The AIF Project

Archibald Roy MARLIN

Regimental number2728
Place of birthRichmond New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLetter carrier
AddressAshley Street, Hornsby, New South Wales
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation22
Next of kinWife, Mrs Mary Letitita Marlin, High Street, Hornsby, Sydney, New South Wales
Enlistment date2 June 1916
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name37th Battalion, 5th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/54/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A24 Benalla on 9 November 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll37th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 30 August 1918
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
128
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Commemorated on Officers of the PMG's Department in New South Wales Honour Roll. Parents: Ernest and Laura MARLIN, Jersey Street, Richmond, New South Wales
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 3140 Pte Albert Ernest MARLIN, 26th Bn, returned to Australia, 5 February 1919; 3154 Pte Frank Donald MARLIN, 49th Bn, killed in action, 3 September 1916.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked from Sydney, 9 November 1916; disembarked Devonport, 9 January 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 10 April 1917; taken on strength, 37th Bn, 13 April 1917.

Wounded in action (gun shot wound, right leg), 7-9 June 1917; rejoined unit, 19 June 1917.

To hospital (influenza), 5 July 1917; evacuated to England, 13 July 1917; admitted to Fulham Military Hospital, 14 July 1917; to 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, 3 September 1917. Granted furlough, 6-20 September 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 12 June 1918; rejoined unit, 18 June 1918.

Killed in action, 30 August 1918.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

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