The AIF Project

Noel Edward BECHERVAISE

Regimental number2072
Place of birthGeelong, Victoria
SchoolChurch of England Grammar School, Geelong, Victoria
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationTheology student
Address17 Malop Street, Geelong, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Height5' 9.5"
Weight150 lbs
Next of kinFather, Edward Bechervaise, 17 Malop Street, Geelong, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date24 September 1914
Place of enlistmentBroadmeadows, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name6th Battalion, F Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/23/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 19 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll6th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularGreat-grandfather commanded a private ship-of-war during the Napoleonic Wars; his grandfather served in the Crimean War; his father served in the Ashanti War, 1873-4, with the Naval Force on the West African Coast.
FateKilled in Action 25 April 1915
Place of death or woundingGallipoli, Turkey
Date of death25 April 1915
Age at death23
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 26), Gallipoli, Turkey

The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.

The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.

The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
45
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Commemorated on The Associated Stock & Station Agents of Melbourne Roll of Honour. Parents: Edward John BECHERVAISE, 17 Malop Street, Geelong, and the late Lizzie Charlotte BECHERVAISE
Family/military connectionsBrother: Lt Alex Tullford BECHERVAISE, 5th Bn, awarded the MC for distinguished conduct during the attack on Lihons, 10 August 1918; returned to Australia, 2 January 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 5 April 1915.

Posted as missing in action, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915.

Court of Enquiry, Erquingham, France, 24 April 1916, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915'.

Statement, Red Cross File No 03104019, 825 Lance Corporal R.E. REIFFEL, B Company, 6th Bn (patient, No 3 General Hospital, Abbassia, Egypt), 20 March 1916: 'He was in my section (16 men) we went out on the day of [the] landing and got nearly across the Peninsula. We separated and I have not heard of him since. He came from Geelong.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, BECHERVAISE Noel Edward
Red Cross File No 03104019

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