|
|
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.
Site Home
Help & FAQs
Features
Submissions
Information
Advertisements
World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Pte. Angus Duncan "Dunc" McCallum
Australian Imperial Force 16th Battalion
from:Cottesloe, Western Australia
Great Uncle Dunc (as he was known) was born on 10 September 1880. Before the Great War, Dunc McCallum worked as a soap maker, clerk and labourer. He tried to enlist on 27 July 1915 but was rejected because of weakness of the heart and cardiac murmur.He re-applied in March 1916 and was enlisted on 21 August that year at the age of 35. After basic training at Blackboy Hill, he was assigned to the 20th Reinforcements of 16 Btn and the unit finally departed Fremantle on the HMAT Suffolk on 13th of October 1916. After a short training period in the UK the unit crossed to France on the Princess Clementina on 28th of December 1916 where they undertook more rigorous training.
Finally Dunc was taken on strength in the field on 11th of February 1917 at Bazentin. The 16th Battalion were in the thick of things at the Battle of Bullecourt (the black day of the AIF) on 11th of April 1917. There were significant casualties killed and wounded with 300 captured. Total 16 Btn losses on that day alone were 17 officers (from a total of 20) and, 623 other ranks (from a total of 797). Dunc was one of those casualties, having been wounded by shrapnel in his left knee. He was interned firstly in Dulmen POW camp until August and then transferred to Hembahn, Munster II Camp where POWs were assigned to work on farms and forests and often enjoyed a superior diet to the civilian population.
After the Armistice, Dunc was allowed generous leave in the UK until he was repatriated to Australia on 5th March 1919 and arrived in Albany on the SS Nevasa on 13 April. He spent 6 days in the sick bay suffering from myalgia on the journey home and was discharged as medically unfit on 3rd June 1919. He married Whilemina Denyer later that year, joined the WAGR (keeping it in the family) and was on the staff at Swanbourne Station as a railway porter for 16 years. He was described as a man of remarkable personal charm with a kindliness of character which won him close friendships. Dunc passed away peacefully after a long illness in 1950. He was buried at Fremantle Cemetery in a non-military grave. The Office of the Australian War Graves Commission recently have commissioned an official plaque in the Garden of Remberance plus a small plaque to be placed on Dunc's existing grave.
Postcard sent from Dunc to his Brother Alex McCallum MLA
back of postcard
AWM plaque
Related Content:
Can you help us to add to our records?
The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them
Did your relative live through the Great War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial?
If so please let us know.
Do you know the location of a Great War "Roll of Honour?"We are very keen to track down these often forgotten documents and obtain photographs and transcriptions of the names recorded so that they will be available for all to remember.
Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.
Celebrate your own Family History
Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Great War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.
Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.
The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers.
This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.
If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.
Hosted by:
The Wartime Memories Project Website
is archived for preservation by the British Library
Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved -We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.
