Norman Farquhar MACRAE

Date of birth21 April 1877
Place of birthHenzada, India
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationGrazier
Address'Dunbar', Katanning, Western Australia
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation38
Height5' 11"
Weight168 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs A M A Macrae, Dunbar, Katanning, Western Australia
Previous military serviceServed for 7 years in Ceylon Forces; serving with 25th Light Horse, Citizen Military Forces, at time of AIF enlistment.
Enlistment date23 April 1915
Rank on enlistmentLieutenant
Unit name28th Battalion, D Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/45/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A11 Ascanius on 29 June 1915
Rank from Nominal RollCaptain
Unit from Nominal Roll28th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 29 July 1916
Miscellaneous details (Nominal Roll)*second given name has two spellings Panquhar and Farquhar; Farquhar would appear to be the correct form.
Age at death from cemetery records39
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian 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
113
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Place of birth incorrectly entered on CWGC site as Scotland. Parents: John Kenneth MACRAE and his wife Elizabeth DUNBAR; Wife: A.M.A. MACRAE, 'Dunbar', Kantanning, Western Australia
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 4 September 1915.

Appointed temporary Captain, 14 November 1915.

Disembarked Alexandria from Mudros, 10 January 1916 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Promoted Captain, 1 March 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 16 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 21 March 1916.

Killed in action, 29 July 1916.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, MACRAE Norman Farquhar