Axel CHRISTIANSEN

Regimental number1471
Place of birthYangan, Queensland
SchoolYangan State School, Queensland
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationFarmer
AddressYangan, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21.7
Height5' 7"
Weight145 lbs
Next of kinFather, N P Christiansen, Yangan, Queensland
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date14 December 1914
Place of enlistmentWarwick, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name15th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/32/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A49 Seang Choon on 13 February 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll15th Battalion
FateKilled in action 1-31 August 1915
Place of death or woundingGallipoli, Turkey
Age at death22
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 45), 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.

Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: N P and Kate CHRISTIANSEN, Yangan, Warwick, Queensland
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 2464 Pte Charles CHRISTIANSEN, 2nd Light Horse Regiment, returned to Australia, 27 June 1919; 1470 Pte James CHRISTIANSEN, 15th Bn, returned to Australia, 11 March 1916.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 12 April 1915.

Court of Inquiry, Rouen France, 3-5 September 1917, concluded: 'Died of Gallipoli Peninsula during [the] month of August 1915.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, CHRISTIANSEN Axel