as a result of war service, warlike service, non-warlike service and certain peacetime operations.
Location on the Roll of Honour - Private Alfred Harold Warren's name is located at panel 111 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial (as indicated by the poppy on the plan).
Local Commemoration
The Semaphore War Memorial was dedicated in 1925 to honour all of those from the district who fought in the war, such as Private Alfred Harold Warren.
The Semaphore War Memorial on the Esplanade was dedicated in 1925 to honour all of those from the district who fought in the war. A temporary ‘Memorial Arch’ of wood and iron was first erected at the entrance to the Semaphore Jetty bearing the banner title, ‘For King & Empire’. On 27 April 1924, four foundation stones for the new memorial were laid at the approach to the jetty – one on behalf of the citizens of Port Adelaide district, one for the RSSILA, one on behalf of the parents of the fallen men, and one on behalf of the widows and orphans.
No doubt Private Alfred Harold Warren's Mother Mrs Alice Maud May would have attended the laying of these foundation stones in 1924 – with its immediate relevance to them. The stone for the parents of those who fell, such as Private Alfred Harold Warren was laid by Mrs Magnus Wald. The late Magnus Wald had been owner of Glanville Hall, proprietor of the South Australian Stevedoring Company and member for Scarborough Ward 1898-00.
This foundation stone for the Semaphore War Memorial was laid at the approach to the jetty on 27 April 1924 by Mrs Magnus Wald on behalf the parents of those who fell. For Mrs Alice Warren, this memorial honoured her son Alfred who was killed in action 4th August 1916.
They were also most likely among the several thousand people who attended the actual unveiling of the Semaphore War Memorial the following year.
The following year, a granite obelisk was erected on the foundation stones, with an electric ‘turret type’ clock and topped by a marble Angel of Peace with wings outspread. The local newspaper noted, “all the names of those who enlisted from the district or who made the supreme sacrifice cannot be placed on the monument” so it instead bears a simple commemorative plaque.
Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL
For the 2015 commemoration of the Anzac Centenary, the Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL has created a virtual Honour Board listing the names of over 2,000 local men who volunteered to serve in World War 1. Among them are counted Private Alfred Harold Warren from Semaphore who served in the AIF 27th Battalion in Gallipoli and France.
